Big birthdays are often a time for reflection. Our editors and correspondents chat through the state of American democracy as seen from inside and outside the country, the country’s perennial paroxysms of immigration policy, and its undimmed power to export its culture to the world.

Watch extended clips from Insider here.

Guests and host:

• Robert Guest, deputy editor
• Rebecca Jackson, Southern correspondent
• Daniel Knowles, Midwest correspondent
• Aryn Braun, West Coast correspondent
• Jon Fasman, senior culture correspondent
• Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered:

• American history, American democracy
• immigration policy
• American cultural exports

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Big oil firms keep one part of their business hush-hush: trading. Amid an almighty oil shock, the majors’ trading arms are raking it in. But competition is mounting. We look at the Trump administration’s messy attempts to regulate frontier AI models, and how that may cost America its AI edge. And why the biggest music tours are going to fewer places.

Guests and host:

• Matthieu Favas, commodities editor
• Shashank Joshi, incoming Washington bureau chief
• Vicky Jessop, culture writer
• Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered:

• oil majors, oil trading
• AI, frontier models, American regulation
• music business, concert tours

Get a world of insights by subscribing 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.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Government help was thin on the ground just after the country’s worst quakes in a century. The America-backed regime is thus on literal and figurative shaky ground. A food-delivery robot trial in England represents the future of the service. And why Harlan Coben’s proliferating thrillers are cheesy but gripping.

Guests and host:

• Kinley Salmon, Latin America correspondent
• Alex Hern, AI writer
• Catherine Nixey, culture correspondent
• Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered:

• Venezuela earthquakes, disaster response
• delivery robots
• Harlan Coben

Get a world of insights by subscribing 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.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.