Big Take

There’s a historic mismatch between fun-supply and fun-demand in the US this summer.
Americans are clamoring for places to relax and socialize. But the purveyors and conduits of fun — like airlines, theme parks, resorts, concert venues, camps and more — are all grappling with the same inflationary pressures as the rest of us — making fun more expensive and harder to access.
On today’s Big Take podcast, host Sarah Holder talks to Bloomberg's Ben Steverman about why a fun shortage is a serious problem for society — and what can be done about it.
Read more: The Fun Shortage Is Real, and It’s Making America Miserable
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Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Laura Newcombe; Reported by Ben Steverman; Edited by Naomi Shavin. Fact-checking by Rachael Lewis-Krisky; Engineering by Sean Carter.
Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.
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A slate of new data this week painted a tepid but slightly optimistic picture of the US economy: Consumer prices declined in June for the first time in six years, jobless claims ticked down and retail sales rose modestly. So why doesn’t the data match up with how Americans are feeling?
On today’s Big Take podcast, host Sarah Holder talks to Bloomberg’s Reade Pickert and labor economist Kathryn Anne Edwards about what the data does (and doesn’t) tell us about the state of the US economy.
Read more: How’s Inflation? Depends How It’s Measured

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Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Julia Press; Reported by Reade Pickert; Edited by Aaron Edwards.
Fact-checking by Victor Swezey, Rachael Lewis-Krisky; Engineering by Sean Carter.
Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

President Donald Trump’s 2025 financial disclosure showed earnings unlike anything Americans have seen from a sitting US president: $1.4 billion in cryptocurrency, 21,000 securities trades and millions from his resorts and golf clubs.
On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg campaign finance reporter Bill Allison joins host Sarah Holder to look at the ethical concerns the disclosure raises and what — if any — political fallout could follow.
Read more:
Trump Reports at Least $1.4 Billion in 2025 Crypto Earnings
Trump Reports Receiving About $120,000 in Sports Events Tickets
Trump Financial Disclosure Shows 21,000 Trades in 2025
We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer.
Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Rachael Lewis-Krisky; Reported by Bill Allison; Fact-checking by Victor Swezey; Engineering by Alex Sugiura; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.
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China’s men’s soccer team has qualified for the World Cup just once, despite millions in investment and a personal push from President Xi Jinping to turn the nation into a footballing powerhouse.
On today’s Big Take Asia podcast, host Oanh Ha speaks with Eric Zhu of Bloomberg Economics and Mark Dreyer, sports writer and author of Sporting Superpower, about why the country’s top-down engineering approach fails to capture the grassroots magic of the game and how academic pressure continues to push many young players off the field.
We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer.
Hosted by Oanh Ha; Produced by Yang Yang and Naomi Ng; Edited by Patrick Hirsch, Julia Weaver; Fact-checking by Julia Press; Engineering by Taka Yasuzawa Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.
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The last few days have brought a flurry of developments in the Iran war.
As armed hostilities between the US and Iran resumed over the weekend, news broke that US Senator Lindsey Graham had died. Graham was a staunch supporter of Israel and of the war in Iran. And on Monday, President Trump declared US control over the Strait of Hormuz and demanded a 20% reimbursement rate for all cargo that moves through the waterway.
It’s not clear when the war with Iran will end. But when it does, the balance of power in the Middle East will look very different than it did before Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg’s Peter Martin joins host David Gura to discuss the new alliances, revised trade routes and expanded battlefields that are reshaping the Middle East.
We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer.
Hosted by David Gura; Produced by Laura Newcombe; Reported by Peter Martin; Edited by Nicole Beemsterboer.
Fact-checking by Victor Swezey; Engineering by Alex Suguira.
Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.