Baidu made it big as China’s go-to search engine. But in the past decade the tech giant has struggled, while competitors such as Alibaba and Tencent have soared ahead. The FT’s China tech correspondent Ryan McMorrow looks at chief executive Robin Li’s latest venture, in artificial intelligence, and whether this will be enough to turn the company around. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For further reading: Baidu’s bet on AI could make or break China’s fallen ...
Feb 07, 2024•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast The nuclear power industry is receiving a lot of attention recently thanks in part to new technological advancements. That’s excited venture capital groups and private investors, such as Bill Gates and OpenAI’s Sam Altman. But the industry is also known for its boom-and-bust cycles. The FT’s US energy editor Jamie Smyth explains there are many challenges that lie ahead for an industry, which has long been plagued by controversy. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -...
Jan 31, 2024•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast If you have questions about this year's US presidential election, we have answers. Swamp Notes is a new podcast from the FT News Briefing. Listen every Saturday morning as our journalists analyse and discuss the latest happenings in US politics. We’ll go beyond the horse race for the White House and offer a global perspective on the election. You can subscribe to Swamp Notes here or wherever you get your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jan 30, 2024•1 min•Transcript available on Metacast BlackRock chief executive Larry Fink has been on the hunt for the money manager’s next “transformational” deal. Earlier this month, Fink revealed that he had finally found it with the acquisition of a private capital firm, Global Infrastructure Partners. The FT’s US financial editor Brooke Masters and US private capital correspondent Antoine Gara explain why BlackRock wanted GIP, and how this deal sets the agenda for Wall Street this year. Clips from CNBC - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ...
Jan 24, 2024•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast In Silicon Valley, the promise of a massive payday for a start-up’s early employees and investors has hinged on those companies eventually going public or being sold off. But with the slowdown in initial public offerings and acquisitions, a different marketplace is set to heat up this year. It is called the venture secondary market, and it’s where both investors and early employees can trade their stakes in privately-held companies. The FT’s venture capital correspondent George Hammond explains ...
Jan 17, 2024•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast Introducing Untold, a new podcast from the special investigations team at the Financial Times. In its first series, The Retreat, host Madison Marriage examines the world of the Goenka network, which promotes a type of intensive meditation known as Vipassana. Thousands of people go on Goenka retreats every year. People rave about them. But some people go to these meditation retreats, and they suffer. They might feel a deep sense of terror, or a break with reality. And on the other side, they’re n...
Jan 11, 2024•2 min•Transcript available on Metacast The runaway success of diabetes and weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy have turned their maker, Novo Nordisk, into a juggernaut. Last year the Danish drugmaker claimed the title of Europe’s most valuable company. But the development of these drugs was a long, uphill battle.The FT’s global pharmaceutical editor Hannah Kuchler explains how the company’s unique ownership structure played a critical role in the company’s achievements and looks at the challenges ahead. Clips from C...
Jan 10, 2024•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast You asked us questions, we’ve got your answers. FT columnists and editors such as Martin Wolf and Robert Armstrong respond to listener questions about everything from finance to markets to the economy. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For further reading: Five questions for 2024 The region at the heart of Germany’s economic stagnation FT writers’ predictions for the world in 2024 Overheard in the newsroom: what does the next year hold? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -...
Jan 03, 2024•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast Who runs the world? Political scientist Ian Bremmer argues it’s not as simple as it used to be. With some eye-opening questions about the nature of influence, he asks us to consider the impact of the evolving global order — and our choices as participants in the future of democracy. This is an episode from TED Talks Daily. Every weekday, TED Talks Daily goes beyond the headlines and explores a new idea shaping the future in 20 minutes or less. Join host and journalist Elise Hu and hear thought-p...
Dec 27, 2023•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast Every year, the Financial Times selects the most outstanding business book of the year. For 2023, the top pick is a book about failure. The FT’s senior business writer Andrew Hill sits down with the winner, Amy Edmondson, the author of Right Kind of Wrong and “the world’s most influential organisational psychologist”. Edmondson’s book explores the value in failure, what we can learn from it and what’s wrong with Silicon Valley’s “fail fast, fail often” mantra. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -...
Dec 20, 2023•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast For years, Riad Salameh was praised for his revolutionary financial policies as head of Lebanon’s central bank. But suddenly, the country plunged into an economic crisis. And Salameh left the central bank with a disgraced reputation and, investigators believe, a massive personal fortune. So what happened? The FT’s Middle East correspondent Raya Jalabi walks us through the storm of allegations Salameh faces, and the decisions he made that economists think sparked the entire crisis. Clips from Ass...
Dec 13, 2023•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast The UN climate conference COP28 is in full swing, and officials from around the world are discussing ways to combat climate change. The agenda includes questions around how to regulate a market that could soon take off — carbon credits. Right now, these credits serve as a way for private buyers, such as companies and individuals, to offset their emissions. But countries may be able to start using these too. FT climate reporter Kenza Bryan explains the risks that could come with this market expan...
Dec 06, 2023•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast In 2007, when Dan Och took his hedge fund public, he was making a bet that his company would stand the test of time. More than 15 years, a bribery scandal, and a feud with his protégé later, things have not worked out as planned. The FT’s Ortenca Aliaj and Sujeet Indap go inside the saga that lost shareholders more than $10bn. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For further reading: Sculptor Capital: grey areas cause grey hairs in messy bidding war Fight over Sculptor...
Nov 29, 2023•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week we’re revisiting an episode from earlier this year about the London Stock Exchange’s decline. The exchange once held the top spot in global financial markets, but that’s changed completely in recent years. The FT’s Harriet Agnew and Katie Martin explain how a yacht floating off the Canary Islands 30 years ago played a critical role in changing the stock market. Clips from CBS, Thames News - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For further reading: Britain’s ‘capitalism wit...
Nov 22, 2023•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast Introducing Life and Art, from FT Weekend. It's a new twice-weekly culture podcast from the Financial Times. On Monday, we talk about life, and how to live a good one, in a one-on-one conversation that explores everything from food and travel to philosophy and creativity. On Friday, we talk about “art” – in a chat show! Three FT journalists come together to discuss a new cultural release across film, TV, music and books. Hosted by Lilah Raptopoulos, together with the FT’s award-winning writers a...
Nov 20, 2023•1 min•Transcript available on Metacast In its early days Citigroup styled itself as a “financial supermarket”, a one-stop shop for all kinds of banking services around the world. But that plan has backfired in recent years. Stepping up to the challenge of repairing the bank is chief executive Jane Fraser, who announced her restructuring plan in September. The FT’s US banking correspondent Stephen Gandel and US banking editor Joshua Franklin discuss whether Fraser can turn the bank around, and if not, what happens to Citi. - - -...
Nov 15, 2023•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast In a new series of Tech Tonic, FT journalists Madhumita Murgia and John Thornhill look at the concerns around the rise of artificial intelligence. Will superintelligent AI bring existential risk, or a new renaissance? Would it be ethical to build conscious AI? How intelligent are these machines anyway? The new season of Tech Tonic from the Financial Times, drops mid-November. Presented by Madhumita Murgia and John Thornhill. Senior producer is Edwin Lane and producer Josh Gabert-Doyon. Exe...
Nov 10, 2023•1 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the US, nearly half a million people have gone on strike this year demanding better pay, working conditions and job security. With the FT’s US labour and equality correspondent Taylor Nicole Rogers, we’re zooming in on the strategies that three major labour movements have used in recent months to try and secure new contracts, and whether their efforts could signal a new era of power for unions in America. Clips from Associated Press - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -...
Nov 08, 2023•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast In October two US oil and gas giants announced massive deals: Chevron bought Hess, and ExxonMobil acquired Pioneer Natural Resources. These deals expand each company’s operations and secure their access to more oil for decades to come. But recent forecasts say global demand for fossil fuels will soon reach its peak. The FT’s Myles McCormick looks at why these companies are betting oil demand will stick around and whether that bet will pay off. Clips from Yahoo Finance, Reuters, CNBC, Bloom...
Nov 01, 2023•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the 1990s, Microsoft was seen as a tech industry bully. Once viewed as combative and ruthless in the eyes of regulators, the company underwent an image makeover in the decades since. Now, the FT’s Richard Waters explains how Microsoft’s transformation pushed their $75bn acquisition of video game publisher Activision Blizzard over the line earlier this month. Clips from Activision Blizzard - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For further reading: How Brad Smith used ...
Oct 25, 2023•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast It has been more than two years since GameStop’s stock caught fire on social media, at one point rising 135% in one day. The new film Dumb Money chronicles how the GameStop saga played out. The FT’s Ethan Wu sits down with the movie’s writers, Rebecca Angelo and Lauren Schuker Blum, to get a behind-the-scenes look at everything that went into the film. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For further reading: Well, actually: Our ‘Dumb Money’ movie review Dumb Money fil...
Oct 18, 2023•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, we have a bonus episode for you, live from the FT Due Diligence Forum in London. FT chief features writer Henry Mance sits down with author Michael Lewis to discuss his new book, Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon, an all-access account of Sam Bankman-Fried before his crypto exchange FTX collapsed. This conversation was recorded on October 11 2023. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For further reading: What Michael Lewis got wrong about FTX...
Oct 16, 2023•41 min•Transcript available on Metacast In its latest fight to curb the power of Big Tech, the US Federal Trade Commission has sued Amazon. The regulator says the e-commerce giant has become such a big monopoly that its practices are hurting consumers and the third-party sellers that rely on its services. The FT’s San Francisco correspondent Camilla Hodgson explains what this case could mean for the company’s future. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For further reading: Amazon’s most prominent antitrust critic...
Oct 11, 2023•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast When Argentina’s president announced plans to nationalise an oil company in 2012, it was presented as a way to grow the country’s wealth. Eleven years on, a court in New York City decided that the country owes some of the oil company shareholders $16bn. The FT’s Joe Miller and Ciara Nugent explain why this has happened. And, we look at what this means for Argentina, as it grapples with skyrocketing inflation and an important presidential election later this month. Clips from CNN, NBC News,...
Oct 04, 2023•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, we’re revisiting an episode from earlier this year. Apple has spent two decades and billions of dollars building a massive supply chain for its products. At the centre of that operation is China. But as Beijing has become more authoritarian and relations with the US sour, it has become harder for Apple to do business there. The company has been signalling recently that it will diversify away from the country, but the FT’s Patrick McGee explains why cutting ties will be extremely diffi...
Sep 27, 2023•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast As the world transitions away from fossil fuels and the electric vehicle market grows, competition to control a piece of a new source of energy is brewing. From rival carmakers to raw materials miners, different groups are racing to carve out their spots in the supply chain of one important technology: lithium-ion batteries. How will it shake out? The FT’s commodities correspondent Harry Dempsey explains who’s likely to succeed, and what that could mean for the future of corporate and national p...
Sep 20, 2023•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast Subscribe now to the FT's Tech Tonic podcast: Some scientists believe that rapid advances in artificial intelligence may also hold the key to decoding animal sounds, allowing us to ‘translate’ them into human language. In a new season of Tech Tonic, FT innovation editor John Thornhill and series producer Persis Love explore how the same technology that powers ChatGPT is being applied to research in animal communication. Could we one day learn to ‘speak whale’ or even chat with bats? And if so, c...
Sep 14, 2023•1 min•Transcript available on Metacast Critics argue Russia has a playbook for people who become its targets. On the final episode of the Russian Banker, we explore how Sergei Leontiev saw his fights with Russian President Vladimir Putin as a full-blown war in which seeking US asylum would become just another battle. But how does the US decide who deserves asylum? Note: This episode was updated to clarify that Russia is responsible for forty percent of all publicly disclosed red notices to Interpol. A previous versio...
Sep 13, 2023•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, we have a bonus episode for you, live from the FT Weekend Festival in London. Michela sat down with two experts on Arm, the British chip designer, to discuss its imminent initial public offering. Tim Bradshaw, the FT’s global tech correspondent and James Ashton, author of The Everything Blueprint , talk about where Arm stands as a company, and what its chances for growth are when it goes public later this month. This conversation was recorded on September 2, 2023. - - - - - - - ...
Sep 11, 2023•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast Sergei Leontiev says he was a political victim of the Putin regime. But when we tracked down other people who used to work at the bank they had a different story about Leontiev — and the extent of his ties to Alexei Navalny. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Sep 06, 2023•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
