The Big Take from Bloomberg News brings you inside what’s shaping the world's economies with the smartest and most informed business reporters around the world. The context you need on the stories that can move markets. Every afternoon.

The Big Take from Bloomberg News brings you inside what’s shaping the world's economies with the smartest and most informed business reporters around the world. The context you need on the stories that can move markets. Every afternoon.

Big Take

Ad-Free Big Take Asia 10.28.2025  An American Toymaker Struggles to Break Up With China

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/a3624c49-7851-4d09-a319-b3ed013e1496/transcript

Two opaque corners of finance have joined forces: shadow banking and phantom debt. Put another way, private credit firms are backing Buy-Now-Pay-Later companies to finance their expansion into the US consumer market.

On today’s Big Take podcast, guest host Stacey Vanek Smith joins Bloomberg reporters J.J. McCorvey and René Ismail to discuss what private credit’s involvement in BNPL means for everyday borrowers, why it’s raising concerns and whether the risks hiding in these spaces could spill over into the rest of the economy. 

Read more: Private Credit Is Making Bets on Consumer Debt at a Precarious Time


Hosted by Stacey Vanek Smith; Produced by David Fox; Reported by J.J. McCorvey and René Ismail; Edited by Naomi Shavin.

Fact-checking by Julia Press and Laura Newcombe; Engineering by Alex Sugiura.

Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.

Two opaque corners of finance have joined forces: shadow banking and phantom debt. Put another way, private credit firms are backing Buy-Now-Pay-Later companies to finance their expansion into the US consumer market.
On today&rsquo;s Big Take podcast, guest host Stacey Vanek Smith joins Bloomberg reporters J.J. McCorvey and Ren&eacute; Ismail to discuss what private credit&rsquo;s involvement in BNPL means for everyday borrowers, why it&rsquo;s raising concerns and whether the risks hiding in these spaces could spill over into the rest of the economy.&nbsp;
Read more:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2026-06-28/private-credit-is-fueling-buy-now-pay-later-growth-despite-risk-fears?srnd=undefined">Private Credit Is Making Bets on Consumer Debt at a Precarious Time </a>
Hosted by Stacey Vanek Smith; Produced by David Fox; Reported by J.J. McCorvey and Ren&eacute; Ismail; Edited by Naomi Shavin.
Fact-checking by Julia Press and Laura Newcombe; Engineering by Alex Sugiura.
Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.

Private Credit’s New Obsession: Buy Now, Pay Later

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/da81ac68-d9f8-4ce2-ac2b-b47f0169bf19/transcript

For America’s 250th anniversary and our Weekend Listen, the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jill Lepore joins Mishal Husain to take her through her book on the US Constitution.

We The People explores how the Constitution came about and, crucially, how there was an expectation that it would likely change over time. 

This is not, however, an episode entirely set in the past, because Jill Lepore is acutely alive to the pressures of the moment and of the contested sense of what America is or should be.

Contact The Mishal Husain Show mishalshow@bloomberg.net

Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

For America&rsquo;s 250th anniversary and our Weekend Listen, the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jill Lepore joins Mishal Husain to take her through her book on the US Constitution. We The People explores how the Constitution came about and, crucially, how there was an expectation that it would likely change over time.&nbsp; This is not, however, an episode entirely set in the past, because Jill Lepore is acutely alive to the pressures of the moment and of the contested sense of what America is or should be. Contact The Mishal Husain Show mishalshow@bloomberg.net
Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Weekend Listen: America in Free Fall? Historian Jill Lepore on the US at 250 

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/48c4dbbf-021b-4271-8e83-b47b01599ed7/transcript

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 

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 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.

The federal programming leading up to the United States&rsquo; 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 &ldquo;Freedom Truck&rdquo; convoy and a UFC cage fight on the White House lawn). The events are the product of rival planning committees &ndash; one created last year by the Trump administration, another by Congress a decade ago.
On today&rsquo;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&rsquo;s events &ndash; and how they echo earlier chapters of American history.
Read more:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2026-06-24/how-trump-s-freedom-250-beat-out-america250-to-throw-us-a-birthday-party">The Money and Influence Behind America&rsquo;s Very MAGA 250th Birthday Party</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-02/why-trump-s-great-american-state-fair-in-washington-looks-so-empty?srnd=undefined">Why the Great American State Fair Looks So Empty</a>&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/subscriptions/podcasts">Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer.</a>
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.

On USA’s 250th, Even the Party Planners Are Divided

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/234eda4b-1118-4c49-91a0-b47c00cd2adf/transcript

Ad-Free Big Take Asia 10.28.2025 An American Toymaker Struggles to Break Up With China

Big Take

Social links

Follow podcast

Recent clips