France is reeling after "unprecedented" violent riots, America’s debt-laden $10tn AI infrastructure boom is a reckoning for the data centre build-out underpinning the US economy, and Albertans gear up to vote today on whether to leave Canada.

Mentioned in this podcast:

France reels after ‘unprecedented’ violent riots

Macron faces political firestorm after riots

‘The Switzerland of North America’: Albertans vote on leaving Canada

America’s $10tn AI infrastructure boom is starting to fray

Microsoft pulls plug on Nscale data centre deal

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Note: The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts

The FT News Briefing is produced by Sonja Hutson, Saffeya Ahmed, and Josh Gabert-Doyon. Our editor is Marc Filippino. Our video producer is Zachary Alfred. Our show is mixed by Sam Giovinco and Alex Higgins. Additional help from Gavin Kallmann, Michael Lello, Vanessa Brown, Peter Barber and David da Silva. Our executive producer is Topher Forhecz. Flo Phillips is the FT’s global head of audio. The show’s theme music is by Metaphor Music.

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As Americans prepare to vote in the November 3 midterm elections, FT chief economics commentator Martin Wolf asks what the result will mean for Donald Trump, the future of US democracy and America's place in the world. In the first of a six-part series of interviews with leading historians and political analysts, Martin speaks to the scholar and former Republican adviser Robert Kagan, who has spent a decade warning about Trump's authoritarian ambitions. They discuss how Trump has accumulated so much power, whether America's democratic institutions can still constrain him, and what might happen if Republicans lose control of Congress. Could these elections mark a turning point for American democracy or has the country already gone too far down the road towards authoritarianism?

Watch the full episode now on the FT’s main YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@FinancialTimes or search for ‘Martin Wolf on the World’, wherever you get your podcasts

Host: Martin Wolf

Producer: Mischa Frankl-Duval

Senior Producer: Laurence Knight

Executive Producer: Manuela Saragosa

Video Editor: Richard Topping

Audio engineering: Breen Turner

Broadcast engineers: Andrew Georgiadis

Podcast development: Laura Clarke

FT Global Head of Audio: Flo Phillips

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UK Chancellor John Healey has dropped his strongest hint yet of higher taxes on banks, and Anthropic secured a credit rating one notch below investment grade earlier this year. Plus, investors are losing confidence that revenues from the AI boom will be sufficient to support the vast debt piles financing data centres.

Mentioned in this podcast:

Healey signals Budget bank tax raid

Anthropic secured highest junk credit rating in June

Anthropic tells investors quarterly revenue up nearly 50% to $16.8bn ahead of IPO

Investors dump data centre bonds as AI borrowers face ‘Darwin moment’

Want to get in touch? Email us at podcasts@ft.com

Note: The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts

The FT News Briefing is produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval Sonja Hutson, Saffeya Ahmed, and Josh Gabert-Doyon. Our editor is Marc Filippino. Our video producer is Zachary Alfred. Our show is mixed by Sam Giovinco and Alex Higgins. Additional help from Gavin Kallmann, Michael Lello, Peter Barber and David da Silva. Our executive producer is Topher Forhecz. Flo Phillips is the FT’s global head of audio. The show’s theme music is by Metaphor Music.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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