Towards Russia with love: Austria’s political tilt

A once-fringe far-right party looks close to power—and serves as another sign of a broad and worrying pro-Russia trend (https://www.economist.com/leaders/2025/01/07/the-putinisation-of-central-europe?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) in central European politics. Meanwhile Jean-Marie Le Pen (https://www.economist.com/europe/2025/01/07/jean-marie-le-pen-revived-extremist-politics-in-france?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), who established the far-right party now close to power in France, has died; our correspondent reflects on his legacy (10:05). And our series The World Ahead examines financial inclusion (https://www.economist.com/the-world-ahead/2024/11/20/latin-america-is-making-progress-on-banking-the-unbanked?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) in Latin America (16:07). Get a world of insights by subscribing to Economist Podcasts+ (https://subscribenow.economist.com/podcasts-plus). For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page (https://myaccount.economist.com/s/article/What-is-Economist-Podcasts) or watch our video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gczo71bg1uY) explaining how to link your account. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.