218 - Russian sanctions & Wartime speculation...

For Halloween, we start with Ireland’s first witch trial: Alice Kyteler, the Kilkenny moneylender who buried four husbands and skipped town, leaving her servant to burn at the stake in 1324. For a real scare, we dive into the five numbers that should keep you up at night. The Shi ...  Show more

A week of rioting in France, but we argue it’s no blip. Marine Le Pen is polling around 35%, with the next candidate on just 14%, and she could become the first ever to win outright in the first round. French public spending is 57% of GDP (31% in Ireland, and above anything the S ...  Show more

The West’s co-ordinated financial weaponry is starting to bite, opening a <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/a-new-age-of-economic-conflict/21807968?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_show ...

We tackle some of the many questions on the war in Ukraine that listeners sent in this week—why no-fly zones are <a href="https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2022/03/02/what-is-a-no-fly-zone?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm ...  Show more

The West’s co-ordinated financial weaponry is starting to bite, opening a <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/a-new-age-of-economic-conflict/21807968?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_show ...