Big Take

For the first time in history, Saudi Arabia is allowing international buyers to purchase property in Mecca. This regulatory shift has ignited a building boom, raising concerns over affordability and overdevelopment.
On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg’s Zainab Fattah joins Sarah Holder to discuss what this property gold rush means for the city’s future and Saudi Arabia’s move away from oil.
Read more: Saudi Arabia's MBS Opens Mecca Property Market in Investment Push
Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Rachael Lewis-Krisky; Reported by Zainab Fattah; Edited by Tracey Samuelson.
Fact-checking by Eleanor Harrison-Dengate and David Fox; Engineering by Alex Sugiura.
Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Inflation in the US has cooled from pandemic peaks, but there’s a grocery product telling a different story: beef. The price of uncooked ground beef soared by the most since June 2020 in government data released Friday. The broad beef and veal category is up 15% over the past year as of January.
On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg reporter Enda Curran takes a peek into the American consumer’s grocery basket with host David Gura to understand the perfect storm of factors that’s setting beef apart. And a fifth-generation Oklahoma rancher reflects on the impact that a fragile market has had on her family business.
Read more:
America’s Vanishing Cattle Herd Drives 15% Price Hikes for Beef
US Cattle Herd Stays at 75-Year Low, Keeping Beef Prices High
A Deadly Parasite’s Return Threatens US Ranchers Too Young to Remember It
Hosted by David Gura; Produced by Rachael Lewis-Krisky and David Fox; Reported by Enda Curran, Ilena Peng; Edited by Aaron Edwards;
Fact-checking by Eleanor Harrison-Dengate and David Fox; Engineering by Alex Sugiura;
Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver; Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In Episode 2 of The Sixth Bureau, a limited-run series from The Big Take, we learn how China’s Ministry of State Security recruits experts in the West — and why intelligence officers shouldn’t keep their secrets backed up to the cloud.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s an open secret that the Chinese government has engaged in a global campaign to acquire intellectual property from foreign rivals. At the center of that campaign is the Ministry of State Security, China’s elusive intelligence agency. The US has apprehended hundreds of people accused of giving information to the MSS, but the agency’s inner workings have been a mystery — until now.
Today, we’re bringing you Episode 1 of The Sixth Bureau, a limited-run series from The Big Take. The series 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. The limited-run series will publish on Fridays in The Big Take.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In July, American parents will be eligible to open Trump Accounts on behalf of their children. The administration touts these investment accounts as a way to help the next generation achieve the American dream. But are they the best way to save for college, home-ownership or retirement? And who stands to benefit most?
On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg’s Ben Steverman walks host Sarah Holder through the advantages — and criticisms — of this new program. Plus, economist Darrick Hamilton, whose federal “baby bonds” proposal inspired the Trump Accounts, weighs in on the immediate and long-term impacts the accounts could have on families and on the US economy.
Read more: ‘Trump Accounts’ for Kids Get Another Billionaire Boost. What to Know.
Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Julia Press; Reported by Ben Steverman; Edited by Tracey Samuelson.
Fact-checking by Eleanor Harrison-Dengate; Engineering by Alex Sugiura.
Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.