Overnight cessation: a two-week pause in Iran

<p>With little time to spare before a threatened civilisation-ending attack, America agreed a <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2026/04/08/iran-and-america-agree-to-pause-their-war?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">pause in fighting</a> with Iran. We ask how the temporary deal was reached and how likely a permanent one is. China has an ever-expanding, state-led <a href="https://www.economist.com/china/2026/03/01/china-hopes-ivf-can-slow-its-baby-bust?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">IVF programme</a>: can that actually reverse a deepening demographic crisis? And the right way to think about AI’s <a href="https://www.economist.com/culture/2026/03/29/bots-are-often-bad-writers-but-so-are-most-humans?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">entry into literature</a>.&nbsp;</p><br /><p>Guests and host:</p><ul><li>Gregg Carlstrom, Middle East correspondent</li><li>Carla Subirana, news editor</li><li>Andrew Miller, special correspondent</li><li>Rosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”</li><li>Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”</li></ul><p><br /></p><p>Topics covered:&nbsp;</p><ul><li>Iran war, Donald Trump, ceasefire</li><li>China, demographics, IVF</li><li>AI, literature</li></ul><p><br /></p><p><em>Get a world of insights by </em><a href="https://subscribenow.economist.com/podcasts-plus" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>subscribing to Economist Podcasts+</em></a><em>. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our </em><a href="https://myaccount.economist.com/s/article/What-is-Economist-Podcasts" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>FAQs page</em></a><em> or watch </em><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gczo71bg1uY" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>our video</em></a><em> explaining how to link your account.</em></p><hr /><p style="color: grey; font-size: 0.75em;"> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: grey;" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>