Boss Class from The Economist

How did two old, unpopular men end up running for the world's most demanding job? It’s the question John Prideaux, The Economist’s US editor, gets asked the most. And the answer lies in the peculiar politics of the baby boomers. 

Since 1992, every American president bar one has been a white man born in the 1940s. That run looks likely to span 36 years - not far off the age of the median American. This cohort was born with aces in their pockets. Their parents defeated Nazism and won the cold war. They hit the jobs market at an unmatched period of wealth creation. They have benefitted from giant leaps in technology, and in racial and gender equality. 

And yet, their last act in politics sees the two main parties accusing each other of wrecking American democracy. As the boomers near the end of their political journey, John Prideaux sets out to make sense of their inheritance and their legacy. 

Launching July 2024.

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Narendra Modi is one of the most popular politicians on the planet. India’s prime minister is eyeing a third term atop the world’s biggest democracy. 

A tea-seller’s son, Mr Modi began life an outsider and the man behind the political phenomenon remains hard to fathom. India has become an economic powerhouse during his ten years in charge. But he’s also the frontman for a chauvinistic Hindu nationalist dogma. 

Can Mr Modi continue to balance both parts of his agenda and finish the job of turning India into a superpower? The Economist’s Avantika Chilkoti finds out what makes him tick. 

Launching June 2024.

To listen to the full series, subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.

If you’re already a subscriber to The Economist, you have full access to all our shows as part of your subscription. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

To manage a workforce divided between the home and office, bosses should ask the five basic questions of journalism: who, what, where, when and why. Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, Jane Sun, the CEO of Trip.com Group, and Lidiane Jones, the CEO of Slack, give their divergent views. 

Episodes are out on Mondays. If you’re not already a subscriber to The Economist, sign up for a free trial of Economist Podcasts+ or if you’re already a subscriber to The Economist, you have full access to all our shows as part of your subscription.

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Andrew Palmer, The Economist's Bartleby columnist, learns lessons in management on a Norwegian mountainside. He hears from Emma Walmsley, the CEO of GSK; Daniel Kahneman, a Nobel prize-winning psychologist; and Claire Hughes-Johnson, the one-time COO of Stripe. 

Episodes are out on Mondays. If you’re not already a subscriber to The Economist, sign up for a free trial of Economist Podcasts+ or if you’re already a subscriber to The Economist, you have full access to all our shows as part of your subscription.

For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

The workplace keeps changing and managers have to keep up. The best bosses create systems for solving problems old and new—from navigating working-from-home demands to hiring the right people, from running good meetings to managing themselves. 

Andrew Palmer, author of the Bartleby column, looks for advice on how to be a better boss by talking to people who have actually done the job. Listen to The Economist's seven-episode guide for managers.

Episodes are out on Mondays starting later in October. If you're not already a subscriber to The Economist, sign up for a free trial of Economist Podcasts+ or if you’re already a subscriber to The Economist, you have full access to all our shows as part of your subscription. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.