Texas is on a roll.  People and companies are flocking to the Lone Star State.  It’s an energy pioneer, its size means it has a significant say in national politics and its coffers are full, in part due to an influx of federal money.   What’s behind the Texan boom? Texas’s governor Greg Abbott makes the case for his state.  We go back to the abrupt end of a previous Texan boom.  And developer Ross Perot junior explains why it’s easy to do business in Texas. John Prideaux hosts with Charlotte Howard and Alexandra Suich Bass.  You can now find every episode of Checks and Balance in one place and sign up to our weekly newsletter. For full access to print, digital and audio editions, as well as exclusive live events, subscribe to The Economist at economist.com/uspod. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

America invaded Iraq 20 years ago this week. Today Baghdad is bustling, violence across the country is less frequent, but these gains have come at a horrific cost. India is getting a huge, essential infrastructure upgrade. And we say goodbye to one of our hosts. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer Runtime: 22 min Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Few would have predicted that the demise of Silicon Valley Bank, a niche Californian lender, would be followed by the failure of Credit Suisse. But on March 19 the banking crisis reached Zurich, where regulators brokered a fire sale that saw the ailing 167-year-old bank sold to rival UBS. On this week’s podcast, hosts Alice Fulwood, Tom Lee-Devlin and Mike Bird chart the spread of the crisis and examine its fallout. Richard Berner, a former advisor to the Treasury Secretary, explains: “Silicon Valley Bank was not systemic in life, but proved to be systemic in death.” And Huw van Steenis, who used to advise the chief executive of UBS, explains how the crisis has roiled bond markets. Sign up for our new weekly newsletter dissecting the big themes in markets, business and the economy at www.economist.com/moneytalks  For full access to print, digital and audio editions, subscribe to The Economist at www.economist.com/podcastoffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Central banks face a painful tradeoff: raise rates too quickly and risk banking-sector instability. Raise them too slowly and risk continued high inflation. Our correspondent travelled to Kyiv to meet a woman who has rescued hundreds of wild animals. And reflecting on the legacy of a woman who changed British attitudes toward sex. 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.

OpenAI's Chat GPT, an advanced chatbot, has taken the world by storm, amassing over 100 million monthly active users and exhibiting unprecedented capabilities. From crafting essays and fiction to designing websites and writing code. You’d be forgiven for thinking there’s little it can’t do.  Now it’s had an upgrade. GPT-4 has even more incredible abilities, it can take in photos as an input, and deliver smoother, more natural writing to the user. But it also hallucinates, throws up false answers, and remains unable to reference any world events that happened after September 2021. Seeking to get under the hood of the Large Language Model that operates GPT-4, host Alok Jha speaks with Maria Laikata, a professor in Natural Language Processing at Queen Mary’s university in London. We put the technology through its paces with the economist’s tech-guru Ludwig Seigele, and even run it through something like a Turing Test to give an idea of whether it could pass for human-level-intelligence.  An Artificial General Intelligence is the ultimate goal of AI research, so how significant will GPT-4 and similar technologies be in the grand scheme of machine intelligence? Not very, suggests Gary Marcus, expert in both AI and human intelligence, though they will impact all of our lives both in good and bad ways.  For full access to The Economist’s print, digital and audio editions subscribe at economist.com/podcastoffer and sign up for our weekly science newsletter at economist.com/simplyscience. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Emmanuel Macron narrowly survived two no-confidence votes, sparked by his pushing a pension-reform package through the legislature without bringing it up for a vote. But his troubles are far from over. Covid and the war in Ukraine exacerbated Russia’s long-standing demographic woes. And we analyse the artistry of the world’s greatest mime, born 100 years ago today. 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.

In 1966 Mao Zedong unleashed the Cultural Revolution, a deadly decade of purges and bloodletting. Wang Kangfu, a schoolmaster from Jiangxi province, was 24 when the Cultural Revolution began. Soon afterwards he was accused of committing a terrible crime—one he says he didn’t commit.  The Economist’s Beijing bureau chief, David Rennie, examines the case of Wang Kangfu and meets his family to hear about their struggle for justice. Sign up to our weekly newsletter here and for full access to print, digital and audio editions, as well as exclusive live events, subscribe to The Economist at economist.com/drumoffer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Silicon Valley Bank. Signature Bank. Credit Suisse. The world’s banks look wobbly, leading to fears of broader economic pain. Our economics editor explains how regulators should stabilise the sector. Russia is running out of tanks; replenishing its supply will not be easy. And America has a new favourite dog breed. 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.

A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, what’s wrong with the banks? Also, we ask whether Bibi will break Israel (10:39) and why men should get a good night’s sleep to ensure vaccines work properly (19:03). Please subscribe to The Economist for full access to print, digital and audio editions: www.economist.com/podcastoffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The visit of Xi Jinping, China’s president, to Moscow may seem like the solidifying of a simple, anti-Western alliance. But China is walking a delicate line to look after its own interests. A growing minority of young people simply do not want to drive; that will have consequences far beyond roadways. And research on colonising the Moon goes underground. 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.

Chulpan Khamatova is one of Russia's best-loved actors. Once courted by Vladimir Putin, she now lives in exile in Latvia. Her work and fame brought access to the key protagonists in Russia’s recent past. It’s a unique vantage point to contemplate the nature of evil⁠⁠—and its antidote. The next episode will be released on Saturday April 1st 2023. For full access to print, digital and audio editions, as well as exclusive live events, subscribe to The Economist at economist.com/moscowoffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More than 650,000 Americans have died of overdoses since the start of the opioid epidemic. Fentanyl, easily available and dangerously powerful, killed seventy thousand people in 2021 alone. Now, as the federal government estimates more than five million people struggle with an opioid addiction, states are increasingly looking for sweeping solutions to the crisis. What solutions are there? And what’s stopping them being enacted? Keith Humphreys, drug policy advisor to George W Bush and Barack Obama, talks us through the state of epidemic. And The Economist’s Stevie Hertz heads to Oregon to see how its first-in-the-nation policies are working in practice.  This is the first part of a short series looking at the opioid epidemic in America. This episode considers the demand for the drugs, and in a few weeks we'll delve into the supply chain.  John Prideaux hosts with Charlotte Howard and Idrees Kahloon. You can now find every episode of Checks and Balance in one place and sign up to our weekly newsletter. For full access to print, digital and audio editions, as well as exclusive live events, subscribe to The Economist at economist.com/uspod.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The economics are clear-cut: the benefits of preserving the lungs of the world vastly outweigh those of felling trees. We travel to the Amazon and find that the problem is largely down to lawlessness in the world’s rainforests. And reflecting on the life of Oe Kenzaburo, a Japanese writer shaped by family crisis who gave voice to the voiceless. 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.

Until last week, most people beyond California and the tech world probably hadn’t heard of Silicon Valley Bank, but its swift collapse made headlines across the globe.  On this week’s podcast, hosts Alice Fulwood, Tom Lee-Devlin and Mike Bird examine what brought the bank down and to what extent the panic has been contained–or might still be spreading. Peter Conti-Brown from University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School says incompetence was behind the bank’s collapse. And former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers tells them the US government’s decision to guarantee deposits should be enough to restore confidence in the banks and prevent fear spreading. Sign up for our new weekly newsletter dissecting the big themes in markets, business and the economy at www.economist.com/moneytalks  For full access to print, digital and audio editions, subscribe to The Economist at www.economist.com/podcastoffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Proposed legislation that would hobble the judiciary has led to relentless demonstrations—and exposed a rift in Israeli society that has become dangerous to Binyamin Netanyahu and the country as a whole. Artificial intelligence is boosting online search, and bolstering publishers’ arguments that search engines owe them a piece of the pie. And the reasons behind Britain’s tomato rationing. 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.

A new class of drugs for weight loss have become available and are showing promising results. That’s welcome news, as a recent report estimates that half of the world’s population is expected to be overweight or obese by 2035. Obesity is a disease which can lead to serious health complications–and most previous attempts at treating it have proven futile. Can the new weight-loss drugs turn the tide against this global threat? Louise Baur, president of the World Obesity Federation crunches the numbers on the global impact of overweight and obesity. Stephan Guyenet, a neurobiologist and author of “The Hungry Brain”, explains the neurological and genetic factors that influence weight gain. Chris van Tulleken, an infectious diseases doctor at University College London and author of the upcoming book “Ultra-Processed People”, explores how the modern diet is contributing to the obesity epidemic–and other health problems. Plus, host Alok Jha asks Natasha Loder, The Economist’s health editor, how important the new skinny jabs are in the fight against obesity. For full access to The Economist’s print, digital and audio editions subscribe at economist.com/podcastoffer and sign up for our weekly science newsletter at economist.com/simplyscience. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From today’s national budget to hardline immigration legislation to international defence pacts, Britain’s prime minister is working hard to extract his Tory party from a deep electoral hole. The Kremlin is trying to extend its reach into Russia’s cultural spaces—but its incomplete success is telling. And a listen to the work of Brad Mehldau, perhaps today’s most eminent jazz pianist. 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.

For decades, China’s leaders have staked their claim to rule on economic growth. Now the focus on prosperity is shifting to self-reliance and security.  The Economist’s Beijing bureau chief, David Rennie, and senior China correspondent, Alice Su, interpret the targets set at the National People’s Congress with The Economist’s China economics editor, Simon Cox. They discuss what this change in focus means for business at home and abroad. And Jing Qian, the co-founder and managing director of the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Centre for China Analysis, decodes why Xi Jinping’s re-focusing of China’s economic priorities is happening now.  Sign up to our weekly newsletter here and for full access to print, digital and audio editions, as well as exclusive live events, subscribe to The Economist at economist.com/drumoffer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After internecine drama, the opposition-party alliance has picked their man. The bookish, mild-mannered Kemal Kilicdaroglu may be the best possible president, but also the worst possible candidate when Turkey’s democracy is flagging. We examine why a new UN high-seas treaty, decades in the making, is so significant. And Thailand’s “Boys’ Love” gay TV dramas are an ever-growing cultural export. 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.

A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, how to avoid war over Taiwan, the mystery of 250,000 dead Britons (9:50) and the small consolations of office irritations (18:20).  Please subscribe to The Economist for full access to print, digital and audio editions: www.economist.com/podcastoffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.