Yesterday

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

Sep 2025

Go, fourth? France likely to lose another PM

An unpopular budget will probably spark the ousting of another prime minister, Francois Bayrou—and with him goes another government. Parliamentary impasse is now business as usual, and voters are fed up. Getting Chinese spenders spending is tricky, so policy wonks are at last con ... Show More

21m 50s

Sep 2025

Why is France in chaos again?

As French Prime Minister François Bayrou faces a motion of no confidence in the National Assembly, a grassroots protest movement is gathering steam with its rallying cry to "Block everything" on September 10. Organisers hope to bring the country to a standstill to protest against ... Show More

23m 35s

Dec 2024

Michel shock: France’s government falls

<p>An alliance of the far right and the left has <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/12/04/frances-parliament-fires-the-prime-minister?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_a ... Show More

20m 42s

Sep 2025

Political instability jolts Japan

The French government is on the brink of another collapse, and Japan’s prime minister quits after just a year in office. Plus, China may open its domestic bond market to Russian companies for the first time since 2022, and US economic data is complicating the Federal Reserve’s up ... Show More

11m 45s

Oct 2025

Liberté, égalité, désordre: chaos in France

France’s newly-appointed prime minister has resigned only weeks into the job. Now President Emmanual Macron has given him 48 hours to come up with a plan for next year’s budget. Can Macron survive the turmoil? As driverless taxis take over San Francisco, what will happen to the h ... Show More

21m 3s

Sep 2025

What's behind the French prime minister resigning?

France's prime minister quits after losing a confidence vote in parliament. There's a sense of deja vu. The country is in a deep financial crisis that a succession of prime ministers hasn't been able to resolve. But what's behind it all? And could the European Union step in? In t ... Show More

24m 50s

Oct 2024

Japanese PM’s uphill battle to win back voters

<p>The French government has proposed a budget for next year with some €60bn worth of spending cuts and tax increases, and Hurricane Milton ploughed across Florida on Wednesday. US inflation fell to 2.4 per cent in September<strong>. </strong>Plus, we look ahead to Japan’s early ... Show More

11m 35s

Oct 2025

France in turmoil

This week Mark Leonard welcomes Célia Belin, senior policy fellow and head of ECFR’s Paris office, to discuss the unprecedented political turmoil in France. Just weeks after his appointment, Sébastien Lecornu became the fourth prime minister to resign in a year—leaving Macron to ... Show More

20m 29s

Go, fourth? France likely to lose anothe...