Big Take

A heads up: This episode is on a difficult subject and some of it isn’t easy to listen to. You might want to listen with headphones if children are nearby. In just a few short years, TikTok has become as ubiquitous as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. The brief videos and fun dance challenges that TikTok’s one billion users post on its app often become viral sensations.  But there’s a darker side t...

As China seeks to grow its economy and increase its global influence, it’s lending billions of dollars to help governments around the world fund big, expensive projects that otherwise would be out of reach. In Asia, Africa–and, notably, in Latin America, next door to the US.  That money could pay off politically, too, in the ongoing rivalry between Washington and Beijing.  For a look at China’s gl...

A good boss can make the difference between a job you love and one you can’t stand. Workers are more willing to suffer bad bosses when the job market is tight. But when they have choices–like now in the US–they’re quicker to demand better working conditions, or up and quit. One place taking notice of employee discontent: America’s business schools. Senior reporter Matthew Boyle joins this episode...

Green bonds are surging in popularity across the globe, as companies and governments want to show they’re investing in environmentally friendly projects–and people want to feel good about where they’re putting their money. The thing is, it’s not always easy to tell if a green bond is actually going toward a cleaner future–or if it’s mostly a marketing ploy. Aaron Rutkoff, Executive Editor at Bloom...

A growing number of workers at Apple Stores across the US believe the company they once loved to work for is changing–and they’re not happy about it. They say the famously low-key, no-pressure showcases for Apple’s products have turned into just another retail floor, where associates at some stores and technicians at the Genius Bar are expected to upsell customers–or encourage them to buy new devi...

Shein is one of the biggest fast-fashion brands in the world. Young women and girls film their “Shein hauls” for TikTok — showing off piles of trendy, cheap clothes they bought from the Chinese company. It’s on track this year for sales around $8 billion in the US alone. But a new investigation traces the origin of the cotton in some Shein clothing to the Xinjiang region of China, where the US and...

What happens when a small country all of a sudden strikes it fantastically rich? The South American country of Guyana, is finding out in a big way. A nation of just 800,000 people, its economy centered on agriculture and mining–until 2015, when Exxon discovered a massive oil field beneath Guyana’s territorial waters. Now, Guyana is flush with oil riches. Monte Reel , a Bloomberg investigative repo...

Russia’s military has targeted libraries and museums across Ukraine that housed irreplaceable books and documents and works of art.  Now, with the help of advanced digital modeling and other technology, Ukrainians are documenting what’s been destroyed — and preserving what can be salvaged for future generations. This episode features Marc Champion , senior reporter for International Affairs at Blo...

High prices for just about everything are making us all suffer–and there’s no end in sight. Why is inflation hanging on for so long, and when will it finally let go? The answer is…complicated. Fortunately Tom Orlik , Bloomberg’s chief economist, is here to cut through the confusion. He joins Wes to explain what’s happening to the economy in the US and around the world, and where things are headed....

We’re talking about heat in this episode. That might strike you as a bit odd, especially if you live in the northern hemisphere where summer’s long gone by now. But it’s easy to put out of your mind that the Earth is getting hotter in the winter, too. Extreme heat from climate change is now a major health threat that is sickening and killing more and more people. This has led some cities — just a...

The US Supreme Court has ruled that Americans have a Second Amendment right to keep guns in their homes for self-defense and to carry them in public. But the Court has also been clear that the federal government and states can require background checks and place certain restrictions on who can buy guns and where they can be carried. States can also limit or outlaw certain firearms for public safet...

Ever wonder what actually happens to all the plastic you dutifully toss in the recycling bin? Kit Chellel, an investigative reporter for Bloomberg, set out to answer that very question. And what he found out is…well we’re not gonna give it away.  Then, Wes picks up with reporter Matthew Campbell, who went to see for himself where a lot of that plastic piles (and piles and piles) up. This episode a...

The mighty Mississippi River cuts the United States essentially in half from Northern Minnesota all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico. It has a lot of history and romance around its waters, and is also one of America’s most important routes for commerce. More than 1 trillion pounds of goods travel down the river each year. But, as water levels have dropped significantly in key parts of the river,...

The US Food and Drug Administration is supposed to make sure the medications we take are effective–and safe. But when a small independent lab in Connecticut called Valisure started testing popular drugs and health products, it turned up some alarming results–including carcinogens and other dangerous substances. You might think the FDA would welcome this information. Not so fast. Bloomberg reporter...

Here's a thought experiment. It's the middle of winter and you can't afford to pay for both heat and electricity. Which do you stop using first? The lights? The stove? The furnace? This is the real life choice people in the UK and parts of Europe will have to make this winter, and in the years ahead. Fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and other economic pressures have driven up the price of...

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, the US and other Western nations have imposed economic sanctions on scores of Russian billionaires close to President Vladimir Putin. They’ve also gone after their assets–including the enormous yachts prized by billionaires the world over. But now comes the question: What will happen to them? Investigative Reporter Stephanie Baker joins this episode from L...

Here’s a random yet important fact: Copper is one of the very best conductors of electricity of all metals. And that matters, because as we move toward a world in which more and more things in our lives plug in or charge up–not just your phone, but electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines that will power the future–copper is in increasingly high demand. Worldwide, about 21 million metric...

Messenger RNA technology made it possible for scientists and drugmakers to quickly develop a Covid-19 vaccine . Now, pharmaceutical companies are racing to use mRNA for other illnesses, including flu, cancer and rare genetic diseases.  Dr. Drew Weissman, one of the researchers who pioneered the mRNA technology that led to the Covid vaccine, joins this episode to talk about his discovery, and the i...

On November 6, leaders around the world will gather for the annual UN Climate Change conference, known this year as COP27. The aim: finding ways to slow the warming of the planet, before it’s too late.  Take Egypt—it’s getting hotter at twice the pace of some other nations, and also happens to be the host of this year’s conference. If it continues to warm at its current rate, the country's crops w...

The US is just a week away from the midterm elections, which will decide governors’ races in 36 states--and whether Democrats will keep their majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate. Some Republicans up for election, though, are still disputing the results of the last election. Taking their cue from former President Donald Trump, hundreds of GOP candidates falsely claim that Trump...

For decades, colleges and universities across the US have promoted the value of having a diverse student body on campus.  The Supreme Court could soon change that. On Oct. 31, the justices will consider two challenges to affirmative action in college admissions, and if they choose to strike it down, there will be enormous repercussions for who gets into the nation’s top schools — and who doesn’t....

Remember when everyone loved to complain how there were 150 channels on TV and nothing good to watch? It’s pretty hard to say that now. There are so many good shows being made. Our new complaint: how hard it is to watch all those great shows, especially when they’re spread across so many streaming services—and most of them you have to pay for. How did we get here?  Bloomberg media reporter Felix G...

Hello and welcome to The Big Take Podcast! Today: The good news, and not so good news, about the US middle class. With inflation rising, the stock market ping-ponging and housing prices softening, that broad swath of Americans who form the backbone of the US economy are getting hit on all sides. Bloomberg reporters Shawn Donnan, Alex Tanzi, Claire Ballentine and Airielle Lowe teamed up to take a l...

Each weekday, The Big Take brings you one story—one big, important story that impacts your life. Host Wes Kosova talks to Bloomberg journalists around the world, experts in their fields and the people at the center of the news to help you understand what’s happening, what it means and why it matters. Money, politics, the economy and business, energy, the environment, technology—we cover it all on...