The Tiny Nation Suddenly Swimming In Oil

It was huge news when Carlos Ghosn, the once-celebrated auto executive, vanished from Japan in 2019 after being charged with financial crimes. He later emerged in Beirut, where he’s lived ever since, beyond the reach of Japanese authorities. Now the American father and son team who helped carry out his spy-novel escape are coming forward. They served time in a Japanese prison and are hoping Ghosn will help them pay off millions of dollars in legal bills. Bloomberg journalists Reed Stevenson and Brian Bremner join this episode to tell the story of what Ghosn’s escape cost the men—and the very different lives they, and Ghosn, live today. Learn more about the episode here: https://bloom.bg/3IjYZj2 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.

3 Jan 202325min

For many years, pharmaceutical companies have tried and failed to find a treatment to slow symptoms of ALS–the debilitating, fatal illness also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. A potentially promising new drug from Biogen may offer some relief to those afflicted with an uncommon and especially insidious form of ALS that runs in families. Patients are urging the US Food and Drug Administration to speed access to the drug, which hasn’t yet been approved because clinical trials didn’t conclusively show it works. As pharmaceutical companies use new technologies to seek cures of all kinds, this tension between making sure drugs are effective and safe, and offering not-quite-ready but possibly life-saving treatment to people for whom it’s now or never, is becoming more acute. Bloomberg’s chief medical writer Robert Langreth joins this episode to talk about the race to find a treatment for ALS–and the back and forth between patients, companies and government regulators. We also hear the story of a Pennsylvania family that has passed on a gene for ALS from generation to generation–and their demands for access to the new treatment. Learn more about the episode here: https://bloom.bg/3WIkvCm  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.

23 Dec 202225min

From Beijing to Boston, the food on our dinner plates is starting to look more and more alike. It used to be, we ate the local fruits, vegetables and grains native to where we live. Now, with the rise of industrial agriculture and cheap exports, the Western diet is taking over the globe.  Turns out that’s a big problem – and not just for health reasons. As the world grows dependent on an ever-narrower selection of nutrients, we’re at greater risk of a widespread food crisis from an unexpected shortfall of wheat or other key crops. Bloomberg journalists Jasmine Ng and Jin Wu join this episode from Singapore to talk about how and why the world’s diets converged. And Stefan Schmitz of Crop Trust–which promotes global food diversity–comes on the show to give a preview of what our dinner plates will look like in the future.Learn more about this story here: https://bloom.bg/3BRQWWN 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.

22 Dec 202227min

Billionaires are increasingly taking advantage of a provision in the US tax laws that lets them park money designated for charity in something called a donor advised fund. They get a tax break up front…and can let the money sit in the fund for as long as they like. It’s eventually got to be given to a charitable cause, but they don’t have to say when, or where it’ll go.  Bloomberg reporters Noah Buhayar, Ben Steverman and Sophie Alexander join Wes for a look at their analysis and reporting on donor advised funds–and why they’ve become so popular among the super wealthy. Jan Masaoka, CEO of the California Association of Nonprofits, also stops in to talk about what it means for charities that depend on those delayed dollars. Learn more about the episode: https://bloom.bg/3GxT3ll  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.

21 Dec 202229min

In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, some of the biggest mortgage lenders in the US promised to extend billions in new loans to Black homebuyers. That hasn’t happened. Instead, the numbers are going in the opposite direction. Bloomberg senior economics writer Shawn Donnan joins Wes this episode to talk about why banks have fallen short of the goal–and what it means for families across the country. Dedrick Asante-Muhammad of the National Community reinvestment Coalition also joins to spell out what needs to be done to fix the problem. Learn more about this story here: https://bloom.bg/3YyRgDA  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.

20 Dec 202230min

As the US coal industry dwindles, big mining companies that once made a fortune are packing up–and leaving behind a staggering mess of destroyed land and poisoned water. So who’ll pay to clean it up? Bloomberg reporters Josh Saul and Zachary Mider spent time in coal country and join this episode to talk about the multi-billion-dollar game of pass the buck now playing out in Appalachia. Learn more about this story here: https://bloom.bg/3HKh2yQ 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.

19 Dec 202229min

In 2019, US officials seized a massive cargo ship called the MSC Gayane in the Port of Philadelphia. On board, they found containers filled with products of all kinds that the ship had picked up along its global route. They also discovered cargo that didn’t appear on the ship’s manifest—40,000 pounds of cocaine. Bloomberg investigative reporters Lauren Etter and Michael Riley join this episode to tell the wild story of how one of the world’s biggest cargo ships became an unofficial courier for a notorious European drug cartel. Learn more about this story here: https://bloom.bg/3Gaa7h4  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.

16 Dec 202234min

This year saw some important advances for #MeToo. The US Congress passed two bills, now signed into law, that protect the rights of women who come forward to report sexual abuse in the workplace–and make it harder for companies to try to silence them. Two members of Congress who pushed that legislation through the House, Rep. Cheri Bustos and Rep. Lois Frankel, join this episode to explain the far-reaching consequences of the new laws.  Then Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center, and Bloomberg’s Equality editor Rebecca Greenfield give a broader view of how much has changed in the five years since #MeToo went viral–and how much more needs to be done.  Learn more about how companies in other countries are handling claims of sexism and racism: https://bloom.bg/3uRiW8Z Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

15 Dec 202226min