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Apple and Alphabet operate what is in effect a smartphone-app duopoly. Governments want to curb their power, but it is not clear whether more competition would change things. We ask why India’s election is so eye-wateringly expensive; the country’s size is not the only answer (08:59). And new approaches in the old fight against swarms of locusts (14:07).
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The introduction laws cracking down on supposed foreign agents has become a common tactic for autocratic leaders. Activists in Georgia, who oppose the introduction of such a law, refer to theirs as “the Russian law”. They see it as moving their country closer to Putin, and away from the West.
Last week, as Georgia’s parliament prepared to vote on the law, Heidi Pett travelled to Tbilisi, the capital, to meet opposition leaders and find out why they are so afraid. What she discovered was a group being beaten, bruised, and left worried for their personal freedom—wondering, once the dust settles, what the day after tomorrow will bring.
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Narendra Modi may well be the most popular politician on the planet. India’s prime minister is eyeing a third term atop the world’s biggest democracy. 
A tea-seller’s son, Mr Modi began life an outsider and the man behind the political phenomenon remains hard to fathom. India has become an economic powerhouse during his ten years in charge. But he’s also the frontman for a chauvinistic Hindu nationalist dogma. 
Can Mr Modi continue to balance both parts of his agenda and finish the job of turning India into a superpower? The Economist’s Avantika Chilkoti finds out what makes him tick. 
Launching June 2024.
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Our editor-in-chief and Jerusalem correspondent pay a visit to Israel’s halls of power, finding that long-whispered dissent is spilling into the open. An Italian subsidy for green home improvements was ripe for abuse by design; the bill has now come due and it is enormous (14:28). And how “Bridgerton”, a sort-of period drama, has made string quartets fashionable again (21:00). 
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Donald Trump and Joe Biden are campaigning against a global backdrop of rising authoritarianism. Each candidate has accused the other of trying to destroy American democracy. But what are the constraints on the presidency, whoever holds the office? This week we consider whether the checks and balances the founding fathers put in place are still fit for purpose. Could a president tilt the country toward dictatorship?

Charlotte Howard hosts with James Bennet and Idrees Kahloon. Elizabeth Goitein of the Brennan Center for Justice and The Economist’s John Prideaux also contribute.

Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts

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When it comes to the chips used in artificial intelligence, one firm has the market locked up. We look at the rivals minded to steal Nvidia’s crown. The death toll from the war in Gaza has been disputed since the start; we cut through the numbers to find a reliable estimate (10:19). And our correspondent examines the great rematches of fiction (16:07).
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