logo
episode-header-image
Mar 2023
25m 25s

Time’s up: America debates TikTok’s futu...

The Economist
About this episode

Links with China and allegations of surveillance have highlighted the threat that the social-media app may pose to national security. There is bipartisan support for some regulation—but could there be an outright ban? Britain’s courts are falling into disrepair, delaying justice for thousands. And the eco-friendly alternative to traditional burials. 


For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, try a free 30-day digital subscription by going to www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer




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

Up next
Today
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
Aug 21
Stake and chips: will America take 10% of Intel?
Intel was once synonymous with chip-making, but in recent years it has fallen behind. Now the Trump administration may become its biggest shareholder. A political assassination in Colombia raises fears about a return to violence. And what an annual snail race tells us about rural ... Show More
21m 2s
Recommended Episodes
Mar 2023
Time’s up: America debates TikTok’s future
Links with China and allegations of surveillance have highlighted the threat that the social-media app may pose to national security. There is bipartisan support for some regulation—but could there be an outright ban? Britain’s courts are falling into disrepair, delaying justice ... Show More
25m 25s
Apr 2023
File-sharing: America’s huge intelligence leak
A trove of once-secret documents is proving an embarrassment to both America and its allies, and a danger to Ukraine’s planned counter-offensive. The tech industry is shedding workers at a striking pace; we ask where all those laid-off experts are going. And more evidence that su ... Show More
24m 16s
Jun 2023
Antitrust, the process: America’s competition cops
This week’s court battle involving Microsoft and Activision, giants of tech and gaming, reflects a sea change under way in America’s trustbusting machinery; it may not go as far as the top competition cop might like. A boom in China’s post-pandemic economy now seems to be sputter ... Show More
24m 22s
Dec 2023
The Intelligence: I spy, with my Valley eye
The cradle of American technology was once known for its libertarian values—but as law-enforcement agencies seek more means of surveillance, Silicon Valley companies are piling in. Mounting cases in America’s courts reveal a trend of progressives arguing for their religious right ... Show More
21m 10s
Oct 2023
The Intelligence: America gets a House speaker
With the accession of Mike Johnson as the lower chamber’s majority leader, Congress can at last get back to lawmaking—unless the leadership circus starts again. China’s banks may be loaded up with hidden bad loans; the industry’s covid-era hangover could be about to intensify (09 ... Show More
23m 51s
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
Jan 2024
The Intelligence: Indonesia’s election, more TikTok than tick-box
Campaigning for a coming election in the world’s fourth-most-populous country has been almost entirely policy-free: a good social-media presence is nearly all candidates need. As the Panama Canal dries out, neighbouring countries spy an opportunity—but how much of that trade can ... Show More
20m 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
Dec 2023
The Intelligence: Alice Weidel’s alternative plan for Germany
Our Berlin bureau chief sits down with the increasingly popular co-leader of the Alternative for Germany, the furthest-right of the country’s seven main political parties. How viable are her policy plans? The startup behind a reusable missile that could change American warfare (1 ... Show More
24m 9s
Mar 2024
The Intelligence: Is time up for TikTok?
The US Congress is refusing to scroll past the app’s links to China. If the bill they passed becomes law, the video-sharing network will be forced to find new owners. Binyamin Netanyahu’s emergency war-time budget has just been approved. What is the cost of Israel’s ongoing war ( ... Show More
25m 39s