Big Take

A major factor that could limit hostilities in Iran and the Middle East is munitions — what weapons each side is using, and how quickly they might run out.
On today’s Big Take podcast, Sarah Holder talks to Bloomberg global defense editor Gerry Doyle and Bloomberg Economics defense lead Becca Wasser about how long the US and Iran can carry on missile and drone strikes, what happens next in the region and what opportunity cost the US could pay for picking this battle now.
Read more:
Iran’s Missile Math: $20,000 Drones Take on $4 Million Patriots
Ukraine Offers Help Downing Iran Drones in Exchange for Patriot Missiles
Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Julia Press; Reported by Gerry Doyle and Becca Wasser (Bloomberg Economics); Edited by Jeffrey Grocott.
Fact-checking by David Fox and Rachael Lewis-Krisky; Engineering by Katie McMurran.
Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver; Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.
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President Donald Trump fired Kristi Noem from her role as head of the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday. One of the reasons for Noem’s removal involved her oversight of a $240 million DHS ad campaign, starring herself.
On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg investigative reporters Irene Casado Sanchez and Eric Fan join host Sarah Holder to reveal the inside story of that ad blitz — and the ties between people in Trump’s orbit and the companies that were given millions to spend on it.
Read more: Noem Ad Blitz Benefits Media Firms Linked to Trump Campaigns
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In Episode 5 of The Sixth Bureau, a series from The Big Take, a spy from China’s Ministry of State Security travels to an overseas meeting with a valuable source. He has no idea he is walking into a trap that the FBI has been setting up for months.

The Sixth Bureau from Bloomberg News follows an MSS intelligence officer whose mission was to acquire the crown jewels of American aerospace companies. With aliases, blackmail and the occasional break-in, he targeted corporate giants. That is, until his sloppiness — and a cunning FBI sting — led to a stunning reversal: Xu Yanjun became the first Chinese intelligence officer ever convicted on American soil.

The Sixth Bureau is the story of superpowers, their secrets and how one Chinese spy got caught. Listen to Episodes 1 - 4 here.
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The war in the Middle East is rattling global oil markets, raising the risk of supply disruptions and price shocks for energy‑hungry Asian economies.
On today’s Big Take Asia podcast, host K. Oanh Ha speaks with Bloomberg’s Daniel Ten Kate and Fereidun Fesharaki, founder and chairman of FGE, about how tensions involving Iran are being watched by energy markets — and which Asian economies are most exposed if the crisis escalates.
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How long will hostilities in Iran last? Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken says it will likely depend on “markets and munitions.”
In an interview with the Big Take podcast, Blinken and host David Gura discuss the Obama and Biden administrations’ efforts to avoid conflict with Iran, the unanticipated ways this war puts the US at risk and how the strikes could reshape the region.
Hosted by David Gura; Produced by David Fox; Edited by Jeffrey Grocott.
Fact-checking by Rachael Lewis-Krisky and Julia Press; Engineering by Alex Sugiura.
Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.