Podcasts

Virtual reality has become a major new technology capable of transporting people to fantastical landscapes in a game or film set. Increasingly though it is also being used as a tool by journalists, teachers, healthcare workers and retailers to help understand the world around us. Ben Smith is CEO of Laduma, a virtual reality company, and he spoke to Georgie Frost to explain more.

Time is money, and so diners are calling for restaurants to speed up not only in service but also when it comes to payments. New technology holds the key to keeping up with customers' needs for speed, as diners call for bill-splitting apps and ways to make paying quicker and easier. Our reporter Tom Hill spoke to Sharon Manikon from Barclaycard to find out more.

Are you intimidated by a garage, so much so that that you have been put off by taking your car in one? If the answer is yes, don't panic, you're not alone. Top of the list is the fear of not being able to explain what's wrong with the car in the first place. Other reasons include wanting to avoid a potential dispute with the garage. To find out more, Georgie spoke to model and TV presenter Jodie Kidd.

Every week the UK Money Blogger community have a twitter chat to allow all the bloggers - about 100 in total - to share their experiences, tips and questions. This week it's family budgets and blogger Miss Thrifty spoke to Georgie Frost to tell us more.

Georgie Frost is joined in the studio by Russell Qiurk, CEO of eMoov estate agents. Today they discuss the big story of the day, Bank of England governor Mark Carney is to extend his term by one year to help secure a profitable exit from Europe. Elsewhere, it's bad news for consumers as credit card debt grows at fastest rate since the financial crash. But the silver lining is that the number of mortgages approved for home buyers has surpassed economists' expectations and reached a three-month high. All these stories and more on The News Review.

2016 has been a strange year for IPOs. Political and economic uncertainty worldwide has caused some companies including Misys to cancel their initial public offerings, while others, like GoCompare and FreeAgent, are bucking the trend and listing on the stock exchange. So why is the climate good for some and not so for others? Matt Cox has been speaking with Jasper Lawler, Market Analyst at CMC Markets, to find out.

What is Open Data, why is it important and what will happen to this ideology in Post-Brexit Britain? These are the big issues being discussed at the Open Data Institute's Annual Summit. And Share Radio’s Matt Cox has been speaking to the institute's policy associate, Peter Wells.

Gadgets and Gizmos with Share Radio's technology editor Steve Caplin.

Crowdfunders is our weekly look at what's hot and what's not in the crowdfunding and peer-to-peer space, examining the latest news and developments in the fast growing world of alternative finance. Your host is Ed Bowsher, and on today's show he'll be investigating the drop in crowdfunding platform earnings, OFF3R's expansion into property and lending, and why Growthdeck would rather be known as a 'personal equity platform'. Want more insight into alternative finance? Find past episodes at the Crowdfunders audioBoom page: https://audioboom.com/channel/shareradio-crowdfunders Enjoyed Crowdfunders? You should try the Investment Trust Show, Share Radio’s examination of the world of investment trusts: https://audioboom.com/channel/shareradio-investmenttrustshow

It's hard to disagree with ethical investment in principle. Where things get tricky is trying to figure out its practical viability as well as whether an ethical approach can deliver decent returns. Thank goodness, then, that this week is Good Money Week. This annual campaign aims to raise awareness of sustainable and ethical investment. Share Radio's Ed Bowsher was joined in the studio by John Ditchfield, a Financial Adviser at Castlefield Investments, Simon Howard, Chief Executive of the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association, and Whitni Thomas, Senior Investor Relations Manager of Triodos. They gave Ed the lowdown on what Good Money Week is all about.