# Centre punch: Germany’s state-election shocker Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/economist-podcasts-921330/centre-punch-germany-s-state-election-shocker Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/economist-podcasts-921330/centre-punch-germany-s-state-election-shocker.md Podcast: [Economist Podcasts](https://stenobird.com/podcast/economist-podcasts-921330) Published: 2026-09-21T10:28:04+00:00 Episode link: https://shows.acast.com/theintelligencepodcast/episodes/centre-punch-germanys-state-election-shocker Audio file: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/d556eb54-6160-4c85-95f4-47d9f5216c49/a/theeconomistallaudio/e/6ab0f8597aa361c6128028b9/media.mp3?tk=eyJ0ayI6ImRlZmF1bHQiLCJhZHMiOnRydWUsInNwb25zIjp0cnVlLCJzdGF0dXMiOiJwdWJsaWMifQ==&sig=VTwDH1O3ZFcqbo38sb7bXlfPPbXzEff4DNNRw49R2xs Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/economist-podcasts-921330/episodes/centre-punch-germany-s-state-election-shocker Duration seconds: 1266 ## Resource Two more state-election results reveal surging support for both the far-right AfD and the populist-left Die Linke parties. Chancellor Friedrich Merz himself described the outcome as a disaster ; what will it mean for him? Our correspondent looks into why there is so much enthusiasm for African stocks. And what the science says about blue-light exposure and sleep .  Guests and host: Tom Nuttall, Berlin bureau chief Ọrẹ Ogunbiyi, Africa correspondent Sam Wikeley, science correspondent Rosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence” Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence” Topics covered:  German politics, Friedrich Merz, AfD, Die Linke African stockmarkets, Aliko Dangote sleep science, blue light Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology— subscribe to The Economist . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/economist-podcasts-921330/episodes/centre-punch-germany-s-state-election-shocker/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/economist-podcasts-921330/centre-punch-germany-s-state-election-shocker.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.