In recent weeks, AI has solved hundreds of previously unanswered maths problems. Our correspondents ask if machines can do the same in other areas of science and what role human researchers may play. Why crisps are getting chunkier and chocolate chewier. And celebrating the life and work of author Annie Dillard.

Watch extended clips from Insider here.

Guests and host:

• Alex Hern, AI writer
• Alok Jha, science editor
• Avantika Chilkoti, global business writer
• Ann Wroe, obituaries editor
• Rosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”
• Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered:

• Scientific research, mathpocalypse, AI
• Crisps, snacks, texture, crunchtok
• Annie Dillard, nature, obituary

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Their struggles to get jobs or buy homes once propelled political movements. Now many millennials are out-earning their parents and in positions of power. Our correspondent explains the transformation. Sophisticated tech tools are being used to sway voters in Israel. And why you should hold your tongue to high standards.

Guests and host:

• Callum Williams, senior economics writer
• Anshel Pfeffer, Israel correspondent
• Bella King, digital news editor
• Rosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered:

• Millennials, home ownership, unemployment
• Israel, election, Netanyahu
• Tongue-scrapers, dental hygiene

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Donald Trump claims to have brokered a deal to import Russian diesel and an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. As attacks on Kyiv continue, our deputy editor says Trump is risking Ukraine’s future for a mid-term bounce. India’s government is failing to quell Gen Z protests. And how song binds us together and brings joy.

Guests and host:

• Edward Carr, deputy editor of The Economist
• Kira Huju, Asia correspondent
• Joel Budd, Britain social affairs editor
• Rosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered:

• Ukraine, diesel, energy ceasefire, Starlink
• Cockroach party, Modi, Abhijeet Dipke
• Singing, Sacha Langton-Gilks, choir

Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to The Economist.

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A year ago Donald Trump created the Board of Peace to rebuild Gaza. Yet for many Palestinians, life is even harder, as the ceasefire is repeatedly violated, crime is rising and poverty rife. Why record labels are in a spin over AI music. And Japan is struggling to benefit from the global matcha boom.

Guests and host:

• Nicolas Pelham, Middle East correspondent
• Henry Tricks, US technology and media editor
• Moeka Iida, East Asia reporter
• Rosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”
• Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered:

• Gaza, Board of Peace, Hamas
• AI music, slop, Warner Music Group
• Matcha, Japan, Kagoshima

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This weekend, Yemeni rebels struck Saudi Arabia’s international airport in the deadliest attack on a Gulf Arab country since the Iran war began in February. Our correspondent reports from Riyadh. How European manufacturers are adjusting to high energy prices and war. And the revival of writing by hand.

Guests and host:

• Gregg Carlstrom, Middle East correspondent
• Guy Scriven, global business writer
• Caitlin Talbot, culture correspondent
• Rosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered:

• Saudi Arabia, Houthis, Yemen, Riyadh airport
• European carmakers, energy prices, tariffs
• Cursive, handwriting

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Decades of messaging have not worked, so governments are trying new ways to get citizens to eat well, from scary labelling to taxing the junkiest foods. Will it work? The death of a plague researcher in Russia is made more mysterious by the government’s resolute lack of transparency. And a tribute to Cyril Hilsum, the inventor behind ubiquitous flat-screen displays.

Watch extended clips from Insider here.

Guests and host:

• Slavea Chankova, health-care correspondent
• Alex Turner, defence editor
• Ann Wroe, obituaries editor
• Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered:

• diet, public health, health policy
• Russia, plague, bioweapons
• Cyril Hilsum, liquid crystals, flat-screen displays

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Bond yields across the rich world keep ticking up. We take a global look at where the risks are mounting most, and just how much worry is warranted. What might have once seemed fanciful is becoming real: delivering daylight to dark parts of the world using mirrors in space. And the fatal earnestness of “The Social Reckoning”.

Guests and host:

• Alex Domash, economics correspondent
• Tim Cross, senior science writer
• Tom Wainwright, culture correspondent
• Rosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”
• Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered:

• bond yields, monetary policy, animal spirits
• satellite technology, darkness and light
• “The Social Reckoning”, Aaron Sorkin

Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to The Economist.

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What started as a small protest about conditions of a school and of schooling has mushroomed, and tapped into national anxieties that may prove hard to tame. In the context of the “Cornell 7” case we examine Title IX, the statute that should protect students—but that is failing. And how peddling superstitions to financiers is big business in India.

Guests and host:

• Sophie Pedder, Paris bureau chief
• Stevie Hertz, US policy correspondent
• Abhishek Kumar, India writer
• Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered:

• France protests, French politics
• Cornell 7, Title IX, sexual assault
• India, finance, astrology, superstition

Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to The Economist.

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