Podcast
Big Take
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The Big Take from Bloomberg News brings you inside what’s shaping the world's economies with the smartest and most informed business reporters around the world. The context you need on the stories that can move markets. Every afternoon.
201episodes
Episodes
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Big Oil’s Big Wartime Profits
2w ago00:17:01Summary readyUS crude prices fell below $80 for much of the day Monday as oil traders factored in a potential deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. But even as reports of imminent peace deals or attacks jolt oil markets, fuel prices at US gas stations have remained high. Late last week, US oil companies Exxon and Chevron reported their biggest profits in years. On today’s Big Take podcast, oil reporter Mitchell Ferman joins host Sarah Holder to explain why oil companies are built for global conflict. Read more: Big Oil Set to Reap Profit Bonanza From Soaring Fuel Prices Exxon, Chevron Steer Windfall Profits Into Paying Down Debt We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer. Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Laura Newcombe; Reported by Mitchell Ferman; Edited by Jeffrey Grocott. Fact-checking by Rachael Lewis-Krisky and Victor Swezey; Engineering by Emma Munger. Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Weekend Listen: Why Private Credit Got Entangled With Insurance
2w ago00:51:43Summary readyInsurers have quietly become a major driver of the private credit boom, with numerous private equity shops striking deals with insurance companies or buying them outright. But the entanglement with private credit is also changing the insurance industry itself, raising a number of questions about risk and regulation. In this week's Weekend Listen, Odd Lots speaks to Andrew Granato and Pranjal Drall, authors of a new paper, “Private Credit's State Backstop: How Private Equity Socializes Risk Through Insurers," examining the relationship between private credit and insurance. Granato (an assistant professor at the UT Austin Law School) and Drall (JD-PhD student in Financial Economics at Yale) talk to us about how PE got so interested in insurance in the first place, how both sides benefit from the relationship, and why taxpayers might ultimately be on the hook. Read more:Blue Owl Surges as Leaders Stress It’s More Than a Direct LenderAres $29 Billion Private Credit Fund Sees Uptick in Non-Accruals Only Bloomberg - Business News, Stock Markets, Finance, Breaking & World News subscribers can get the Odd Lots newsletter in their inbox each week, plus unlimited access to the site and app. Subscribe at bloomberg.com/subscriptions/oddlots Subscribe to the Odd Lots NewsletterJoin the conversation: discord.gg/oddlotsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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The Future of the Democratic Party Runs Through Michigan
2w ago00:18:26Summary readyThe path to the future of the Democratic Party — and to the White House in 2028 — may well run through Michigan. The state’s upcoming Democratic primary election is a highly anticipated showdown between a Democratic-Socialist-backed candidate and a centrist one, who are vying for both a crucial seat in the US Senate and a major say in the party’s priorities. On today’s Big Take podcast, host David Gura sits down with senior political correspondent Nancy Cook and Bloomberg Opinions’ Ronald Brownstein to unpack the stakes of the Democratic primaries in this midterm cycle and what they could reveal about the party’s future. Read more: How the Michigan Primary Could Shape the Midterms Democrats’ 2028 Map Reshapes the Fight Between Left and Center We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer. Hosted by David Gura; Produced by Rachael Lewis-Krisky; Reported by Nancy Cook and Ronald Brownstein; Edited by Naomi Shavin. Fact-checking by Laura Newcombe and Victor Swezey; Engineering by Sean Carter. Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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‘Skimpflation’ Could Be the Sneakiest Consumer Grift
2w ago00:16:07Summary readyFrom margarine to chocolate treats, some brands are swapping in cheaper ingredients to save money on their most beloved products. It’s a trend known as “skimpflation.” But what happens when consumers start to notice? On today’s Big Take podcast, Stacey Vanek Smith hears from Brad Reese, grandson of the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup creator, about his crusade against the practice, the multi-million-dollar cottage industry that’s formed around it and the economic conditions that got us here in the first place. Read more: How Brands Sneak In Cheaper Ingredients to Protect Their Profit Margins We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Can We Trust Election Prediction Markets?
2w ago00:18:59Summary readyWith the US midterms fast approaching, voters and the media are increasingly looking to a new forecasting tool: prediction markets. The leading platforms, Kalshi and Polymarket, have been touted as a truth serum for political forecasting — arenas for mass betting that reveal what people really think when they’ve got money on the line. But a new Bloomberg investigation has found evidence that these markets are vulnerable to manipulation. On today’s Big Take podcast, host Sarah Holder and Bloomberg investigative reporter Liam Vaughan dig into what can happen when prediction markets mix with politics — and how cheap and easy it can be to sway them. Read more: How a Few Hundred Dollars Could Manipulate Election Prediction Markets We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer. Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Victor Swezey and David Fox; Reported by Liam Vaughan; Edited by Tracey Samuelson. Fact-checking by Julia Press; Engineering by Alex Sugiura. Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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How India’s Cockroach Party Became a Political Force
3w ago00:18:24Summary readyWeeks of student-led protests forced the resignation of India’s education minister, in a rare public setback for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On today’s Big Take Asia podcast, guest host Rebecca Choong Wilkins and Bloomberg reporter Atul Dev discuss how India’s cockroach movement grew from a satirical online joke into a powerful anti-Modi protest and why its economic grievances resonate so deeply among young Indians at this moment. Read more: Awakened Indian Students Hand Modi One of His Biggest SetbacksIndia Youth Protests End as Modi Bows to Group’s Demands Hosted by Rebecca Choong Wilkins; Produced by Naomi Ng; Reported by Atul Dev; Edited by Jeffrey Grocott, Paddy Hirsch and Julia Weaver. Fact-checking by Rachael Lewis-Krisky and Julia Press; Engineering by Taka Yasuzawa, Alex Sugiura, Emma Munger Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Trump Rebuilds His Tariff Wall, Brick by Brick
3w ago00:16:43Summary readyAs President Trump paused strikes on Iran over the weekend, he ratcheted up pressure on another front: his renewed trade war. On Friday, the US president imposed levies of 10 or 12.5% on 60 economies, the first in many steps to rebuild the tariff wall destroyed when the Supreme Court overturned Trump’s IEEPA tariffs in February. On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg’s global trade editor Brendan Murray sits down with host David Gura to break down the latest tariffs, what they reveal about the administration’s new strategy and whether they’ll hold up in court. Read more: Trump Rebuilds Tariffs With New Levies on 60 Economies How Trump’s Section 301 Tariffs Are Being Challenged in Court Watch more: US Trade Rep. Greer on China Relations and Section 301 Tariffs We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer. Hosted by David Gura; Produced by Julia Press and Rachael Lewis-Krisky; Reported by Brendan Murray; Edited by Nicole Beemsterboer. Fact-checking by Rachael Lewis-Krisky; Engineering by Emma Munger.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Weekend Listen: Can the US Actually Tax Billionaires?
3w ago00:23:33Summary readyAs wealth becomes increasingly concentrated — and artificial intelligence threatens to shift even more income from workers to investors — has the US tax system become outdated? On this Weekend Listen, Trumponomics' Stephanie Flanders speaks with Harvard professor Jason Furman, a former economic adviser to President Barack Obama, and Bloomberg reporter Caitlin Reilly about wealth taxes, capital gains, inheritance and whether taxing America's richest is politically or constitutionally possible. We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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One Weird Trick to Get Your Credit Card Charge Reversed? Fraud.
3w ago00:15:35Summary readyAmerican consumers disputed nearly 30% more credit card transactions in 2025 than they did just four years earlier. Some of those “chargebacks” are legitimate issues or outright scams. But increasingly, many are what Bloomberg Businessweek reporter Amanda Mull says is friendly fraud — transaction disputes that aren’t completely honest or the retailer’s fault. On today’s Big Take podcast, Mull joins host Sarah Holder to discuss the sharp rise in chargebacks, and the consequences of this trend for retailers, banks and consumers. Read more: Credit Card Holders Are Using ‘Friendly Fraud’ to Get Back at Retailers We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer. Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Julia Press; Reported by Amanda Mull; Edited by Naomi Shavin. Fact-checking by Laura Newcombe; Engineering by Sean Carter. Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Almost $1 Billion Later, the US Still Can’t Manufacture Medical Gloves
3w ago00:16:22Summary readyAfter the pandemic-era run on medical gloves, the US government set a plan in motion to reshore manufacturing. Roughly six years and almost $1 billion later, America is once again facing potential shortages of medical gloves because of supply chain disruptions stemming from the war in Iran. On today’s Big Take podcast, host Sarah Holder and health care industry reporter Anna Edney break down why US efforts to make American medical gloves have largely failed, what it says about reshoring manufacturing writ large and where the industry goes from here. Read more: Almost $1 Billion Later, the US Still Can’t Make a Medical Glove We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer. Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Laura Newcombe and Rachael Lewis-Krisky; Reported by Anna Edney; Edited by Naomi Shavin. Fact-checking by Victor Swezey; Engineering by Sean Carter. Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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