The Economist Radio (All audio)

The pandemic is hitting emerging markets particularly hard, and the crisis is likely to widen the gap between the strongest and the weakest among them. Physical distancing is making life even harder for people with dementia, and their carers. And a few tips on learning a new language in lockdown.For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/radiooffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The world’s students are falling behind and lockdown is only exacerbating prior disparities in their progress; we examine a compelling back-to-school argument. America’s Environmental Protection Agency is rolling back yet more pollution protections, but who stands to gain is unclear. And why so many urban Kenyans understate their salaries to the villagers back home.For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/radiooffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The state’s all-postal primaries vote could be seen as a trial run for November’s presidential election. Might voting by mail be the least-bad option? The BBC’s canny response to covid-19 has quietened its critics, but bigger problems await after the pandemic. And how a few once-feuding families are pushing Bolivian wine onto the world stage. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/radiooffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The country is aiming for complete elimination of the coronavirus; so far, so good. But renewed freedom within its borders requires that virtually no one cross them. Restrictions in Europe on movement of agricultural labour could leave crops to rot in the fields. And why cologne is the hand-sanitiser of choice in Turkey.For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/radiooffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Some governors are co-ordinating mutual lockdown plans, others are already reopening their states. That haphazardness bodes ill in the absence of widespread testing and tracing. The pandemic is kicking an industry that was already down: newspapers’ readerships are up, but profits are through the floor. And, reflecting on the life of a saintly obstetric surgeon in Ethiopia. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/radiooffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Rohingya genocide was just one of many sectarian flashpoints in Rakhine state; now a slick separatist insurgency is getting the better of Myanmar’s army. America is floundering in its bid to win the 5G mobile-technology race; we ask what options it has. And denying locked-down Sri Lankans booze has driven them to home-brewing. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/radiooffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Even before the pandemic, companies were accused of returning too much money to shareholders. As a recession looms, dividends and share buy-backs should be cut—but not everywhere. Coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef is more widespread than ever, and each event makes a full recovery less likely. And the animals are out to play as humans are locked away.For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/radiooffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Authorities have re-ignited tensions by arresting some of the democracy movement’s most prominent figures—and Beijing seems to be piling more pressure on. Shortages of protective equipment are not just about supply; we look at the global scramble for kit. And Brazil’s universally beloved “telenovelas” are on hold; how will they eventually deal with covid-19? For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/radiooffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Non-essential businesses are opening; schools soon will be, too. The country’s fortunes are down to a mix of science-minded leadership, functional federalism and a bit of luck. Saudi Arabia has halted its brutal air campaign in Yemen, ostensibly for humanitarian reasons; there is more to it than that. And a look at the wave of female avengers in drama. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/radiooffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The covid-19 pandemic has caused the country’s first GDP dip in more than four decades. What struggles still lie ahead for the world’s second-largest economy? Decisive action to help the homeless amid the crisis offers hope for what comes after it. And a look back at the life of Joseph Lowery, a firebrand preacher and rhyming civil-rights activist. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/radiooffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The prime minister is still convalescing; Parliament is still finding ways to meet virtually. Meanwhile questions are growing about how the government has handled the pandemic. In China authorities are promoting unproven traditional remedies to treat covid-19—treatments they would love to export. And the role that animals play in making wildfires worse, and in preventing them. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/radiooffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s legislative elections in South Korea are the world’s first to take place amid the covid-19 crisis. How have masked campaigners managed, and how are masked voters likely to respond? “Contact tracing” is crucial in following the coronavirus’s progression; we look into nascent technological approaches to the task. And a look at whether the pandemic will give way to a baby boom.For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/radiooffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We speak to Albin Kurti, a reformist prime minister, after his ouster—and ask how American officials may have played a role in his downfall. Gloomy forecasts will dominate this week’s virtual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank, with more countries than ever begging for financial help. And the connection between Instagram, Indonesian lovers and conservative Islam.For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/radiooffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, some European countries are beginning to switch their economies back on, but leaders face a grim trade-off between economic health and public health. Meanwhile, bids to finance Europe’s fiscal-stimulus programmes re-ignite old debates on financial interdependence. And why a bad-boy Belgian is making chocolate in Congo.For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/radiooffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Many have forgotten that, even after the second world war, a fascist movement held sway in Britain. Our culture editor recounts the tale of the group that quashed it. Leonora Carrington was an adventurous and pioneering Surrealist artist; our correspondent explores deepest Mexico to discover what inspired her. And the wizard industry that is casting a spell over Myanmar. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/radiooffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Under Hungary’s shape-shifting prime minister the country has essentially become a dictatorship—and it seems there is little the European Union can do about it. We examine the serious mental-health effects the covid-19 crisis is having—and will have in the future. And Japan’s #KuToo movement aims to reform some seriously sexist dress codes at work. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/radiooffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People are spilling from the Chinese metropolis where the global outbreak took hold. But controls actually remain tight, and authorities’ attempts to spin pandemic into propaganda are not quite working. Mozambique’s rising violence threatens what could be Africa’s largest-ever energy project, in a region that has until now escaped widespread jihadism. And “geomythologists” may have uncovered humans’ oldest tale yet. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/radiooffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

President Jair Bolsonaro still dismisses the disease as “just the sniffles”, so state and local authorities—and the country’s vast slums—have taken matters into their own hands. The physical and mental needs of the world’s locked-down populations are driving a boom in online wellness. And we look back on the life of the French chef who revolutionised English fine dining.For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/radiooffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To keep track of the spread of covid-19, some governments are turning to digital surveillance, using mobile-phone apps and data networks. We ask whether this will work—and examine the threat to privacy posed by a digital panopticon. Britain’s Labour Party has a new leader. We ask in which direction Sir Keir Starmer will lead the opposition. And we report on the northern hemisphere’s winter that wasn’t. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/radiooffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The coronavirus pandemic has sent America’s mighty jobs machine into screeching reverse. How bad might the labour market get? Covid-19 is just one reason why Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Muhammad bin Salman, is finding 2020 to be a much harder year than he’d hoped. And we report on the fight to save a 44,000-year-old cave painting.For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/radiooffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.