China Tightens Its Grip on Billions in Offshore Wealth

Offshore trading has long given Chinese investors access to global markets — often through legal gray areas. Now, Beijing is stepping in with its biggest crackdown in decades. On today’s Big Take Asia Podcast, host K. Oanh Ha speaks with Bloomberg’s Lulu Chen about the sweeping restrictions and wh…

Huge AI Bonuses Spark South Korea Tech Wealth Fight

Samsung recently made headlines when it narrowly averted a strike by offering eye-popping bonuses to its chip workers. But the move has seemingly backfired—sparking deep resentment in other corners of the company and fueling a wider debate over wage equity in South Korea. On today’s Big Take Asia …

Indonesia’s $15 Billion Free Lunch Experiment

Indonesia’s free lunch program is a massive operation, feeding tens of millions of people every day across a vast archipelago.  On today’s Big Take Asia podcast, host Rebecca Choong Wilkins talks with Bloomberg’s Rosalind Mathieson about the challenges facing President Prabowo’s flagship program a…

Weekend Listen: China vs the US: Kishore Mahbubani on a Zero-Sum Rivalry

Beyond this month's talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump, there’s an epic tale that has been unfolding for decades. It’s a battle to be the world’s number one power and a much bigger story than the latest meeting of these two men.  Kishore Mahbubani is a former…

SoftBank’s $60 Billion OpenAI Bet Sparks Concerns

SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son has made a $60 billion bet on OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman – a commitment that has some insiders worried. On today’s Big Take Asia Podcast, host K. Oanh Ha speaks with Bloomberg’s Min-Jeong Lee about how Son became captivated by Altman and what’s at stake for his re…

The Biggest Takeaways from the Trump-Xi Summit

Tensions between the US and China have deepened since the last time a US president traveled to Beijing for a summit, in 2017. President Trump’s return to China, in a swirl of dinners and festivities, generated positive optics for host and guest alike, but brought less apparent progress on some of t…

Modi Is More Powerful Than Ever — Even as India’s Economy Strains

Despite India facing economic headwinds, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party defied expectations with a stunning state election sweep — capped by a historic win in opposition stronghold West Bengal. On today’s Big Take Asia Podcast, host K. Oanh Ha speaks to Bloomberg’s Menaka Doshi about how the…

Weekend Listen: Will the Xi-Trump Summit Be Over Before It Starts?

As a high-stakes Trump–Xi summit looms, tensions over the Iran war and defiance of US sanctions threaten to derail what could be one of the year’s most consequential meetings. On Trumponomics, Bloomberg's Stephanie Flanders is joined by Jennifer Welch, chief geoeconomics analyst for Bloomberg Econo…

Why China Blocked Meta’s $2 Billion Acquisition of Manus AI

China’s decision to block Meta’s $2 billion acquisition of AI startup Manus stunned the global AI industry. On today’s Big Take Asia podcast, host K. Oanh Ha speaks with Bloomberg’s Newley Purnell and Lulu Chen about how the deal crumbled and what it signals for Chinese startups trying to go glob…

Weekend Listen: Writer Amitav Ghosh on Why India Has Lost Its Way

For more than 30 years, the Indian-born writer Amitav Ghosh has built a global following with novels that draw on deep historical research.  But his latest offering, Ghost-Eye, is more esoteric. The plot moves back and forth between India and the US, using past lives to explore the ties between th…