The United Arab Emirates projects an image of level-headed calm in the Gulf. Its actions abroad, however, betray a far more divisive (https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2025/04/16/the-uae-preaches-unity-at-home-but-pursues-division-abroad?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners) and ideological agenda. Japan’s recent rice crisis (https://www.economist.com/asia/2025/04/10/japan-faces-a-reckoning-over-rice?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners) is in part about market reforms—but solving it is mostly about making farmers happier (10:29). And a romp through the linguistics (and culture-war triggers) of personal pronouns (https://www.economist.com/culture/2025/04/10/pronouns-have-become-extremely-divisive?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners) (17:08).
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