After years of stalemate, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis are taking territory, including on a Red Sea strait. We ask what has changed, and how the shift fits into the wider regional conflict. As America’s midterm elections approach, we examine the fragmentation of the coalition that put Donald Trump back in office. And we ask how much nepotism matters in Hollywood today.

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For 15 years, the British media dismissed Tommy Robinson as a far-right extremist. We kept him off our televisions, and out of our newspapers. 

Today his rallies attract tens of thousands of followers and he has the ear of the world’s richest man.

Shire Folk is the story of how some of the most powerful people in America came to see Britain—and Islam—through the eyes of a fringe football hooligan.

Topics covered:

• Radical Islam
• Gangs
• English Defence League

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OpenAI’s claim to have solved one of the great problems in mathematics has itself created problems. We ask why the breakthrough has shaken the field. On the 25th anniversary of 9/11 we examine the vast counterterrorism machinery that followed in America, and nascent efforts to pare those powers back. And remembering Guo Lanying, a Chinese singer who championed traditional opera.

Watch extended clips from Insider here.

Guests and host:

• Sam Wikeley, science correspondent
• Sam Beal, Washington correspondent
• Ann Wroe, obituaries editor
• Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered: 

• mathematics, AI, Millennium Prize Problems
• 9/11 anniversary, counterterrorism law
• Guo Lanying, Chinese opera

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The labour data are in from America and a trend is becoming clearer: on balance AI is starting to create more jobs than it hoovers up. Despite advancements of just about every other kind, China cannot seem to escape its food-safety problems. We ask why not. And why Kenya’s ants have become the target of smugglers.

Guests and host:

• Alex Domash, economics correspondent
• Gabriel Crossley, China correspondent
• Carla Subirana, news editor
• Rosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”
• Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered: 

• AI, labour statistics, labour market
• China, regulation, food safety
• ants, smuggling, Kenya

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President Javier Milei has tamed inflation and improved the lot of many Argentines. But an election season approaches, and the promised economic and wage growth are not materialising. As LIV Golf files for bankruptcy, we ask where it went wrong in trying to disrupt the sport. And the growth that is good for India’s people is bad for its elephants.

Guests and host:

• Kinley Salmon, Latin America correspondent
• Henry Tricks, US technology editor
• Abhishek Kumar, India writer
• Rosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered: 

• Argentina, Javier Milei
• golf, LIV Golf, Saudi Arabia
• India, elephants

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International tests in maths and reading show that 15-year-olds today score what 14-year-olds would have done a decade ago. Our correspondent explains the long-term decline. Is Miami’s thriving economic growth sustainable? And why Jeremy Vine’s BBC Radio 2 show is a microcosm of Britain.   

Guests and host:

• Mark Johnson, senior editor
• Cerian Richmond Jones, international economics correspondent
• Sonny Loughran, Britain correspondent 
• Rosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered: 

• PISA, education, test scores, exams, aptitude
• Miami, Trump, Florida, hurricane
• Jeremy Vine, Radio 2, BBC

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Alternative for Germany won an even larger share of the vote than expected in yesterday’s state election. What does the far-right nationalist party’s success mean for Germany and Europe? The climate case for limiting vapour trails from aeroplanes. And why South Korean youths are turning to Buddhism. 

Guests and host:

• Tom Nuttall, Berlin bureau chief
• Oliver Morton, planetary affairs editor
• Soobin Kim, Korea writer
• Rosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered: 

• AfD, Alternative for Germany, Alternative für Deutschland
• contrails, aviation, climate science
• South Korea, Buddhism

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Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company, has shifted strategy to boost demand for its chips. Our correspondent assesses the opportunities and risks. Knife crime in Britain moves to rural pastures. And our obituaries editor recounts the life of Frank Smith, who died in prison aged 101. 

Watch extended clips from Insider here, plus the full Elon Musk interview

Guests and host:

• Shailesh Chitnis, global business writer
• Sonny Loughran, Britain correspondent
• Ann Wroe, obituaries editor
• Rosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered: 

• Nvidia, AI, Jensen Huang
• Knife crime, county lines, drug market
• Frank Smith, electric chair, death row

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Donald Trump’s stance on immigration helped him win the presidency. Our correspondent asks if a backlash against the campaign could damage Republican midterm prospects. Reddit is struggling in an age of AI. And the enduring beauty of the Bayeux tapestry.

Guests and host:

• Aryn Braun, West Coast correspondent
• Shera Avi-Yonah, business correspondent
• Alexandra Suich Bass, culture editor
• Rosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”
• Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered: 

• Deportation, ICE, immigration, Minneapolis
• Reddit, Google, AI
• Bayeux tapestry, 1066, British Museum

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On Sunday, Alternative for Germany could become the first far-right nationalist party to win a state election since the end of the second world war. Is Britain right to worry about Palantir handling government contracts? And could the Chinese learn to love chocolate? 

Guests and host:

• Tom Nuttall, chief Germany correspondent
• Georgia Banjo, Britain correspondent
• Don Weinland, China business and finance editor
• Rosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”
• Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered: 

• Germany, AfD, Alternative for Germany, Saxony-Anhalt
• Palantir, NHS
• China, chocolate 

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