logo
episode-header-image
Feb 2021
20m 59s

Like hell out of a bat: SARS-CoV-2’s ori...

The Economist
About this episode

The World Health Organisation unveiled preliminary findings, suggesting the coronavirus probably jumped to humans via an intermediary animal and all but ruling out a laboratory leak. We examine the many remaining questions. Nefarious regimes find it ever easier to reach across borders, subjecting dissidents to repression and surveillance abroad. And why it’s so hard to buy a car in Algeria. 

For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer

“The Jab from Economist Radio” is our new weekly podcast at the sharp end of the global vaccination race. Listen to the trailer and subscribe now


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

Up next
Today
A murder exploited: Britain’s George Floyd moment that wasn’t
Nigel Farage, leader of the populist-right Reform UK party, wants Britons to be enraged by a killing in the street. We ask why his tone has changed from “colour-blind” to race-baiting. NATO must now take seriously the idea that America is pulling back; we ask how it is adjusting. ... Show More
24m 8s
Yesterday
Focused group: Ukraine is now Europe’s war
Now that America has stepped back, Europe is at last stepping up. We examine the bloc’s tactics (if not yet a strategy) and how steady its support is likely to be. With the coming public listings of SpaceX and Anthropic, we ask whether stockmarkets can handle a string of “giga-IP ... Show More
21m 12s
Jun 2
Head out of the cloud: Nvidia’s personal-computer shift
The AI world’s go-to chipmaker is blazing a trail toward your personal computer. We ask what moving out of the cloud indicates about the future of computing. The three candidates for mayor of Los Angeles could not be more different, and they are running neck and neck. And updatin ... Show More
21m 6s
Recommended Episodes
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
Sep 2023
A better pill to swallow: the bid to end AIDS
<p>Many of the pieces are in place to bring the disease entirely under control—but our correspondent finds <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2023/09/17/is-the-end-of-aids-in-sight?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm ... Show More
24m 58s
May 2020
The race for a vaccine, the story behind EBITDAC, BoE’s Bailey
<p>The hunt for a coronavirus vaccine is central to global efforts to restart economies. The FT’s US coronavirus correspondent, David Crow, explains how nationalism could slow the fight against the pandemic. Plus, some companies are presenting a new customised metric they are cal ... Show More
9m 45s
Oct 2023
Genocide returns: slaughter in Sudan
From a refugee camp in Chad, we speak with those fleeing murder in Darfur. Reporting on the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and a powerful paramilitary group may have slowed, but the suffering has not. Bowel cancer is becoming more common in young people. How can screening ... Show More
27m 20s
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