Big Take Asia

As the Japanese yen hit a 40-year low against the US dollar, Japan's government stepped in to support its currency. And it has a powerful ally in US President Donald Trump, who is putting the US financial might behind the historic currency intervention in what he called a “signal of friendship.”
On today’s Big Take Asia podcast, host K. Oanh Ha sits down with chief Asia foreign exchange correspondent Ruth Carson to unpack how the yen fell so far, what it could take to get it back on track and what’s at stake for the global economy.
Read more: Bessent Says Yen Level Problem for Japan, Other Currencies
Further listening:
Carry Trades, Explained
Could the Chinese Yuan Ever Replace the US Dollar?
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Hosted by K. Oanh Ha; Produced by Naomi Ng, Yang Yang, Rachael Lewis-Krisky and Victor Swezey; Reported by Ruth Carson; Edited by Paddy Hirsch and Tracey Samuelson. Fact-checking by Victor Swezey; Engineering by Emma Munger and Taka Yasuzawa. Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.
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Weeks of student-led protests forced the resignation of India’s education minister, in a rare public setback for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
On today’s Big Take Asia podcast, guest host Rebecca Choong Wilkins and Bloomberg reporter Atul Dev discuss how India’s cockroach movement grew from a satirical online joke into a powerful anti-Modi protest and why its economic grievances resonate so deeply among young Indians at this moment.
Read more: Awakened Indian Students Hand Modi One of His Biggest Setbacks
India Youth Protests End as Modi Bows to Group’s Demands
Hosted by Rebecca Choong Wilkins; Produced by Naomi Ng; Reported by Atul Dev; Edited by Jeffrey Grocott, Paddy Hirsch and Julia Weaver.
Fact-checking by Rachael Lewis-Krisky and Julia Press; Engineering by Taka Yasuzawa, Alex Sugiura, Emma Munger
Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.
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After the pandemic-era run on medical gloves, the US government set a plan in motion to reshore manufacturing. Roughly six years and almost $1 billion later, America is once again facing potential shortages of medical gloves because of supply chain disruptions stemming from the war in Iran.
On today’s Big Take podcast, host Sarah Holder and health care industry reporter Anna Edney break down why US efforts to make American medical gloves have largely failed, what it says about reshoring manufacturing writ large and where the industry goes from here.
Read more: Almost $1 Billion Later, the US Still Can’t Make a Medical Glove
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Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Laura Newcombe and Rachael Lewis-Krisky; Reported by Anna Edney; Edited by Naomi Shavin. Fact-checking by Victor Swezey; Engineering by Sean Carter. Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.
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When a 1,000-year-old Cambodian statue came up for auction at Sotheby’s in New York, it sparked off an investigation that uncovered one of the world’s most extensive art trafficking networks.
On today’s Big Take Asia Podcast, host K. Oanh Ha talks to Bloomberg’s Matthew Campbell and American lawyer Bradley Gordon on how Cambodia’s looted treasures ended up scattered around the world and what it takes to bring them home.
Read more: Chasing the Man Who Stole the Gods
Watch, from Originals: Cambodia to Museums: We Want Our Statues Back
We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer.
Hosted by K. Oanh Ha; Produced by Naomi Ng; Reported by Matthew Campbell; Edited by Aaron Edwards. Fact-checking by Victor Swezey and Yang Yang; Engineering by Taka Yasuzawa and Emma Munger. Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer. Photo by Agnes Dherbeys/The New York Times/Redux
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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.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.