Big Take

Gary Gensler’s tenure as Wall Street’s top regulator is coming to an end, and the US Securities and Exchange Commission chair is reflecting on his time at the agency. In an interview with host David Gura, Gensler responds to his critics, discusses his concerns about AI, China and crypto — and shares the advice he gave President-elect Trump’s pick to replace him. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Deadly wildfires in the Los Angeles area have forced nearly 180,000 residents to evacuate their homes. As they wait to learn the extent of the damage, another crisis is on the horizon: whether private and state-funded insurance can handle a disaster on track to be one the worst in the region’s history. Today on the show, Bloomberg Green reporter Leslie Kaufman discusses why this fire has been so destructive and the state of wildfire insurance in California. Read more: Los Angeles Fires Become Existential Test for California’s Stopgap Insurer See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

US intelligence officials say that a hacking campaign known as “Volt Typhoon” has the potential to disrupt critical infrastructure systems in Guam — a significant hub for the US military that holds particular importance in US-China relations. On today’s Big Take DC podcast, Bloomberg national security reporter Katrina Manson shares what she’s learned about the threat and how it could limit America’s ability to push back if China were to invade Taiwan. Read more: The US’s Worst Fears of Chinese Hacking Are on Display in Guam See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Monday, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he was resigning — the latest in a series of incumbents around the world who’ve been ousted or stepped aside as their countries grapple with the effects of inflation. Today on the show, Bloomberg reporter Brian Platt joins host Sarah Holder to track Trudeau’s rise and fall. Platt explains how housing costs, a surge in immigration and the loss of a key party ally pushed Trudeau to step down — and where Canada goes from here. Read more: Canada Tilts Right: Inflation Claims Trudeau as Its Latest Victim See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After CEO Sam Altman was dramatically fired and rehired in November 2023, he got right back to work building up OpenAI, best known for ChatGPT. Now, about a year after that leadership upheaval, and two years after the seismic launch of that chat bot, Altman sat down with Josh Tyrangiel for a wide-ranging interview. Josh joined David Gura to talk about Altman’s evolution from Silicon Valley venture capitalist to a leader of the AI revolution, and how Altman is approaching the future of OpenAI — and planning to navigate the next four years under the Trump administration. Read more: Sam Altman on ChatGPT’s First Two Years, Elon Musk and AI Under Trump See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A new series from the Big Take podcast investigates the booming market for human eggs. In this episode, host Sarah Holder and Bloomberg’s Jessica Brice focus on the Kemptons, an Australian couple who needed donor eggs to get pregnant. They wanted access to a market they felt offered transparency. They especially wanted information about potential donors. What followed was an around-the-world quest to create a family — filled with promise, gutting losses and extreme cost. Read more: The Egg See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Every year, senior markets editor Sam Potter reads predictions for the year ahead from leading financial institutions around the world. The theme of this year’s predictions: uncertainty. One event on the horizon has contributed to both their predictions for 2025 and the uncertainty in a unique way: Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Potter joins host David Gura to unpack what financial institutions are expecting for this year, given what they know and what they don’t. Read more: Here’s (Almost) Everything Wall Street Expects in 2025 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2024 was the year AI broke into the music industry. Record labels that had fought AI-generated songs at every turn started to consider how they might want to use AI tools. But as the technology creeps into more parts of the music production process, not everyone agrees on where to draw ethical and legal lines. On today’s Big Take podcast, Grammy Award-winning producer Timbaland, Universal Music Group executive Michael Nash, Bloomberg audio reporter Ashley Carman and host Sarah Holder examine who stands to benefit from the AI-music boom — and who has the most to lose. Read more: Ashley Carman’s Soundbite newsletter See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Indonesia has embarked on an ambitious project to build a new capital city from scratch because Jakarta is overcrowded, polluted and sinking, fast. But the multibillion dollar new city, Nusantara, was plagued with problems from the very start. On today’s Big Take Asia Podcast, host K. Oanh Ha talks to Bloomberg’s Faris Mokhtar about what went wrong, and what’s at stake for Southeast Asia’s largest economy if it fails. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Frequent flyer programs began as a way for airlines to build loyalty and fill empty seats. They’ve since morphed into a complex financial ecosystem that’s drawn the ire of even the most savvy consumers and the scrutiny of the US Department of Transportation. Bloomberg’s global aviation editor Benedikt Kammel joins David Gura to talk about points, miles, qualifying trips — and how we got here in the first place. Read more: The Airline Rewards Game Is Getting Tougher to Win See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From inflation data to unemployment rates, the US government releases numbers every month that move markets and shape policies. But the agencies responsible for gathering that data are struggling — and President-elect Donald Trump’s promise to find cuts across agencies could further strain their resources. On today’s Big Take DC podcast, Bloomberg economics editor Molly Smith joins host Saleha Mohsin to dig into what’s at stake if the federal government scales back on its investment in economic data. Read more: Market-Moving Data Under Threat as Trump Returns to Washington BLS Needs Culture Revamp After Botched US Releases, Review FindsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The gory, dystopian South Korean thriller Squid Game is the most popular series Netflix has ever released. This week, it drops season two — in the midst of the company’s efforts to grow the show beyond the screen. On today’s Big Take Asia Podcast, host Rebecca Choong Wilkins talks to Bloomberg’s Sohee Kim and Lucas Shaw about the new season, the story of how the show was nearly never made and all the ways Netflix is trying to expand Squid Game into a global franchise — from reality TV and video games to in-person fan experiences. Read more: ‘Squid Game’ Returns in Test of Netflix Global Marketing Muscle Further listening: K-Pop’s Big Bet on Becoming Less Korean See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy have skyrocketed in popularity over the past few years. To capitalize on that demand, telehealth companies started offering compounded versions of those drugs. That’s made them easier to access, but it’s also introduced new potential risks for people recovering from eating disorders like anorexia. On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg reporter Madison Muller joins host Sarah Holder to share what she’s learned about the ways telehealth can make it easier for people to get prescriptions that could harm them. Read more: The Weight-Loss Drug Gold Rush Has a Dangerous Prescription Problem See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A new series from the Big Take podcast investigates the booming market for human eggs. It’s a global and opaque market where demand is so great, that even where regulations are in place, there are powerful incentives to evade them. In this episode, host Sarah Holder and Bloomberg’s Vernon Silver focus on one fertility clinic in Greece that police say stole the eggs of as many as 75 women. It’s a story that shows how the actions of one clinic can have ripple effects around the world and reveals the unique ways that the fertility industry runs not only on capital, but on trust. Read more from Bloomberg Businessweek: The Egg See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In his final month as the United States’ chief diplomat, Secretary of State Antony Blinken is racing around the globe, responding to conflicts in the Middle East and the latest developments in the war in Ukraine. During a stop in New York, he sat down with host David Gura to talk about how he is preparing to hand over the country’s sprawling foreign policy portfolio to the incoming Trump administration. Read more: Syria: Blinken Says US Weighs Sending Officials for Talks - Bloomberg See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tens of thousands of migrants in Mexico are currently in limbo after new policies put in place there and in the US changed the process for how people seek asylum. Now, with President-elect Trump promising an immigration crackdown as soon as he takes office, some asylum-seekers are anxious to make it into the US before Inauguration Day. On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg reporter Alex Vasquez joins host Sarah Holder to explain the complex intersection of these policies and to share the story of one family navigating that system. Read more: Stranded in Mexico: Trump’s Looming Crackdown Scares Migrants See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

China’s property crisis has become a massive headache for the world’s second-largest economy. Tens of millions of newly built apartments lie vacant, home prices have tumbled and cash-strapped developers are struggling to finish construction. On today’s Big Take Asia Podcast, host K. Oanh Ha talks to Bloomberg’s Lulu Chen about what China is doing to try and solve its housing crisis. We go to Zhengzhou, home to the world’s biggest iPhone factory and the city where the housing market first imploded. It's now become a testing ground for government efforts to revive the ailing property sector. We look at whether they’re working, and what it will mean for China’s economy if the big push fails. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Germany’s economy is stagnating; households have less disposable income, and businesses report having less faith in the future. Once the growth engine of Europe, the country has gradually been losing its competitive edge. Now, economic anxieties have fuelled a political crisis that led to Monday’s no confidence vote in the German government. On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg’s Chris Reiter talks to host Sarah Holder about the consequences of Germany’s economic troubles — for the country and for Europe — and what it could take to turn things around. Read more: Germany Is Unraveling Just When Europe Needs It Most See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A new series from the Big Take podcast investigates the booming market for human eggs. It’s a global and opaque market where demand is so great, that even where regulations are in place, there are powerful incentives to evade them. In this episode, host Sarah Holder is joined by Bloomberg’s Natalie Obiko Pearson to unpack an investigation in India that revealed how far some people will go to get a cut of this trade, even if it means exploiting a child. Read more from Bloomberg Businessweek: The Egg Plus, watch the documentary from Bloomberg Originals: Inside India's Fertility Underworld See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has been a fixture in the economic policy world for decades. She was President Clinton’s chief economic adviser, a Federal Reserve governor and served as Fed Chair under President Obama. As her tenure at Treasury comes to an end, Yellen sits down with host David Gura to discuss the possibility of additional sanctions on Russian oil and communication between the US and China, and she reflects on her long career as a pioneering economic policymaker. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.