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For the first time since the Oct. 7 attacks, Israelis are headed to the polls. The race is seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is neck-and-neck with opponent Gadi Eisenkot in the latest polls.  On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg’s Dan Williams examines the existential questions this election has raised: Will Israelis choose a post-Netanyahu future? And if they do, what would it mean for Israel and for the Palestinian territories? Read more: Win or Lose, Netanyahu Has Reshaped Israeli Politics in His Image Trump’s Endorsement of Netanyahu Falls Flat With Israeli Voters We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tesla disclosed this week that it had fallen short of its targets for AI infrastructure spending. Investors didn’t like that. Meta revealed its plans to lay out more than $800 billion on AI infrastructure over the next decade. Investors didn’t like that, either. On today’s Big Take podcast, why all eyes are on AI spending plans — and which US tech giants’ earnings to watch. Host Sarah Holder is joined by Michael Regan, managing editor for US equities, and Sarah Frier, managing editor for big tech, AI and startups. Read more:  Meta Credit Risk Gauge Surges to Record on AI Spending Plans Meta Falls After Boosting Spending Plans for AI Bet Tesla’s Lowered Capex Plan Fuels Doubt on AI, Robotics Goals We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer. Host: Sarah Holder; Guests: Sarah Frier and Michael Regan; Produced by David Fox; Edited by Jeffrey Grocott; Engineering by Emma Munger. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Amid the news that Elon Musk wants to merge Tesla and SpaceX, he has given $445 million to political races in the US midterms. That makes him one of the biggest-ever contributors in US history.  On today’s Big Take podcast, host David Gura talks to Dana Hull, who covers Musk, and campaign finance reporter Bill Allison, about the impact that money could have on some of the closest races, like the Texas Senate race. Read more: Musk Giving Tops $445 Million in Midterm Election Push for GOP Musk Pours $158 Million Into GOP Super PAC for Texas Senate RaceSpaceX, Tesla Boards Study Possible $3.5 Trillion Merger We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer. Host: David Gura; Guests: Dana Hull, Bill Allison; Produced by Julia Press, David Fox, Julia Weaver; Edited by Naomi Shavin; Engineering by Sean Carter. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi wants to put Japan back in the fast lane, with huge investments in everything from AI to space technology. But can she generate the growth to justify the spending without unsettling markets and voters? On today’s Big Take Asia podcast, host K. Oanh Ha talks to Bloomberg’s Paul Jackson about Takaichi’s first-year scorecard and the economic and political pressures that could determine whether her agenda succeeds. Read more: Japan Is Still Figuring Out How a Female Prime Minister Should Lead Further listening: Japan Hikes Rates, Reshaping Carry Trade We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer. Host: K. Oanh Ha; Guest: Paul Jackson; Produced by Naomi Ng; Edited by Crispina Robert and Julia Weaver; Engineering by Greg Tock. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

CoreWeave’s eye-popping debt and quest for new capital has some investors on edge. On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg credit reporter Katherine Schwartz and AI infrastructure reporter Dina Bass join host Sarah Holder to make sense of the selloff, what it means for neoclouds and the future of the AI build-out. Read more: CoreWeave’s Business Is Sound Despite Debt Fears, JPMorgan Says We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer.Host: Sarah Holder; Guests: Katherine Schwartz, Dina Bass; Produced by Julia Weaver and David Fox; Edited by Paddy Hirsch; Engineering by Sean Carter. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In Disclosure, investigative reporter Jason Leopold and attorney Matt Topic take listeners inside a years long effort to head off document destruction at the White House during President Trump’s first term. Drawing from government documents (and The Big Lebowski), they reveal how the US National Archives and Records Administration tried to alert the feds to potentially illegal record disposal. And they learn why FBI and Justice Department personnel clashed before searching Trump's Florida home, Mar-a-Lago. Voice acting by Mandy Hull. Subscribe to Jason's FOIA Files newsletter at https://www.bloomberg.com/account/newsletters/foia-files. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are “natural” diamonds still worth it if you can get a near-identical alternative for a fraction of the cost? With a boost from celebrities like Sarah Jessica Parker, lab-grown competitors could be coming for the crown. On today’s Big Take podcast, guest host Stacey Vanek Smith talks to industry insiders and De Beers Group CEO Al Cook about what $12 half-carat earrings could mean for the luxury business’ future and how the old guard is pushing back.  Read more: The Diamond Industry’s Old Guard Wants You to Buy ‘Natural’ We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer Host: Stacey Vanek Smith; Guests: Al Cook, Edahn Golan, Adelle Archer; Produced by Julia Press; Edited by Aaron Edwards; Engineering by Sean Carter. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

US economic growth is up but consumer sentiment is down. Another rate hike, expected this year, could help lower inflation, but do little to ease the frustrations of much of the middle class, for whom the American dream sits just out of reach. On today’s Big Take podcast, editors Matthew Boesler and Cristina Lindblad join Sarah Holder to unpack what the data says is happening in the US economy and why consumer sentiment tells another story. Read more:  The Trump Stock Market Is Lousy for Most US Consumer Prices Rise by Most Since April in Broad Advance We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer. Host: Sarah Holder; Guests: Matthew Boesler and Cristina Lindblad; Produced by David Fox; Edited by Paddy Hirsch and Naomi Shavin; Engineering by Emma Munger. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Energy prices are up — and President Trump is out of time to bring them down before the US midterm elections.  On today’s Big Take podcast, David Gura breaks down the factors keeping prices high and how much it could cost the Republican party with White House reporter Josh Wingrove and Will Kubzansky, who covers gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer. Host: David Gura; Guests: Josh Wingrove and Will Kubzansky; Produced by Julia Press, David Fox, Julia Weaver; Edited by Naomi Shavin; Engineering by Sean Carter. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When millions of retail investors piled into India’s options market to get rich quick, losses mounted and regulators launched a sweeping crackdown.  On today’s Big Take Asia podcast, guest host Rebecca Choong Wilkins and India equities reporter Savio Shetty break down how the world’s largest options market unraveled, why regulators are struggling to police the country’s latest craze and where traders are placing their bets now.  Read more: How India Built (and Broke) the World’s Biggest Options CasinoFurther listening: Inside Jane Street: The Enigmatic Firm That Rules Wall Street Watch, from Originals: How India's Day Retail Traders Lost Billions Host: Rebecca Choong Wilkins; Guest: Savio Shetty; Produced by Naomi Ng and Yang Yang; Edited by Crispina Robert and Julia Weaver. Engineering by Sean Carter II. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The AI infrastructure boom is funded by a complex web of investments, as tech companies pour money into one another and foreign investors funnel still more cash into the industry. That flow of foreign money is also creating global imbalances — and flashbacks to the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis. On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg’s Shawn Donnan and Bloomberg Economics’ Tom Orlik join David Gura on the AI industry’s global money machine: how it works and what risks it could pose to the global economy if the AI trade doesn’t deliver fast enough.  Read more: AI’s Giant Money Loop Is Drawing Foreign Cash Like 2008 National Bureau of Economic Research: Financing the AI Buildout View profiles for each of the world’s 500 richest people, see the biggest movers, and compare fortunes or track returns on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer. Host: David Gura; Guests: Shawn Donnan and Tom Orlik; Produced by David Fox, Brunella Tipismana Urbano; Edited by Tracey Samuelson; Engineering by Emma Munger. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As US journalist Azadeh Moaveni was writing her latest book, ‘The East Wing’, a history of America's first ladies and their staff, President Donald Trump’s demolition of that very part of the White House was underway.  Moaveni presents her book as a “parallel women’s history,” tracing how the wives of US presidents, including Melania Trump, who traditionally had offices in the now-vanished annex, helped shape alliances at home and abroad.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jane Street just eclipsed Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan as the biggest trading house on Wall Street. It pulled in nearly $40 billion in trading revenue in 2025. And it’s so enigmatic that to the outside world, it’s unclear who’s even in charge. On today’s Big Take podcast, David Gura talks to finance reporters Max Abelson and Katherine Doherty on their reporting on who’s calling the shots at the firm and why it matters to global markets. Read more: Who’s Who at Jane Street We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer. Host: David Gura; Guests: Max Abelson and Katherine Doherty; Produced by David Fox; Edited by Jeffrey Grocott; Engineering by Sean Carter. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ultra-wealthy individuals in the UK have been fleeing the country, after sweeping Labour Party tax reforms led to a crackdown on overseas wealth. For the first time, new data from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index reveals just how much money is at stake with the exodus. On today’s Big Take podcast, host Sarah Holder talks to Bloomberg’s Benjamin Stupples about the UK’s $160 billion problem and the impact it could have on Britain’s economy. Read more: London Takes a Hit as Super Rich Worth $160 Billion Exit UK “Taxation and Migration by the Super-Rich” (2025 CESifo Working Paper)  Bloomberg Billionaires Index We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer. Host: Sarah Holder; Guest: Benjamin Stupples; Produced by Julia Press, Julia Weaver; Edited by Paddy Hirsch, Aaron Edwards; Engineering by Emma Munger. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

President Trump is campaigning in Texas on Wednesday, rallying voters in a state that’s long been a Republican stronghold. His efforts in traditionally red states around the country show how surprisingly close many of these midterm races have become — and the outcome will determine if Trump’s party can hold onto the Senate and advance his agenda for the next two years. On today’s Big Take podcast, Texas bureau chief Julie Fine and Washington correspondent Josh Wingrove join host Sarah Holder to break down the ultra-expensive, surprisingly competitive Texas Senate race and what it would mean for Trump’s presidency if he loses the Lone Star state. Further Listening:  Can $700 Million Buy Republicans the US Senate? Europe’s Debt Problem Is Back We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer. Host: Sarah Holder; Guests: Julie Fine, Josh Wingrove; Produced by David Fox, Julia Press; Edited by Naomi Shavin; Engineering by Sean Carter. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.