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.

What's the most disgusting food you've ever eaten?

Well, odds are that somewhere somebody thinks that repugnant stuff is a delicacy.

We visit a museum dedicated to discuss, sample, and eyeball or two,

and find that the emotion is about far more than just food.

And at the start of the year, Japan decreed that in translated documents, people's surnames will come first.

Prime Minister Abe Shinzo instead of Shinzo Abe.

It's a small change that speaks of a far bigger shift in attitudes.

But first...

Australia is a blaze, and there's no end in sight to the devastating bushfires

that have been burning out of control since September.

Today, authorities told almost a quarter of a million people to flee their homes,

adding to what was already the largest peacetime evacuation in the country's history.

Blistering temperatures and fickle winds this week were making matters worse.

The country is readying its military to help.

Australia's mostly volunteer fire service is utterly overwhelmed.

An area the size of Cuba has already gone up in smoke.

The human cost is rising.

Hundreds of millions of animals are already dead,

and for much of the country, the peak of the bushfire season may still be to come.

...