logo
episode-header-image
May 2022
25m 3s

The city that never slips: Beijing and c...

The Economist
About this episode

China’s Communist Party leaders have painted themselves into a corner: they cannot be seen to put the capital into lockdown, but permitting covid to spread could be catastrophic. We look into the myriad reasons behind America’s sharp shortages of baby formula, and how to solve them. And why it is illegal for women to get a manicure in Turkmenistan.

For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Today
Grand theft global: the business of street crime
Car and phone theft were once the preserve of petty crooks in London. Now they underpin a vast and spreading international criminal network. Why you should consider consulting a new oracle for making big life decisions: an economist. And the cult of the private chef.Listen to wha ... Show More
19m 37s
Yesterday
That warm buzzy feeling: malaria and climate change
As temperatures climb, mosquitoes will migrate to places where natural resistance to malaria is lower. More and more severe natural disasters will make for more breeding grounds. How to stop a deadly disease getting deadlier? In China’s cut-throat food-delivery war, absolutely no ... Show More
24m 43s
Aug 22
Rule and divide: opposition grows in Syria
Less than nine months after Syria’s dictator Bashar al-Assad was toppled, the honeymoon is over. How is the new regime responding to rising dissent? Introducing Britain’s revolutionary retirees: why pensioners increasingly dominate political protest. And celebrating the life of o ... Show More
23m 38s
Recommended Episodes
Mar 2022
All that Xi wants: China’s Ukraine dilemma
After backing Russia’s grievances against NATO, China now finds itself treading a very fine line on Ukraine. There are often reasons to be suspicious of a country’s covid-death tally; we examine research showing how fraud can be spotted mathematically. And why women are less like ... Show More
20m 44s
Aug 2023
Drum Tower: Solo-motherland
A growing number of Chinese women are pushing for control over family-planning decisions. That can cause discomfort in a society where traditional households are still the norm and where there are many legal barriers to becoming a single parent. But, faced with a shrinking popula ... Show More
36m 32s
Mar 2024
The Intelligence: Moscow massacre
Warnings from the Americans went unheeded, police took too long to respond, and now the Kremlin has found a way to link it to Ukraine. Could this tragedy be used to Vladamir Putin’s advantage? A hotline for Japanese men to discuss their anxieties is an unfortunate indicator of a ... Show More
23m 14s
Jul 2021
Why are China’s billionaires writing big checks to charity?
The biggest threat to China’s future prosperity may not come from the US, but from within as it wrestles with falling birthrates and rising inequality. How concerned is China about the widening gap between the country’s haves and have nots? Look no further than its billionaires, ... Show More
20m 16s
Sep 2023
Drum Tower: Inside Fortress China
Panzhihua used to be a state secret. The steel-making city, buried deep in the mountains of Sichuan, formed part of Mao Zedong’s Third Front, a covert plan to move core industries inland in case America or the Soviet Union attacked. David Rennie, The Economist’s Beijing bureau ch ... Show More
42m 1s
Jan 2024
The Intelligence: is Germany al[t]right?
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party represents a growing anti-immigrant rhetoric in the country, but people are taking to the streets in their thousands to fight back. Why has the debate become so polarised? Japan’s ruling party has been trying to get women back into the labo ... Show More
21m 46s
Feb 2023
Drum Tower: Bricks and people
It is impossible to imagine Beijing without its hutongs. The ancient alleyways harbour the city’s character, culture and history inside their low, grey walls. But for decades the hutongs have been in peril.  The Economist’s Beijing bureau chief, David Rennie goes in search of the ... Show More
29m 26s
Jan 2024
The Intelligence: The city that never slipped
From Brexit to covid-19, nothing has yet stymied London’s successes. The city has its problems, but it remains a paragon of policymaking. In the last of our series on democracy around the world, we examine what is at stake in India’s coming election (9:16). And a tribute to Gao Y ... Show More
24m 49s
Jul 2023
China’s Economic Rebound Hits a Wall
When China suddenly dismantled its lockdowns and other Covid precautions last December, officials in Beijing and many investors expected the economy to spring back to life. It hasn’t worked out that way.Daisuke Wakabayashi, an Asia business correspondent for The Times, explains w ... Show More
22m 59s
Apr 2024
The Intelligence: Surveilling China’s diaspora
There are fears about TikTok, but it’s not the only social media platform that the Chinese state might be using to monitor the rest of the world. That’s especially worrying for those in its diaspora who thought they were free. How monopolies are transforming America’s skiing indu ... Show More
23m 3s