Lone goals: will US-Israel war aims diverge?
Economist Podcasts
The Economist
4.3 • 5K Ratings
🗓️ 13 March 2026
⏱️ 25 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
As Israel continues to pound Iran and expands its offensive against Hizbullah in Lebanon, there are rumblings of disunity with America over the path and goal of the conflict. Why now is the time to buy rubbish stocks. And celebrating the life of grand-clown Philippe Gaulier.
Guests and host:
- Anshel Pfeffer, Israel correspondent
- Josh Roberts, capital markets correspondent
- Ann Wroe, obituaries editor
- Rosie Blau, host of “The Intelligence”
Topics covered:
- Israel, Iran, Lebanon, Netanyahu, Trump, Hizbullah, refuelling plane
- Markets, oil prices, quality stocks, junk stocks, investment
- Philippe Gaulier, clowns, obituary
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Economist. |
| 0:07.0 | Hello and welcome to the intelligence from The Economist. |
| 0:13.0 | I'm your host, Rosie Bloor. |
| 0:16.0 | Every weekday we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world. |
| 0:29.3 | In times of turmoil, people think they should buy up quality stocks. |
| 0:34.1 | Our correspondent explains why purchasing crap shares may be a better option. |
| 0:40.0 | And for Philip Goliere, the greatest sin was to be boring. |
| 0:45.0 | He threw insults at his students to help them find their inner idiot and become a marvellous fool. |
| 0:46.4 | Our obitaries editor celebrates the life of a master clown. |
| 1:02.0 | Thank you. But first... Last night, Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, gave his first press conference |
| 1:15.8 | since the start of the war nearly two weeks ago. |
| 1:23.0 | Iran is no longer the same Iran, he said, adding that Israel would crush the regime and that of |
| 1:28.9 | Hezbollah Iran's proxy in Lebanon. |
| 1:31.0 | As he spoke, Israel was yet again pounding Tehran, as he spoke, Israel was yet again |
| 1:41.0 | pounding Tehran and widening its operations in Lebanon to a larger area in the |
| 1:46.6 | country's south. Meanwhile, America was dealing with different problems. A refueling plane crashed |
| 1:55.8 | in Iraq, though apparently that was due neither to hostile nor friendly fire. |
| 2:03.4 | And oil prices rose once again. |
| 2:07.0 | A war with confusing aims is already taking a toll. |
| 2:11.7 | The question now is whether America and Israel will stay united. |
| 2:20.4 | So Netanyahu last night tried to give the impression of everything going according to plan, even ahead of plan. |
| 2:24.1 | Anshulfeffer is our Israel correspondent. |
... |
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