Narendra Modi’s reputation for prosperity is likely to propel him to a third term. But for India’s economic successes to last, the country needs a set of new reforms. Despite a host of sanctions from the West, Russia still has a booming arms industry. Where are all the weapons coming from (09:50)? And, the perils of trying to work on a plane (13:54).

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The ceasefire deal, which Hamas has agreed to, prompted celebrations in Gaza. But Binyamin Netanyahu isn’t satisfied and the fighting continues. Video game adaptations are getting better, and becoming a more popular choice with Hollywood’s directors (10:01). And the best-selling literary love-child of romance and fantasy (14:27).

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Thirty years of democracy have not led to uniform prosperity, and nearly everyone disagrees about the equality of opportunity. How will the disenchantment manifest at the polls? How two small Texas towns became the patent-law centre of America (12:16). And a tribute to Eleanor Coppola, mastermind of the award-winning behind-the-scenes look at her husband’s epic, “Apocalypse Now” (19:26).

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France’s president is known for pronouncements of grand scope with one eye toward history. But when our journalists visited him at his residence his assessment of the state of the world was bleak—a dark, prophetic call to arms. In this special episode, we ask whether his view is accurate, whether his proposed solutions would work and whether he is the person to enact them.

Read the full transcript of our interview here.

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When you look around the world, and at a wider set of measures, Generation Z are far better off than the popular narrative would have you believe. We examine what India’s push to soup up its nukes means for the global arms race (09:30). And even as global fertility rates fall, sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing a relative baby boom (17:11).

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Ever since there have been smartphones and social media, there have been concerns about how they might be affecting children. Over the past decade, doctors have seen a decline in mental health in the young in much of the rich world. But whether that rise can be attributed to technology is still a matter of fierce debate. Nevertheless, demands are growing to proactively restrict teenagers’ access to phones and social media, just in case. How concerned should parents and teachers be? Or is this just another moral panic?

Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Contributors: Tom Wainwright, The Economist's technology and media editor; Clare Fernyhough, co-founder of Smartphone Free Childhood; Carol Vidal of Johns Hopkins University; Pete Etchells, a psychologist at Bath Spa University and the author of “Unlocked: The Real Science of Screen Time”.

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A dramatic overnight raid in New York City was just one sign that protests at American universities are set to continue—a clear historical echo in an already-fraught election year. We ask why a niche newspaper run by Japan’s communist party has so much influence (13:05). And a study of new books on loneliness reveals both the benefits and drawbacks of solitude (20:39).

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The dengue-fever case counts now break regional records every year—and the structural reasons behind the spike suggest this sometimes-deadly virus will soon threaten more of the world. Breaches and security holes keep revealing how much of the internet’s innards are maintained by volunteers; we ask why (09:45). And the case for moving over, not up, at work (17:10).

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