On the face of it, the streaming giant’s quarterly results were lacklustre. But our media editor explains why its international growth looks promising, and how it is spreading its bets. A largely uncontested purge of LGBT accounts from China’s social-media platform WeChat reveals much about a growing Chinese-nationalist narrative online. And why researchers are cataloguing the microbes of big cities. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.