logo
episode-header-image
Dec 2024
29m 9s

Mass graves: revealing Syria’s horror

The Economist
About this episode
tail spinning
Up next
Yesterday
Elon shot: will Musk’s mega-merger work?
This week Elon Musk announced the merger of two of his companies: SpaceX and xAI, which makes chatbots. Is the new firm viable? As migrant workers return home for lunar new year, the Chinese Communist Party tells migrant workers not to stay for too long. And our culture editor’s ... Show More
22m 58s
Feb 5
Nukes of hazard: US-Russia arms treaty expires
The New START nuclear deal was signed in 2010 to restrict the number of strategic warheads and missiles America and Russia could amass. Will there be a new deal – and what will happen if not? How social media has helped fuel recruitment to cults. And our baldness correspondent br ... Show More
24m 33s
Feb 4
Peter and the wolves: Mandelson falls but Epstein scandal spreads
Peter Mandelson was a totem of Britain’s Labour party for decades. The newest Epstein files mark the end of his political career. What are the consequences for the country’s prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer? Ryanair is controversial and widely hated—yet strangely successful. And ... Show More
20m 21s
Recommended Episodes
Dec 2024
Mass graves: revealing Syria’s horror
<p>Ten days after the fall of Syria’s dictator Bashar al-Assad, the full <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2024/12/09/inside-bashar-al-assads-dungeons?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.an ... Show More
29m 9s
Aug 2025
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
Mar 2025
Shock and war: Myanmar junta exploits quake
<p>Civil war in Myanmar is <a href="https://www.economist.com/asia/2025/03/30/the-juntas-spite-worsens-myanmars-catastrophic-quake?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term= ... Show More
23m 24s
Mar 2025
Kurds in the right place: a truce nears
<p>The leader of Turkey’s Kurdish rebels has <a href="https://www.economist.com/europe/2025/02/27/one-of-the-worlds-longest-conflicts-may-be-ending?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_ ... Show More
25m 15s
Feb 2025
Rebel with a new cause: meeting Syria’s president
<p>From media-studies dropout to international jihadist to Syria’s ruler, Ahmed al-Sharaa has an unlikely résumé. He speaks with our editor-in-chief, sharing <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2025/02/03/syrias-new-president-ahmed-al-sharaa-gives-his-first- ... Show More
28m 44s
Oct 2025
Syrian mass grave, U.S. data darkness and French pensions
Bashar al-Assad's government secretly relocated a mass grave to cover up evidence of tens of thousands of killings in Syria, a Reuters investigation has found. The U.S. government shutdown has switched off the flow of economic data and that spells trouble for the countries which ... Show More
12m 4s
Sep 2025
Mission possible: Baghdad is booming
Our correspondent meets Iraq’s prime minister Muhammad al-Sudani to discuss the country’s construction boom, its future aspirations and the obstacles that must still be overcome. Visit America’s YIMBYiest neighbourhood: the place where Americans actually want to increase the loca ... Show More
24m 46s
Sep 2025
Losing the plot: Brazil-US relations tested
After Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison for trying to organise a coup in 2023, Donald Trump accused Brazil of staging a “witch hunt”. How will America respond? Niche sports like padel and tag are now attracting sponsorship and broadcast deals. And meet the real L ... Show More
24m 45s
Jan 2025
Turkish delight: influencing the new Syria
<p>The fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria will reshape the wider region. Our correspondent says few countries have as much to gain from a stable Syria as <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2025/01/21/how-turkey-plans-to-expand-its-influence-in-the-new-syria?u ... Show More
25m 5s
Oct 2025
Chainsaw out of gas? Milei’s experiment wobbles
A telling local-election loss, persistent allegations of scandal and an American pledge to prop up the peso: much is chipping away at the experiment of Argentina’s President Javier Milei. Long after the twin troubles of a pandemic and interest-rate rises, America’s commercial-pro ... Show More
25m 43s