Suck in the middle: the hole in America’s consumer base
Economist Podcasts
The Economist
4.3 • 5K Ratings
🗓️ 12 May 2023
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The past few years have proved tumultuous both for American consumers and for retailers selling to them. The end result is a curious slump for middle-of-the-road brands. Artificial intelligence like ChatGPT stands to disrupt everything from art to coding; we self-interestedly explore probable effects on journalism. And remembering Ranajit Guha, a historian who saw a different India by looking bottom-up.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, I'm currently out of office. |
| 0:04.4 | An article I read recently said we're more relaxed and more productive after a good break. |
| 0:14.4 | So I've gone to Barbados for a month for science. Yours, Toby. Take your holiday as seriously as British |
| 0:26.7 | Airways holidays take your holiday. Atul protected. This episode is sponsored by Tradeu, |
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| 0:40.6 | Get access to Jeffrey's research, trading view and analyst AI, all free with your |
| 0:46.4 | trade-do account. |
| 0:48.1 | Tradeu, your trade, your move. |
| 0:51.7 | Explore more at tradeu.com. Your capital is at risk. Terms and conditions apply. |
| 1:01.2 | Hello and welcome to the intelligence from The Economist. I'm your host, Jason Palmer. Every weekday, we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world. |
| 1:14.6 | People have worried about robots coming for their jobs since the time robots were first imagined. |
| 1:20.6 | But with language-based AI, such as chat GPT, that concern about being displaced by tech seems more well-founded. |
| 1:28.3 | So what's it mean for journalism? |
| 1:30.3 | And Radajit Guha helped to transform the way the world thinks about post-colonial India |
| 1:38.3 | by viewing change from the long overlooked perspective of lower classes and castes. |
| 1:43.3 | We reflect on a life spent understanding the past so as to influence the future. |
| 1:53.0 | But first... |
| 1:58.0 | One of America's most recognized names in jewelry recently got a facelift. |
| 2:05.1 | That's cool right there. |
| 2:06.9 | Tiffany and co, or just Tiffany's, you know, the breakfast place, reopened its flagship |
| 2:13.6 | New York store after a four-year renovation. |
| 2:17.1 | There were celebrities, there was ribbon cutting, |
... |
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