The conservative supermajority on America’s Supreme Court looks <a href="https://www.economist.com/united-states/the-supreme-court-seems-ready-to-scrap-the-constitutional-right-to-abortion/21806567?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">likely to strip back</a> rights enshrined since the Roe v Wade ruling in 1973. Beset by natural disasters, Puerto Rico did not seem ready for a pandemic—but our correspondent <a href="https://www.economist.com/united-states/2021/11/20/puerto-rico-success-story?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">finds</a> it has done better than the rest of America. And an <a href="https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/to-find-the-origin-of-the-oceans-look-in-outer-space/21806551?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">intriguing new idea</a> in the mystery of how Earth got its water.&nbsp;Have your say about “The Intelligence” in our survey here&nbsp; <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligencesurvey" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligencesurvey</a>. And for full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a> &#10;&nbsp; <hr>See <a style='color: grey; ' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for privacy and opt-out information.

Roe blow? SCOTUS weighs abortion rights

Neither Finland nor <a href="https://www.economist.com/europe/2022/05/12/sweden-is-following-finlands-lead-on-joining-nato" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sweden </a>ever joined NATO, the Western military alliance formed in 1949: Finland for pragmatic reasons and Sweden for ideological ones. But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has prompted both to change course. <a href="https://www.economist.com/business/facebooks-retirement-plan/21809131" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Facebook</a>’s appeal is waning – to both users and investors. And for the first time, a telescope has captured images of the <a href="https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2022/05/13/how-to-take-a-picture-of-a-black-hole" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">black hole</a> at the centre of our galaxy. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a> &#10;&nbsp; <hr>See <a style='color: grey; ' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for privacy and opt-out information.

Not stuck in neutral: Sweden, Finland and NATO

A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2022/05/13/the-indian-economy-is-being-rewired-the-opportunity-is-immense?utm_campaign=editors-picks&amp;utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_source=third-party-host&amp;utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">the forces that stand to transform India’s economy over the next decade</a> (11:06), how <a href="https://www.economist.com/business/welcome-to-the-era-of-the-hyper-surveilled-office/21809219?utm_campaign=editors-picks&amp;utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_source=third-party-host&amp;utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">surveilling workers could enhance productivity</a> (21:07), and <a href="https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/full-genome-screening-for-newborns-is-now-on-the-cards/21809246?utm_campaign=editors-picks&amp;utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_source=third-party-host&amp;utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">full-genome screening for newborn babies is now on the cards</a>.&nbsp;Please subscribe to The Economist for full access to print, digital and audio editions:<a href="http://www.economist.com/podcastoffer?utm_campaign=editors-picks&amp;utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_source=third-party-host&amp;utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/podcastoffer</a> &#10;&nbsp; <hr>See <a style='color: grey; ' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for privacy and opt-out information.

Editor’s Picks: May 16th 2022

<a href="https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2022/05/12/the-crypto-infrastructure-cracks" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Stablecoins</a> are essential to the financial plumbing of the cryptocurrency world. They’re pegged to a real-world asset, usually the dollar. But when that peg breaks, things can turn ugly in a hurry. Much of India is suffering through a particularly blistering and costly <a href="https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2022/05/13/the-increasing-frequency-of-fatal-wet-bulb-temperatures" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">heatwave</a>. And Indonesians’ love of songbirds is threatening wild bird populations within and beyond Indonesia itself. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a> &#10;&nbsp; <hr>See <a style='color: grey; ' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for privacy and opt-out information.

Luna landing: Crypto chaos

﻿The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is restarting after a three-year break for maintenance and upgrades. In the first of two episodes, host Alok Jha travels to the Franco-Swiss border to find out what the particle accelerator could reveal about the fundamental building blocks of the universe. In 2012, the LHC discovered the Higgs boson, the final piece of the Standard Model of particle physics. But physicists know that that theory is incomplete—it does not account for gravity, dark energy or dark matter, and cannot explain why there seems to be more matter than antimatter. In its third run of experiments, we investigate how the LHC might change our understanding of physics at its most fundamental scales.&nbsp; For full access to The Economist’s print, digital and audio editions subscribe at <a href="http://www.economist.com/podcastoffer?utm_campaign=babbage&amp;utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_source=third-party-host&amp;utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">economist.com/podcastoffer</a> and sign up for our weekly science newsletter at <a href="http://www.economist.com/simplyscience?utm_campaign=babbage&amp;utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_source=third-party-host&amp;utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">economist.com/simplyscience</a>. &#10;&nbsp; <hr>See <a style='color: grey; ' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for privacy and opt-out information.

Babbage: How to unlock the secrets of the universe—part one

Five American states held primary elections yesterday. The most important were in<a href="https://www.economist.com/united-states/2022/04/30/pennsylvanias-primaries-point-to-the-future-of-american-politics" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Pennsylvania</a>, where a Trump-backed candidate won the Republican gubernatorial primary. The Republican senate race remains too close to call. <a href="https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/the-spy-in-the-sky-that-sees-backwards-in-time/21809102" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Wide-area motion imaging</a> is a surveillance technique developed by the military in Iraq but now creeping into the civilian world. And why war in Ukraine is raising the price of <a href="https://www.economist.com/britain/2022/05/14/ukrainian-seasonal-workers-pick-much-of-britains-fruit" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">berries</a> in Britain. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a> &#10;&nbsp; <hr>See <a style='color: grey; ' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for privacy and opt-out information.

It’s his party: American primaries

The beginning of 2022 has been <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/a-new-bear-market-in-american-shares/21809256?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=moneytalks&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">particularly brutal</a> for stock markets. The S&amp;P 500 had its <a href="https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2022/04/29/americas-s-and-p-500-suffers-its-worst-april-in-52-years?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=moneytalks&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">worst April since 1970</a>, the past seven weeks have marked the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s longest losing streak since 1980, and the <a href="https://www.economist.com/business/2022/05/14/tech-bubbles-are-bursting-all-over-the-place?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=moneytalks&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">tech-heavy</a> Nasdaq has fallen 20% from its peak, putting it officially in bear market territory.&nbsp;This week, hosts Mike Bird, Alice Fulwood and Soumaya Keyes start small then zoom out. First, they look at what’s behind the <a href="https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2022/05/12/the-crypto-infrastructure-cracks?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=moneytalks&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">crypto crash</a> and hear from one unlucky investor who lost it all. Then, they speak with Rebecca Patterson, hedge fund Bridgewater’s chief investment strategist, who connects the dots between the crypto carnage and the rising power of retail investors. And finally, legendary bear market investor Jeremy Grantham explains why he thinks the stock market bubble hasn’t fully burst yet.Sign up for our new weekly newsletter dissecting the big themes in markets, business and the economy at <a href="https://www.economist.com/moneytalks/?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=moneytalks&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">economist.com/moneytalks&nbsp;</a>For full access to print, digital and audio editions, subscribe to The Economist at <a href="http://www.economist.com/podcastoffer?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=moneytalks&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">economist.com/podcastoffer</a> &#10;&nbsp; <hr>See <a style='color: grey; ' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for privacy and opt-out information.

Money Talks: Worse than the average bear (market)

North Korea’s <a href="https://www.economist.com/asia/2022/05/17/covid-19-is-spreading-like-wildfire-in-north-korea" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">zero-covid strategy</a> appears to have failed. The country has officially acknowledged 162 cases; the true number is probably orders of magnitude more. The country’s health-care system is inadequate, and pre-existing conditions such as tuberculosis and malnutrition are rampant. With elections impending in Turkey, politicians have begun competing with each other to scapegoat <a href="https://www.economist.com/europe/2020/04/23/as-turkey-locks-down-refugees-are-the-first-to-suffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">refugees</a>. And why <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2022/05/07/why-arab-schoolboys-are-getting-trounced-by-girls" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">girls outperform boys</a> in the Arab world’s schools. &#10;&nbsp; <hr>See <a style='color: grey; ' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for privacy and opt-out information.

Pestilent peninsula: covid in North Korea

The war in Ukraine has put the organisation’s founding principles and its authority on the line. Anne McElvoy asks Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the United States ambassador to the UN, how the Security Council can function in a time of division. Is the sharing of military intelligence by America an act of war? Plus, the ambassador discusses her solutions to <a href="https://www.economist.com/europe/2022/05/18/how-to-unblock-ukraines-ports-to-relieve-world-hunger?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theeconomistasks&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">the looming food security crisis</a>.&nbsp; Please subscribe to The Economist for full access to print, digital and audio editions:<a href="http://www.economist.com/podcastoffer?utm_campaign=economist-asks&amp;utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_source=third-party-host&amp;utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/podcastoffer</a> &#10;&nbsp; <hr>See <a style='color: grey; ' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for privacy and opt-out information.

The Economist Asks: Is the United Nations fit for purpose?

The Kremlin’s <a href="https://www.economist.com/interactive/international/2022/05/17/the-putin-show" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">propaganda machine</a> ensures that Russians have a much different view of the war in Ukraine than the rest of the world. Our correspondent spent a day immersed in Russian media, to learn what people there see—and what they don’t. The spectre of <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2022/05/14/zimbabwes-president-orders-banks-to-stop-lending" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">hyperinflation</a> is once again stalking Zimbabwe. And our obituaries editor <a href="https://www.economist.com/obituary/2022/05/19/saotome-katsumoto-insisted-that-japan-should-not-forget" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">remembers</a> a man who refused to let Japan forget its painful past. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a> &#10;&nbsp; <hr>See <a style='color: grey; ' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for privacy and opt-out information.

Straight out of Orwell: Russia’s propaganda machine

President Biden came to office promising, like many before him, to fix America's immigration system. But border crossings are at record highs, his reforms have floundered and states are <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2022/05/19/americas-states-are-drifting-apart-over-illegal-immigration?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=checksandbalance&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">going their own way</a> on how to treat undocumented residents. Meanwhile a third of voters believe there is a plan afoot to replace them with people brought in from abroad. What will it take to untangle the immigration mess in America? Alexandra Suich Bass reports from <a href="https://www.economist.com/united-states/2022/05/14/texass-governor-wants-to-deny-education-to-undocumented-migrants?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=checksandbalance&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Texas</a> where the fight over Title 42 is compounding frustrations over record numbers of people attempting to cross into America. We speak to Ali Noorani, author of “Crossing Borders” and former head of the National Immigration Forum, about the Great Replacement theory and why immigration is such fertile ground for conspiracy thinking. And Idrees investigates how some states are creating <a href="https://www.economist.com/united-states/2022/05/19/democratic-states-are-extending-welfare-benefits-to-the-undocumented?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=checksandbalance&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">alternative welfare systems</a> for the millions of undocumented migrants living and working long-term in America.&nbsp; John Prideaux hosts with Charlotte Howard and Idrees Kahloon.&nbsp; For full access to print, digital and audio editions as well as exclusive live events, subscribe to The Economist at <a href="http://economist.com/USpod?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=checksandbalance&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">economist.com/uspod</a> &#10;&nbsp; <hr>See <a style='color: grey; ' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for privacy and opt-out information.

Checks and Balance: Rights to remain

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