Big Take

The federal programming leading up to the United States’ 250th anniversary this weekend has ranged from the genteel (essay contests for grade-schoolers and a national push for volunteerism) to the MAGA-coded (a “Freedom Truck” convoy and a UFC cage fight on the White House lawn). The events are the product of rival planning committees – one created last year by the Trump administration, another by Congress a decade ago.
On today’s Big Take podcast, host Sarah Holder talks to Bloomberg Businessweek Senior Editor Laura Bliss about the funding battles and cronyism allegations that have dogged this year’s events – and how they echo earlier chapters of American history.
Read more:
The Money and Influence Behind America’s Very MAGA 250th Birthday Party
Why the Great American State Fair Looks So Empty
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Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Rachael Lewis-Krisky; Reported by Laura Bliss; Edited by Jeffrey Grocott and Tracey Samuelson.
Fact-checking by David Fox; Engineering by Alex Sugiura.
Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.
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In just a few years, peptides have grown from fringe drugs popular with fitness buffs and ‘looksmaxxers’ to a billion-dollar black market. Now, with the prospect of regulation on the horizon, healthcare players and investors are racing to cash in.
On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg reporters Amanda Mull and Madison Muller join host Sarah Holder to break down the peptide boom, the safety concerns surrounding it and how a friendly Trump administration could bring it into the mainstream.
Read more: Peptides Fuel a Multibillion-Dollar Startup Race
Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Laura Newcombe, Victor Swezey; Reported by Amanda Mull, Madison Muller; Edited by Julia Weaver, Aaron Edwards.
Fact-checking by Julia Press; Engineering by Alex Sugiura.
Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.
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In the 2026 elections, artificial intelligence is the backdrop for just about everything.
The US and Anthropic reached a truce in recent days that lets the company roll out its powerful models to some users, the sort of on-the-fly decision-making that has candidates jockeying to shape how AI is regulated. Big AI companies are pouring money into 2026 state and federal races, dwarfing the cryptocurrency industry’s spending in 2024. And even as AI is fueling Americans’ anxiety about jobs and energy prices, it’s feeding them the ads and information that will shape their votes: According to one survey, 55% of US voters under the age of 45 are likely to use chatbots to learn about candidates and elections.
On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg’s Michael Shepard, a senior editor focusing on AI, joins David Gura to discuss what the first AI election means for our current moment.
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Hosted by David Gura; Produced by Rachael Lewis-Krisky; Reported by Michael Shepard; Edited by Jeffrey Grocott.
Fact-checking by Victor Swezey, Julia Press and David Fox; Engineering by Emma Munger.
Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.
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Thanks to the AI boom, stock markets in Taiwan and South Korea have seen historic rallies this year. But as retail investors pile in, often using borrowed money, concerns are growing over whether this momentum is sustainable.
On today’s Big Take Asia podcast, guest host Rebecca Choong Wilkins speaks with Bloomberg’s Asian markets reporter Charlotte Yang and Bloomberg Opinion’s Shuli Ren about the risks of betting on AI and how potential fallout could ripple beyond the region.
Read more: Taiwanese Go Deep Into Debt to Amp 100% Stock Rally
Play Micron, Hynix and Samsung ETFs at Your Peril
Hosted by Rebecca Choong Wilkins; Produced by Naomi Ng; Reported by Charlotte Yang, Shuli Ren, Chien-Hua Wan; Edited by Paddy Hirsch, Jiyeun Lee, Julia Weaver.
Fact-checking by Victor Swezey; Engineering by Taka Yasuzawa.
Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.
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A divided Supreme Court has upheld the constitutional right to birthright citizenship, rejecting President Trump’s planned restrictions and invalidating a central plank of his immigration agenda. We have more on that story next from Bloomberg News Now, tracking the latest business headlines from around the world.
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