The Weekend Intelligence from The Economist

The Economist

One story, vividly told. Join The Economist’s correspondents from around the world as they step back from the news to report on the people, places and ideas that matter most to them and shape all our lives. Published every Saturday. If you’re already a subscriber to The Economist, you’ll have full access to all our shows as part of your subscription. For more information about Economist Podcasts+, including how to get access, please visit our FAQs page at https://myaccount.economist.com/s/article/What-is-Economist-Podcasts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. JAN 31

    PSA: Taking a short break

    Instead of your usual episode of The Weekend Intelligence, we are bringing you season 3 of Boss Class. The series asks, how should employees and managers adapt to the world of AI? You'll find it wherever you listen to The Intelligence. The Weekend Intelligence team is on a short hiatus. We're using the time to report, gather and polish more stories for you. We'll be back Saturday 21st February. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 min
  2. The assassination that changed Japan

    JAN 24 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    The assassination that changed Japan

    When Yamagami Tetsuya fired the bullets that killed Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, he set off a chain reaction that upended Japanese society. The sheer force of his act brought down a church, a political party and a patriarch. In doing so it fractured the populace. On The Weekend Intelligence, Moeka Iida reports from the murder trial to tell the story of the assassination that changed Japan. Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—Subscribe to Economist Podcasts+ For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account. Music by Blue dot and Epidemic This podcast transcript is generated by third-party AI. It has not been reviewed prior to publication. We make no representations or warranties in relation to the transcript, its accuracy or its completeness, and we disclaim all liability regarding its receipt, content and use. If you have any concerns about the transcript, please email us at podcasts@economist.com. Read more about how we are using AI.

    46 min
  3. Hair peace

    JAN 16 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    Hair peace

    In the outer suburbs of Istanbul, the Elithair clinic operates nearly round the clock delivering hair transplants to a seemingly endless stream of young men from all over the world. They expect demand to keep on rising. But what, exactly, has changed to make record numbers of young men choose elective cosmetic surgery? Senior producer Sam Westran travels to Turkey to watch surgery in action, and muses on the state of baldness, masculinity and the manosphere. Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—Subscribe to Economist Podcasts+ For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account. Music by Bluedot Sessions, Epidemic Sound and Sound of Picture This podcast transcript is generated by third-party AI. It has not been reviewed prior to publication. We make no representations or warranties in relation to the transcript, its accuracy or its completeness, and we disclaim all liability regarding its receipt, content and use. If you have any concerns about the transcript, please email us at podcasts@economist.com. Read more about how we are using AI.

    54 min
  4. Honouring the dead

    JAN 10 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    Honouring the dead

    While walking around a national cemetery, it can seem like memorialising the war dead is a given, but governments have not always honoured their fallen. For much of history, soldiers who died in combat were left to rot on battlefields or buried in mass graves. In this episode of The Weekend Intelligence, senior producer Tamara Gilkes Borr visits memorials and speaks with historians to explore how two deadly wars transformed the status of the average soldier, and how evolving ideas of equality and democracy shape the way nations honour their dead today. For the episode about Il Barcone, the migrant ship that sank off the coast of Libya, listen to "They had names" on The Weekend Intelligence. Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—Subscribe to Economist Podcasts+ For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account. Music by Blue dot and Epidemic This podcast transcript is generated by third-party AI. It has not been reviewed prior to publication. We make no representations or warranties in relation to the transcript, its accuracy or its completeness, and we disclaim all liability regarding its receipt, content and use. If you have any concerns about the transcript, please email us at podcasts@economist.com. Read more about how we are using AI.

    39 min
  5. Sweating It Out

    JAN 2 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    Sweating It Out

    Britain is getting hot and steamy. From railway arches in Peckham to windswept beaches in Fife, public saunas are popping up across the country, promising warmth, connection and a break from that traditional British pastime of drinking alcohol. On The Weekend Intelligence, Ibby Caputo sweats into Britain’s booming sauna scene— where wellness culture meets genuine need. Inside the heat, she finds Gen Z ditching the pub for sober Saturday evenings, unpaid carers prescribed steam, and strangers bonding through sweat, silence and shared endurance. From the intimacy of the sauna bench to the icy shock of the North Sea, this is a story about bodies, belonging, and why Britain is learning to sweat together. Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—Subscribe to Economist Podcasts+ For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account. Music by Blue dot and Epidemic This podcast transcript is generated by third-party AI. It has not been reviewed prior to publication. We make no representations or warranties in relation to the transcript, its accuracy or its completeness, and we disclaim all liability regarding its receipt, content and use. If you have any concerns about the transcript, please email us at podcasts@economist.com. Read more about how we are using AI.

    47 min
  6. 2025, a year in the making

    12/19/2025 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    2025, a year in the making

    This week we’re taking a different approach, returning to some of our most compelling episodes from the past year. We’ll discover what’s happened to the people we encountered, catching up with them months after our initial conversations. Plus, our correspondents share what it was like to report these stories, and the insights they gained along the way. Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—Subscribe to Economist Podcasts+ For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

    29 min
  7. The last boat

    12/19/2025 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    The last boat

    We asked the head of podcasts to choose his favourite Weekend Intelligence from 2025 to play during the Christmas period. He chose our host Rosie Blau’s episode, The Last Boat, about the story her father never told. Rosie grew up knowing that her father escaped the Nazi regime on the last boat from Poland to Britain before war broke out in 1939. But she knew little of what he left behind and why he would not talk about it. In the episode she traces her father’s journey from Berlin to a forest clearing in southern Poland. On the way, she finds out that some histories resist telling – and how silence itself becomes an inheritance passed from generation to generation. Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—Subscribe to Economist Podcasts+ For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

    58 min
  8. Return to Iran

    12/12/2025 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    Return to Iran

    In July 2019 Nicolas Pelham, The Economist’s Middle East correspondent, received a rare journalist’s visa to Iran. On the day he was due to fly home, he was detained. He was held in Tehran for seven weeks while those back home desperately tried to secure his return. In November, Nick returned to Iran for the first time since his detention, accompanied by The Economist’s digital editor, Adam Roberts. In this episode of The Weekend Intelligence, Adam and Nick discuss the experience and reflect on what it’s like to work as foreign journalists in Tehran. Read Nick’s original story, Trapped in Iran. Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—Subscribe to Economist Podcasts+ For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account. Music by Blue dot and Epidemic This podcast transcript is generated by third-party AI. It has not been reviewed prior to publication. We make no representations or warranties in relation to the transcript, its accuracy or its completeness, and we disclaim all liability regarding its receipt, content and use. If you have any concerns about the transcript, please email us at podcasts@economist.com. Read more about how we are using AI.

    48 min
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About

One story, vividly told. Join The Economist’s correspondents from around the world as they step back from the news to report on the people, places and ideas that matter most to them and shape all our lives. Published every Saturday. If you’re already a subscriber to The Economist, you’ll have full access to all our shows as part of your subscription. For more information about Economist Podcasts+, including how to get access, please visit our FAQs page at https://myaccount.economist.com/s/article/What-is-Economist-Podcasts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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