This is one of the best podcast. Nothing else fills my drive to work than this podcast. Thank you for all your the hard work. Jason is awesome and his voice fills my day. I miss John. Please bring back John. Together John and Jason brought maturity to the podcast which was awesome. Ore needs training. Her immaturity is killing the show. Please train Ore more and then she can try again. But do not spoil it any further. I tried to continue listening hoping that her voice and interview skill will improve over time but I could not any more. If Jason is not there I just could not continue. When Ore starts the show I shut it down. No offense though. Jason is awesome and it is for him I am continuing. One of the primary reason for not subscribing to podcast+ is Ore. Thank you.

Economist switched to a subscriber model. Ok, quality content, here’s my money. Now, advertisements everywhere, despite listening to “subscriber edition” podcasts. Feeling very duped. This is ridiculous.

Tormented indeed! My ears are still buzzing from the god awful sound effects the economist decided to use underneath the vocal track. Normally, I enjoy all of the stories the daily podcast offers. Today, not so much.

I agree with some of the other reviews…it’s less about the news and content and more about her and her need to sound interesting and oh so cool. Sorry, also very annoying voice for podcasting.

Your massive underreporting of numbers in the Gaza Strip is mind-boggling. Do better. Your stats are pathetically low-balled.

Shame on you for the lack of reporting on the annihilation happening in Palestine. The utter lack of coverage- no critical examination of a brutal occupation that’s culminated in a cruel siege that’s beyond brutal. Where do you live? You don’t see the images in your news feeds? I am deeply, deeply disappointed in the unethical conduct of turning a blind eye to the war crimes in Palestine. How amazing that the aggressor can genocide a people who don”t even have a standing army, and persist in calling themselves victims in part because they know western journalists will be their mouthpiece even when said journalists are silent.

I would give this show 5 stars if it were hosted only by Jason Palmer. The female host Ogunbiyi doesn’t seem to realize she’s not the news and I am perplexed by her inserting herself into the topic whenever possible. Todays show with that “you are welcome”? Seriously. Get yourself a talk show, girl, to be yourself.

Are used to like the Economist podcasts. However, in recent years, there has been a slow and steady decline in quality. Now it seems everything is driven by quantity versus quality. Nine out of 10 podcasts, I stop about 2 minute into them and delete them straight away because the topics are narrowly researched, the interviewees are uninteresting (usually with bad audio) and the whole construction of the podcast is of poor quality. Unfollowed and deleted.

Great mix of news coverage and interesting cultural bits. Loving the new Ore + Jason host duo and, obviously, all those Economist puns (including in the episode titles!). Your show makes me a better conversationalist. Keep up the great work, team!!

Weekend Intelligence is a master class in journalism. Bravo.

I get the attempted move to a subscription-based model. I’m sure you had some well-paid consultants make the case to you. Unfortunately you are a few years too late. People are sick of new subscriptions, with ever increasing costs — especially for things they are happy to listen to for free with paid advertisements. The move that led me to move to post a negative review, however, was the bait-and-switch story in the Thanksgiving/Black Friday episode — in which you began to tell the story of china and the Dalia llama, only to then abruptly cut it short to push YET ANOTHER a half-off your subscription offer. At this point who is going to believe the full-value price of your subscription? And at this point what high-value listeners haven’t already decided to sign up. A bait-and-switch ad presented as a story isn’t the way to get me to sign up. It’s the way to get my to dig in my feels and refuse to sign up.

I’m really disappointed in you, Intelligence team. How could you run an entire story on bungee jumping without even a single mention of its origin as a rite of passage for the ni-Vanuatu on Pentecost Island? You actually refer to that white man as “inventing” the sport. Shame on you.

Ore is ok but she’s not very easy to listen to and doesn’t bring much to the table. I wish they would just stick with Jason only. He has the best voice and his personality is the best

Their coverage of Israel's attacks on Gaza has been utterly one-sided. They've provided no history or context relating to the siege, oppression, and apartheid that Israel has subjected Palestinians to in the rgeion to for decades. They offer nothing but full-throated support for a corrupt and powerful government commiting ethnic cleansing in the name of yet another "War on Terror".

It's become clear that on certain issues, but most egregiously with Israel's genocidal campaign against Palestinians in Gaza (sorry, " the war on Hamas"), this podcast's coverage is grossly one sided.There's no such thing as truly objective journalis, but the schlock they've been rolling out since the start of the confilct has been unbearably reductive and very pro-Israeli. The "expert" they interview in the most recent episode about Gaza sparking a culture war, spews some drivel about the conflict being reduced to simple terms of Good vs Evil by Gen Z kids virtue signaling on the internt. He essentially says that it's only possible to have sympathy for one-side, and that one can get more internet brownie points for backing the powerless vs the powerful (humorously underscoring himself the laughable notion of referring to the David vs the Goliath situation a war). Ironic, given that The "Intelligence" has in no way offered a balanced view of the ongoing violence, or it's historical roots and context. Palestine = Hamas, Hamas = Bad. Holocaust = happened, therefore anything Israel does = Justified. I'm digusted to the point of unsubscribing. Hoped I could come back to the pod eventually, but seeing this crap in my feed is too infuriating.

The few episodes I’ve heard have been poorly researched. With a lack of appreciation for how statistics work.

I've enjoyed listening to the show the past few years. Sad to see it go behind a paywall. Can't imagine the advertisers will much appreciate it, either...

Jason Palmer is the best. His silky smooth voice and wit are what I look forward to each episode. I had a hard time getting used to Fassman, and am really not enjoying Ore’s voice. I wish you would stick with only Jason.

Completely predictable, derivative advocacy masquerading as journalism.

I really love this podcast and the hosts are excellent. Ore and Jason are solid, Jason on his own was great (and his wry humor good). I was take it or leave it on John, but hey the stories are what make this podcast work. I really like the three story format, so that even when I’m less interested in the lead there’s often a secondary piece that catches my interest. All in all, the Intelligence leaves me better informed.

Normally this is a great program for daily news you may not hear elsewhere. But for US politics and cultural matters they take the words of Democratic advocates and news sources, which are frequently half-true or untrue. For example, they ignore wide-scale left-wing violence in America, report on democratic attempts at police reform while ignoring the Democrats’ filibuster of similar Republican efforts led by Senator Tim Scott, and don’t look at basic statistics on matters like unarmed police shootings. It would be nice if the Economist used its international perspective to avoid partisan coverage. We Americans need more actually objective coverage! Update: the US coverage bias continues, taking the Democratic Party line that state election reforms are racist, and ignoring that what they are limiting are fraud-prone policies such as drive-through voting or 24-hour voting which had only just been added during the COVID pandemic, and that these laws actually make voting easier than it has been pre-pandemic. Dear Economist, please check your biases!

Can you please change the intro music from an annoying siren to something more pleasant? I find that it ruins my morning and I don’t need that sense of urgency and anxiety from a podcast.

This podcast was shorter. I listen at 2x speed and it’s still more time than I want to spend on a daily podcast. Please go back to being more digestible.

The content is crisp and informative and J. Palmer’s voice is cherry on the cake

How delightful to hear from Jon Fasman on today’s podcast. His deep and broad knowledge on so many subjects always makes me feel smarter when listening to him. Thanks.

I once again took a peek to see if this podcast righted the ship, hoping third time was a charm. Not at all. In fact, they have completely given themselves over to extreme right wing views. Constant coverage of extremist republicans who have literally accomplished nothing except spewing hate get lionizing coverage. No coverage of actual passed laws and policy debates. Every story is straight from the extremist playbook, couched in far right talking points and a Christian nationalist skewed view of the world. A clear example: the 1 year anniversary of the Dobbs decision. All the coverage from the anti-abortion point of view, using their language. All the sound bytes from that extremist minority. Said the absurd term “pro-life” over 7 times, a cheesy marketing term from the 1980s for extremists to hide behind. The issue is abortion, and it’s so it’s either pro or anti abortion, not pro-life or pro-choice. It has never been about life, and never will be, other then to try to control people’s lives using their extremist ideology and forcing their morally bankrupt religious beliefs on everyone else. But the extremist bent of the coverage becomes plain when you count the number of times “pro-choice”was used: 0. The number of sound bytes from the other side: 0. The amount of coverage: 0. The sad thing is the fig leaf that lazy journalists used to hide behind has completely fallen away, and yet you have 2 women saying pro-life over and over again when the story was about how these extremist don’t want to allow abortion even if the mothers life is in extreme danger (screw her life), and wanting to kill people who not only perform abortions, but are connected in any way at all. Even though polls have shown time and again that 60-70% of the country wants abortion to be available, and the rest are divided in their level of opposition, they give 100% of coverage to corrupt extremists that violate the Constitution at every turn. Journalist like this is why we are where we are today. The truly sad thing is it came from the mouths of 2 women, at least one a person of color. This is just the podcast version of Fox News, complete with replacing white males with women and Uncle Toms to try to add a veneer of respectability. You can’t hide behind a racist,sexist, and misogynistic style guide [written by a white male, of course] to cover the extremist bias in the reporting. They actually did a story on it where he didn’t even know his own style guide (guess he forgot what his rich Republican donors told him to say), completely ignoring that doing stories about yourself is another violation journalistic ethics. Cheesiness at every turn. This is the last time I will give them a try.

Please bring Jason Palmer back as full time host!

I have found this pod cast informative and well-presented.

This. Is. A. Good. Podcast. I. Hope. This. Podcast. Can. Stay. I. Like the information. On. This podcast. I. Understand. All. The. Information. On. This. Podcast. Brent. Allgire. Bellingham. Washington.

She’s a good interviewer and I enjoy listening to her (she has an excellent voice). I hope that she stays!

Very insightful and interesting. At 100, Mr. Kissinger speaks with experience and intelligence. An amazing mind.

On Monday’s episode the good the bad and the ugly the reporter said the first use of a mobile phone in a movie was 1977’s Wall Street. Wall Street was released in 1987.

Please bring back Jason Palmer as full-time host.

Ogunbiyi is the perfect match for Palmer. It also bring some diversity in terms of gender, race and generation. Brilliant move. Thank you!

Another one who thinks jason doesn’t need a co-host. I was impressed by the Kiera Bell case coverage

Am I the only one who likes Ore Ogunbiyi? I think her perspective is refreshing, and she has a strong but pleasant voice. To those saying Jason doesn’t need a co-host - it’s probably a business decision more than a creative one. This continues to be one of my favorite podcasts. I appreciate the Economist’s ambition to deliver impartial reporting, even if they don’t always nail it. As an American, I also really appreciate their global perspective.

I agree with other recent reviewers who think that Jason Palmer was doing a fantastic job and didn’t need a co-host. Plus, Jon Fasman was on The Intelligence for about 3 days (okay, maybe 6 months?) and now he’s gone and you’ve brought in someone new. Jon Fasman was much better on Checks

YOU DON’T NEED A CO HOST. if you have one, make them at least half as good as Jason

Great daily podcast, but the Obituaries add a tremendous extra dimension, learning about people that we may not hear enough about. Hopefully will keep sprinkling in obits to the podcast.

This has become my daily source of morning inspiration to think about what is happening in the broader world. Love the diverse topics and guests.

Sometimes there are good news stories, but unfortunately it's mixed in with leftist pablum so you have to be careful what you listen to.

The Intelligence is my favorite, but all shows I’ve heard are excellent!! Smart, fun, surprising and one of the best podcasts on my list. A top “go to” I look forward to hearing every day. You don’t need to be interested in business to enjoy this well produced and thoughtful investment in your time. Top-notch reporting, straightforward and mostly down the middle/balanced. Except that it will approach most of its journalism with a finance bent. This often keeps it honest, maybe more conservative (from investment POV), but also throws in fascinating stories drowned out in other outlets.

As usual, The Economist correspondents do a wonderful job of explaining current issues in a form long enough to address the main points while remaining succinct.

I love the Economist and it podcast. You dive into stories that help the listener to really understand. And for Americans it gives us a world view that our media rarely achieve.

The Economist is very devoted to the maintenance of the status quo. So that’s what you will find intheir news. Understandably so, they are mostly very smart and very small nerds. I can commiserate with the dread of being a little guy facing the dawn of anarchy and authoritarianism around the globe. If you ask me though, they chose the wrong side of history when they hired their 1%er bodyguards. If you you are NOT in the mood to hear what the “nice guys” in the fossil fuel industry are saying when they aren’t in fear of ridicule- listen to Sawbones. It’s just as informative and kinda funny too!!

1) Please move Fasman back to Checks & Balances, back to his old role now occupied by Idris C. Fasman is a better expert on C&B than a host — and more knowledgeable about US history & politics than Idris. Or just let us hear fr Charlotte. 2) Everytime wealthy CA hater Suich Bass writes or speaks, I want to cancel my subscription. Even on the rare occurrences where she reports mostly on facts, her framing is so prejudiced and right wing, she qualifies for the Roberts court. Why isn’t your US coverage as smart & nuanced as say your China team, your Babbage team, etc? Do better.

Great listen. Thank you.

I listen the The Intelligence every weekday. The topics are wide ranging but always interesting. Jason

One of the best podcast to listen

A podcast from a paper that has and always will speak only for the interests of British and American billionaires and millionaires.