logo
episode-header-image
Sep 2023
25m 41s

Paranoia politics: a Tunisian lesson in ...

The Economist
About this episode
tail spinning
Up next
Today
Strait and narrowing: the Houthis’ striking advance
After years of stalemate, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis are taking territory, including on a Red Sea strait. We ask what has changed, and how the shift fits into the wider regional conflict. As America’s midterm elections approach, we examine the fragmentation of the coalition that ... Show More
22m 46s
Sep 12
The Weekend Intelligence: Shire folk
For 15 years, the British media dismissed Tommy Robinson as a far-right extremist. We kept him off our televisions, and out of our newspapers. Today his rallies attract tens of thousands of followers and he has the ear of the world’s richest man.Shire Folk is the story of how som ... Show More
49m 13s
Sep 11
Out-numbered: AI’s contentious maths milestone
OpenAI’s claim to have solved one of the great problems in mathematics has itself created problems. We ask why the breakthrough has shaken the field. On the 25th anniversary of 9/11 we examine the vast counterterrorism machinery that followed in America, and nascent efforts to pa ... Show More
22m 49s
Recommended Episodes
Sep 2023
Paranoia politics: a Tunisian lesson in demagoguery
<p>The president is using racist hate-mongering as both a rallying tool and a distraction mechanism. It is the oldest trick in the <a href="https://www.economist.com/briefing/2023/08/31/how-cynical-leaders-are-whipping-up-nationalism-to-win-and-abuse-power?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_m ... Show More
25m 41s
Aug 2024
Trump's Use of Racial Attacks to Undermine Kamala Harris
From questioning Kamala Harris’s ethnic identity to his long-standing birther claims against Barack Obama, racist attacks against his political opponents have become part of Donald Trump's political playbook. Harvard professor and racial politics scholar, Randall Kennedy joins Bi ... Show More
40m 39s
Dec 2021
How One Authoritarian Used Migrants As A Political Tool, And Why It Worries Biden
U.S. officials have accused Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko of being the latest to take advantage of desperate migrants. They say he helped bring migrants from war-torn nations to the Belarus border in order to create a humanitarian crisis and put political pressure on ... Show More
14m 39s
Feb 2025
Doubling Down
President Trump continues to repeat Russian talking points, falsely labeling the Ukrainian president a "dictator." Plus, Hamas is handing over the remains of four Israeli hostages, including its two youngest victims of the October 7 attacks. And New York's governor vows not to ba ... Show More
46m 47s
Sep 2025
David Frum: Leveraging Violence as a Tool of Power
<div>Trump and the people around him want to use the Kirk assassination to suppress their political opposition. And Trump is clearly laying the groundwork for cracking down on people he doesn't like—peaceful protesters, Dem fundraisers—while also offering rhetorical comfort to po ... Show More
1h 1m
Mar 2025
Canuck of the draw: Canada’s election campaigns
<p>The Conservative Party, led by a Trump-tinged populist, once had the polls locked up. That is <a href="https://www.economist.com/interactive/2025-canada-election?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr ... Show More
18m 45s
Jun 2020
Syria’s condition: Bashar al-Assad
The country’s dictator has spent nearly half his time in power waging war on his own people. His patchwork support network is fading, but he will not go easily. America’s racial unrest has put reparations back in the national conversation—but how best to pay slaves’ descendants, ... Show More
22m 3s
Dec 2021
Lies on Top of Lies
<p>The Democrats is so good at blatantly lying to fulfill their agenda. Things get even worse for Dome in the White House. Same old Republican song and dance. The GOP needs some balls. Ilhan Omar goes on an anti-islmaophobia media campaign. The communist only has a few programmed ... Show More
1h 53m
Jun 2025
A house divided against itself: America simmers
<p>Political assassinations. Troops on city streets. <a href="https://www.economist.com/united-states/2025/06/15/protests-against-a-regal-presidency-have-been-notably-peaceful?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.a ... Show More
24m 23s
Mar 2025
You spin me right round: Europe’s populists reckon with Trumpism
<p>For Europe’s hard-right politicians, Donald Trump’s second White House bid looked like validation and opportunity. Now that he is in it, the tensions and trade-offs are <a href="https://www.economist.com/europe/2025/03/23/trump-is-a-problem-for-europes-most-important-hard-righ ... Show More
21m 30s