Big Take

In his 1961 farewell address, President Dwight Eisenhower famously warned about the dangers of the business of war–what he called the “military industrial complex.” Now, more than six decades later, that warning still rings true. The US military is the most powerful – and expensive – in the world, but the Pentagon bureaucracy is vast, inefficient, and often slow to adapt to a rapidly changing world. Bloomberg reporters Peter Martin, Courtney McBride, and Roxana Tiron join this episode to talk about their deep reporting about concerns inside and outside the Pentagon that the US military is in danger of falling behind rivals including China, and what the Defense Department is doing to change. Michèle Flournoy, a former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, also joins to give perspective on how the Pentagon works, what it does right, and what it needs to do better. Read more: https://bloom.bg/3JiAnXW Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] podcast is produced by the Big Take Podcast team: Supervising Producer: Vicki Vergolina, Senior Producer: Kathryn Fink, Producers: Mo Barrow, Rebecca Chaisson, Michael Falero and Federica Romaniello, Associate Producers: Sam Gebauer and Zaynab Siddiqui. Sound Design/Engineers: Raphael Amsili and Gilda Garcia.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One unexpected consequence of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: It highlighted how just a handful of countries–notably Russia and China–supply much of the fertilizer needed to feed the world. Amid geopolitical tensions and humanitarian concerns, the race for fertilizer has become a priority for the U.S. and its allies. Bloomberg reporter Elizabeth Elkin joins this episode to talk about how concerns about fertilizer shortages have nations looking for alternatives. Read more: https://bloom.bg/3KUmT62 Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pras Michel, the famed rapper and founding member of The Fugees, goes on federal trial later this month. The US government has charged him with numerous crimes related to his dealings with the fugitive Malaysian businessman allegedly at the center of one of the largest financial scandals in history. Michel maintains he’s innocent. This real-life international tale of intrigue involves a long cast of characters, including A-list Hollywood celebrities, the Chinese government, and both the Obama and Trump White Houses. Bloomberg reporters Anthony Cormier, Jason Leopold and Matthew Campbell have captured the whole saga in a story for Businessweek and they join this episode to tell us what they found. Read the story: https://bloom.bg/3ZiFi0W Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Startups pioneering invasive and noninvasive devices that interact with the brain seek to alleviate everything from ALS symptoms to epilepsy to treatment-resistant depression. In this episode, a look at the science behind this rapidly advancing technology.Dr. Thomas Oxley, a neurointerventionist and CEO of Synchron, gives us a tour of his lab in Brooklyn, New York, where his company is developing an implant that allows paralyzed people to control devices. Then Bloomberg reporter Sarah McBride joins Wes for a look at other startups making these brain-computer interfaces–and where the industry goes from here. Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Twelve years after the 2011 Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster, Japan is now considering restarting its shuttered nuclear reactors to combat rising energy prices. It’s a slow process, and one where the government and the public are conflicted about the advantages and risks of nuclear power.Around the world, countries that turned off their reactors in the wake of Fukushima, or have closed old or expensive reactors, are doing a similar about-face, with rising energy prices and clean energy commitments changing their calculus. That’s inevitably raised questions about the safety of potentially running these aging behemoths to more than double their expected lifespan. Bloomberg’s Japan energy reporter Shoko Oda joins this episode to talk about the country’s decision to restart its nuclear reactors and lingering anti-nuclear sentiment in the country. Power and renewable energy editor Will Wade also joins to describe how governments around the world are rethinking their nuclear stances, squeezed by rising energy prices and climate targets. And Dr. Jessica Lovering of Good Energy Collective, a pro-nuclear think tank, makes an advocate’s case for how nuclear power fits into the mix for clean energy over the next 30+ years. Read more about this story here: https://bloom.bg/3m9HTvi Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It takes hundreds of pounds of aluminum to build Ford’s “Truck of the Future,” the electric F-150. A lot of that aluminum comes from a long, complicated supply chain that it would be difficult to describe as environmentally friendly. The chain begins in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, at a mine with a legacy of pollution. It leads next to a refinery down the Amazon River where thousands of people are suing, claiming the industry harmed the fragile ecosystem, contaminated their water, and made them sick. Bloomberg senior reporters Sheridan Prasso and Jessica Brice join this episode to talk about their investigation–and how Ford responded to what they found. Read the investigation: https://bloom.bg/3xRXC4V Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

President Biden’s plan to forgive federal student loan debt for millions of Americans has been frozen since a handful of Republican-led states sued to stop it. They argue the president doesn’t have the power to wipe away billions of dollars of debt on his own. It’s now up to the US Supreme Court to decide if they’re right.Bloomberg Supreme Court correspondent Greg Stohr joins this episode to talk about the arguments on both sides, and where the 6-3 conservative majority might come down. And personal finance reporter Claire Ballentine explains what happens next for Americans with student debt if the court upholds Biden’s plan–or knocks it down. Read more: https://bloom.bg/3ktdt6P Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As Nigerians decide on a new president, the country’s economy is reeling. Nigeria’s public debt is growing, inflation is soaring, and half of adults can’t find steady work. People wait in line for hours at gas stations to fill their cars and light their homes with generators because the shaky power grid can’t keep up. Kidnapping for ransom is a growing problem. What can be done to turn things around? Bloomberg journalists Neil Munshi in Lagos, Nigeria and Ruth Olurounbi in Abuja, the capital, join this episode to talk about what’s at stake in this election–and how the candidates vying for the job say they’ll address these problems. Then, Cheta Nwanze, lead partner at SBM Intelligence, explains why it’s so difficult to attract companies, and money, to Africa’s largest economy. Read more: https://bloom.bg/3XUUzU5 Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

February 24 marks one year since Russia invaded Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin believed the country’s military would be defeated quickly and Kyiv, the capital, would fall. Instead, Ukraine’s clever, nimble — and motivated — military has fought back Russia’s forces despite being vastly outgunned. But the war has taken a terrible toll. Thousands of people have died. Cites have been devastated and millions of displaced Ukrainians are now living as refugees in other countries. Bloomberg journalists Daryna Krasnolutska and Marc Champion in Kyiv, and Rosalind Mathieson in London join this episode to take stock of all that has happened in the past year, and what lies ahead for Ukraine. Read the story: https://bloom.bg/3IL2hMf Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Around the world, a looming problem is making workers nervous–and angry. People in many countries are living longer, and at some point governments will run out of money to pay their retirement benefits.One solution some politicians are pushing: raising the retirement age for workers. Which…is about as popular as it sounds.So what is the answer? Ben Sills, who leads Bloomberg’s government and economics coverage in Europe, and White House and politics reporter Nancy Cook join this episode to sort through the tough economics and fraught politics of retirement. And pensions reporter Amy Bainbridge, personal finance reporter Ainsley Thomson, and senior editor Emily Cadman talk about how governments all over are trying to get hold of the problem before it becomes a crisis. Read more: https://bloom.bg/3SapcUf Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’re taking a break for President’s Day here in the US. So here’s one of our favorite stories you might have missed. We’ll be back tomorrow with a new episode. Thanks for listening!Here’s a random yet important fact: Copper is one of the very best conductors of electricity of all metals. And that matters, because as we move toward a world in which more and more things in our lives plug in or charge up–not just your phone, but electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines that will power the future–copper is in increasingly high demand. Some of the richest reserves of copper are found in Southern Africa. But getting it from deep underground and trucking it thousands of miles to buyers can be a harrowing journey. Without more production or new mines, the world could be looking at shortages, and soaring prices for copper and the products that use it. Reporters James Attwood and Yvonne Yue Li join this episode to explain what a coming copper shortage could mean for us all. And reporter Matthew Hill describes his trip to a huge mine in Zambia, where he descended thousands of feet to see copper being blasted from the rock. Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s hard to believe, but the 2024 presidential election is already off and running, and there’s grumbling in both parties. Some Republicans want to put Donald Trump behind them, and some Democrats worry 80-year-old Joe Biden might not be up to the long slog of a presidential campaign. Bloomberg’s managing editor for US government Flavia Krause-Jackson, national political correspondent Joshua Green, and White House correspondent Jordan Fabian join this episode to tell us what to pay attention to–and what’s just noise. Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The recent earthquakes that devastated Turkey and Syria have left millions of people in desperate need of help. But those seeking to bring food, medicine, and supplies into the country face daunting obstacles. Syria’s government wants to control aid shipments and who gets them. Strict economic sanctions imposed on Syria’s government by the US and Europe make it difficult to conduct any transactions there. Governments, banks and humanitarian aid groups are sometimes wary of triggering penalties if their work is seen as violating the sanctions, even despite a temporary easing of the restrictions for earthquake relief. Sylvia Westall in Dubai, who leads Bloomberg’s government coverage in the Middle East, and Nick Wadhams in Washington, DC, who oversees reporting on US national security and foreign policy, join this episode to talk about how sanctions and the Syrian government are complicating efforts to assist earthquake victims. And Jennifer Higgins of the International Rescue Committee describes how her organization is clearing these hurdles to bring help where it’s needed most. Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2020, the enormously popular heartburn medication Zantac was pulled from store shelves after samples were found to contain the probable carcinogen NDMA. The drug has since been re-introduced with a new formula that is considered safe to use as directed.But tens of thousands of people who took the old version of the drug, made with the active ingredient ranitidine, are now suing Zantac’s maker, then called Glaxo and now known as GSK. They claim the medication gave them cancer and are seeking compensation. The company is pushing back, saying there is no conclusive evidence or scientific consensus that ranitidine can degrade and form NDMA in harmful amounts under normal conditions.Reporters Anna Edney, Susan Berfield, and Jef Feeley dug into the claims and counterclaims for Bloomberg Businessweek, and they join this episode to talk about Zantac’s rise and fall and where these lawsuits are headed. And Dr. Jaap Venema, chief science officer at US Pharmacopeia, explains how potential carcinogens get into drugs–and what pharmaceutical companies and government agencies are–and should be–doing to ensure the safety of the medications we take. Read the story: https://bloom.bg/3Yxzno2 Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Buying a new car today is more painful than ever. Auto prices have risen a shocking 30% in just the past few years. Many used cars aren’t much cheaper. The pandemic crunch is partly to blame – high demand and scarce supply caused prices to spike along with everything else. But car prices remain astronomical even though those shortages have largely eased. For a lot of middle class Americans, a new car is now out of reach.And that’s just fine with some major automakers. Bloomberg reporters David Welch and Keith Naughton join this episode to explain why General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co., among other companies, are embracing scarcity and high prices as the new normal.At the same time, China is ramping up production and rising as a leading carmaker. Reporter Tom Hancock describes how the country is churning out millions of electric and gasoline-powered vehicles for customers around the world, with one notable exception: the US. Read more: https://bloom.bg/3E48mQY Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] podcast is produced by the Big Take Podcast team: Supervising Producer: Vicki Vergolina, Senior Producer: Kathryn Fink, Producers: Mo Barrow, Rebecca Chaisson, Michael Falero and Federica Romaniello, Associate Producers: Sam Gebauer and Zaynab Siddiqui. Sound Design/Engineers: Raphael Amsili and Gilda Garcia.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New York and other cities have struggled to fully bounce back from the pandemic, in part because many people who can work from home either part or full time are choosing to do so. That means a lot less money is being spent in shops and restaurants. Expensive office buildings are standing partially empty and fewer passengers are paying subway and bus fares. Reporters Emma Court and Donna Borak join this episode to talk about how work from home is transforming city life and costing downtowns billions. Tracy Hadden Loh, a fellow at Brookings Metro, explains how, as she puts it, cities can reinvent themselves to be go-to places not just between the hours of 9-5, but 5-9. Read more: https://bloom.bg/3jOsY8Z Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the same time China’s government is working to manage the fallout overseas from the surveillance balloon shot down by the US, it’s also struggling to contain another problem at home—a wave of covid cases that’s overwhelmed the country. Late last year, people in cities across China protested in the streets against the government’s Covid Zero lockdowns. In response to the unrest, President Xi Jinping eased the restrictions, and China is opening back up. As anticipated, millions of people once again out and about has led to a massive surge in Covid cases and deaths. As the virus has rapidly spread throughout China, the government has struggled to keep up. Hospitals are overwhelmed and even basic medicines like ibuprofen are sometimes impossible to find.Bloomberg journalists John Liu in Beijing and Xiao Zibang in Singapore join this episode to talk about how China is coping with the health crisis, how citizens in some cities and rural areas are stepping in where the government has fallen short, and where things go from here. Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The new season of Bloomberg's Foundering podcast retraces the life and gruesome death of John McAfee. In the 1980s and ’90s, the McAfee name was synonymous with computer antivirus software, and he helped establish the modern cybersecurity industry. But afterward, his life took a strange and dark turn. He was accused of murder, an allegation he denied, and then went on the lam. He sought to reinvent himself as a cryptocurrency guru and as a candidate for US president. Reporter Jamie Tarabay interviews McAfee’s colleagues, acquaintances, investigators and family members to demystify lies he told throughout his life, reveal the secrets he kept and resolve questions surrounding his public and decades-long self-destruction.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As Iran approaches the 44th anniversary of the revolution it finds itself at a junction. US and European Union sanctions have crippled Iran’s economy. Thousands of citizens have taken to the streets to protest the Islamic government’s strict religious laws, and the brutality of its security forces in crushing dissent. Thousands of protesters have been arrested, and some have been put to death. Yet despite international economic pressure and rising internal discontent, there are few signs that Iran’s government is weakening. Bloomberg senior international affairs correspondent Marc Champion joins the episode to discuss the turmoil happening now. Ali Vaez, Iran Project Director at the International Crisis Group, joins to weigh in on tensions between Iran and the West that could boil over and how governments might prevent that from happening. Read more: https://bloom.bg/3x6sGgL Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you’re a comic book or sci-fi fan, you’ve likely read about the far-off idea of hitching a ride on an asteroid and mining it for precious metals and ice. But it’s not science fiction anymore. In this episode, we’ll take a look at two real-life asteroid-mining missions in the works.Dr. Dante Lauretta, who leads NASA's OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission, talks about what they’ve gathered from the Bennu near Earth asteroid, which will arrive back home later this year. We also speak with Matt Gailich, co-founder and CEO of AstroForge–a company sending up two missions this year with the ultimate goal of mining asteroids for platinum and other valuable metals needed for electric cars and other technology. Bloomberg’s space reporter Loren Grush then joins to give a bigger-picture view of other breakthroughs on the horizon in the fast-growing race to space. Learn more: https://bloom.bg/3YaZK32 Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last fall, Amazon agreed to pay the NFL a whopping $1 billion a year for 11 years to air Thursday Night Football exclusively on its Prime streaming service. The high price tag made headlines–and executives at broadcast television networks, cable companies and other streaming services like Netflix and Apple TV+ are watching closely to see if Amazon’s risk is rewarded. As Super Bowl LVII approaches, Bloomberg reporters Gerry Smith and Felix Gillette join this episode to explain why this deal has drawn so much scrutiny: If Amazon is successful in luring viewers, and dollars, away from the networks, it could shake up the way we watch not just football but other sports–and eventually TV of all kinds. And maybe not in ways we like. Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What started as a curiosity—a Chinese balloon Washington says was equipped with surveillance equipment floating high above the US—now threatens to worsen the already tense rivalry between two world powers. China insists it was a civilian research balloon that had drifted off course. Its government responded with anger after President Joe Biden ordered the vessel shot down Saturday once it was safely off the coast of South Carolina. What information can a balloon like that collect? And what does this incident mean for US-China relations? Rosalind Mathieson, who oversees Bloomberg’s government and political coverage around the world, joins this episode to sort out what this was all about—and where things go from here. Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The number of rat-related complaints in American cities has spiked in recent years. In the most overrun cities – Chicago, Washington, DC and New York – officials are stepping up efforts to find and kill them. New York is going so far as to hire a rat czar in charge of stamping them out. Good luck with that. Cities have tried and failed for decades to control rats. So what can be done to contain the population of these rapidly reproducing rodents? To answer that question, Big Take podcast producers Kathryn Fink, Rebecca Chaisson and Sam Gebauer hit the streets with a rat control squad in Washington and rodentologist Dr. Bobby Corrigan in New York. We also speak with New York Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch. The good news: we can bring rats under control. The bad news: human nature means we probably won’t. Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Endangered whales getting hit by container ships. Sharks dying on hooks intended for other fish. Pesticides wiping out bees by the millions. Scientists and entrepreneurs are testing new ways to use artificial intelligence and other technologies to try to protect threatened creatures from harm. Bloomberg reporter Todd Woody joins this episode to talk about a project that uses computers to listen across oceans for whales--and automatically warn ship captains when they’re on a collision course with a giant underwater mammal. We visit a company in the UK working on a device that sends a signal to repel sharks from fishing lines. And reporter Coco Liu describes a new food supplement for bees that turbo-charges their energy levels and replaces nutrients lost to habitat destruction. Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In December, an Anti-Defamation League study found a sharp rise in the number of people who say they’ve encountered white supremacist ideology while playing online video games. The persistent presence of individual gamers and groups spreading hate in gaming communities has led to calls for the industry to do more to stop it. The question is, how? Bloomberg video game reporter Cecilia D’Anastasio joins this episode to explain why it’s so difficult to police virtual worlds, and what companies are and aren’t doing to confront the problem. Alex Newhouse, deputy director of the Middlebury Institute’s Center on Terrorism, Extremism and Counterterrorism, talks about his work trying to help the gaming industry stamp out toxic culture on its platforms. For More on Cecilia’s story: https://bloom.bg/3Dx2yzo Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Now that China has relaxed its Covid Zero policy, the world’s second largest economy is rumbling back to life. As China once again starts to buy and consume goods and services of all kinds, it’s expected to give the global economy a boost right when it’s needed most. But there’s a potential downside. China’s enormous appetite for oil, soybeans, wheat and everything else could also boost inflation at the same time central banks are trying to contain rising prices.Bloomberg chief economist Tom Orlik and senior Asia economics correspondent Enda Curran join this episode to discuss what China’s reopening means for the global economy and anyone trying to make ends meet. Read more on this story here: https://bloom.bg/40cPY1U Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is investing billions of dollars to boost manufacturing and attract foreign investment in his rapidly growing country. Modi’s ambitious goal: To propel India to the top ranks of global economic powers, alongside the US and China. Bloomberg journalists Kai Schultz and Vrishti Beniwal join this episode to explain how he intends to do that–and the tall challenges he’ll face along the way. And Milan Vaishnav, director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, talks about Modi’s successes, and stumbles, as he navigates India’s complex political and religious cross-currents. Read more on this story here: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-01-23/india-s-1-4-billion-population-could-become-world-economy-s-new-growth-engine?srnd=bigtake Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Migrants looking to enter the US from Mexico illegally often pay thousands of dollars to “coyotes,” or smugglers who transport them across the border. Once inside the US, they’re hidden in trailers or the trunks of cars to get past highway checkpoints where law enforcement is on the lookout. That’s where a largely hidden workforce comes in — people in the US, many of them citizens, who are recruited by smuggling operations to drive the vehicles through the checkpoints, hoping to avoid detection. Often these drivers are themselves barely getting by, and they risk time in federal prison if they’re caught. Reporter Julia Love, who wrote about this shadow economy for Bloomberg Businessweek, joins this episode to tell the story of one of those drivers–a Texan named Dennis Wilson. Wilson also comes on the podcast to describe his experience–and to tell what happened when he was pulled over early one morning. Read Julia Love’s story: https://bloom.bg/3kNxlRI Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Economists have more information at their fingertips than ever before. And yet, in many ways it’s become more difficult for them to predict if–and when–a recession is coming. Why is that? US economy reporter Katia Dmitrieva joins this episode to talk about how economists peering into the future are turning to all kinds of tools–some expected (employment data), and others….not so expected (men’s underwear?). And Simon Kennedy, who leads Bloomberg’s economic coverage, gives his answer to the question on everyone’s mind these days: will there be a recession this year, or not? Read more here: https://bloom.bg/400cafw Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Despite headlines about tech giants firing thousands of employees, many companies in the US are struggling to attract and keep workers. There are more jobs available across the country than people willing to fill them. Workers have choices and they’re demanding better pay and work-life balance. Businesses of all kinds are starting to listen–changing old ways and getting creative to keep their employees happy enough to stay put. Nicole Bullock and Matthew Boyle of Bloomberg’s Work/Shift team join this episode to talk about how employers are rapidly adjusting to a changing workplace. Check out more from Work/Shift here: https://www.bloomberg.com/work-shift Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Republicans are back in charge of the US House of Representatives after winning a narrow majority in November’s midterm elections. They’ve got a long list of things they want to accomplish: spending cuts are near the top, as well as investigating Joe Biden and his administration. The hitch? The Senate is still in Democratic hands, which means they can block just about any legislation the House passes. And Republican leaders often have a difficult time keeping their own fractious members in line (just look at how hard some Republicans fought to keep Kevin McCarthy from becoming House speaker). Bloomberg congressional reporter Steven Dennis joins this episode to talk about what’s ahead this year in congress–and how to sort out what to pay attention to, and what’s just noise. Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] podcast is produced by the Big Take Podcast team: Supervising Producer: Vicki Vergolina, Senior Producer: Kathryn Fink, Producers: Mo Barrow, Rebecca Chaisson, Michael Falero and Federica Romaniello, Associate Producers: Sam Gebauer and Zaynab Siddiqui. Sound Design/Engineers: Raphael Amsili and Gilda Garcia.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Even though Americans are driving more than ever before, they’re using less fuel to do it. Gasoline demand in the US hasn’t bounced back to pre-Covid levels, and for all kinds of reasons, it likely never will. In the long run, that will mean relief from high gas prices. But the decline of fossil fuels won’t be quick — or painless. As the oil industry recalibrates to meet the new reality and seeks to maximize profits, we could see price spikes and periodic supply crunches. Bloomberg journalists Lynn Doan, Chunzi Xu and Millie Munshi join this episode to talk about why gasoline use is trending lower, even as Americans pile on more miles in their cars. And energy analyst Mark Finley of Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy explains how diminishing gasoline use could impact not just consumers and companies, but US national security, and America’s relationship with China and the rest of the world. Learn more about this story: https://bloom.bg/3J8TBQt Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] podcast is produced by the Big Take Podcast team: Supervising Producer: Vicki Vergolina, Senior Producer: Kathryn Fink, Producers: Mo Barrow, Rebecca Chaisson, Michael Falero and Federica Romaniello, Associate Producers: Sam Gebauer and Zaynab Siddiqui. Sound Design/Engineers: Raphael Amsili and Gilda Garcia.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The price of everything is going up, but few things have risen as fast as rent. The rule of thumb used to be that housing shouldn’t eat up more than a third of your paycheck. But these days, a lot of people are handing over half or more of their income to the landlord. Why has rent climbed so high so fast–and is there any end in sight? Real estate reporter Prashant Gopal joins this episode to explain how we got here–and offers a dose of cautious optimism for renters. And Neil Callanan, who covers corporate finance, gives a broader view of the consequences of turmoil in commercial and housing markets around the world. Learn more about the story here: https://bloom.bg/3whXo66 Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Companies around the world are competing to produce what’s often called lab-grown meat. It begins with the cells of cows, chickens, fish, or whatever protein you’re trying to recreate–and like the name says, it’s grown in a lab into food-sized portions.How is it made, how long until it appears in your local supermarket, and how…does it taste? Bloomberg reporters Deena Shanker and Priya Anand join this episode with answers. Learn more here: https://bloom.bg/3WgTl4I Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In December, we told the wild story of drug smugglers who hide tons of cocaine aboard huge container ships bound for Europe from South America. Today, we pick up the saga from there. What happens to all that cocaine once it reaches port?Bloomberg investigative reporters Lauren Etter and Vernon Silver join this episode to talk about how a sophisticated network of drug cartels and traffickers recruit young people to sneak the cocaine off the ships and coerce dockworkers to look the other way. And how law enforcement is trying to stop cheap cocaine from flooding the streets of Europe–without grinding global trade to a halt. Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tough economic sanctions the US and European Union imposed on Russia and Iran have succeeded in cutting off those nations from much of the world economy. But they’ve also had an unintended effect: Moscow and Tehran are now joining forces to evade some of the crippling trade restrictions. They’re investing billions of dollars on an 1,800-mile trade route that enables them to move products of all kinds over land and water that’s beyond the reach of the West–to buyers in the fast-growing economies of Asia. Bloomberg journalists Golnar Motevalli in London and Jonathan Tirone in Vienna join this episode to describe how this new trade route operates. And Dr. Maria Shagina, an expert in sanctions, explains how sanctions work–and whether Iran and Russia can ultimately succeed in outmaneuvering the West. Learn more about the story HERE. Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Remember when everyone loved to complain how there were 150 channels on TV and nothing good to watch? It’s pretty hard to say that now. There are so many good shows being made. Our new complaint: how hard it is to watch all those great shows, especially when they’re spread across so many streaming services—and most of them you have to pay for. How did we get here? Bloomberg media reporter Felix Gillette has answers. He’s the co-author of the book It's Not TV: The Spectacular Rise, Revolution, and Future of HBO. Felix joins this episode to break down why TV has never been better–and yet has never been more frustrating to watch. Bloomberg’s entertainment reporter Lucas Shaw also stops in to explain how this shift has changed the way Hollywood decides which shows get made--and which ones don't. This episode originally aired in October of 2022.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Covid-19 isn’t quite done with us yet, but virologists are urging governments around the world to start preparing for the next pandemic. They warn it’s just a matter of time before it happens, and with good planning lessons learned from the current response can keep us from getting caught flat-footed again. So far, though, such calls haven’t been met with much enthusiasm by politicians who have more immediate concerns in front of them. Dr. Angela Rasmussen, a virologist with the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Saskatchewan, joins this episode to explain where the next virus is likely to come from, and how to get in front of it. And Bloomberg reporters Riley Griffin and Josh Wingrove talk about what governments learned from covid pandemic–and what if anything they’re doing to brace for what’s to come. Read more about this story HERE. Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s a new way for some countries struggling under piles of debt to get relief: by agreeing to spend part of the difference on the environment. The Nature Conservancy, the US-based environmental group, is teaming up with big financial institutions to offer what’s called Blue Bonds, or debt-for-nature swaps. The bank alleviates some of the country’s debt burden, and the government puts the savings toward restoring coral reefs and other environmental projects. Belize and the Seychelles are among a handful of nations that have taken the offer so far, and many more are in the works. Bloomberg journalists Sydney Maki and Natasha White join this episode to explain how these complex deals work–and who’s profiting from the bargain.Learn more about this story here: https://bloom.bg/3ZwzcdC Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s been nothing but mayhem at Twitter since Elon Musk took the helm of the social media company late last year and began shaking things up in ways that don’t always seem to make much sense, especially from the outside. Many users are furious and advertisers are fleeing. Musk’s preoccupation with Twitter is also fueling concerns that he’s not paying enough attention to Tesla, his once-invincible electric car company that’s lost hundreds of billions of dollars in value. Bloomberg journalists Brad Stone, Sarah Frier and Kurt Wagner join this episode to explain Musk’s chaotic moves and where he goes from here. Read more about this story here: https://bloom.bg/3ivqHig Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Millions of Americans–union workers, school teachers, firefighters, office employees at major corporations–are counting on a pension to support them when they retire. Pensions have always been seen as secure and reliable. But in recent years, some of the nation’s biggest pensions have run into trouble. Underfunded or underperforming, they don’t have enough to pay out. Increasingly, that means taxpayers are being asked to step in so retirees aren’t left with nothing. Which means the shaky pension pension system is very well costing you money–even if you don’t have one yourself. Bloomberg reporters Neil Weinberg, Suzanne Woolley and Akayla Gardner join this episode to explain why the nation’s $4 trillion pension system is having such a rough time–and how much it will cost the rest of us to pick up the slack.Read more about this story HERE. Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In just the past ten years, the biggest US banks made an eye-popping trillion dollars in profit. To help get our heads around that staggering number, we asked Bloomberg reporters Max Abelson and Hannah Levitt–who cover the world of Wall Street–to explain how banks were able to dramatically increase their profits in such a short time–and how it impacts the rest of us. Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some big, crowded cities like New York and London have tried to reduce traffic jams and air pollution with congestion fees that make it expensive to bring your car downtown. Now London is taking things a step further. Air pollution has fallen there. So the government is trying not just to cut down on the number of cars in the city, but using carrots–and sticks–to get people to abandon their gasoline cars altogether. Eric Roston, Bloomberg’s sustainability editor, joins this episode to explain why electric cars are such a big deal in tackling air pollution–and what a tall challenge it will be to make the switch on a large scale. And Feargus O’Sullivan, a contributing writer at Bloomberg CityLab, talks about what London is doing, and why other cities are watching. For more on this story: https://bloom.bg/3CsLf1Q See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One big obstacle for any Republican dreaming of becoming president in 2024: figuring out how to get past Donald Trump–without angering his legions of loyal supporters. One person who just may crack that code is Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. He won re-election in November by a huge margin, one of few bright spots for Republicans in a disappointing year. And he did it by doing something no other Republican has been able to do–appealing to Trump voters (along with independents and even some Democrats) while removing Trump himself from the conversation. Bloomberg’s national political correspondent Joshua Greene joins this episode to talk about how DeSantis has so far managed to out-Trump Trump, and whether his strategy will work outside Florida–and possibly take him all the way to the White House. Red more about this story here: https://bloom.bg/3IoNUx7 Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If all the news lately about cryptocurrencies–and the fall of Sam Bankman-Fried and his FTX exchange–have left you wishing you had a better handle on the maddeningly complex world of crypto, we’re with you. So we asked Bloomberg Opinion columnist Matt Levine to join Wes this episode to answer: What exactly is crypto, both in theory and reality?(In case you missed it, Matt wrote a cover-to-cover story for Bloomberg Businessweek on the subject. So he seemed like a good person to ask.)Matt explains how crypto works and what gives it value. He looks at why once-soaring cryptocurrencies have now plummeted into an extended “crypto winter.” And he assesses the FTX fallout — and what it means for the fate of crypto when billions of dollars of customer money go missing. Learn more here: https://bloom.bg/3GjHFs6 Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was huge news when Carlos Ghosn, the once-celebrated auto executive, vanished from Japan in 2019 after being charged with financial crimes. He later emerged in Beirut, where he’s lived ever since, beyond the reach of Japanese authorities. Now the American father and son team who helped carry out his spy-novel escape are coming forward. They served time in a Japanese prison and are hoping Ghosn will help them pay off millions of dollars in legal bills. Bloomberg journalists Reed Stevenson and Brian Bremner join this episode to tell the story of what Ghosn’s escape cost the men—and the very different lives they, and Ghosn, live today. Learn more about the episode here: https://bloom.bg/3IjYZj2 Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For many years, pharmaceutical companies have tried and failed to find a treatment to slow symptoms of ALS–the debilitating, fatal illness also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. A potentially promising new drug from Biogen may offer some relief to those afflicted with an uncommon and especially insidious form of ALS that runs in families. Patients are urging the US Food and Drug Administration to speed access to the drug, which hasn’t yet been approved because clinical trials didn’t conclusively show it works. As pharmaceutical companies use new technologies to seek cures of all kinds, this tension between making sure drugs are effective and safe, and offering not-quite-ready but possibly life-saving treatment to people for whom it’s now or never, is becoming more acute. Bloomberg’s chief medical writer Robert Langreth joins this episode to talk about the race to find a treatment for ALS–and the back and forth between patients, companies and government regulators. We also hear the story of a Pennsylvania family that has passed on a gene for ALS from generation to generation–and their demands for access to the new treatment. Learn more about the episode here: https://bloom.bg/3WIkvCm Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From Beijing to Boston, the food on our dinner plates is starting to look more and more alike. It used to be, we ate the local fruits, vegetables and grains native to where we live. Now, with the rise of industrial agriculture and cheap exports, the Western diet is taking over the globe. Turns out that’s a big problem – and not just for health reasons. As the world grows dependent on an ever-narrower selection of nutrients, we’re at greater risk of a widespread food crisis from an unexpected shortfall of wheat or other key crops. Bloomberg journalists Jasmine Ng and Jin Wu join this episode from Singapore to talk about how and why the world’s diets converged. And Stefan Schmitz of Crop Trust–which promotes global food diversity–comes on the show to give a preview of what our dinner plates will look like in the future.Learn more about this story here: https://bloom.bg/3BRQWWN Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Billionaires are increasingly taking advantage of a provision in the US tax laws that lets them park money designated for charity in something called a donor advised fund. They get a tax break up front…and can let the money sit in the fund for as long as they like. It’s eventually got to be given to a charitable cause, but they don’t have to say when, or where it’ll go. Bloomberg reporters Noah Buhayar, Ben Steverman and Sophie Alexander join Wes for a look at their analysis and reporting on donor advised funds–and why they’ve become so popular among the super wealthy. Jan Masaoka, CEO of the California Association of Nonprofits, also stops in to talk about what it means for charities that depend on those delayed dollars. Learn more about the episode: https://bloom.bg/3GxT3ll Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, some of the biggest mortgage lenders in the US promised to extend billions in new loans to Black homebuyers. That hasn’t happened. Instead, the numbers are going in the opposite direction. Bloomberg senior economics writer Shawn Donnan joins Wes this episode to talk about why banks have fallen short of the goal–and what it means for families across the country. Dedrick Asante-Muhammad of the National Community reinvestment Coalition also joins to spell out what needs to be done to fix the problem. Learn more about this story here: https://bloom.bg/3YyRgDA Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.