Today

Growth negligence: Britain’s budget

The tax-and-spend plan was fine-tuned to avoid immediate political jeopardy. But it <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2025/11/26/this-bodge-it-budget-does-not-give-britain-what-it-needs?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_conte ... Show More

22m 46s

Yesterday

Party likes it 1959: Cuba in crisis

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

Nov 25

Wage against the machine: the distortions of minimum pay

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

Feb 2024

The Intelligence: Will Apple’s customers share its Vision?

Last month, Microsoft briefly overtook the iPhone maker as the world’s most valuable company. As Apple’s core business slows, could the launch of its new augmented reality headset provide much-needed uplift? The Chinese Communist Party loves a slogan, but what does its new one ac ... Show More

23m 2s

Sep 2023

Missing in action: China’s defence minister has disappeared

It would not be the first time that a member of the government has gone <a href="https://www.economist.com/china/2023/09/15/the-mystery-surrounding-chinas-missing-defence-minister?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.co ... Show More

23m 16s

Sep 2023

Refresh your feed: introducing Economist Podcasts+

For 17 years, The Economist has brought you a host of brilliant shows. Now we are taking that even further. But to bring you even more of the content that you love, we need your support. Why <a href="https://www.economist.com/europe/2023/09/04/an-armenian-enclave-inside-azerba ... Show More

26m 45s

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

Mar 2024

The Intelligence: Europe is not so hot on its green parties

Melting ski slopes, floods and droughts are enraging the continent’s citizens, but not quite enough for them to consider voting differently. Our correspondent explains what the electorate is weighing up. The world’s largest maker of glasses is branching out into tech (10:41). And ... Show More

24m 14s

May 2024

Swat off the press: Meta v Canada’s news ploy

A bid to squeeze money from social-media platforms that link to news content has backfired: what was intended to help publishers is instead harming them. America’s workers still work more than Europe’s; what is changing is where they do it (9:44). And remembering Shirley Conran, ... Show More

23m 40s

Oct 2023

Windows of opportunity: Microsoft’s AI push

The once-unassailable titan of tech has missed big opportunities in recent years. But it has a reasonable shot at the title again, thanks to its artificial-intelligence ambitions. Sexual assault allegations in China made the Women’s Tennis Association take a hard line on tourname ... Show More

23m 27s

Feb 2024

The Intelligence: Ukraine’s war, two years on

In this roundtable discussion our editors examine how the past year has progressed, discuss how things may go over the next year and consider a few fundamentally positive truths about the whole conflict. Meanwhile our senior producer travels through Ukraine, getting a measure of ... Show More

33m 51s

Feb 2024

Drum Tower: The sounds of old Beijing

In some ways, Beijing now sounds like a lot of other mega cities. Yet, back in imperial times, sound was used in creative ways to display wealth, to conduct everyday business and, most importantly, to keep order. David Rennie, our Beijing bureau chief, takes us on a sonic jour ... Show More

26m 44s

The Intelligence: Will Apple’s customers...