The Economist Podcasts

<p>The <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2026/03/29/all-sides-in-the-gulf-war-are-at-risk-of-overplaying-their-hands?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Iran conflict</a> is escalating with little prospect of an end in sight. Our correspondent explains why a US ground invasion is likely. In an ongoing <a h

<p>Even before America crimped Cuba’s oil, the country was <a href="https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2026/03/19/cubas-broken-economy-leaves-it-at-donald-trumps-mercy?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">teetering</a>. We ask what is to blame for the Cuban people’s plight, and whether anything better is in prospect. The craze

<p>A jury in California agreed with a plaintiff who argued that Meta and Google, two social-media giants, designed their platforms to be addictive. That opens the floodgates to more litigation and perhaps to regulatory change. We examine the world’s maritime chokepoints and how they shape geopolitics—littorally, not figuratively. And how digitally animated films came to dominate the box office.</p><br><p>Guests and host:</p><ul><li>Tom Wainwright, media editor</li><li>Anton La Guardia, diplomati

<p>In the daily tea leaves one might read that President Donald Trump would prefer a deal with Iran to a continuing military campaign. Where would that leave <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2026/03/23/donald-trumps-latest-climbdown-suggests-he-wants-to-end-the-war?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Isra

<p>Air strikes and border raids have turned cross-border tensions into <a href="https://www.economist.com/asia/2026/03/19/a-deadly-strike-in-kabul-could-have-big-knock-on-effects?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">hot conflict</a>. We ask what raised the temperature, and whether the Iran war may act to lower it. Meanwhile that w

<p>As the war in Iran progresses, none of the <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2026/03/22/donald-trump-has-four-bad-options-for-the-war-in-iran?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">options available</a> to Donald Trump looks good. We examine each of them. Thailand’s Buddhist monks are implicated in lots of

<p>As attention has focused on war in Iran, Israel sees an opportunity to crush a weakened Hizbullah in Lebanon. Our correspondent says it would be <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2026/03/19/lebanons-leaders-must-take-on-hizbullah?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">far better</a> for the Lebanese state to do so. As so

<p>A rash entry into a war of choice exposes President Donald Trump in a number of ways—and he may prove more dangerous as he <a href="https://www.economist.com/united-states/2026/03/18/how-the-iran-war-is-weakening-donald-trump?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">becomes weaker</a>. Turkey’s foreign entanglements mask the democr