The Jab is a new weekly podcast from The Economist that unlocks the science, data and politics of the global vaccine rollout.
The 30-minute weekly podcast series will include analysis of efforts to vaccinate the planet against covid-19 – arguably the biggest logistical challenge the world has ever faced. It will include an authoritative cast of experts exploring the global impact of the rollout of the vaccinations.
Hosts will go beyond the headlines with The Economist’s own brand of insight and unsparing analysis. Each episode will tackle a different theme, ranging from virology and vaccine manufacturing to geopolitics and vaccine hesitancy.
The podcast series is hosted by science correspondent Alok Jha and health-policy editor Natasha Loder and supported by a team of four editors and producers. The show launches on Monday 15 February with new episode each subsequent Monday for an initial run of 12 weeks.
Anne McElvoy, senior editor at The Economist and head of Economist Radio, said: “In a worldwide pandemic we are more globally interdependent than ever. The Jab aims to help listeners keep up on vaccine development and rollout around the world and will provide vital insight and analysis into their effectiveness as countries seek to overcome the pandemic together.”
Bob Cohn, President of The Economist said, “Helping our audiences understand the global health and economic impact of the pandemic is a critical priority in 2021. We’ll do that with our trademark analysis and rigor not only in familiar formats, but also with this new podcast, The Jab, and through investments in our trademark data journalism.”
The Jab sits alongside The Economist’s flagship daily show, The Intelligence, and other weekly shows including Checks and Balance and The Economist Asks, which combined have approximately 3 million unique podcast listeners and 25 million downloads per month.
Economist podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and Acast or from The Economist website.
