Microdramas — mini soap operas designed to be watched on your phone — have become one of the fastest-growing forms of entertainment in the world.

On today’s Big Take Asia podcast, host K. Oanh Ha speaks with Bloomberg’s Yang Yang and Bloomberg Businessweek’s Christopher Beam about how millions got hooked on the medium, the challenges studios face as they try to reach new audiences and how AI could transform it all.

Read more: China Has the World Hooked on Two-Minute Microdramas
China Brought 90-Second Microdramas to the US. Now Hollywood Wants In

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Hosted by K. Oanh Ha; Produced by Naomi Ng and Victor Swezey; Reported by Yang Yang and Christopher Beam; Edited by Paddy Hirsch and Crispina Robert.

Fact-checking by Victor Swezey; Engineering by Alex Sugiura and Sean Carter.

Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.

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North Korea was supposed to be broke and isolated. Now, it’s enjoying an unexpected economic boom.

On today’s Big Take Asia podcast, Bloomberg’s Cat Barton and host K. Oanh Ha unpack North Korea’s shift from pandemic-era hardship to a multibillion-dollar windfall, and discuss how the country’s newfound wealth is reshaping geopolitical alliances.

Read more: Kim Jong Un Flouted Sanctions to Amass $22 Billion Windfall

Further listening: North Korea’s Nuclear Program Reaches Tipping Point for the US

Watch, from Originals: Why Sanctions Aren’t Stopping North Korea

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The launch of Moonshot AI’s Kimi K3 model has taken the tech world — and Washington — by storm, raising urgent questions about how a Chinese startup can suddenly rival the world's most powerful AI systems.

On today’s Big Take Asia podcast, host Oanh Ha speaks with Bloomberg’s Mark Anderson about the distillation method behind Moonshot’s breakthrough and what it means for the high-stakes AI race between the US and China.

Read more: Moonshot Plans IPO in Six Months After China AI Breakthrough

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Our Town from Bloomberg’s Big Take podcast follows residents of Gainesboro, Tennessee, after a group of far-right Christians moves in with plans for a radical social experiment.

Listen to Episode 1 in the Big Take.

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As the Japanese yen hit a 40-year low against the US dollar, Japan's government stepped in to support its currency. And it has a powerful ally in US President Donald Trump, who is putting the US financial might behind the historic currency intervention in what he called a “signal of friendship.”

On today’s Big Take Asia podcast, host K. Oanh Ha sits down with chief Asia foreign exchange correspondent Ruth Carson to unpack how the yen fell so far, what it could take to get it back on track and what’s at stake for the global economy.

Read more: Bessent Says Yen Level Problem for Japan, Other Currencies

Further listening:

• Carry Trades, Explained
• Could the Chinese Yuan Ever Replace the US Dollar?

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Hosted by K. Oanh Ha; Produced by Naomi Ng, Yang Yang, Rachael Lewis-Krisky and Victor Swezey; Reported by Ruth Carson; Edited by Paddy Hirsch and Tracey Samuelson. Fact-checking by Victor Swezey; Engineering by Emma Munger and Taka Yasuzawa. Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.

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Weeks of student-led protests forced the resignation of India’s education minister, in a rare public setback for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

On today’s Big Take Asia podcast, guest host Rebecca Choong Wilkins and Bloomberg reporter Atul Dev discuss how India’s cockroach movement grew from a satirical online joke into a powerful anti-Modi protest and why its economic grievances resonate so deeply among young Indians at this moment.

Read more: Awakened Indian Students Hand Modi One of His Biggest Setbacks
India Youth Protests End as Modi Bows to Group’s Demands

Hosted by Rebecca Choong Wilkins; Produced by Naomi Ng; Reported by Atul Dev; Edited by Jeffrey Grocott, Paddy Hirsch and Julia Weaver.

Fact-checking by Rachael Lewis-Krisky and Julia Press; Engineering by Taka Yasuzawa, Alex Sugiura, Emma Munger

Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.

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After the pandemic-era run on medical gloves, the US government set a plan in motion to reshore manufacturing. Roughly six years and almost $1 billion later, America is once again facing potential shortages of medical gloves because of supply chain disruptions stemming from the war in Iran.

On today’s Big Take podcast, host Sarah Holder and health care industry reporter Anna Edney break down why US efforts to make American medical gloves have largely failed, what it says about reshoring manufacturing writ large and where the industry goes from here.

Read more: Almost $1 Billion Later, the US Still Can’t Make a Medical Glove

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Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Laura Newcombe and Rachael Lewis-Krisky; Reported by Anna Edney; Edited by Naomi Shavin. Fact-checking by Victor Swezey; Engineering by Sean Carter. Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.

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When a 1,000-year-old Cambodian statue came up for auction at Sotheby’s in New York, it sparked off an investigation that uncovered one of the world’s most extensive art trafficking networks.

On today’s Big Take Asia Podcast, host K. Oanh Ha talks to Bloomberg’s Matthew Campbell and American lawyer Bradley Gordon on how Cambodia’s looted treasures ended up scattered around the world and what it takes to bring them home.

Read more: Chasing the Man Who Stole the Gods

Watch, from Originals: Cambodia to Museums: We Want Our Statues Back

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Hosted by K. Oanh Ha; Produced by Naomi Ng; Reported by Matthew Campbell; Edited by Aaron Edwards. Fact-checking by Victor Swezey and Yang Yang; Engineering by Taka Yasuzawa and Emma Munger. Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer. Photo by Agnes Dherbeys/The New York Times/Redux

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