Nukes of hazard: US-Russia arms treaty expires

Summary

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Economist Podcasts — The Intelligence

Episode: Nukes of hazard: US-Russia arms treaty expires

Date: February 5, 2026
Host: Rosie Blore & Jason Palmer

Episode Overview

This episode focuses on the expiration of the New START nuclear arms treaty between the United States and Russia, examining the shifting dynamics of global nuclear arms control. The discussion reveals the implications of the treaty’s end, the rise of China as a nuclear power, and what a new multipolar nuclear era could look like. The episode also explores the prevalence of online cults and wraps up with a listener mailbag on men’s hair loss anxieties.

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Segment 1: The End of New START — A New Nuclear Arms Race

(Start: 02:33)

Key Points

• Historical Significance

  • In April 2010, Presidents Obama and Medvedev signed the New START Treaty in Prague, limiting deployed warheads/missiles and allowing site inspections.

    “This day demonstrates the determination of the United States and Russia ... to pursue responsible global leadership.” – Dmitry Medvedev, (02:58)

  • Treaty was a major symbol of post-Cold War nuclear accord and mutual restraint.

• Why Did the Treaty End?

  • By structure, only allowed for a single extension (done by Biden).
  • Russia floated informal extension, but US did not respond.
  • Treaty “dying anyway” due to the Ukraine war; verification ceased in 2023.

    “So it’s been on its last legs as Russia has used the threat of nuclear escalation to try to deter America and the West from going too far in helping Ukraine.” – Anton LaGuardia, (04:24)

  • US politics and China’s rise further undermined prospects.

• China’s Growing Nuclear Arsenal

  • In 2012: ~240 warheads, “minimal deterrence” (kept warheads and missiles separate).
  • Under Xi Jinping: Now at ~600 warheads, could surpass 1,000 by 2030.

    “It is going to become an arsenal of the same order of magnitude, although not necessarily exactly as large as those of Russia and America.” — Anton LaGuardia, (05:51)

  • Motivations: survivability vis-à-vis US strike, regional “nuclear shield” (esp. re: Taiwan), status.

• Does the Number of Nukes Matter?

  • For the public, “one nuclear weapon is one too many.”
  • Military planners distinguish:
    • “Minimal deterrence” (China’s doctrine until recently): just enough to assure retaliation.
    • “Damage limitation” (US/Russia): try to target each other’s nukes, fueling arms races.

    “Now, this may seem totally crazy to most human beings... but if you’re a military planner, this is how you think.” — Anton LaGuardia, (08:21)

• What Does the New Arms Race Look Like?

  • More complex than the Cold War due to multipolarity, but currently slower-paced.
  • US and Russia can “upload” warheads from reserve stockpiles; China continues rapid buildup.
  • Instability prompts other powers (e.g., India, then Pakistan) to potentially increase arsenals.

    “If the Indians go up, then the Pakistanis may well want to go up.” — Anton LaGuardia, (09:24)

  • Allies increasingly nervous about US nuclear guarantees (esp. under Trump), sparking debates in Europe and Asia about developing their own nukes.

    “It is perfectly possible that Russia or China, seeing a small neighbor develop nuclear weapons, will decide to strike first to stop them going that way.” — Anton LaGuardia, (10:24)

• Is There a Way Back — A New Treaty?

  • Three-way deals (US/Russia/China) highly unlikely:
    • China opposes talks; very complex negotiations.
    • Only likely after a crisis “terrible enough to frighten everyone.”

    “Unless... the Chinese decide they are now a big power and do big power things like arms control agreements. The second is... some crisis breaks out and everyone gets a terrible fright, like the Cuban Missile Crisis.” — Anton LaGuardia, (11:02)

Memorable Quotes

• “The long era of arms control and decades of efforts to reduce the world's nuclear stockpile is ending, and the new arms race beckons.”
  — Anton LaGuardia, (03:46)

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Segment 2: Online Cults and Digital Manipulation

(Start: 13:39)

Key Points

• Cults Have Adapted to Technology

  • Story of a cult using the game “Forsaken” on Roblox to lure children into private Discord groups—escalating to dangerous tasks like self-harm.

    “[They] told the children that they had been chosen, but gaining access meant proving your loyalty ... in some cases, they were encouraged to carve the symbol into their own skin.” — Carla Subarana, (13:51)

• Surge in Number and Shape of Cults

  • International Cultic Studies Association now tracks ~4,000 cults worldwide (up from 2,000 in the 1980s).
  • French authorities logged 4,500+ reports in 2024—double 2015, majority with online presence.

• What Makes a Cult?

  • Four agreed features:
    1. Charismatic leader
    2. Transformational belief system
    3. System of control (rules eroding autonomy)
    4. System of pressure (social costs of leaving)

    “What really surprised me ... is that every single one of those characteristics can now be reproduced online.” — Carla Subarana, (15:50)

• Recruitment and Expansion

  • Online cults often disguise themselves as wellness/life coaching organizations.
  • The pandemic drove people to seek connection and meaning online.

    “Recruitment is very similar ... it’s gradual. Starts harmless, then demands grow. Social media algorithms reinforce that dependence.” — Carla Subarana, (17:19)

• Risks and Harms

  • Cases include violence, sexual abuse, financial exploitation.

    “They are often much more dangerous than what they seem like.” — Carla Subarana, (18:43)

• How Governments Respond

  • France and Belgium have criminal statutes against psychological manipulation.
  • US/UK focus on crimes already committed, emphasizing freedom of belief.

    “Society still struggles to understand how cults manipulate people into doing things that are against their interests ... prevention is the best way forward.” — Carla Subarana, (19:18–20:35)

Memorable Quotes

• “The door-to-door evangelists and street-corner preachers of the past are being replaced with online influencers, life coaches and self-styled healers.”
  — Carla Subarana, (14:51)

• “It’s incredibly hard to prove to jurors that fear and control can make people comply against their will.”
  — Carla Subarana, (19:52)

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Segment 3: Listener Mailbag — The Anxiety of Balding

(Start: 21:23)

Key Points

• Men’s Hair Transplants — A Booming Topic

  • Jason Palmer reflects on a recent episode about men’s anxieties over hair loss and the hair transplant industry.

    “I have spent the last six months working on a story ... to get into the weird and wonderful world of men’s beauty and men’s cosmetic surgery.” — Jason Palmer (Weekend Intelligence), (22:00)

• Listener Feedback: Looks, Dating Apps, and Anxiety

  • Email from listener Aaron: image-focused dating apps heighten looks-related anxieties.

    “Given that app-based platforms generally put a lot of emphasis on images, this results in a more intense selection for looks-based criteria.” — Aaron, (23:13, paraphrased)

  • Perception persists that bald men fare worse in online dating.

• Exploring Perceptions and Realities

  • Women interviewed consistently said baldness is far less important than personality.
  • Apps force people to make visual choices, amplifying first-impression biases.

• The True Stressor: Transition, not State

  • Notable point: “The problem isn’t baldness. The problem is balding.”

    “Having hair is fine and being bald is fine, but going bald sucks.” — Listener’s feedback, (24:25)

  • Confidence and acceptance: embracing baldness can boost self-esteem.

    “[Accepting reality] has actually made me feel more confident ... To be bald is to be bold.” — Radek, listener, (25:35)

• Wider Themes: Manipulation and Insecurity

  • Internet advertising algorithms shape perceptions and insecurities, driving demand for cosmetic solutions.

    “The story is as much about boldness and beauty ... as it is about how the Internet constructs little realities around you.” — Jason Palmer (Weekend Intelligence), (26:14)

Memorable Quotes

• “A five head. It was a very strange situation to be in.”
  — Jason Palmer, recounting a cosmetic surgeon’s comments, (23:02)

• “To be bald is to be bold.”
  — Radek (listener), (25:41)

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Notable Timestamps

• 02:33 — Treaty background and legacy
• 03:46 — The dawn of a new arms race (Anton LaGuardia)
• 05:16–06:09 — China as an emergent nuclear power
• 09:24–10:39 — Risks of arms escalation beyond the US/Russia/China triad
• 13:39–17:03 — The digital evolution and expansion of cults
• 21:23 — Men’s hair transplants and beauty anxieties
• 24:25 — “The problem isn’t baldness. The problem is balding.”
• 25:41 — Listener: “To be bald is to be bold.”

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Episode Tone

Despite the gravity of the nuclear arms topic, the conversational interviews bring clarity and accessibility to complex policy issues. The cult segment is investigative and cautionary, leveraging expert testimony. The mailbag on men’s hair loss is self-deprecating and relatable, mixing levity with candid discussion of social anxieties.

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Conclusion

This episode of The Intelligence delivers a nuanced, globe-spanning analysis of arms control’s demise and why new nuclear risks are so worrying. It shifts seamlessly to emergent threats in the digital world, showing how ancient dynamics like cults and peer pressure have adapted to technology. The show concludes on a personal—and gently humorous—note, reflecting on the social and psychological effects of appearance and online life.

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Transcript

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[Jason Palmer]

The Economist.

[Rosie Blore]

Hello and welcome to the Intelligence from the Economist. I'm Rosie Blore.

[Jason Palmer]

Jason and I'm Jason Palmer. Every weekday we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world.

[Rosie Blore]

If you thought the Information Age was going to see off the threat of cults, think again. The Internet has merely fueled their growth. Our correspondent reports from the frontline of the recruiting ground.

[Jason Palmer]

And on the Weekend Intelligence recently my colleague asked why so many young men are getting hair transplants. It really resonated with our listeners. We sift through the mailbag and discuss the anxiety that the topic creates.

[Rosie Blore]

First up though.

[President Medvedev]

Good afternoon everyone. I am honored to be back here in the Czech Republic with President Medvedev and our Czech hosts to mark this historic completion of the New Start Treaty.

[Rosie Blore]

In April 2010, Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met in Prague to sign the New START Treaty.

[President Medvedev]

This day demonstrates the determination of the United States And Russia, the two nations that hold over 90% of the world's nuclear weapons, to pursue responsible global leadership.

[Rosie Blore]

The arms control program limited the number of large warheads and missiles the two countries could deploy and allowed on site inspections of each other's facilities to ensure they were following the rules.

[President Medvedev]

Together we are keeping our commitments under the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty.

[Rosie Blore]

That deal was an emblem of accord and restraint in the nuclear arms race.

[Anton LaGuardia]

The New Star Treaty comes to an end today after 15 years in which it's controlled the arsenals of America and Russia.

[Rosie Blore]

Anton LaGuardia is our diplomatic editor.

[Anton LaGuardia]

That means that the long era of arms control and decades of efforts to reduce the world's nuclear stockpile is ending, and the new arms race beckons.

[Rosie Blore]

Anton, this sounds like a pretty important treaty. Why can't it be extended?

[Anton LaGuardia]

The narrow legal reason is that it allowed only for One extension after 10 years, which Joe Biden did. The Russians have proposed extending it informally, but the Americans have not responded. In any case, this treaty was kind of dying anyway because of the war in Ukraine. The Russians had stopped most of the verification measures, and the Americans did likewise in 2023. So it's been on its last legs as Russia has used the threat of nuclear escalation to try to deter America and the west from going too far in helping Ukraine and America. President Trump is torn because he both has talked about the idea of denuclearizing. At the same time, he also wants America to be the biggest, most dominant power in the world. And the Republican Party in particular, has worried about the rise of China and worried that America may no longer have enough nuclear weapons to deter both Russia and China, particularly if they collude together.

[Rosie Blore]

Right. So when this Treaty was signed 15 years ago, the world was a very different place. What role does the rise of China play in this nuclear race?

[Anton LaGuardia]

Now, in 2012, China had about 240 warheads, a minimal deterrent, in its words. Instead of having weapons on nuclear alert ready to be fired right away, they had warheads and rockets kept separate. Well, that's all changing. Under Xi Jinping, it's grown to about 600 warheads and counting and will probably reach above 1,000 by 2030. So it is going to become an arsenal of the order of magnitude, although not necessarily exactly as large as those of Russia and America.

[Rosie Blore]

And why has China been so keen to join this arms race and make itself a really serious nuclear power?

[Anton LaGuardia]

Well, first of all, it worried, particularly as tensions with America grow over Taiwan, that it doesn't have enough nuclear weapons that would survive a first American strike, because accuracy of weapons is improving, and the Americans have many more means to track China's mobile launches. A second reason is this idea of a nuclear shield, that if China is winning in a war for Taiwan, let's say America, to avoid defeat, might threaten nuclear weapons or might use them. After all, in the case of NATO and elsewhere, America's never said it will not be the first to use nuclear weapons. So the Chinese wanted a response at the theater level, in other words, the regional level, to respond to a possible American use. And the third thing is the unquantifiable desire to be a big power, and big powers have big nuclear arsenals. And the question there is, well, how big does it need to be?

[Rosie Blore]

So you talked about the number of warheads there. When we're talking about something where we're trying to avoid nuclear mutually assured destruction, do numbers really matter?

[Anton LaGuardia]

Yes and no. This enters the Dr. Strangelove world of nuclear targeting. To most people, one nuclear weapon is one too many. If you're a military planner and they exist, you think of one or two different ways. Until now, the Chinese have thought about minimal deterrence. All I need is a deterrent that will survive a first strike, and I have enough left to strike the enemy cities and inflict so much devastation and pain that they'll never think about it. The Americans and the Russians have thought in terms of a thing called damage limitation, which is that I will use my nuclear weapons not against the cities, but against the other guys, nuclear weapons to try and reduce their ability to inflict damage on me. That seems almost a futile pursuit because it drives you to having ever more numbers as the other side increases their arsenal, which is why eventually arms control talks basically said, okay, everyone has an even number of weapons, and let's try and reduce these. So there is a kind of logic that once the other side starts to increase, you start to increase yourself. Now, this may seem totally crazy to most human beings who will be wiped out in this kind of nuclear war, but if you're a military planner, this is how you think. If you've got the luxury of a bunker or a plane that can withstand nuclear detonations and so on, you might think in terms of war, war fighting, but most people will worry about the end of civilization.

[Rosie Blore]

So it's the end of the world as we know it, or at least the end of the treaty as we know it. What does the new arms race look like?

[Anton LaGuardia]

If you thought the Cold War was scary, this is much more complicated. Though it appears to be moving more slowly at the moment than the Cold War. So America is now free to increase its deployed stockpile, but it doesn't have the capacity to produce a lot more very quickly. So basically, what it might do is move things out of reserve and onto currently deployed systems. It's called upload. If the Americans upload, the Russians will upload too, because they also have lots of warheads. In reserve. And the Chinese will continue to grow because they'll have every reason to continue to do so. At some point, perhaps India will say, hey, we need to increase as well because we've got this increasingly large nuclear power on our border. And if the Indians go up, then the Pakistanis may well want to go up. So that's one set of instability. And as we said, it's very hard to find an agreement that suits three big powers. The second cycle of instability is the fact that American allies and partners who are currently protected by America's nuclear arsenal under a doctrine called extended deterrence, worry that that may no longer be there. That's always been a worry, but it's especially bad under Donald Trump, who seems to dislike allies, thinks they're the burden and thinks they need to do more for themselves. So you're seeing a debate in Europe and in Asia about these smaller countries acquiring their own nuclear weapons. If that begins to happen, it becomes much more of a free for all. And it is perfectly possible that Russia or China, seeing a small neighbor develop nuclear weapons or will decide to strike first to stop them going that way in the same way as America has bombed Iran to, in Trump's words, obliterate its nuclear program.

[Rosie Blore]

So is there a way back from this? Some kind of new, new start maybe with China involved?

[Anton LaGuardia]

It is always possible there will be some kind of agreement, although it looks extremely unlikely at the moment. And that is because the Chinese don't want to talk about their nuclear weapons. A three sided deal is really complicated. It used to take years and years to negotiate the two sided ones. The three sided one will be harder. So I think that's unlikely unless one of two things happens. One is that the Chinese decide they are now a big power and they do big power things like arms control agreements. And the second thing is that some crisis breaks out and everyone gets a terrible fright of the kind that happened over the Cuban Missile crisis. And at that point everyone sobers up and says we really must control the huge risks that these civilization destroying weapons can bring.

[Rosie Blore]

Anton, thank you very much.

[Anton LaGuardia]

Thank you, Rosie.

[Rosie Blore]

And if you're not terrified enough already, you can go behind the scenes in America's quest to modernize its nuclear arsenal. Listening to the Bomb, a four part series we published last summer as part of Babbage, our subscriber only science and tech podcast. The link is in the show Notes.

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[Carla Subarana]

When you play the video game Forsaken on Roblox, you can see players wander through dark forests chatting and swapping clues.

[Rosie Blore]

Carla Subarana is a news editor at the Economist.

[Carla Subarana]

But last year, a group of adults who turned out to be members of a cult most people had never heard of used this game to steer a bunch of children into an online messaging service, Discord. They told them that the game's geometric symbol had real world power and could connect them to a higher state of being. They told the children that they had been chosen, but gaining access to the group's inner circle meant proving your loyalty. And so the children were set tasks and were asked to film themselves completing them. And instead, in some cases, they were encouraged to carve the symbol into their own skin. Stories like this show how much the Internet has changed the way cults operate. The door to door evangelists and street corner preachers of the past are being replaced with online influencers, life coaches and self styled healers. And they find people when they're most vulnerable, which is alone. Online.

[Rosie Blore]

Culture that's always conjures for me quite a niche thing. How many cults actually are there?

[Carla Subarana]

It's incredibly hard to measure, but what we do know is that the number of cults is rising. So for example, the International Cultic Studies association tracks around 4,000 of them worldwide, while in the 1980s it tracked around 2,000. And France, which is one of the only countries which monitors cult activity, it has a dedicated watchdog, logged more than 4,500 reports of suspected cult activity in 2024, which is almost double the level in 2015. And most of these cases involved communities which had some sort of an online presence. And then what's also changing isn't just the volume, but the shape of these cults. Whereas before you had a few well defined cults, now you have thousands of them spread on the Internet.

[Rosie Blore]

So, Carla, what actually is a cult?

[Carla Subarana]

Well, just as cults are very hard to count, they're also really hard to define. Scholars have just spent decades debating where the line is between a fringe community, a religious group, or a genuinely abusive organization. But experts agree that there are four defining features. So the first is the leadership. Cults usually revolve around that charismatic figure who claim special access to a certain truth or enlightenment or power. The second is belief. There's typically a system of ideas that promises transformation, access to higher state. And then the third is a system of control. So cults impose rules or practices that erode individuals autonomy. And then finally, there's a system of pressure that means that leaving the group often comes with social consequences. You know, that you will be marginalized, ostracized if you leave that community. And what really surprised me when I was reporting this piece is that every single one of those characteristics can now be reproduced online. And it can spread even faster because digital spaces make those groups really hard to spot and very easy to scale.

[Rosie Blore]

Carla, last year you reported a weekend intelligence about Opus dei, which is a Spanish Catholic organization that's got a real grip in Spanish society. What did you find from reporting that and from reporting this piece about how cults are really recruiting?

[Carla Subarana]

So traditional cults tend to be more religious, like Opus dei, and they don't have a really big online presence. The cults that we find in the Internet are quite different. They very often disguise themselves as wellness organizations. And those groups really exploded during the pandemic, when people were isolated and were looking for meaning online. The recruitment is very similar in both ways. Even if it happens online, it tends to be gradual. So it normally starts with something that feels harmless, like a ritual or a daily practice, a private chat with someone. And then over time, the demand start to grow, so people don't notice what they're getting themselves into. And followers are basically encouraged to rely more and more on the group. Lara Merino is a psychologist who treats victims of cultic manipulation. And she told me that Doubt ends up getting portrayed as a weakness. And that eventually the group becomes your main source of validation. Social media algorithms reinforce that dependence because they basically feed the same worldview, so that in the end, you end up being so sucked in that you think that this is what the normal world looks like.

[Rosie Blore]

So just how dangerous are these cults?

[Carla Subarana]

Well, there are some pretty striking examples of cases which have descended into violence, like the Roblox case that I mentioned. There are also cases which have descended into sexual abuse of rape, so it can get pretty dark. Then there are some organizations which end up preying on their followers financially, so by telling them that handing over your income is a test of devotion or spiritual growth. But, yeah, they are often much more dangerous than what they seem like and.

[Rosie Blore]

What can be done to stop these groups.

[Carla Subarana]

So governments have taken very different approaches. France has gone the furthest. They have a statute which criminalizes psychological manipulation. Belgium has also gone pretty far in criminalizing cults. Spain also has a statute which criminalizes it, but the bar for intervention is higher. And then at the opposite end of the spectrum are countries like America or the UK which have very strong protections of freedom of belief. So you normally would intervene once cults have committed a crime. The problem with the statutes which target mental manipulation is that you risk criminalizing eccentric communities or unconventional faiths. But basically, in most countries, it's easier to prosecute them for demonstrable offenses like forced labor or rape. Ultimately, the problem is that even when cults behave in criminal ways, it's incredibly hard to prosecute them because it's really hard to prove to jurors that fear and control can make people comply against their will. Society still struggles to understand how cults manipulate people into doing things that are against their interests. Laura Merino said that this was the case with violence against women. Once people used to ask things like, why didn't she leave? Gender violence shows that prevention is the best way forward. Over the past few years, there have been campaigns in schools, in television that have helped people understand just how powerful mental manipulation is. And although there is still a long way to go, we have much better understanding across society of how gender violence works. And I think that the same should be done with cults.

[Rosie Blore]

Carla, thank you very much.

[Carla Subarana]

Thank you, Rosie.

[Jason Palmer (Weekend Intelligence)]

Jason, take a look at me. What's the first thing that you notice?

[Jason Palmer]

Stylish clothes.

[Jason Palmer (Weekend Intelligence)]

Good answer. What else?

[Jason Palmer]

A lush, on trend mustache.

[Jason Palmer (Weekend Intelligence)]

Okay, anything else?

[Jason Palmer]

Chill language, demeanor. Oh, right, yes. You have a head.

[Jason Palmer (Weekend Intelligence)]

What do I not have?

[Jason Palmer]

You don't have a whole lot of hair.

[Jason Palmer (Weekend Intelligence)]

I don't have a whole lot of hair. That's absolutely right.

[Jason Palmer]

And Sam Westrin, our senior producer on the Weekend Intelligence. This has become something of a mastermind. So this has been a subject of deep study.

[Jason Palmer (Weekend Intelligence)]

Jason Palmer. Yes, it has. I have spent the last six months working on a story for the Weekend Intelligence, all about the growing numbers of young men who are getting hair transplants. So I follow one gentleman on this journey to Turkey to get a hair transplant to get into the weird and wonderful world of men's beauty and men's cosmetic surgery.

[Jason Palmer]

Let me stop you there because I've heard this episode and it is wonderful in its way, don't get me wrong, but also at points, deeply weird.

[Jason Palmer (Weekend Intelligence)]

Thank you. It is deeply weird. Well, no, I would say that there are parts of it in which I feel deeply weird about having done it. For example, I'm in a room with a top cosmetic surgeon and he's pointing out specifically to me at my head which bits are wrong with it and really laying it on quite thickly that I should get a hair transplant. And I have. What did he describe it as? A forehead without end.

[Jason Palmer]

A five head.

[Jason Palmer (Weekend Intelligence)]

A five head. It was a very strange situation to be in.

[Jason Palmer]

Well, it seems also to have struck a nerve with lots of listeners. We asked for some feedback and boy did we get some.

[Jason Palmer (Weekend Intelligence)]

We got a really good email actually from Aaron who said, given that app based platforms generally put a lot of emphasis on images, this results in a more intense selection for looks based criteria. And he goes on to say, when I see how many of my close friends swipe, it's very clear that someone with a receding hairline, someone bald, is far less likely to get a match. And I think so. This is in his words. I think the rise of online dating is probably the greatest contributor to hair loss anxiety, which I think is a very good point, but that must be.

[Jason Palmer]

The greatest source of anxiety for men is how attractive they are perceived by women who the popular perception is women don't like bald guys. What did your reporting suggest on specifically that point?

[Jason Palmer (Weekend Intelligence)]

All the conversations that I have had and every time that I've spoken to women specifically about this, I can definitely see a unified theme from all of them, which is it does not matter that much. It really, really doesn't. Things like personality, they value them much higher. Why I think it's interesting is that apps make you choose in a visual way first. When the paradigm of dating forces you to choose appearance before anything else, then that's where you start seeing preferences.

[Jason Palmer]

One thing That I thought was really interesting, that I've never thought about before, but that kept coming up in the letters we got, was thinking that the problem isn't baldness. The problem is balding. One of the notes says, having hair is fine and being bald is fine, but going bald sucks.

[Jason Palmer (Weekend Intelligence)]

I think he's absolutely spot on. And there's something that happens which we don't get to in the episode, which I saw multiple times, which is when people go for hair transplant surgery, they have their new hairline drawn on and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Before they have to go into surgery, they have to get their head shaved. So this is the moment of commitment where the hair disappears and they finally are bald. The physical difference in the way that they carry themselves and the way that they look at themselves, it's so palpable because. Because they're like, oh, phew. Oh, it's not that bad. There's something definitely true in that, which is the losing of the hair. The balding part is the thing that causes people anxiety rather than the final destination, so to speak.

[Jason Palmer]

Adam says my only advice is embrace the bald.

[Jason Palmer (Weekend Intelligence)]

I think he's absolutely right. A lot of people have shared similar thoughts with us. Radek says, these days I shave my head every couple of weeks. Accepting reality for what it is has actually made me feel more confident to. To be bald is to be bold.

[Jason Palmer]

What's your sort of take home from all of this, though? We've kind of talked about the themes that have emerged, what people have written in about, based on what you were thinking when you went into this, you were being advertised to. For cosmetic procedures about this.

[Jason Palmer (Weekend Intelligence)]

Yeah. I think this really was the thing that got me into the story in the first place, and in my case that was adverts for hair transplants or adverts for the pills that you would need to make you not lose your hair or something like that.

[Jason Palmer]

Yeah. And once you look at one for like a couple of seconds, then they flood.

[Anton LaGuardia]

Joy.

[Jason Palmer (Weekend Intelligence)]

Well, that's it. So the story is as much about boldness and beauty and all of that, and it's also about how the Internet constructs little realities around you.

[Jason Palmer]

Speaking of ads.

[Anton LaGuardia]

Yes.

[Jason Palmer (Weekend Intelligence)]

Yes.

[Jason Palmer]

Fourth wall busted.

[Jason Palmer (Weekend Intelligence)]

He's a pro.

[Ayoa Kimwlere]

Right.

[Jason Palmer]

I should point out that your, as it's called, hairpiece is still available online in the weekend Intelligence feed, and I would encourage everyone to. To have a listen for the moment. Hats off to you, sir. Thanks for your time.

[Jason Palmer (Weekend Intelligence)]

Thank you very much, Jason.

[Rosie Blore]

That's all for this episode of the Intelligence. See you back here tomorrow.

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[Stiles McKenzie]

We interrupt this program to bring you an important Wayfair message. Wayfair's got style tips for every home. This is Stiles McKenzie helping you make those rooms sing. Today is style tip when it comes to making a statement. Treat bold patterns like neutrals. Go wild like an untamed animal. Print area rug under a rustic farmhouse table from wayfair. Com Fierce this has been your Wayfair style tip to keep those interiors superior.

[Rosie Blore]

Wayfair Every Style Every home.