Weekend Listen: Former UK Spy Chief Was Paid to Steal Secrets, Not Solve Mysteries

While everyone was focused on Covid over the past few years, America’s decades-old opioid crisis entered a new deadly phase – largely because of one drug in particular: fentanyl. Potent, cheap and ubiquitous, it’s sometimes mixed by street dealers with other drugs including marijuana, cocaine and even adderall, creating a ‘cocktail’ that kills people who unwittingly buy it.  Bloomberg reporters Emma Court, Linly Lin and Leonardo Nicoletti join this episode to talk about the consequences of fentanyl’s rise in cities around the country. And Helena Girouard, a health official in hard-hit Volusia County, Florida, gives an up-close look at the crisis there and how the local government is trying to bring it under control. Learn more about this story here: https://bloom.bg/3FM4llG  Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK  Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at bigtake@bloomberg.net.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

13 Joulu 202229min

Bloomberg Investigative reporter Olivia Carville has spent months delving into TikTok, the hugely popular video social network. In November, she joined the podcast to talk about children who have died copying dangerous video challenges of the kind that can be seen on the app. Today, Olivia is back to talk about her latest story about TikTok for Bloomberg Businessweek.  It follows the life of a 16-year-old girl from Florida whose provocative videos have won her millions of followers–and many detractors who say TikTok shouldn’t allow this kind of content from minors on the platform.  Learn more about this story here: https://bloom.bg/3Ph6mJz Listen to the first conversation with Olivia about TikTok’s problem moderating the dangerous challenges HERE. Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK  Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at bigtake@bloomberg.net.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

12 Joulu 202233min

Our insatiable appetite for meat, eggs and cheese means there are billions of chickens, pigs and cows the world over. One consequence: animal agriculture is a leading contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and pollutants like ammonia and nitrogen. In Europe, governments are starting to crack down—demanding farms dramatically cut the size of their herds to meet environmental goals. Farmers are, to put it mildly, furious.  Bloomberg reporter Diederik Baazil joins this episode from Amsterdam to talk about how farmer’s protests against the new rules are boiling over in the Netherlands. And Wes also catches up with reporter Agnieszka de Sousa, Bloomberg’s “food czar” based in London,  for a look at how this problem has spread across Europe–and possible ways to fix it.  Learn more about this story here: https://bloom.bg/3FgxSSL Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK  Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at bigtake@bloomberg.net.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

9 Joulu 202230min

A group of Taylor Swift fans is suing Ticketmaster, the big live event ticket provider, after sales for her upcoming concert tour went haywire. It’s also drawn the attention of the US Justice Department. The government is investigating whether Ticketmaster is using its dominance in ticket sales to drive out competitors and drive up prices. And Ticketmaster isn’t the only big company in the government’s sights. The Biden administration has taken an activist stand against the consolidation of corporate power in tech and other industries.. Sara Forden, who leads Bloomberg’s coverage of corporate influence in Washington, and Leah Nylen, a reporter who writes about antitrust, join this episode to talk about Ticketmaster’s troubles– and a renewed push in Washington to rein in big companies. Learn more about this story here: https://bloom.bg/3P7Jtbm  Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK  Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at bigtake@bloomberg.net.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

8 Joulu 202226min

The secretive Al Nahyan family of Abu Dhabi has amassed a fortune of $300 billion–and they’re investing it around the globe, in everything from green energy and healthcare to Manchester City Football Club, SpaceX and Rihanna’s lingerie line. Bloomberg reporters Devon Pendleton, Ben Bartenstein and Nicolas Parasie join this episode to talk about the family’s global reach. Learn more about this story here: https://bloom.bg/3P3ChNz Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK  Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at bigtake@bloomberg.net.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

7 Joulu 202228min

In the early, scary days of the coronavirus pandemic, before vaccines, patients hospitalized with severe cases were often put on ventilators to keep them alive. That invasive treatment saved a lot of people. But the heavy sedation that sometimes went along with it has left many of them with debilitating side-effects. Doctors are now taking a hard look at how they’ve used sedation–and rewriting the rules for treating patients who require it. Dr. Wes Ely, a critical care physician with Vanderbilt University and a sedation expert, joins this episode to talk about the lessons he and his colleagues have learned from Covid. Jason Gale, a senior editor and biosecurity correspondent at Bloomberg who has reported extensively on the pandemic, also joins to tell the story of one woman whose life was saved, but may never be the same. Learn more about this story: https://bloom.bg/3VCOH1h  Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at bigtake@bloomberg.net.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

6 Joulu 202225min

Democrats kept control of the US Senate in November’s midterm elections. So why is the political world so obsessed with who’ll win Tuesday’s Senate runoff election in Georgia between Democrat Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker? Bloomberg’s US politics editor Mario Parker, White House correspondent Nancy Cook and National editor Craig Gordon join Wes to answer that question–and explain how this single seat will determine the outcome of political battles heading into the 2024 presidential election.Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK  Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at bigtake@bloomberg.net.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

5 Joulu 202228min

Senior executive editor John Liu joins Wes from Beijing to talk about the protests happening across China, as anger at the government’s Covid Zero policy boils over. John walks through why and how the demonstrations began, what the government is doing to tamp them down and what he saw and heard on the streets. Learn more about this story: https://bloom.bg/3H5cVNt  Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK  Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at bigtake@bloomberg.net.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2 Joulu 202224min