The Agenda Podcast

Send us a text At the end of last year, DeepSeek was a little-known Chinese Artificial Intelligence startup. But by the end of last month it was the most talked about company in the world, whose revolutionary approach to open-sourced generative AI had rocked global markets, wiping more than a trillion dollars off tech and energy stocks, and seemingly leveling the global AI playing field. But what do the shockwaves caused by DeepSeek mean for the future of AI, and indeed the future of ...

02-14

29:39

Send us a text The United Kingdom starts 2025 in something of a financial mess. Inflation and interest rates remain stubbornly high, and the Labour government, which swept to power in a landslide victory in July of last year, has seen support tumble after its first budget contained tax hikes and spending cuts. But can UK plc trade its way out of trouble? And what might new relationships, with the US, the EU and China really look like? On this edition of The Agenda, Juliet...

01-15

28:53

Send us a text 2024 will go down as the biggest election year in history - wth more than 2 billion people casting ballots across the globe. The year also saw inflation and interest rates easing across much of the world, even while geopolitcal tensions remained high. So what might 2025 have in store? Joining Juliet Mann to consider just that on this episode of The Agenda are Keyu Jin, Author and Associate Professor at the London School of Economics, David J. Firestein,...

01-07

28:56

Send us a text China and the EU ended 2024 in something of a tricky situation as the row over electric vehicle tariffs threatens to undo much of the good will built up by Xi Jinping’s summer trip to Europe, and visits to Beijing by a number of EU leaders over the past 12 months. So with the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties coming up in May of 2025 just where do relations stand between two of the world’s biggest trading partners? To find out, on this edition of The Agenda, Julie...

01-03

26:58

Send us a text The curtain has now come down on the COP29 climate summit in Baku. And while a trillion dollar deal for climate financing was done at the last minute, some campaigners have called it a betrayal - as much of that figure will have to come from private financing or new sources which have yet to be agreed. To consider where the meeting really leaves us, and our planet, on this edition of The Agenda podcast, Juliet Mann speaks to Jeremy Rifkin, Author of many books incl...

12-03

29:07

Send us a text In 1944 delegates from 44 countries gathered in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire in the United States to agree on a system of economic order and global cooperation. Eighty years later, the seeds sown there for the likes of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank still dominate the world. But with the rise of countries like China and the rest of the global south, many think it's time for a substantial rethink of those Bretton Woods institutions, especially in the...

11-26

28:49

Send us a text As world leaders cross the planet to attend the APEC meeting in Peru, the G20 Summit in Rio and COP29 in Aerbaijan, the voice of the global south has never been more vital. At all of these gatherings, developing nations are fighting to get their voices heard, and pushing to create new forms of global governance that can change the way the world is run. We’ve heard a lot of talk in the past weeks, but what does the rise of the global south really look like in practice? Jo...

11-20

29:00

Send us a text The votes have been counted and Donald Trump has been returned to the White House for a second term. Voters in the US said the key issue for them was the economy – and whether they felt better off after four years of President Biden. But what does Trump’s re-election mean for the rest of the world? For relations with China, the EU and the rising global south? And for the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East? Joining Juliet Mann on this edition of The Agenda to look at...

11-12

28:16

Send us a text World leaders, CEOs and Climate experts are now heading to Baku for the annual United Nations Climate Change conference - COP29. Against a backdrop of increasingly depressing news that warming gases are still accumulating faster than at any time in human history, the plan in Azerbaijan is to consider what now needs to happen next, and who will foot the bill to save the planet. Many think the gap between the global north and south, particularly over climate fi...

11-11

29:28

Send us a text China's President Xi Jinping and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi wwere among the world leaders to join Vladimir Putin in Kazan recently for the 2024 BRICS summit. It's the first such gathering since the group added new members - Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. And, if this week's discussions are anything to go by, BRICS is only set to get bigger - with countries from across the global south pushing to join up. So what does all this really m...

10-31

28:20

Send us a text Trade tensions between China and Europe have been in the spotlight this week as the Prime Ministers of both Spain and Norway headed to China. Both Spain’s Pedro Sanchez and Norway’s Jonas Gahr Støre held high level meetings, including with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang. So what does this tell us about the relations between China and Europe, especially with regard to the possibility of a looming trade war over electric vehicles? In this episode of The Agenda, ...

09-17

29:36

Send us a text Esports – or competitive gaming – is the latest member of the Olympic family. Following the first ever World Cup of esports – taking place right now in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, this time next year the inaugural Esports Olympics will take place in the same city. Esports is already worth $2.4bn annually, and it’s predicted to grow by 20% a year. So what is behind that growth? How does it all work? And what do you need to do to become a world-class competitive gamer? In this edition ...

08-27

29:49

Send us a text Travel and tourism was of course one of the sectors devastated by Covid – with figures only now returning to pre-pandemic levels. But the return to normal has not been without its challenges, with protests across Europe as locals complain about overtourism placing an unnecessary burden on local services and pricing them out of their own homes. So has the way we travel going to change forever? To find out, on this edition of The Agenda, Juliet Mann speaks to N...

08-20

29:30

Send us a text For nearly two weeks, the UK witnessed the most violent social unrest in more than a decade. Triggered it seems by the far-right’s reaction to the murder of three young girls at a Taylor Swift dance class in the town of Southport, the violence spread to almost thirty towns and cities, with shops looted, hundreds arrested and hotels housing immigrants and mosques attacked. So what does this really say about the state of the UK, a matter of weeks into Keir Starmer’s premier...

08-13

28:45

Send us a text The Farnborough International Air Show is one of the world’s largest. Hundreds of thousands of people descend for the week to examine the very latest technology the aviation industry has to offer. But this year, things were a little different, with much of the talk focused on supply chain issues and the ongoing woes of industry titan Boeing – which made a big statement by deciding not to take part in any aerial displays at this years event. To take the true temperature of the s...