Big Take

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Latest Episodes:

How Locked Shelves Broke Shopping Jul 18, 2025

Show notes

If you’ve been to a store like CVS, Walgreens or Target in the last few years, you may have noticed a trend: more and more essentials are locked up behind plexiglass walls. The strategy started as an anti-theft measure. But there’s little evidence that it’s worked.

On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg’s Amanda Mull takes host Sarah Holder through the causes and consequences of the retail lock-up era — and how it’s changed the way we shop.

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What Is Jane Street? And Why Are Regulators Watching It? Jul 17, 2025

Show notes

Jane Street is one of Wall Street’s most profitable and secretive firms. And when Indian regulators accused it of market manipulation earlier this month, it rocked the finance world.

On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg finance reporter Katherine Doherty joins host Sarah Holder to go inside Jane Street’s unique trading strategy, and what new regulatory scrutiny could mean for the high frequency trading industry.

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Murder on Rainbow Mountain Jul 16, 2025

Show notes

At over 16,000 feet, Peru’s Rainbow Mountain is hard to reach — and its bright colors are hard to miss on social media.
After a community effort to build an access road and usher in tourists succeeded, fame has proven to be a blessing and a curse for the Indigenous community that sits beneath it.

On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg’s Marcelo Rochabrun and Sarah Holder trace how the community turned Rainbow Mountain into a global tourism destination — and the money, violence and tragedy that followed.

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The Leaked Phone Call that Plunged Thailand Into Crisis Jul 15, 2025

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A leaked phone call between Thailand's Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and Cambodia's Hun Sen has ignited a significant political crisis in Thailand, leading to large-scale protests and her suspension from office.

On today’s Big Take Asia Podcast, host K. Oanh Ha talks to Bloomberg’s Patpicha Tanakasempipat about the political fallout and its impact on the powerful Shinawatra clan, which has dominated Thai politics for almost three decades.

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How Copper Tariffs Affect Everything You Touch Jul 14, 2025

Show notes

Last week, President Trump sent markets into a tizzy, when he proposed tariffs on one of the world’s most valuable commodities: Copper.

On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg’s economic statecraft reporter Joe Deaux joins host David Gura to discuss the president’s ongoing push to bring copper manufacturing back to the US. Why 50% levies on copper could affect everything from your car and iPhone to the nation’s electrical grid, and what the copper industry is doing to get ahead.

Trump’s 50% Copper Import Tariff Said to Include Refined Metal

Once-in-a-Generation Copper Trade Upends a $250 Billion Market

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America’s Flood Mitigation Math Problem Jul 11, 2025

Show notes

On today’s Big Take podcast, we examine what the disaster in Kerr County, Texas reveals about the growing risk of flooding across the country as the climate changes — and the difficult economic choices facing communities grappling with these new risks.

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Wall Street Banks Are Battling for Japan’s Top Young Talent Jul 10, 2025

Show notes

Japan’s hottest banking talent is in high demand as Wall Street goes all out to woo new hires with fancy dinners, strong-arm tactics and higher salaries.

On today’s Big Take Asia Podcast, Bloomberg’s Lisa Du talks to host K. Oanh Ha about why firms are resorting to extreme measures and the problems they face in hiring top talent.

Further listening:
Can’t Get Enough of Matcha? Too Bad – Japan Is Running Low
South Korea Has Plenty of Botox But Not Enough Doctors

Why China’s Investment Bankers Are Breaking Up With Capitalism

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OPEC+ Makes a Big Bet on Oil Demand Jul 09, 2025

Show notes

OPEC+, a coalition of some of the world’s top oil producers, surprised markets over the weekend with plans to boost production by more than half a million barrels a day. The increase comes at a time when investors are worried about oversupply.

So what was behind the decision? Bloomberg’s Joumanna Bercetche breaks it all down with Big Take host David Gura from Vienna, where members of the oil cartel and executives from around the world are gathered for the Ninth OPEC International Seminar.

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China's Plans to Make AI a Utility Jul 08, 2025

Show notes

In a remote part of China's northwestern Xinjiang region, dozens of data centers rise from the desert. A Bloomberg analysis of investor and tax documents and company filings found Chinese companies plan to buy more than 115,000 high-tech Nvidia chips — chips the US has banned from being exported to China – to power these centers, which could then be used for training AI models.

On today’s Big Take Asia Podcast, host K. Oanh Ha talks to Bloomberg’s Andy Lin and James Mayger about the story, and what it means for China’s AI master plan.

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The White House Wanted ‘90 Deals in 90 Days.’ There’s One Day Left Jul 07, 2025

Show notes

In late April, shortly after President Trump’s announcement of sweeping reciprocal tariffs sent markets reeling, the White House announced a 90-day pause on when those tariffs would go into effect.
That pause is about to end and while the Trump administration has announced a few tentative trade agreements — including one with the UK and another with Vietnam — they’re nowhere near 90.

On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg’s Brendan Murray and host David Gura discuss what the White House has accomplished, what it hasn’t and where the trade war goes from here.

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