Big Take

In Disclosure, investigative reporter Jason Leopold and attorney Matt Topic take listeners inside a years long effort to head off document destruction at the White House during President Trump’s first term. Drawing from government documents (and The Big Lebowski ), they reveal how the US National Archives and Records Administration tried to alert the feds to potentially illegal record dispos...

Are “natural” diamonds still worth it if you can get a near-identical alternative for a fraction of the cost? With a boost from celebrities like Sarah Jessica Parker, lab-grown competitors could be coming for the crown. On today’s Big Take podcast, guest host Stacey Vanek Smith talks to industry insiders and De Beers Group CEO Al Cook about what $12 half-carat earrings could mean...

US economic growth is up but consumer sentiment is down. Another rate hike, expected this year, could help lower inflation, but do little to ease the frustrations of much of the middle class, for whom the American dream sits just out of reach. On today’s Big Take podcast, editors Matthew Boesler and Cristina Lindblad join Sarah Holder to unpack what the data says is happening in the US econo...

Energy prices are up — and President Trump is out of time to bring them down before the US midterm elections.  On today’s Big Take podcast, David Gura breaks down the factors keeping prices high and how much it could cost the Republican party with White House reporter Josh Wingrove and Will Kubzansky, who covers gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.  We have a special Bloomberg subs...

When millions of retail investors piled into India’s options market to get rich quick, losses mounted and regulators launched a sweeping crackdown.  On today’s Big Take Asia podcast, guest host Rebecca Choong Wilkins and India equities reporter Savio Shetty break down how the world’s largest options market unraveled, why regulators are struggling to police the country’...

The AI infrastructure boom is funded by a complex web of investments, as tech companies pour money into one another and foreign investors funnel still more cash into the industry. That flow of foreign money is also creating global imbalances — and flashbacks to the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis. On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg’s Shawn Donnan and Bloomberg Economics&r...

As US journalist Azadeh Moaveni was writing her latest book, ‘The East Wing’, a history of America's first ladies and their staff, President Donald Trump’s demolition of that very part of the White House was underway.  Moaveni presents her book as a “parallel women’s history,” tracing how the wives of US presidents, including Melania Trump, who traditionall...

Jane Street just eclipsed Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan as the biggest trading house on Wall Street. It pulled in nearly $40 billion in trading revenue in 2025. And it’s so enigmatic that to the outside world, it’s unclear who’s even in charge. On today’s Big Take podcast, David Gura talks to finance reporters Max Abelson and Katherine Doherty on their reporting on who’s...

Ultra-wealthy individuals in the UK have been fleeing the country, after sweeping Labour Party tax reforms led to a crackdown on overseas wealth. For the first time, new data from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index reveals just how much money is at stake with the exodus. On today’s Big Take podcast, host Sarah Holder talks to Bloomberg’s Benjamin Stupples about the UK’s $160 billio...

President Trump is campaigning in Texas on Wednesday, rallying voters in a state that’s long been a Republican stronghold. His efforts in traditionally red states around the country show how surprisingly close many of these midterm races have become — and the outcome will determine if Trump’s party can hold onto the Senate and advance his agenda for the next two years. On today&r...

Beyond software and chips, the AI boom relies on good old-fashioned manufacturing of essential components – a skill that has made a new class of people very, very rich. On today’s Big Take Asia podcast, host Oanh Ha talks with Bloomberg reporter Cindy Wang and Opinion columnist Catherine Thorbecke about how nimble producers—think toilet manufacturers and furniture makers—pi...

Bond yields are climbing from the US to Japan — pushing up borrowing costs and putting fresh stress on governments, markets and consumers. In France, that strain could deepen into a broader crisis for the euro zone. On today’s episode, Bloomberg Opinion columnist John Authers and Navy Federal Credit Union Chief Economist Heather Long join Sarah Holder to discuss what’s driving th...

Amid growing concern over AI risks, top tech executives were summoned to the White House this past week and agreed to US President Donald Trump’s preferred alternative to federal regulation. The accord , which carries no legal weight, commits Anthropic, OpenAI, Nvidia, Meta, SpacexAI and Google to “robust internal processes” and independent audits, and comes soon after safet...

Romantasy books have created a near-billion-dollar industry in the US alone. This week, fans are racing to grab a copy of Rebecca Yarros’ Threshing Day , and bracing for the sixth installment of one of the genre’s biggest hits, A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, coming later this month. On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg’s Hannah Miller and Madison Muller tak...

The Premier League has found its top-ranked club, the star-studded and highly decorated Manchester City, guilty of artificially boosting financial results by more than £900 million over nine years. The franchise used “sham” contracts to build an unprecedented competitive advantage. The team has until Oct. 2 to respond to the charges. On today’s Big Take podcast, David Gura...

The 2026 midterms are on track to become the most expensive elections in US history, with Republican Senate candidates raking in hundreds of millions from PACs and Democrats riding a growing wave of individual donations. So who has the edge? On today’s Big Take podcast, Bill Faries, who oversees Bloomberg’s midterm coverage, and campaign finance reporter Bill Allison join Sarah Holder...

China is ramping up an ongoing effort to shore up local government budgets and fund AI data centers with tax revenue from its richest citizens. Billionaires across the country are seeing bills hit their doorstep, and one major deadline to pay up is just weeks away. On today’s Big Take podcast, host David Gura talks to Bloomberg’s Lulu Chen about why Beijing is enforcing and rewriting i...

At over 5%, the 10-year Treasury yield is the highest since 2007. Those soaring yields are raising lots of questions about whether investors should be trimming stocks and buying bonds. But timing such a move can be complicated.  On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg’s David Papadopoulos and Michael Regan join host Sarah Holder to discuss whether we’re on the brink of a grea...

In 2014, the economists Owen Zidar and Eric Zwick were asked by the US Treasury to conduct a study on the tax burden of private business owners. One of their central findings is that there are about three million private business owners who have an average wealth of around $25 million. The research they conducted led to their new book, The Everywhere Millionaire: Who Is Really Rich in America and...

People who fabricate artificial stone are getting sick with a deadly chronic illness—on that, there’s no debate. But whether it’s the individual shops or the material’s manufacturers who should be held responsible is the subject of a highly political dispute playing out across the US. On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg labor reporter Josh Eidelson breaks down the...

At this week’s UN General Assembly meeting in New York, an AI executive delivered dire warnings via video. President Trump threatened to annihilate Iran. China’s Xi Jinping skipped the meeting altogether. Eight decades after its founding as a guarantor of world peace, does the UN still matter? On today’s Big Take podcast, what UN week and the Xi-Trump summit mean for global secur...

Diesel prices are hitting new highs, and voters aren’t happy. With the midterms approaching, the Trump administration is trying to find ways to curb fuel costs, including a potential US diesel export ban. On today’s Big Take podcast: The political fallout of sky-high diesel prices. Bloomberg national economics reporter Mark Niquette and host Sarah Holder break down what’s driving...

As Chinese President Xi Jinping makes his first visit to Washington in over a decade, trade and the AI race will likely dominate talks with Donald Trump. On today’s Big Take Asia podcast, host K. Oanh Ha and Bloomberg’s John Liu unpack what each leader hopes to gain and why they may have no choice but to cooperate on AI safety. Read more:  The Tough AI Questions Looming Over the T...

The Iran War is likely to take center stage when President Trump meets with Gulf leaders on the sidelines of this week's UN General Assembly. Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia and rising energy prices underscore the widening global toll of a war that has cost the US more than $43 billion, according to the Pentagon's latest estimate. On today's Big Take podcast, Bloomberg Global Defense Editor Gerry D...

American pharma giants are increasingly turning to Chinese labs to discover, test and develop cutting-edge drugs. On the Big Take Asia podcast, Bloomberg’s Amber Tong and Robert Langreth join Oanh Ha to break down why global drugmakers are sourcing their next big breakthroughs from China — and what that means for US biotech dominance. Read more: Big Pharma Is Hooked on Chinese Licensin...