The Weekend Intelligence from The Economist

The toy industry has a problem: there aren’t enough children. Its solution? Adults.Rosie Blau reports on the rise of the "kidult". Is there anything wrong with big kids collecting toys? And what does it say about her that —secretly— she might want one.Topics covered:Toy industryDemographic changeKidultsLinks to articles: Adults are propping up the toy industryListen 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 provided by Domestic Background Music and Blue Dot SessionsTranscripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts

Last autumn, a shuttered amusement park in Niagara Falls, Canada, tried to export its 30 remaining belugas to China. When the Canadian government blocked that sale on welfare grounds, the park threatened to euthanise the animals. So began the race to save the whales. Sam Colbert reports on the challenge of re-homing captive whales. Even among leading scientists, what’s best for the animals is far from clear.Topics covered:Animal rightsMarine-mammal scienceTheme parksListen 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 Sessions and Epidemic SoundTranscripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts

Just one generation after they gained independence, people in the Baltic States are watching the threat from the Kremlin creep closer and closer. In Lithuania, the government is preparing the population to resist an invasion. On “The Weekend Intelligence” Katie Bryant travels to Vilnius to ask how facing up to threat is changing the nation. Topics covered:LithuaniaCivil defenceDisinformationListen 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 Sessions and Epidemic Sound.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.

Nepal’s youth took to the streets last September when the government banned social media. It became a protest about corruption. Police killed 19 protestors, the youngest just twelve years old. After a day of violence the parliament building in Kathmandu lay smoldering, the prime minister had fled, and Nepal was left with a burning question—what next?The Economist’s Jiehao Chen visited Nepal to meet the Gen Z revolutionaries trying to repair their fractured nation. Topics covered:NepalGen-Z protestsSocial media banListen 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.

Instead of your usual episode of The Weekend Intelligence, we are bringing you season 3 of Boss Class. The series asks, how should employees and managers adapt to the world of AI? You'll find it wherever you listen to The Intelligence.The Weekend Intelligence team is on a short hiatus. We're using the time to report, gather and polish more stories for you. We'll be back Saturday 21st February.

In the outer suburbs of Istanbul, the Elithair clinic operates nearly round the clock delivering hair transplants to a seemingly endless stream of young men from all over the world. They expect demand to keep on rising. But what, exactly, has changed to make record numbers of young men choose elective cosmetic surgery? Senior producer Sam Westran travels to Turkey to watch surgery in action, and muses on the state of baldness, masculinity and the manosphere.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 Sessions, Epidemic Sound and Sound of PictureThis 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.

While walking around a national cemetery, it can seem like memorialising the war dead is a given, but governments have not always honoured their fallen. For much of history, soldiers who died in combat were left to rot on battlefields or buried in mass graves.In this episode of The Weekend Intelligence, senior producer Tamara Gilkes Borr visits memorials and speaks with historians to explore how two deadly wars transformed the status of the average soldier, and how evolving ideas of equality and democracy shape the way nations honour their dead today.For the episode about Il Barcone, the migrant ship that sank off the coast of Libya, listen to "They had names" on The Weekend Intelligence.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.

Britain is getting hot and steamy.From railway arches in Peckham to windswept beaches in Fife, public saunas are popping up across the country, promising warmth, connection and a break from that traditional British pastime of drinking alcohol. On The Weekend Intelligence, Ibby Caputo sweats into Britain’s booming sauna scene— where wellness culture meets genuine need. Inside the heat, she finds Gen Z ditching the pub for sober Saturday evenings, unpaid carers prescribed steam, and strangers bonding through sweat, silence and shared endurance.From the intimacy of the sauna bench to the icy shock of the North Sea, this is a story about bodies, belonging, and why Britain is learning to sweat together.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.