Babbage from The Economist

AI is changing how we work. It's turning us all into managers. Be a good one.The Economist’s management columnist, Andrew Palmer, takes on the bots in the third season of Boss Class. From cloning to coding, agents to entry-level jobs, he tackles the threat head on and figures out how to turn anxiety into opportunity. Along the way he meets bulls and bears and the people who can help you to master management in the age of AI.Full Season 3 out 29th January 2026.To listen to the full series, subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.https://subscribenow.economist.com/podcasts-plusIf you’re already a subscriber to The Economist, you have full access to all our shows as part of your subscription. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

A teenage girl in Britain recently received a custom-made drug to fix a fault in her genetic code. Doctors hope that it will treat her ultra-rare neurodegenerative condition. It is also part of a medical trial that could transform the way that customised medicines are made available to people who otherwise have no alternatives. Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Guests: Natasha Loder, The Economist's health editor; Julia Vitarello of EveryONE medicines; Paul Gissen of UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health.Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.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.

Loneliness and social isolation are connected to around 100 deaths every hour, according to the World Health Organisation. Feeling lonely has been linked to cardiovascular disease, neurological conditions and problems with the immune system. Developing better social connections could improve millions of peoples’ health, but doing so is not as simple as it sounds.Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Guests: The Economist’s Ainslie Johnstone; Julianne Holt-Lunstad of Brigham Young University. Thanks to Patrick Abrahams, Helen Kingston and Caroline Blake in Frome, England. Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.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.

Fancy taking a trip to outer space? Explore the most extraordinary corners of the universe with astronomer Mark McCaughrean as your tour guide. In this episode, he tells us about everything from the curious clouds and comets in our own solar system, to distant stellar nurseries and whether or not we should be worried that our galaxy, the Milky Way, is on a collision course with a neighbour, Andromeda.Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Guest: Mark McCaughrean of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy and the author of “111 Places in Space That You Must Not Miss”.Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.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 the summer of 2025, we travelled to the Vera Rubin Observatory, a new telescope in Chile. This week, we’re revisiting that trip to the Andes Mountains, which showed how the Rubin Observatory’s upcoming decade-long sky survey hopes to uncover huge cosmological mysteries. In doing so, it is changing the way astronomy is practised.Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Contributors: Victor Krabbendam, Stephanie Deppe, Leanne Guy, Yusra AlSayyad and William O’Mullane of the Vera Rubin Observatory. Listen to the full episodes here—part one and part two. Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.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.

What makes a great science fiction film? In this episode, our science correspondents—and Babbage listeners—bring their favourite sci-fi movies to our Christmas film club. Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Guests: The Economist’s Alex Hern, Natasha Loder, Ainslie Johnstone, Tom Standage and Jan Piotrowski. Special thanks to all of our listeners who sent us their favourite sci-fi films.Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.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.

It’s the season of mince pies, endless chocolate and mulled wine. How bad is all the sugary food we’re eating, really? And why do hangovers seem to get worse with age? This week, our correspondents provide an evidence-based guide on how to survive—and thrive—over the holidays.Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Guests: The Economist’s Slavea Chankova, Benjamin Sutherland and Tim Cross.Listen to our previous episodes on alcohol alternatives, with Professor David Nutt and how to understand the nature of risk, with Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter. Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.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.

How is it that quantum physics governs the very smallest things in the universe, yet classical, Newtonian rules describe the movements of everything else, from people to planets? In the second of two episodes to mark the centenary of quantum physics, we hear how the boundary between the quantum and classical worlds causes huge inconsistencies—and a debate about the nature of reality itself. Our guest today explains his radical vision for fixing those problems and building a consistent understanding of the universe.Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Guest: Vlatko Vedral of the University of Oxford and the author of “Portals to a New Reality”. If you can’t get enough of quantum physics, listen to our 2022 interview with Nobel laureate Anton Zeilinger, one of the scientists who proved that entanglement is a real phenomenon.Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.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.

At the turn of the 20th century, physicists realised their understanding of the subatomic world was wrong. A new theory was born: quantum mechanics. Despite defying everyday notions of the nature of reality, quantum physics has had a profound impact on both basic science and modern technology. In the first of two episodes to mark the centenary of the birth of quantum physics, our guest this week explains what this science has done for humanity already and what it will do next. Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Guest: Paul Davies of Arizona State University and the author of “Quantum 2.0”. Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.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.