The great famine of the 1870s killed 50 million people – and El Niño was a key driver. Another El Niño phase has just begun and it’s expected to be among the strongest. There are five times as many people in 2026 as there were in the 1870s and the planet is 1.4C hotter. So are we better prepared?

In this weekend's listen, Bloomberg’s Akshat Rathi speaks with Mingfang Ting, professor of climate at Columbia University, about the natural phenomenon and its interaction with human-caused climate change.

Read more:

• Bloomberg Green's deep dive on extreme heat

Thoughts or suggestions? Email zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/green.

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Some of the world’s top tennis players will face off at the Wimbledon finals this weekend. The players who make it to Centre Court have already achieved a bigger feat: a career as a tennis player.

On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg’s Hannah Miller and The Athletic’s Matt Futterman break down what sets tennis apart from other sports and the challenges the tournaments and players face to stay profitable.

Further Listening : Rafael Nadal's Retirement Is So Great He Doesn't Miss Tennis

Read more:

• Grand Slam prize money is enormous. The economics of tennis tournaments is complicated

• Wimbledon Investors Cash In With VIP Seats Costing Over $500,000

• Matt Futterman’s book, The Cruelest Game, is available for pre-order

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Hosted by David Gura; Produced by Julia Press; Reported by Matt Futterman, Hannah Miller; Edited by Aaron Edwards.

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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Maine Democrat Graham Platner’s withdrawal from his US Senate race is ratcheting up an already intense run-up to the US midterm elections. And yet, across the political spectrum, lawmakers in Washington agree that they need to deliver — quickly — on promises of affordability. With broad bipartisan support, they passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, billed as allowing more Americans to achieve the dream of home ownership.

But the bill’s fate has been thrown into doubt by President Trump, who surprised lawmakers by declining to sign it.

On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg housing policy reporter Katy O’Donnell and Megan Scully, who leads Bloomberg’s Congressional coverage, join Sarah Holder to discuss what’s in the housing bill, how Trump could still steer its fate and what his intervention could mean for Republicans in the midterms.

Read more:

• Would Congress’ New Housing Bill Lower Home Prices?
• Trump, GOP Clash After President Scraps Housing Bill Signing

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Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Rachael Lewis-Krisky; Reported by Katy O’Donnell and Megan Scully; Edited by Jeffrey Grocott.

Fact-checking by David Fox and Victor Swezy; Engineering by Alex Sugiura.

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

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For two decades, American universities have doubled down on master’s programs, relying on graduate degrees as their financial backbones. Now, the Trump administration’s policies are posing existential threats to that business model.

On today’s Big Take podcast, education reporter Liam Knox joins host Sarah Holder to break down the administration’s three-pronged attack on graduate school and the impact it could have on students, universities and America’s place on the global stage.

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Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Julia Press; Reported by Liam Knox; Edited by Tracey Samuelson.

Fact-checking by Victor Swezey; Engineering by Alex Sugiura.

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

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China rattled neighbors from Japan to Australia on Monday by test-launching a long-range ballistic missile from a nuclear submarine in the Pacific Ocean. While such launches are rare, the latest test reflects Beijing’s increasing openness about its growing military strength.

On today’s Big Take Asia podcast, Rebecca Choong Wilkins, who covers Asian government and politics, joins host K. Oanh Ha to discuss the surprise launch, China’s expanding arsenal and what they reveal about Beijing’s military aspirations for 2027 and beyond.

Read more:

• China’s ICBM Tests Point to New Normal Rattling the Pacific
• China Holds Rare Test of Sub-Launched Missile in Pacific Ocean
• China’s Secretive Missile Program Is Making Dozens of Companies Rich

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Hosted by K. Oanh Ha; Produced by Naomi Ng and Rachael Lewis-Krisky; Reported by Rebecca Choong Wilkins; Edited by Jeffrey Grocott, John Liu and Julia Weaver;

Fact-checking by Julia Press, David Fox and Yang Yang; Engineering by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura.

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

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Two opaque corners of finance have joined forces: shadow banking and phantom debt. Put another way, private credit firms are backing Buy-Now-Pay-Later companies to finance their expansion into the US consumer market.

On today’s Big Take podcast, guest host Stacey Vanek Smith joins Bloomberg reporters J.J. McCorvey and René Ismail to discuss what private credit’s involvement in BNPL means for everyday borrowers, why it’s raising concerns and whether the risks hiding in these spaces could spill over into the rest of the economy.

Read more: Private Credit Is Making Bets on Consumer Debt at a Precarious Time

Hosted by Stacey Vanek Smith; Produced by David Fox; Reported by J.J. McCorvey and René Ismail; Edited by Naomi Shavin.

Fact-checking by Julia Press and Laura Newcombe; Engineering by Alex Sugiura.

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

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For America’s 250th anniversary and our Weekend Listen, the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jill Lepore joins Mishal Husain to take her through her book on the US Constitution.

We The People explores how the Constitution came about and, crucially, how there was an expectation that it would likely change over time.

This is not, however, an episode entirely set in the past, because Jill Lepore is acutely alive to the pressures of the moment and of the contested sense of what America is or should be.

Contact The Mishal Husain Show mishalshow@bloomberg.net

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The federal programming leading up to the United States’ 250th anniversary this weekend has ranged from the genteel (essay contests for grade-schoolers and a national push for volunteerism) to the MAGA-coded (a “Freedom Truck” convoy and a UFC cage fight on the White House lawn). The events are the product of rival planning committees – one created last year by the Trump administration, another by Congress a decade ago.

On today’s Big Take podcast, host Sarah Holder talks to Bloomberg Businessweek Senior Editor Laura Bliss about the funding battles and cronyism allegations that have dogged this year’s events – and how they echo earlier chapters of American history.

Read more:

• The Money and Influence Behind America’s Very MAGA 250th Birthday Party
• Why the Great American State Fair Looks So Empty

We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer.

Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Rachael Lewis-Krisky; Reported by Laura Bliss; Edited by Jeffrey Grocott and Tracey Samuelson.

Fact-checking by David Fox; Engineering by Alex Sugiura.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.