A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, the business of survival—those companies that survive the coronavirus crisis will need to master a new environment. Plus, how to reopen factories after covid-19 (9:23) and Venezuela’s navy battles a cruise ship, and loses (17:41).
Tag Archives: The Economist Podcasts
Coronavirus & The World: Grim Choices, Lockdowns & Ventilator Innovation
A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, covid-19 presents grim choices between life, death and, ultimately, the economy (11:02), lockdowns in Asia have sparked a stampede home (17:52) And, Formula 1 comes up with a breathing machine for covid-19 patients.
Podcasts: How Foreign Governments Are Facing Covid-19 (The Economist)
A selection of essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, the role of big government in the time of covid-19, (10:20) assessing the havoc the pandemic is causing in emerging countries, (17:45).
In just a few weeks a virus a ten-thousandth of a millimetre in diameter has transformed Western democracies. States have shut down businesses and sealed people indoors. They have promised trillions of dollars to keep the economy on life support. If South Korea and Singapore are a guide, medical and electronic privacy are about to be cast aside. It is the most dramatic extension of state power since the second world war.
International Affairs: “Does The World Need Davos?” (The Economist)
AT THE WORLD EC ONOMIC FORUM, which celebrates its 50th anniversary, The Economist’s editor-in-chief Zanny Minton Beddoes, Anne McElvoy and Patrick Foulis debate the future of the annual alpine gathering.
How did a young academic’s pet project come to be seen as the ultimate A-list bash for global CEOs, political leaders and celebrities alike? Anne McElvoy speaks to the CEO of Youtube, Susan Wojcicki, actress and activist Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Natalia Vodianova, a supermodel and philanthropist, about what they achieve at Davos and the mission behind the glamour. Is it a forum for effective decision-making—or just a week in the snow for the global elite? And finally, snow boots or stilettos?
Runtime: 32 min
Politics & Foreign Affairs: Joe Biden And Iranian Protests (Podcast)
The race for the Democratic nomination looks much like it did a year ago—but previous contests prove that once voting starts, momentum can reshuffle the pack.
Iran has been roiling with protests following the accidental downing of an airliner; what should Iranians and the wider world expect now? And we examine how Bogotá’s once-adored public-transport system went so wrong.
History: The Early Promise, Fiery Failure Of Eucalytus Trees In California
From a The Economist magazine article and podcast:
The real California, though, the California of immigrant dreams that break and get reborn, of lives as they turn out not as they are planned, is the California of the eucalyptus.
Like his friend John Muir, Lukens believed that California desperately needed more forests. Since the mid-19th century forests, and their loss, had been the principal focus of conservationist thought in America. According to Jared Farmer, who traces the history of the eucalyptus in California in “Trees in Paradise” (2013), Lukens and Muir were particularly keen on growing forests as a way to provide water—always a key to power in the state. Trees brought rain and captured fog and moisture; without forests, the men feared the state’s great cities would dry up.
“EUCALYPTUS PROMISES TO BE GREAT INDUSTRY”, announced the front page of the San Luis Obispo Daily Telegram, later claiming that what the speculators following where Lukens had led were planting “will be the largest artificial forest in the world when completed”.
Podcasts: “LabGenius” CEO James Field On AI/Machine Learning Discovering New Medicines (Babbage)
Researchers are using artificial intelligence techniques to invent medicines and materials—but in the process are they upending the scientific method itself? The AI approach is a form of trial-and-error at scale, or “radical empiricism”. But does AI-driven science uncover new answers that humans cannot understand? Host Kenneth Cukier finds out with James Field of LabGenius…
Website: https://www.economist.com/podcasts/2019/11/27/the-end-of-the-scientific-method
Top Political Podcasts The Economist Asks: “What’s The Future Of The Republican Party?”
AHEAD OF the 2020 American presidential election, John Prideaux, The Economist‘s US editor, talks to Bill Weld, a former governor of Massachusetts, Joe Walsh, a talk radio host and former Illinois congressman, and Mark Sanford, a former governor of South Carolina. While Donald Trump enjoys near 90% approval ratings among his party, can anyone challenge him for the Republican presidential nomination? And how has he changed what it means to be a Republican?
Anne McElvoy hosts. Runtime: 32 min
Website: https://www.economist.com/podcasts/2019/11/29/whats-the-future-of-the-republican-party
Technology Podcasts: “The Digitisation Of Healthcare” (Economist)
There can be few applications of digital technology more worthwhile than saving lives, but integrating digital technology into healthcare systems is uniquely complex. This episode provides an introduction to some of the challenges that healthcare providers face in their pursuit of digital innovation, and explores some of the paths forward.
Host Pete Swabey is joined by Professor Ann Blandford, deputy director for digital health at the UCL Institute of Healthcare Engineering; by Jackie Hunter, chief executive, clinical programmes & strategic relationships at AI-powered drug development firm Benevolent.AI; and by Elizabeth Sukkar, managing editor and global editorial lead for healthcare at The EIU. Sponsored by DXC Technology.
World Affairs Podcasts: “Is NATO Eperiencing ‘Brain Death’?” (The Economist)
The secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, Jens Stoltenberg, reacts to Emmanuel Macron’s stark warnings about the future of the alliance. Daniel Franklin, The Economist’s diplomatic editor, asks Mr Stoltenberg how NATO’s members can overcome their differences—should Europe have its own defence force and is Turkey at risk of drifting away from the alliance? Also, how should Article 5 be enforced in space?
Boomers Daily 