Amid <a href="https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2026/08/19/why-bond-markets-are-unnerving-rich-world-politicians?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">record-tickling yields</a>, the bond markets are now trying to make sense of what Scott Bessent, America’s Treasury secretary, <a href="https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2026/08/23/is-scott-bessent-the-fed-chair-donald-trump-always-wanted?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">has announced</a>—a move that might put him on a collision course with the Federal Reserve. We ask why it is so easy for hackers to infiltrate America’s water infrastructure. And understanding a political lineage through the new British prime minister’s <a href="https://www.economist.com/britain/2026/08/13/andy-burnham-and-the-politics-of-accents?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">accent</a>.Guests and host:<ul><li>Joshua Roberts, capital markets correspondent</li><li>Shashank Joshi, Washington bureau chief</li><li>Lane Greene, language correspondent</li><li>Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”</li></ul>Topics covered:&nbsp;<ul><li>bond markets, Treasury, yields, Scott Bessent</li><li>America, cyber-attacks, water, critical infrastructure</li><li>British politics, Andy Burnham, accents, class angst</li></ul>Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—<a href="https://subscribenow.economist.com/podcasts-plus" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">subscribe to The Economist</a>.

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Slip the surly bonds? Scott Bessent goes on a yield trip

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