Big Take

What is the best way to tell a climate story? This week on Zero, Akshat Rathi speaks with Booker Prize-winning novelist George Saunders. His new novel Vigil is an exploration of guilt, told on the deathbed of an oil executive haunted by ghosts. Rathi asks Saunders what he learned about climate change, his thoughts on whether AI complements or compromises human creativity, and why literature still matters in the era of TikTok.
Listen now, and subscribe on Apple, Spotify or YouTube to get new episodes of Zero every Thursday.
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When the Seattle Seahawks take on the New England Patriots on Sunday, more than $2.6 billion in wagers will be on the line. A growing share — $800 million — will come through prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket that are transforming how sports betting works in the US.
On today’s Big Take podcast, professional sports gambler Rufus Peabody discusses why he has shifted more of his betting to prediction markets. And markets reporter Justina Lee and sports business reporter Ira Boudway sit down with host David Gura to discuss why these markets are drawing pros like Peabody — and the concerns the platforms raise for regulators and traditional sportsbooks.
Read more: Gambling Pros Adjust to a Super Bowl on the Prediction Markets
Hosted by David Gura; Produced by Julia Press; Reported by Justina Lee and Ira Boudway; Edited by Jeffrey Grocott.
Fact-checking by Eleanor Harrison-Dengate; Engineering by Katie McMurran.
Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.
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Shares of Novo Nordisk were down Thursday morning after Hims & Hers introduced a compounded version of its Wegovy pill. The dip came two days after Novo predicted its sales could drop as much as 13% this year as the company factors in competition from generic drugs that could crop up as its patents expire around the world.
On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg reporters Naomi Kresge and Amber Tong talk to host David Gura about the year ahead for weight-loss drugs, from compounded products cutting into leading companies’ market share to generics that could upend the market globally.
Read more: Generic Ozempic Makers Are Coming to Upend the Obesity Market
Further listening:
Welcome To Ozempictown, USA (No, It’s Not Hollywood)
Cheap Ozempic Copycats Are Everywhere. Are They Safe?
Hosted by David Gura; Produced by David Fox and Rachael Lewis-Krisky; Reported by Amber Tong and Naomi Kresge; Edited by Aaron Edwards.
Fact-checking by Eleanor Harrison-Dengate; Engineering by Alex Sugiura.
Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.
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AI anxiety is coursing through the stock market right now. From Tuesday’s global selloff in software and technology stocks to last week’s $381 billion Microsoft rout, investors are skittish over any sign of an AI bubble.
On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg Big Tech editor Sarah Frier joins host Sarah Holder to discuss the coming AI reckoning and why pressure is building on tech companies to prove all their AI investments will pay off big — and soon.
Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by David Fox; Reported by Sarah Frier; Edited by Tracey Samuelson.
Fact-checking by Rachael Lewis-Krisky and Eleanor Harrison-Dengate; Engineering by Katie McMurran and Alex Sugiura.
Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.
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Four years after Thailand became the first country in Asia to decriminalize cannabis, its booming market is at a crossroads. Initial high hopes for a tourism surge and a billion-dollar industry have been replaced by an oversupply of shops and a fierce public backlash.
On today’s Big Take Asia Podcast, host K. Oanh Ha talks to Bloomberg’s Patpicha Tanakasempipat about what went wrong and whether the industry can weather a political firestorm.
Read more: Weed Backlash Grows in Thailand as Kids Turn to Cannabis

Hosted by K. Oanh Ha; Produced by Yang Yang, Naomi Ng; Reported by Patpicha Tanakasempipat; Edited by Paddy Hirsch, Julia Weaver
Fact-checking by Eleanor Harrison-Dengate; Engineering by Taka Yasuzawa
Senior Producer Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer Julia Weaver; Executive Producer Nicole Beemsterboer
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