Hello and welcome to the Intelligence on Economist Radio. I'm your host, Jason Palmer.

Every weekday, we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world.

Until recently, the only likely career that a blind person in China could hope for was in massage.

Our correspondent meets with blind students studying for the country's fearsome university exam

and finds that at last things are changing, a bit.

And your boring supermarket potato is a descendant of spuds originating on an island off Patagonia called Chilo-A.

We pay a visit to check out the 286 local types, and ask why that riotous variety of colorful nobly potatoes isn't found elsewhere.

But first...

Today it is my honor to nominate one of our nation's most brilliant and gifted legal

minds to the Supreme Court.

She is a woman of unparalleled achievement,

towering intellect, sterling credentials,

and unyielding loyalty to the Constitution,

Judge Amy Coney Barrett.

On Saturday, President Donald Trump nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.

A devout Roman Catholic and a Notre Dame Law School graduate,

Barrett is a favorite among religious conservatives who are a key Trump voter block

while liberals voiced concern.

If confirmed, she'll replace liberal justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died earlier this month.

Her appointment could change the ideological balance of the court for decades.

I have no illusions that the road ahead of me will be easy, either for the short term or the long haul.

I never imagined that I would find myself

...