podcast

Snap judgement: Japan PM’s electoral landslide

09.02.2026
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Takaichi Sanae’s gamble to call a general election has paid off. How will the prime minister’s thumping victory change Japan? New legislation in Republican states could imperil academic freedom. And why “Taxi Driver” resonates 50 years after the film’s release.


Guests and host:

  • Rosie Blau, host of “The Intelligence”
  • Noah Sneider, East Asia bureau chief
  • Rebecca Jackson, Southern correspondent
  • Andrew Miller, author of The Economist’s Back Story column on culture

Topics covered: 

  • Japan’s election
  • University censorship in America
  • Fifty years of “Taxi Driver”

For more on Japan’s economy, listen to last week’s episode of Money Talks


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