The story of Apple’s rise to become the world’s most valuable company is also the story of its relationship with China. Apple’s vast manufacturing and supply chain operation there has been one of the keys to its success.

So why is Apple looking to expand its operations to India and other countries? 

Bloomberg’s chief technology correspondent Mark Gurman joins this episode to look at how shifts in the global economy, and rising tensions between Washington and Beijing, have led Apple to diversify where it makes its products. And Taipei-based senior reporter Debby Wu talks about the challenges the company faces in trying to recreate its success in other countries.

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The US Federal Trade Commission is weighing restrictions on many non-compete agreements in employment contracts. These clauses dissuade workers from switching jobs and impact roughly one in five Americans—including physicians, hair stylists, even fast food workers.

Bloomberg reporter Leah Nylen joins this episode to explain the FTC’s efforts to dial them back. And reporters Jo Constantz and Josh Eidelson, and White House editor Mario Parker, talk about how non-competes became a way for companies to freeze employees in place—and how the move to restrict them is part of a larger push by the Biden administration to bolster workers’ rights.

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US sanctions against Russia are supposed to cut off Moscow’s access to all kinds of goods, including semiconductors, which are used in missiles and drones. But US officials allege a secret supply chain has illegally funneled these chips, some of them American-made, to Russia, where they’ve been used in weapons deployed against Ukraine.

Bloomberg reporter Ben Bartenstein joins this episode to talk about one alleged chip smuggling scheme. And US national security editor Nick Wadhams explains why sanctions can slow—but not always stop—Russia and other sanctioned nations from getting what they want.

Read more here: Web of Secret Chip Deals Allegedly Help US Tech Flow to Russia

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For months, Israeli citizens—including CEOs, doctors, hedge fund executives, lawyers, and soldiers—have protested in the streets against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to diminish the authority of the nation’s Supreme Court. The government aims to give Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, the power to overrule the court’s decisions with a simple majority vote. It could have far-reaching consequences within Israel—and for its standing as a strong democracy in a volatile region of the world.

Bloomberg’s Israel Bureau Chief Ethan Bronner joins this episode from Tel Aviv to talk about what’s at stake—and why so many Israelis from all walks of life are demanding Netanyahu withdraw the plan.

Read more: https://bloom.bg/408gubM 

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The White House and Congress are battling over raising the nation’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling. If they don’t act and the US defaults on its debt this summer, the economic shockwaves will be felt across the nation and around the world.

Even so, the conventional wisdom in many parts of Washington and Wall Street seems to be: don’t worry, in the end of course they’ll reach a deal.

But relying on conventional wisdom is often…unreliable. Though congressional leaders managed to overcome their differences and raise the debt ceiling in the past–often at the 11th hour, after all the brinkmanship had played out–what if this time is different? 

Bloomberg journalists Liz McCormick and Erik Wasson join this episode to game out the scenarios and gauge how concerned we should be about the possibility that the rancor and acrimony in Washington will lead to a debt default for the first time in US history.

Read more: https://bloom.bg/3JkoEqX

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For years now, we’ve been hearing that autonomous vehicles are just around the corner. Google, Uber, General Motors, Tesla, and other companies invested huge sums in hopes of realizing the dream of a car that drives itself on the open road.

And yet, after more than a decade of effort and prototypes, driverless cars still appear to be a long way off. Why is that?

Bloomberg reporter Max Chafkin joins this episode to talk about the industry’s persistent roadblocks — and what’s ahead. And Anthony Levandowski, a pioneer and early champion of driverless car technology, explains why it continues to be such a difficult puzzle to solve.

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The biggest bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis is stoking fears of a larger financial meltdown across regional US banks. Silicon Valley Bank, a key lender for startups and the tech industry, collapsed last week. As regulators take over, many people around the country are left wondering if their own money is safe. 

Bloomberg personal finance reporter Suzanne Woolley joins this episode to talk about what the collapse of SVB means for everyday savers and investors. And Ben Bain, who leads Bloomberg’s coverage of how Washington regulates Wall Street, explains how the government has responded and the plan to stem the bleeding now — and prevent future failures.

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People around the world rely on satellites for their internet connections, credit card transactions–and even to keep track of time.  Last year, a suspected Russian-led satellite hack exposed how vulnerable they are to security breaches, from individual hackers seeking to pilfer information for profit and governments looking to weaken their adversaries.

Bloomberg reporter Katrina Manson joins this episode to discuss the fallout of the hack, and what companies and governments are doing to harden their systems against future attacks. Plus, James Pavur, a hacker and Pentagon cybersecurity expert, walks us through how satellites are compromised, and what we can do to keep our own data from being stolen. 

Read more here: The Satellite Hack Everyone Is Finally Talking About.

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This month, India’s Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether to legalize same-sex marriage. 

Bloomberg reporters Muneeza Naqvi and Kai Schultz join this episode from New Delhi to explain India’s rapid march toward affirming rights for LGBTQ people, and how a ruling in favor of same-sex marriage would be felt not just within the country but across Asia and beyond. 

Then, Gurchaten Sandhu, program director at the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association in Geneva takes a step back to talk about which countries have advanced marriage equality and where it is still outlawed.

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The future of US competitiveness is taking shape in a field in Licking County, Ohio. It’s the site of a new Intel semiconductor plant, part of the Biden administration’s effort to bring manufacturing jobs back to the US, with a focus on high tech products like semiconductors.

But those ambitious plans have exposed a looming problem: The number of skilled workers needed to build factories and fill those jobs is shrinking. It’s a demographic reality that will only become more acute in the decades to come. 

Bloomberg senior economics writer Shawn Donnan joins this episode to explain why America’s workforce is shrinking, and what a labor shortage now means for the nation’s manufacturing future. And Gabriela Cruz Thompson of Intel Labs talks about how a big company like hers plans to recruit workers in an increasingly competitive job market.

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This podcast is produced by the Big Take Podcast team: Supervising Producer: Vicki Vergolina, Senior Producer: Kathryn Fink, Producers: Mo Barrow, Rebecca Chaisson, Michael Falero and Federica Romaniello, Associate Producers: Sam Gebauer and Zaynab Siddiqui. Sound Design/Engineers: Raphael Amsili and Gilda Garcia.

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Two significant advances in science and technology are helping us examine our own planet, as well as galaxies near and far. The first is the James Webb Space Telescope—an instrument that’s already transmitting game-changing data from a million miles away. The second is NASA’s SWOT mission, named for its exploration of Earth’s surface water and ocean topography. Using remote sensing technology, it aims to be the first-ever global survey of its kind.

Bloomberg space reporter Loren Grush joins this episode to share why these endeavors are important not just for science but also to help us make decisions about our everyday lives. Plus, we meet some of the people behind these projects—and those whose work will be shaped by the wealth of information beaming back to Earth.

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Traffic stops are the most common way people come into contact with the police. After the January death of Tyre Nichols, who was beaten following a police stop in Memphis, some cities are trying to limit how often these stops occur. Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, and the state of Virginia have taken measures to curb stops for minor violations, which disproportionately affect people of color–and sometimes turn violent.

Bloomberg reporters Sarah Holder and Fola Akinnibi join this episode to talk about why traffic stops have become such a widespread problem, and how police departments are responding to limits to their authority. And Philadelphia councilman Isaiah Thomas explains how his legislation aims to increase public safety.

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In his 1961 farewell address, President Dwight Eisenhower famously warned about the dangers of the business of war–what he called the “military industrial complex.” Now, more than six decades later, that warning still rings true. The US military is the most powerful – and expensive – in the world, but the Pentagon bureaucracy is vast, inefficient, and often slow to adapt to a rapidly changing world. 

Bloomberg reporters Peter Martin, Courtney McBride, and Roxana Tiron join this episode to talk about their deep reporting about concerns inside and outside the Pentagon that the US military is in danger of falling behind rivals including China, and what the Defense Department is doing to change. 

Michèle Flournoy, a former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, also joins to give perspective on how the Pentagon works, what it does right, and what it needs to do better.

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This podcast is produced by the Big Take Podcast team: Supervising Producer: Vicki Vergolina, Senior Producer: Kathryn Fink, Producers: Mo Barrow, Rebecca Chaisson, Michael Falero and Federica Romaniello, Associate Producers: Sam Gebauer and Zaynab Siddiqui. Sound Design/Engineers: Raphael Amsili and Gilda Garcia.

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One unexpected consequence of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: It highlighted how just a handful of countries–notably Russia and China–supply much of the fertilizer needed to feed the world. Amid geopolitical tensions and humanitarian concerns, the race for fertilizer has become a priority for the U.S. and its allies.

Bloomberg reporter Elizabeth Elkin joins this episode to talk about how concerns about fertilizer shortages have nations looking for alternatives.

Read more: https://bloom.bg/3KUmT62 

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Pras Michel, the famed rapper and founding member of The Fugees, goes on federal trial later this month. The US government has charged him with numerous crimes related to his dealings with the fugitive Malaysian businessman allegedly at the center of one of the largest financial scandals in history. Michel maintains he’s innocent.

This real-life international tale of intrigue involves a long cast of characters, including A-list Hollywood celebrities, the Chinese government, and both the Obama and Trump White Houses.

Bloomberg reporters Anthony Cormier, Jason Leopold and Matthew Campbell have captured the whole saga in a story for Businessweek and they join this episode to tell us what they found.

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Startups pioneering invasive and noninvasive devices that interact with the brain seek to alleviate everything from ALS symptoms to epilepsy to treatment-resistant depression. In this episode, a look at the science behind this rapidly advancing technology.

Dr. Thomas Oxley, a neurointerventionist and CEO of Synchron, gives us a tour of his lab in Brooklyn, New York, where his company is developing an implant that allows paralyzed people to control devices. 

Then Bloomberg reporter Sarah McBride joins Wes for a look at other startups making these brain-computer interfaces–and where the industry goes from here. 

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This podcast is produced by the Big Take Podcast team: Supervising Producer: Vicki Vergolina, Senior Producer: Kathryn Fink, Producers: Mo Barrow, Rebecca Chaisson, Michael Falero and Federica Romaniello, Associate Producers: Sam Gebauer and Zaynab Siddiqui. Sound Design/Engineers: Raphael Amsili and Gilda Garcia.

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Twelve years after the 2011 Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster, Japan is now considering restarting its shuttered nuclear reactors to combat rising energy prices. It’s a slow process, and one where the government and the public are conflicted about the advantages and risks of nuclear power.

Around the world, countries that turned off their reactors in the wake of Fukushima, or have closed old or expensive reactors, are doing a similar about-face, with rising energy prices and clean energy commitments changing their calculus. That’s inevitably raised questions about the safety of potentially running these aging behemoths to more than double their expected lifespan.

Bloomberg’s Japan energy reporter Shoko Oda joins this episode to talk about the country’s decision to restart its nuclear reactors and lingering anti-nuclear sentiment in the country.

Power and renewable energy editor Will Wade also joins to describe how governments around the world are rethinking their nuclear stances, squeezed by rising energy prices and climate targets. 

And Dr. Jessica Lovering of Good Energy Collective, a pro-nuclear think tank, makes an advocate’s case for how nuclear power fits into the mix for clean energy over the next 30+ years.

Read more about this story here: https://bloom.bg/3m9HTvi 

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It takes hundreds of pounds of aluminum to build Ford’s “Truck of the Future,” the electric F-150. A lot of that aluminum comes from a long, complicated supply chain that it would be difficult to describe as environmentally friendly.

The chain begins in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, at a mine with a legacy of pollution. It leads next to a refinery down the Amazon River where thousands of people are suing, claiming the industry harmed the fragile ecosystem, contaminated their water, and made them sick. Bloomberg senior reporters Sheridan Prasso and Jessica Brice join this episode to talk about their investigation–and how Ford responded to what they found.

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President Biden’s plan to forgive federal student loan debt for millions of Americans has been frozen since a handful of Republican-led states sued to stop it. They argue the president doesn’t have the power to wipe away billions of dollars of debt on his own. It’s now up to the US Supreme Court to decide if they’re right.

Bloomberg Supreme Court correspondent Greg Stohr joins this episode to talk about the arguments on both sides, and where the 6-3 conservative majority might come down. And personal finance reporter Claire Ballentine explains what happens next for Americans with student debt if the court upholds Biden’s plan–or knocks it down.

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As Nigerians decide on a new president, the country’s economy is reeling. Nigeria’s public debt is growing, inflation is soaring, and half of adults can’t find steady work. People wait in line for hours at gas stations to fill their cars and light their homes with generators because the shaky power grid can’t keep up. Kidnapping for ransom is a growing problem. 

What can be done to turn things around? Bloomberg journalists Neil Munshi in Lagos, Nigeria and Ruth Olurounbi in Abuja, the capital, join this episode to talk about what’s at stake in this election–and how the candidates vying for the job say they’ll address these problems. Then, Cheta Nwanze, lead partner at SBM Intelligence, explains why it’s so difficult to attract companies, and money, to Africa’s largest economy.

Read more: https://bloom.bg/3XUUzU5

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