The US Justice Department has announced it would establish a $1.776 billion legal fund to compensate people who claim they’ve been targeted unfairly by the federal government. The plan has been met with swift bipartisan backlash, with some lawmakers calling it a “slush fund” that could line the pockets of Trump loyalists and Jan. 6 rioters with taxpayer dollars.

On today’s Big Take podcast, host Sarah Holder joins Bloomberg reporters Chris Strohm and Erik Wasson to break down the mechanics of the fund, the Trump administration’s rationale for using it and the mounting questions around its oversight and legal grounds.

Read more: Jan. 6 Rioters Who Beat Police May Get Payouts, Blanche Says

Trump’s $1.8 Billion Settlement Fund Hits Senate GOP Backlash

Why Critics Call Trump’s $1.8B Anti-Weaponization Fund an Abuse of Power

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Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by David Fox; Reported by Chris Strohm, Erik Wasson; Edited by Aaron Edwards.

Fact-checking by Laura Newcombe, Rachael Lewis-Krisky; Engineering by Emma Munger.

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

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The Trump administration is ramping up pressure on Cuba’s regime. Just this month, it indicted former President Raúl Castro, announced the deployment of additional military assets to the region and released a video message — featuring Secretary of State Marco Rubio — blaming Cuba’s economic troubles on its government.

The push comes less than five months after the US captured one of Havana’s staunchest allies, Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, which choked Cuba’s oil supplies and plunged the island into darkness.

On today’s Big Take podcast, host David Gura and Bloomberg State Department reporter Eric Martin discuss what’s next for Cuba’s regime, how President Trump’s Venezuela playbook is — and isn’t — playing out in Havana and the challenges both nations face as they adapt to Trump’s vision for the Western Hemisphere.

Read more: Can Cuba’s Regime Survive Rising US Pressure?

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Hosted by David Gura; Produced by Rachael Lewis-Krisky; Reported by Eric Martin; Edited by Jeffrey Grocott.

Fact-checking by Laura Newcombe; Engineering by Alex Sugiura.

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

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The Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo may have been spreading for months, according to the World Health Organization.

On this week’s episode of the Next Africa Podcast, Jennifer Zabasajja is joined by healthcare reporter Janice Kew and Congo Country Director for the Danish Refugee Council, Caitlin Brady. They discuss the impact of aid cuts on the outbreak and how serious the crisis could get.

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Beyond this month's talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump, there’s an epic tale that has been unfolding for decades. It’s a battle to be the world’s number one power and a much bigger story than the latest meeting of these two men.

Kishore Mahbubani is a former Singaporean diplomat who served as president of the United Nations Security Council. For two decades, he has argued that the West fundamentally misunderstands the rise of China and its challenge to American supremacy.

Mahbubani, who eventually turned to academia, now specializes in governance and public policy. In this conversation with Mishal Husain, he traces the story behind the Xi-Trump talks, the handshakes and the social media posts–and what may lie ahead.

Mahbubani also reveals how his own successes were made possible by Singapore’s remarkable growth.

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The global bond market buckled over the past week. Yields on 30-year US Treasuries hit their highest level in almost 20 years, while long-term debt yields in the UK and Japan reached multi-decade highs. It’s a signaling effect, Bloomberg’s Enda Curran says, that investors around the world are increasingly convinced higher inflation is here to stay.

On today’s Big Take podcast, Curran and host David Gura discuss how supply shocks from the Iran war feed into longer-term inflation concerns, how AI might provide a way out for the global economy — and what this rout in the bond market means for the Federal Reserve, its new chair and the rest of us.

Listen more: The Great Bond Car Wreck — in Slow Motion

Read more: $50 Trillion Safe-Haven Debt Market Upended by Iran War Inflation

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Hosted by David Gura; Produced by David Fox; Reported by Enda Curran, Mark Schroers, Ye Xie and Jorgelina Do Rosario; Edited by Jeffrey Grocott.

Fact-checking by Laura Newcombe; Engineering by Alex Sugiura.

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

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Graduation is here — but the jobs aren’t. On today’s Big Take podcast, we check in with recent graduates facing a brutal hiring landscape where 42% are underemployed. We look at what’s driving today’s low-hire, low-quit market, how the AI boom could hamper the job search and what happens when top-tier students finish school without a clear path forward.

Read more:

• A Dozen Young Job Hunters on What It Takes to Get Hired
• Why More College Graduates Are Stuck in Jobs That Don’t Require Degrees

Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Julia Press; Reported by Marin Cogan; Edited by Jeffrey Grocott.

Fact-checking by Laura Newcombe; Engineering by Alex Sugiura.

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

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For months, Democrats and Republicans have been locked in a fierce battle over the way districts are drawn across the US. As both parties try to gain an edge ahead of midterms in November, efforts to redistrict could reshape Congress in the final two years of Trump’s second term — and regional economies for decades to come.

On today’s Big Take podcast, guest host Stacey Vanek Smith hears from Virginia Democratic Representative Don Beyer, economist Julianne Malveaux and Bloomberg’s Greg Giroux about how the race to redistrict America could affect everything from representation to economics.

Read more: What the Virginia Court Ruling Means for Democrats

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Hosted by Stacey Vanek Smith; Produced by David Fox with help from Rachael Lewis-Krisky; Reported by Greg Giroux; Edited by Aaron Edwards and Tracey Samuelson.

Fact-checking by Laura Newcombe; Engineering by Alex Sugiura.

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

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SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son has made a $60 billion bet on OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman – a commitment that has some insiders worried.

On today’s Big Take Asia Podcast, host K. Oanh Ha speaks with Bloomberg’s Min-Jeong Lee about how Son became captivated by Altman and what’s at stake for his reputation – and the company – as the AI race intensifies.

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Read more: SoftBank Founder’s Starstruck Bet on OpenAI Raises Concern

Watch, from Originals: The Troubled Saga of Masa Son's $100 Billion Fund

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