Outsider chance: ending Sudan’s proxy war

About this episode

<p>We look at the peace that has settled over Khartoum, the ruined capital. <a href="https://www.economist.com/interactive/international/2026/08/06/a-battle-for-supremacy-has-laid-sudan-and-its-capital-to-waste?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">War rages on</a> elsewhere, and a <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2026/08/06/how-to-end-sudans-brutal-forgotten-conflict?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">slim chance</a> at a settlement rests largely with the belligerents’ foreign patrons. We ask why President Donald Trump has <a href="https://www.economist.com/united-states/2026/07/30/how-to-turn-solutions-into-problems?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">picked a fight</a> over a new bridge between Canada and America. And remembering <a href="https://www.economist.com/obituary/2026/08/06/betye-saar-believed-thrown-out-objects-should-have-a-second-life?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">Betye Saar</a>, who provided profound second lives for discarded objects. </p><br><p><em>Watch extended clips from Insider </em><a href="https://www.economist.com/interactive/insider/previews?utm_campaign=a.brand_fy2627_q1_awareness-imp-tr_prospecting_global-global_direct_na&utm_medium=audio.podcast.pd&utm_source=economist&utm_content=discovery.awareness.anonymous.tr_nativeread_np-tiinsider-apr_na-na_web_na_na_na_na&utm_term=sa.arc-isi" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>here</em></a><em>.</em></p><br><p>Guests and host:</p><ul><li>Tom Gardner, Africa correspondent</li><li>Annie Crabill, senior digital editor</li><li>Ann Wroe, obituaries editor</li><li>Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Topics covered: </p><ul><li>Sudan war, proxy war, geopolitics </li><li>Canada-America relations, Gordie Howe Bridge</li><li>Betye Saar, art</li></ul><p><br></p><p><em>Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—</em><a href="https://subscribenow.economist.com/podcasts-plus" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>subscribe to The Economist</em></a><em>.</em></p><br><p><br></p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>