The Weekend Intelligence from The Economist

This week we’re taking a different approach, returning to some of our most compelling episodes from the past year. We’ll discover what’s happened to the people we encountered, catching up with them months after our initial conversations. Plus, our correspondents share what it was like to report these stories, and the insights they gained along the way.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

In July 2019 Nicolas Pelham, The Economist’s Middle East correspondent, received a rare journalist’s visa to Iran. On the day he was due to fly home, he was detained.He was held in Tehran for seven weeks while those back home desperately tried to secure his return.In November, Nick returned to Iran for the first time since his detention, accompanied by The Economist’s digital editor, Adam Roberts. In this episode of The Weekend Intelligence, Adam and Nick discuss the experience and reflect on what it’s like to work as foreign journalists in Tehran.Read Nick’s original story, Trapped in Iran.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—Subscribe to Economist Podcasts+For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.Music by Blue dot and EpidemicThis podcast transcript is generated by third-party AI. It has not been reviewed prior to publication. We make no representations or warranties in relation to the transcript, its accuracy or its completeness, and we disclaim all liability regarding its receipt, content and use. If you have any concerns about the transcript, please email us at podcasts@economist.com.Read more about how we are using AI.

Ukraine has been hit by a corruption scandal. One that strikes at the core of the political establishment in a way never before seen—and this in a country with a long and turbulent history of corruption. It has toppled President Zelensky’s right-hand man. It could mean the President himself won’t survive re-election when the war is over. And the timing couldn’t be worse—right in the middle of a peace deal Ukraine has had little part in composing.The Economist’s Ukraine correspondent, Ollie Carroll, has been following the scandal and the investigation that brought it crashing to the surface for months. On The Weekend Intelligence he takes us deep inside "Operation Midas”.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—Subscribe to Economist Podcasts+For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.Music by Blue dot and EpidemicThis podcast transcript is generated by third-party AI. It has not been reviewed prior to publication. We make no representations or warranties in relation to the transcript, its accuracy or its completeness, and we disclaim all liability regarding its receipt, content and use. If you have any concerns about the transcript, please email us at podcasts@economist.com.Read more about how we are using AI.

Chef Gary Thomas has a lot on his plate. That’s because he’s in the business of feeding thousands of people a day on a ship in the middle of the ocean. Not just any ship – the Star of the Seas, the largest cruise ship in the world. The Weekend Intelligence’s senior producer Barclay Bram braved a trip to the Bahamas to try to figure out the secret behind one of the most impressive food operations in the world. Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—Subscribe to Economist Podcasts+For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.Music by Blue dot and EpidemicThis podcast transcript is generated by third-party AI. It has not been reviewed prior to publication. We make no representations or warranties in relation to the transcript, its accuracy or its completeness, and we disclaim all liability regarding its receipt, content and use. If you have any concerns about the transcript, please email us at podcasts@economist.com.Read more about how we are using AI.

Seventy years ago, a small Christian community in rural Georgia became an unlikely battleground in America’s fight over civil rights. Koinonia was founded on a radical idea: that black and white families should live, work and worship together as equals. For the people of nearby Americus, that belief was heresy. What followed was years of boycotts, gunfire, cross burnings and isolation.Lenny Jordan grew up in the middle of it. As a child he learned to distinguish the sound of a passing car from the sound of one slowing to shoot. His father, Clarence Jordan - farmer, preacher - refused to compromise his principles, even as the Klan targeted his family and the community was boycotted.This autumn, our Southern correspondent Rebecca Jackson travelled with Lenny back to the farm. There he confronts the scars of a childhood spent in the crosshairs - and asks what it means to cling to your convictions when your country feels like it is slipping backwards.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—Subscribe to Economist Podcasts+For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.Music by bluedot and epidemic.This podcast transcript is generated by third-party AI. It has not been reviewed prior to publication. We make no representations or warranties in relation to the transcript, its accuracy or its completeness, and we disclaim all liability regarding its receipt, content and use. If you have any concerns about the transcript, please email us at podcasts@economist.com.Read more about how we are using AI.

The Weekend Intelligence has got it's own feed. That means no more scrolling back every week to find episodes you've missed, they're all in one handy place. All one hundred (and counting).