FT News Briefing

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com https://www.ft.com/content/b08546bc-7eee-4c25-9e5c-db458728e4c2 US president Joe Biden suffered a blow to his efforts to pass his signature $1.75tn social spending bill when Joe Manchin, the pivotal Democratic senator from West Virginia, explicitly rejected the package, European countries are tightening restrictions to reduce the spread of Omicron after...

It's the final FT Weekend episode of 2021, and we are marking the end of one unpredictable year and the start of another. What do you think will happen in 2022? Matt Vella, FT Weekend Magazine editor, joins Lilah to discuss listeners’ cultural predictions. A lot of them had an air of nostalgia: Will Britney make a documentary about her life? Will flip phones make a comeback? Then, our pop critic L...

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com https://www.ft.com/content/5355f6b9-ad94-401e-bedd-557a9e75b15f Residents of America’s biggest cities are struggling to book vaccine appointments because of the rising wave of the Omicron coronavirus variant, and TPG is joining the wave of private equity groups that are going public. Plus, the FT’s markets editor, Katie Martin, explains why investors wer...

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com https://www.ft.com/content/5418e790-754e-4421-a7d2-99fd610466c3 Federal Reserve officials expect to raise interest rates three times next year, and investors are piling into inflation-linked assets in a bet that consumer prices will continue to soar. Plus, the FT’s law courts correspondent, Jane Croft, tells the tale of a money laundering conviction that...

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com https://www.ft.com/content/9db04e62-720a-47b6-89a8-3fc0f383b489 The US Federal Reserve is expected to announce a swift scaling back of its enormous stimulus programme and boost its expectations for interest rate increases next year, and the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority has taken the crypto industry to task for “widespread” problems with misleadin...

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com https://www.ft.com/content/6c90116a-d978-4b3c-9fba-0b57b2a42aec The US Department of Labor is investigating Ap p le over claims that it retaliated against an employee who complained of workplace harassment and unsafe working conditions, European gas futures rose 10 per cent on Monday after German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said the Nord Stream 2...

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com https://www.ft.com/content/99bcfb02-6de4-4658-9d7f-c210db884fdf The cost of flying cargo around the world has reached record levels, and workers are demanding that gig economy companies explain their algorithms. Plus, the FT’s retail correspondent, Jonathan Eley, explains how the Chinese company Shein became one of the world’s biggest fast fashion compan...

This weekend, we’re going behind the scenes of the FT’s legendary Books of the Year roundup. Literary editor Frederick Studemann and deputy books editor Laura Battle take us into a secret room in the basement of the FT, where all the books sent in for review are kept behind lock and key. You’ll leave this episode with a lot on your reading list, including recommendations from editor Roula Khalaf,...

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com https://www.ft.com/content/699883ef-69b7-425f-a149-915268ccac82 US consumer prices for November are expected to have increased at the fastest pace in nearly 40 years, and workers at a Starbucks in Buffalo, New York, have voted to become the coffee shop chain’s first unionised store in the US. Plus, FT markets editor, Katie Martin, explains why investors...

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com https://www.ft.com/content/f448826b-f40b-49be-824d-5795493cee5f The Big Four accounting firms have recorded their strongest financial performance since the collapse of Enron, and Apple is tolerating a loose interpretation of its new privacy rules allowing app developers to collect data from its 1bn iPhone users for targeted advertising. Plus, the FT’s Be...

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com https://www.ft.com/content/4f159e0e-06fa-4610-8768-4807a47b6fbe China is preparing a blacklist that could tightly restrict the main channel technology start-ups use to attract international capital, and the US is pressuring Germany to block Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas in the event that Vladimir Putin invades Ukraine. Plus, the FT’s hedge fund corresp...

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com https://www.ft.com/content/0c162b9e-4c9a-40bf-ab48-a6d5f9830f6e A sustained rally in the price of carbon allowances could prompt UK government intervention, Germany’s new government is prioritising climate goals, and the FT’s European technology correspondent, Madhumita Murgia, reports on academics’ struggles to access Facebook data that they need in ord...

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com https://www.ft.com/content/6842cbfd-af06-459d-80cb-e62f68db910c Several of Toshiba’s biggest shareholders accuse the conglomerate of failing to fully pursue talks with private equity buyers and plan to vote against a company proposal to split into three separate businesses, European auto suppliers say half a million jobs would be at risk under EU plans t...

Do we need another Princess Diana film? Maybe we do, actually. This weekend, we’re talking about new ways to see old things. Lilah speaks with director Pablo Larraín, who our film critic calls ‘one of the most consistently interesting directors in cinema today’. He explains the creative process behind his new film Spencer , starring Kristen Stewart as Diana. Then, we ask the question: what is up w...

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com https://www.ft.com/content/e596c61d-a93c-48e6-8a16-c3b67d1f3f17 Saudi Arabia has agreed to keep increasing monthly crude oil production following a charm offensive by Biden administration officials, the US is delaying a deal to remove Trump-era tariffs on UK steel and aluminium, and Brazil’s economy has entered a technical recession but its finance minis...

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com https://www.ft.com/content/79f693ec-50d9-42d0-94af-b8b5d9d8d931 The US-based Women’s Tennis Association says it will suspend its tournaments in China over Beijing’s handling of tennis star Peng Shuai and her sexual assault allegations; the rapid growth of multi-manager hedge funds has unleashed a fierce battle for talent and driven compensation for top t...

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com https://www.ft.com/content/5810c0fd-5325-4b58-93d6-4790d00956ad Jay Powell signalled his support for a quicker withdrawal of the Federal Reserve’s massive asset purchase programme, and the world’s biggest clothing retailer, Inditex, has named the 37-year-old daughter of its founder as the company’s new chair. Plus, Robin Wigglesworth, the FT’s global fin...

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com https://www.ft.com/content/b6aa92ea-4a07-4423-acbe-deacad5313a5 Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey stepped down as the company’s chief executive on Monday, and an activist investor has called on commodities giant Glencore to spin off its thermal coal business. Plus, the FT’s global pharmaceutical correspondent, Hannah Kuchler, explains how Pfizer came to dom...

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com https://www.ft.com/content/f39ef841-2756-40c4-9da5-487316beac2e Countries are imposing new lockdowns and travel restrictions to try and contain the new Omicron coronavirus variant, and the UK’s competition regulator is expected to try and reverse Meta’s acquisition of online gif platform Giphy. Plus, the FT’s Tehran correspondent, Najmeh Bozorgmehr, offe...

What do you think of when you hear the words ‘British food’? This week, to celebrate the FT Weekend Magazine’s food and drink holiday special, we’re digging in. Food critic Tim Hayward praises modern British cuisine and challenges his compatriots to be proud of their food culture. Our team visits one of the last standing eel and pie shops in London to explore how culinary traditions survive. Then,...

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com https://www.ft.com/content/5074f2b1-fd14-490a-9234-3027d565adc9 President Joe Biden has authorised the release of 50m barrels of oil “over the coming months” from the US strategic petroleum reserve in a move co-ordinated with China, India, Japan, South Korea and the UK to drive down fuel prices and FT Video journalist and producer Donell Newkirk discusse...

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com https://www.ft.com/content/e83a0e51-9195-4c95-8f0b-263f97794302 Joe Biden has nominated Jay Powell to serve a second term as chair of the Federal Reserve, opting for continuity as the US economy grapples with persistently high inflation and a patchy labour market recovery; China’s hypersonic weapons test in July included a technological advance that...

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com https://www.ft.com/content/db10452c-ddf2-445a-a28f-34253506c142 Saudi Arabia has an ambitious goal to increase domestic military production as part of Crown Prince Mohammed’s plan to diversify the oil-dependent economy, video game maker Electronic Arts and football governing body Fifa are in a bitter dispute over the value of the Fifa name that could end...

FT Weekend is a weekly Saturday show that brings the best of our Life & Arts journalism into audio form. You can follow it on its own feed at 'FT Weekend'. This week, we talk about conversation. Columnist Enuma Okoro explores what makes certain conversations feel good. Lilah and US Managing Editor Peter Spiegel chase the mystery of who actually wrote the US constitution along with esteemed his...

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com https://www.ft.com/content/896cc408-68c4-4fd1-960b-85bb18843384 Ford and General Motors said on Thursday that they are improving links with semiconductor manufacturers to improve their supply of electronic chips as the car industry confronts a shortage. Some foreign companies are still investing in Turkey despite the country’s ailing economy. Plus, the F...