Big Take Asia

Latest Episodes:

How India and Pakistan Averted War May 12, 2025

Show notes

Last week, India and Pakistan saw the worst fighting in half a century — and came close to an all-out war. But the conflict came to an uneasy and sudden halt after Donald Trump declared the two countries reached a ceasefire.

On today’s Big Take Asia Podcast, Rebecca Choong Wilkins talks to Bloomberg’s Dan Strumpf about how the deadly clashes and ceasefire unfolded and the implications of US mediation in the decades-old conflict.

The Rise of Modi, Part 2: How India’s Leader Came Back From the Brink

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How a CEO’s Faked Results Led to a $300 Million Wipeout May 06, 2025

Show notes

In late 2018, five years after launching fish-feeding company eFishery, Gibran Huzaifah found himself all out of cash. To save his business, the CEO started plugging fake numbers into financial reports. The brighter picture drew hundreds of millions of investor dollars. But his house of cards was doomed to collapse.

On today's Big Take Asia Podcast, host K. Oanh Ha talks to Bloomberg's David Ramli about the fall of eFishery and what it says about the risks of venture capital investing.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Human Egg Trade: Episode 3 - The Journey May 01, 2025

Show notes

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

Listen to the rest of the series: The Human Egg Trade: Episode 1 - The Lie
The Human Egg Trade: Episode 2 - The Theft

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Human Egg Trade: Episode 2 - The Theft Apr 30, 2025

Show notes

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: The Egg
Listen to the rest of the series: The Human Egg Trade: Episode 1 - The Lie
The Human Egg Trade: Episode 3 - The Journey

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Human Egg Trade: Episode 1 - The Lie Apr 29, 2025

Show notes

A 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: The Egg
Listen to the rest of the series:The Human Egg Trade: Episode 2 - The Theft
The Human Egg Trade: Episode 3 - The Journey

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How a Chinese Toy Company Is Defying the Trade War Apr 22, 2025

Show notes

Chinese toy company Pop Mart is one of the hottest stocks this year thanks to the wild popularity of its Labubu dolls and other blind box toys.

On today’s Big Take Asia podcast, host K. Oanh Ha talks to Bloomberg Opinion’s Shuli Ren about how the company’s business model could help it ride out the trade-war storm.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Who Will Blink First in the US-China Trade War? Apr 18, 2025

Show notes

As the trade war between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping continues to escalate, economists around the world are asking who will blink first.

On this episode of the Big Take podcast, Bloomberg’s John Liu and Jennifer Welch join host David Gura to discuss what it will take for both presidents to come to the negotiating table, how the current state of China’s economy impacts its positioning in the trade war and why hardball tactics are unlikely to work this time around.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Inside the Explosive Feud That Rocked Singapore’s Richest Family Apr 15, 2025

Show notes

For decades, Singapore’s Kwek family, owners of one of the city’s biggest developers, looked to be the model of a successful family-run business. But that image was shattered when the family patriarch filed a lawsuit against his son.

On today's Big Take Asia Podcast, host K. Oanh Ha sits down with Bloomberg’s Sheryl Lee and Dexter Low to examine what happened behind the boardroom doors of City Developments and how investors are navigating its fallout.

Further listening: A New Breed of Scammer Is Targeting Asia's Ultra-Rich

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why Asia Was Hit Hardest by Trump’s Tariff Onslaught Apr 08, 2025

Show notes

US President Donald Trump shocked the world -- and global markets -- with tariffs that exceeded expectations last week. But there was one region that was hit harder than most: Asia. Exporting powerhouses like China and Vietnam were slapped with some of the highest levies of any country, with China now facing an additional 50% tariff, bringing the total rate of its levies to more than 100%.

On today's Big Take Asia Podcast, host K. Oanh Ha sits down with Bloomberg's John Liu in Beijing and John Boudreau in Ho Chi Minh City to discuss the reactions from Asian economies and how the tariff onslaught may upend the trading world order.

Tariffs Rip Through Southeast Asia Stocks, Sink Vietnam’s Market

Further listening:

The Trump Trade War’s First Casualty? The Bull Market

Trump Announces Sweeping New Tariffs. What’s Next

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As India’s Stock Market Surged, So Did Investment Scams Apr 01, 2025

Show notes

India’s historic stock market surge sparked a retail-investing frenzy that minted millionaires. But the boom also became a breeding ground for financial scams.
On today’s Big Take Asia Podcast, host K. Oanh Ha talks to Bloomberg’s Alex Gabriel Simon about the retail investors that have been cheated out of their life savings, and how this influx of scams could undermine Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts to promote his nation’s stock market to global money managers.
Read more: Scamsters Trick India's Retail Investors Out of Millions in Life Savings
Further listening: Inside Southeast Asia’s Most Notorious Crime Hub
Watch, from Originals: Is India's Stock Market a Bubble About to Burst?

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.