The Intelligence: Redoubled agents
Economist Podcasts
The Economist
4.3 • 5K Ratings
🗓️ 29 February 2024
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A slew of spycraft mishaps might suggest Russia’s once-great intelligence services have hopelessly decayed. Do not be fooled: the spooks are back, and better. We ask why a “supercycle” commodities boom might not come to pass, even though the conditions are ripe for one (10:04). And the questions raised as football attracts Saudi investment to England’s north-east (15:50).
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi there. I'm off this week. |
| 0:04.6 | Apparently we're more productive at work after a good holiday. |
| 0:12.1 | So I'm counting this Caribbean rum distillery tour as professional development. Yours calling. Take your holiday as seriously as British Airways |
| 0:27.1 | holidays take your holiday. Atul protected. This episode is sponsored by Tradeu, the multi-asset platform that lets you trade with an institutional edge. |
| 0:40.6 | Get access to Jeffrey's research, trading view and analyst AI. |
| 0:45.2 | All free with your 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. |
| 1:00.8 | The Economist |
| 1:06.0 | 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. |
| 1:22.3 | All of the parts are in place for a giant commodity boom, in particular to fuel the transition to green |
| 1:28.7 | energy and electric vehicles. But there's quite a bit of uncertainty that such a super cycle |
| 1:34.0 | is coming, because there's so much uncertainty in the world. And many football fans cheered when |
| 1:41.7 | Saudi Arabia's State Investment Fund bought a chunk of Newcastle United, |
| 1:46.0 | a top lead British team. |
| 1:48.0 | But big money from a controversial country into a team, its city, and its region sparks some soul-searching questions. |
| 2:00.0 | First up, though... The three-minute ad opens on a man, |
| 2:03.6 | ...toughton the three-minute ad opens on a man alone sitting on the corner of his bed, thoughtful, wistful. |
| 2:22.3 | His voiceover in Russian recalls his late father, speaking with pride about the Soviet Union. |
| 2:33.3 | The video cuts to archive footage of Soviet cosmonauts as he talks of advancements made in science and the bygone respect of the world. |
| 2:44.0 | That past sense of pride, he says, is what drove him to become a paratrooper, and then an agent in Russia's security |
| 2:52.3 | services. But he asks himself, does he now have the courage to address the great betrayal? |
... |
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