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Google’s Bard just got an upgrade, can it catch up to OpenAI’s ChatGPT? Ron Gross and Andy Cross discuss new jobs report numbers, Alphabet’s latest AI move bringing Gemini into Bard, and GameStop’s curious corporate investing plan update, and Chewy’s status as the #1 pet pharmacy in the U.S., Lululemon’s business-as-usual quarter, and Smuckers showing it has pricing power in peanut butter. Then, 19 minutes in, journalist and author Bethany McLean’s talks with Deidre Woollard about her latest book “The Big Fail” and takes a look at the past three years, how we responded to COVID, and the lasting effects on households, businesses, and the economy. Finally, 33 minutes in, Ron and Andy break down two stocks on their radar: Target and MongoDB. Stocks discussed: GOOG, GOOGL, GME, DOCU, CHWY, LULU, SJM, MDB, TGT. Host - Dylan Lewis; Guests - Andy Cross, Ron Gross, Bethany McLean, Deidre Woollard

Matt Frankel and Jason Moser, our resident Fintech Fools, caught up to talk about the payments space, how it's changed this year, and what they’re keeping an eye on come 2024. They discuss the state of the “War on Cash”, embedded finance, and two “toll booths” that aren’t going away anytime soon. Tickers discussed: V, MC, PYPL, SQ, PINS, MQ, FOUR, MELI, UBER, DASH. Hosts - Jason Moser, Matt Frankel

We love the idea of transforming our homes so much that an entire cottage TV industry has sprung out of it, ranging from Grand Designs, to Ugly House to Lovely House and Your Home Made Perfect. For Jaemi and Roly Glancy sketching out how they could renovate their properties turned into a start-up helping others envisage what they could do with theirs. Simon Lambert of This is Money speaks to Roly about how they started the business and where it's going.

Adam Cox is in conversation with Anish Mehta of APARI to explore the prolonged journey of the tax world into the digital era. Together, they delve into the ways software can ease the burden on individuals during the tax return season. The discussion addresses the reasons behind the procrastination of many in completing their tax returns and identifies the specific individuals who must closely heed the forthcoming changes in tax rules. https://www.apari-digital.com/

Many parents are challenged by the decision on whether to have another child: it might be age or health considerations which generate doubt, or perhaps complications with an earlier pregnancy. This episode helps by test driving different futures and developing some clarity in thinking through the potential outcomes, thereby helping to resolve what can become analysis paralysis generated by anxiety and fear of the unknown.

Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University looks at some of the problems of regulation and setting standards in the light of the suicide of headmistress Ruth Perry in the wake of an Ofsted inspection. He feels that Keir Starmer has vectored rhetorically and atmospherically to the right of the Conservatives and that Jacob Rees-Mogg's teasing smacks of desperation and the end of a long chess game. And he feels that Wes Streeting should consider Singapore's health system, which could be the answer for the future of the NHS, although it would involve a heck of a battle with vested interests.

James Cameron-Wilson takes Simon Rose through the box office chart, with takings down 25% WoW but up 43% YoY. With nothing new in the chart, still led by Napoleon, he sought out Todd Haynes's Oscar contender May December, starring Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore. About celebrity, James was enthralled, without ever feeling it quite ignited. He was more enthusiastic about Rebecca Miller's She Came To Me on Sky Cinema. With Peter Dinklage, Anne Hathaway and Marisa Tomei, it's about an opera composer with writer's block and is a refreshing, insightful and very funny farce. Best of all, though was Korean-American film Past Lives from Celine Song, about two childhood friends reconnecting after twenty years.

Steve Caplin takes Simon Rose through a cornucopia of techie Christmas gift ideas. Among his favourites are the crowdfunded Linka Lasso bike lock and the Hover X1 self-flying camera. There's an app to help with the office Secret Santa and a distillery to brew your own booze. You can get a magnetic wrapping tripod, a great phone case with a built-in stand, teflon mats for flaky BBQ food, an underseat suitcase for flights, magnetic bookmarks, a folding charger plug and even an electrified Land Rover Defender to use as a shore tender with your superyacht.

Russ Mould of A J Bell has been crunching dividend numbers for the FTSE 100 index. Dividend forecasts for this year and next have fallen 10% over the past year and the jump in interest rates means that there is now more competition for investors' money. However, the market is expecting rate cuts and investors should remember that while fixed income is just that – fixed – companies can grow their dividends over time, with share prices adjusting as the dividends rise. Including extras such as buybacks (closed to private investors), the FTSE yields 6.9% and dividend cover is a decent 2.2 times. And while the market still seems undervalued, takeovers of UK companies (often smaller ones) by foreign buyers continue apace.

Oxford University Professor Ben Ansell is delivering this year's Reith Lectures on the future of democracy: whether it's in retreat across the world, whether citizens of wealthy countries have embraced a false sense of security, how to build a sense of solidarity in polarised societies, and how to enable continued economic growth without wrecking the environment in the process. But will he tackle the question of how democracy can — and should — evolve from national to global governance? And will he address the need for participation in individual ownership and the accompanying enhanced sense of responsibility, combined with the need for the young to be empowered through inter-generational rebalancing? The next three lectures will tell. Background music: 'Resolution' by Wayne Jones, Image source: BBC