Podcasts

James Cameron-Wilson reviews new movies Pacific Rim: Uprising and A Wrinkle in Time, commenting on the extraordinary success of Peter Rabbit, particularly in the United States. He also remarks on the continuing success of The Greatest Showman and how well films with strong female roles and involvement are currently doing.

Steve Caplin marvels at the chairless chair you wear, the latest in delivery drones, the banning of Winnie the Pooh in China, Google Lens and the squeezable metal bottle.

A nerve agent attack on an ex-Russian spy and his daughter in Salisbury has led to a retaliation by the UK government – expelling diplomats and ramping up a war of words. With Putin winning another huge election victory last week, some people are worried that we’re entering a new Cold War. Meanwhile, UK gas supplies have run low thanks to the recent winter freeze. What if Russia were to switch off our gas? Has it done it to other countries? And how would we get by? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Dave Powell, who leads on the environment for NEF, and Dustin Benton, policy director for the environmental think tank Green Alliance.

Adam Cox talks is joined by Lauretta Cundy, Director of Mad About My Business, to discuss the growing trend for companies to invest in Corporate Wellness. Lauretta discusses the issues that exist in companies of all sizes, and how a psychologist can help; as well as talking about the myths and misconceptions surrounding wellbeing in the workplace, and why investing in the mental wellbeing of staff could be a strategic competitive advantage.

Want to keep up with the latest earnings updates from the States? Well join Chris Hill and the Motley Fool Radio Show team here on Share Radio, direct from Washington DC, for news, views and analysis of the US stocks that matter. In this week's show: Chris talks with Jed Rothstein, director of the The China Hustle, about his latest documentary; and best-selling author, Daniel Levitin, shares his top tips on how to organise busy minds from his new book The Organised Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload.

“My property is my pension”. That was the popular saying when buy-to-let was all the rage and every other person you met fancied their chances as a minor property mogul. But life has got much tougher for landlords, with a series of tax grabs and tougher mortgage rules hitting. So does buy-to-let still stack up as a way to build your wealth? It certainly requires a lot of money upfront, even more now than ever before, and while the taxman will take a big chunk of your buy-to-let investment pot in stamp duty, he’ll give you money back if you invest in a pension instead. Simon Lambert, Sarah Davidson and Georgie Frost take a look at Buy-to-Let and the property market in this week’s podcast, and at how it compares to investing in your ISA or a pension. They also look at investing in property without buying it directly yourself, whether houses are too expensive now for good profits in years to come, or if there are some areas where an investment still makes sense. Also - whether interest rates will definitely rise in May, and what’s behind the tough times on the High Street. And finally - ever wondered whether you could stick a hypercar on finance? We explain how much that costs.

Facebook’s CEO finally emerges to discuss the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Nike has a blowout quarter. Dropbox soars on its first day of trading. Jason Moser, Matt Argersinger and David Kretzmann discuss these stories.

In the very first episode of our brand new programme Economist Questions, host Peter Urwin is joined by economist and author, Vicky Pryce, to talk about one of her latest books: “Why Women Need Quotas”. Despite herself having enjoyed a successful career spanning business, academia and government, women still experience discrimination in the workplace. From massive pay gaps across the professions and male-dominated senior positions in all walks of life, a lack of role models and unconscious bias are all barriers to women climbing the career ladder – and that's even before counting the professional cost of starting a family. In this interview, Vicky speaks to Peter about why she believes there is only one solution: women need quotas.

ESG investing, also known as ethical investment, is a big growth area in investing, especially in ETFs. And it doesn’t just make you feel virtuous, it can also boost your investment performance. Ed Bowsher finds out more from Veronique Menou of MSCI, and John Ditchfield from Castlefield Advisory Partners.

It’s one of the biggest contradictions in British politics. Across the country, baby boomers who own a house cheer as the value of their property rises. Meanwhile their millennial children watch on in horror, as owning their own home increasingly falls out of their reach. Politicians talk about building more homes but very few of them talk about directly reducing house prices. If house prices are too high for people to be able to buy houses, how can we bring them down? And can we do it without upsetting homeowners and crashing the economy? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Joe Beswick, who leads on housing for the New Economics Foundation, and housing campaigner Beth Stratford, a PhD researcher at the University of Leeds.