logo
episode-header-image
May 2023
29m 4s

Good, bad and ugly: the Taliban and Afgh...

The Economist
About this episode

Their return to rule is unequivocally bad for the country’s women and girls. But wholesale collapse has not come and some aspects of government have improved; it turns out threats of grotesque violence change behaviours. We investigate the curious case of Morocco’s absent king—and his unlikely mixed-martial-artist pals. And how the mobile phone has shaped cinema for half a century.


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
Party likes it 1959: Cuba in crisis
<p>The country’s Communist Party leadership continues to cling to old ideals amid on-again, off-again diplomacy with America—and the people’s suffering <a href="https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2025/11/18/cuba-is-heading-for-disaster-unless-its-regime-changes-drastically?ut ... Show More
23m 15s
Yesterday
Wage against the machine: the distortions of minimum pay
<p>For decades governments have found minimum-wage rises a politically expedient means of redistribution. But the onward <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2025/11/20/why-governments-should-stop-raising-the-minimum-wage?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_so ... Show More
22m 16s
Nov 24
Emission creep: a contentious COP closes
<p>It is telling and troubling that the annual climate talking-shop’s <a href="https://www.economist.com/international/2025/11/22/cop30-ends-with-a-whimper?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownote ... Show More
25m 51s
Recommended Episodes
May 2023
Good, bad and ugly: the Taliban and Afghanistan
<p>Their return to rule is unequivocally bad for the country’s women and girls. But wholesale collapse has not come and some aspects of government have <a href="https://www.economist.com/asia/2023/05/01/life-under-the-rule-of-the-taliban-20?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podc ... Show More
29m 4s
Dec 2022
Suspension of this belief? Iran’s morality police
The enforcers of the hardliners’ mores may have been disbanded; it is <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2022/12/04/irans-rattled-government-may-be-backing-down?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.c ... Show More
24m 36s
May 2023
Re-route of all evil: transnational crime and Ukraine’s war
<p>Criminal networks <a href="https://www.economist.com/international/2023/04/24/how-the-war-split-the-mafia?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noo ... Show More
22m 43s
Apr 2022
Girls interrupted: Afghanistan
When the Taliban resumed power, there were hopes that women might not be as excluded, repressed and abused as they were previously. Those hopes <a href="https://www.economist.com/asia/2022/04/02/the-taliban-are-pushing-females-out-of-public-life?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio ... Show More
23m 47s
Oct 2021
States of emergency: Nigeria
<p>Criminal gangs in north-western states, jihadists in the north-east, a rebellion in the south-east: kidnappers, warlords and cattle rustlers are making the country <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/how-kidnappers-zealots-and-rebels-are-making-nigeria-un ... Show More
23m 35s
Jan 2024
The Intelligence: Growing, no pains
America seems to be in a best-of-worlds scenario: growth is outpacing expectations even as inflation keeps falling—how will the party end? This week’s loss of the Peregrine One Moon lander was disappointing, but our correspondent sees the good news from the launch (9:19). And how ... Show More
25m 13s
Oct 2020
Secular-stand nation: terror in France
<p>The brutal murder of a schoolteacher comes amid warnings of mounting Islamism in the country. The attack <a href="https://www.economist.com/europe/2020/10/18/the-beheading-of-a-teacher-will-harden-frances-belief-in-secularism?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&ut ... Show More
22m 26s
Jan 2024
The Intelligence: Iran increases the stakes in the Middle East
Iran-backed proxies have killed three American soldiers and injured dozens of others in their weekend strike. A response from the Pentagon seems inevitable, but what might it look like? If Britain wants to decarbonise, it is going to need to revamp the grid. The effort will be bo ... Show More
24m 11s
Dec 2021
An Economic Catastrophe in Afghanistan
<p>The economic situation in Afghanistan is perilous. Banks have run out of cash. In some areas, Afghans are selling their belongings in ad hoc flea markets. Parents wait around hospitals and clinics in the hopes of getting treatment for severely malnourished children.</p><p>We h ... Show More
27m 26s
Nov 2023
The Intelligence: Swede demons
Drug-related shootings and bombings are on the rise. Policies are changing and law-enforcement budgets rising, but stemming the violence is proving politically tricky. Our columnist considers how China is using the war in Gaza to burnish its diplomatic credentials (9:36). And the ... Show More
25m 26s