China vs the US: Kishore Mahbubani on a Zero-Sum Rivalry

Cuba on the Brink: Ada Ferrer on Life Under US Pressure

Ada Ferrer won the Pulitzer Prize in 2022 for her acclaimed book, Cuba: An American History, which examined the island’s relationship with the US. Her latest work, Keeper of My Kin, tells her family story: a mother who fled the island nation carrying an infant daughter, while leaving a brother behind. Now, as Donald Trump increases pressure on Cubans and their leaders, cutting off oil while  obtaining an indictment of Raul Castro for the 1996 shootdown of a small plane, Ferrer tells Mishal Husain about the human cost of Cuba’s long crisis. 03:26 - Writing “Keeper of my Kin” 04:09 - A love-hate relationship with Cuba 05:40 - The Cuba of Castro 07:11 - Leaving Cuba in 1963 08:13 - Leaving her brother Poly behind 12:08 - Letters from Poly 15:48 - Cuba’s history of migration 17:58 - Helping family in Cuba 22:50 - People in Cuba are “suffering” 24:01 - A threat to US national security? 26:51 - A shared experience with Rubio 32:19 - Cuban-Americans and Trump 34:04 Obama’s visit to Cuba 37:52 - Calling myself an American 39:52 - The books is a “testament of love” Contact The Mishal Husain Show mishalshow@bloomberg.net Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

Can Britain’s Politics Cope: David Dimbleby Thinks Not

David Dimbleby was for decades the face of election programs on the BBC. He anchored coverage of 10 UK general elections, as well as the 1975 and 2016 referendums on European membership, the funeral of Princess Diana and a host of other royal and state occasions. He’s seen prime ministers come and go, from Margaret Thatcher to Tony Blair and many more since. With Prime Minister Keir Starmer facing a potential leadership challenge, Dimbleby is uniquely placed to understand the characters and conflicts shaping Britain’s volatile politics today. In this conversation with Mishal Husain he gives his take on Starmer, Andy Burnham and Nigel Farage. [03:15] Why so many prime ministers? [09:14] Keir Starmer is a “dud” [09:55] “I don’t know what (Burnham) stands for” [11:31] Would Burnham be a different PM? [13:37] The UK is in a “dire state” [16:16] “I am worried about the future” [16:49] Nigel Farage as prime minister [21:35] Ten years on from Brexit [24:31] The UK rejoining the EU [31:52] King Charles' state visit to the US [37:15] “I'm not in any way a republican” Read this interview with Mishal’s notes on Bloomberg Weekend: www.bloomberg.com/latest/weekend-interview [http://www.bloomberg.com/latest/weekend-interview] Contact The Mishal Husain Show mishalshow@bloomberg.net Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

China vs the US: Kishore Mahbubani on a Zero-Sum Rivalry

Beyond this week’s talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump, there’s an epic tale that has been unfolding for decades. It’s a battle to be the world’s number one power and a much bigger story than the latest meeting of these two men.  Kishore Mahbubani is a former Singaporean diplomat who served as president of the United Nations Security Council. For two decades, he has argued that the West fundamentally misunderstands the rise of China and its challenge to American supremacy. Mahbubani. who eventually turned to academia, now specializes in governance and public policy. In this conversation with Mishal Husain, he traces the story behind the Xi-Trump talks, the handshakes and the social media posts–and what may lie ahead. Mahbubani also reveals how his own successes were made possible by Singapore’s remarkable growth. Read this interview with Mishal’s notes on Bloomberg Weekend: www.bloomberg.com/ [http://www.bloomberg.com/latest/weekend-interview]Mishal 03:34 - “The most important contest of our time” 5:50  - “It's not about personalities” 6:26 - “China can no longer be stopped” 07:28 - US versus China: It’s a “zero-sum” game 08:40 - Bill Clinton’s first meeting with Jiang Zemin 12:35 - Cold War Comparisons 18:30 - Growing up in Singapore in the 1950s 19:53 - "My mother never cracked” 26:25 - “China has become a tiger” 30:24 - US war is a “gift” to China Contact The Mishal Husain Show mishalshow@bloomberg.net Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

Anthony Scaramucci: Trump and the Humiliation That Made Him Famous

For a brief moment in 2017, Anthony Scaramucci became a unit of time. His 11-day stint as White House communications director was so short-lived that it entered the political lexicon. Almost a decade on, he has proven more durable than the joke. The Trump loyalist-turned-critic, Wall Street financier and podcast host remains a well-known figure in American political culture. Scaramucci is still holding forth on the US president he once backed, as well as bets that have shaped his own career, including on crypto and Sam Bankman-Fried. In this conversation with Mishal Husain, Scaramucci talks about his early life, his mistakes and his view of the political landscape ahead of the midterm elections. Read this interview with Mishal’s notes on Bloomberg Weekend: www.bloomberg.com/latest/weekend-interview [http://www.bloomberg.com/latest/weekend-interview]03:00 - The midterms are “a longtime off” 06:58 - “I’m a loyalist” 08:35  - Who’s Trump’s successor? 08:55 - A president needs “name recognition” 11:41 - Meeting Trump for the first time 13:14 - Trump’s “phenomenal political instincts” 14:45 - Joining the Trump campaign 16:11 - “Donald Trump was talking to my Dad” 20:56 - Getting fired by Trump 24:16 - It was “humiliating” 25:56 - Meeting Sam Bankman-Fried 27:53 - “I made false assumptions” 31:18 - Bitcoin “I want to judge it over a five or 10 year period” 33:05 - Growing up on Long Island 35:17 - “The Mooch” 37:17 - The future of the Democrats 44:51 - History is a guide Contact The Mishal Husain Show mishalshow@bloomberg.net Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

Why India Has Lost Its Way: Writer Amitav Ghosh on the New World Order, Politics and Past Lives

For more than 30 years, the Indian-born writer Amitav Ghosh has built a global following with novels that draw on deep historical research.  But his latest offering, Ghost-Eye, is more esoteric. The plot moves back and forth between India and the US, using past lives to explore the ties between the personal and the political. The plot centers on a psychiatrist treating a 3-year-old who shocks her family by insisting she remembers a past life in a fishing community. In this conversation with Mishal Husain, Ghosh explains why he’s finding it harder to write nowadays, how the memories of his childhood came flooding back during the Covid pandemic, why he sees capitalism as an obstacle to protecting the environment and thinks India has lost its way diplomatically.  Read this interview with Mishal’s notes on Bloomberg Weekend: www.bloomberg.com/latest/weekend-interview [https://www.bloomberg.com/latest/weekend-interview] 03:37 - “She had a near-death experience” 05:37 - Reincarnated past lives 08:05 - “The world has lost all its wonder” 08:28 - Growing up in Kolkata 10:56 - Kolkata and New York are the “opposite ends of the telescope” 11:44 - “I really learned to think against the grain” 12:13 - Creating a “bubble of tranquility” to write 12:32 - Writing from “within the crisis” 14:45 - India has lost its way diplomatically 16:25 - Watching Zohran Mamdani grow up 19:12 - India and China 23:11 - Writing a story to be read in 100 years 27:31 - Writing books by hand  Contact The Mishal Husain Show mishalshow@bloomberg.net Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.