logo
episode-header-image
Jan 2021
20m 29s

Costly disbelief: covid-19 ravages Brazi...

The Economist
About this episode
Desperate scenes in the city of Manaus may foretell a dire wave throughout the country. A misguided sense of “herd immunity” has worsened matters, as has the president’s persistent scepticism. We examine history to see how lasers progressed from practical impossibility to utter ubiquity—and the scientific frontiers they are still illuminating. And how clams are protecting lives in Poland. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Today
Marine warfare: Le Pen runs for president
Last night, the populist-right leader announced that she will run in the French presidential election next year. Our correspondent analyses the Le Pen dynasty and explains how this decision will shape the campaign. The world’s first refuge for whales once held in captivity. And o ... Show More
24m 27s
Yesterday
Continental rift: NATO’s tense summit
As NATO leaders gather for the annual summit in Turkey today, the thorniest issue is off the agenda: fractures within the alliance. Our correspondent travels to the Baltics, where a strategic shift is already evident. First there was vibe coding, now vibe lawyering is coming to c ... Show More
20m 19s
Jul 6
The mourning show: the politics of Khamenei’s funeral
The Iranian regime hopes the massive crowds gathered for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s funeral will demonstrate its strength. Our correspondent says they could also reveal its weakness. Why Japan wants to change its divorce laws and custody arrangements. And the first part of our week ... Show More
20m 32s
Recommended Episodes
Jan 2023
Ill news, spreads apace: covid in China
<p>The sudden rescinding of zero-covid strictures has, as expected, led to a spike in cases. Our correspondent visits overstretched hospitals and crematoria, and considers what will happen <a href="https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2023/01/02/what-the-great-reopenin ... Show More
23m 39s
May 2020
Continental divides: covid-19 strains the EU
<p>What started as a public-health crisis is developing into an existential one. The most fundamental question to be addressed is: what is the European Union for? Hopes of helpful change by El Salvador’s millennial president are dimming as he becomes increasingly dictatorial. And ... Show More
21m 2s
Aug 2021
Shots or fired: America’s vaccine mandates
<p>Inoculation or testing requirements are <a href="https://www.economist.com/united-states/vaccine-mandates-are-spreading/21803404?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">sprea ... Show More
17m 42s
May 2021
On the origins and the specious: the SARS-CoV-2 lab-leak theory
<p>The suggestion that the virus first emerged from a Chinese laboratory has proved stubbornly persistent; as calls <a href="https://www.economist.com/international/2021/05/26/joe-biden-orders-his-intelligence-agencies-to-investigate-the-origins-of-covid-19?utm_campaign=the-intel ... Show More
20m 43s
Apr 2021
Growth negligence: India’s covid-19 failings
<p>Mass gatherings and in-person voting continue, even as new case numbers smash records and fatalities spiral in public view. We ask how a seeming pandemic success has turned so suddenly tragic. Chad’s president of three decades has been <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle ... Show More
19m 48s
Jul 2022
Steal girders: Brazil’s fraught coming election
<p>President Jair Bolsonaro, an unabashed fan of Donald Trump, is <a href="https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2022/07/14/might-jair-bolsonaro-try-to-steal-brazils-election?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.a ... Show More
23m 11s
Jul 2020
Without a trace: Israel’s covid-19 spike
<p>Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has gone from boasting about progress to battling protests as the country’s contact-tracing programme has been overwhelmed. Early and extreme seasonal floods in China have already displaced nearly 2m people, raising questions about the country ... Show More
20m 13s
Jan 2020
Viral hit: the costs of China’s lockdown
Our correspondent travels to the border of the locked-down Hubei province, finding among the people a mixture of resignation, fear and distrust. Was the draconian response appropriate? Big oil firms have just the kind of expertise needed to make a vast transition to renewables; i ... Show More
23m 23s
Jul 2020
Laughing all the way: banks’ pandemic windfall
<p>Pandemic panic has subsided, and economic pain deferred—so far. But never mind investment banks’ recent triumphs; uncertainty still abounds. Brazil once had a robust “no contact” policy for its isolated indigenous tribes, but missionaries and miners are closing in. And a notor ... Show More
22m 55s
Jun 2020
ICYMI - Coronavirus Resurgences in Areas Where It Was Once Eliminated
New COVID-19 cases flare up in New Zealand and China, researchers make potential breakthroughs, and President Trump keeps dismissing the danger as U.S. cases surge. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy ... Show More
8m 30s