Podcasts

In the midst of the second COVID-related national lockdown for England, this episode of Policy Matters sees hosts Franz Buscha and Matt Dickson revisit some of the questions that were being asked in the first episode recorded under lockdown restrictions back in April. They start with some personal reflections on what life has been like juggling working-from-home and home-schooling over the months since the pandemic began, and thinking about the impact that the disruptions to education will have on school-aged children and inequality. Franz and Matt then discuss some of the academic research related to the pandemic; highlighting in particular the unintended consequences of policies like the “Eat out to help out” scheme, and considering the different ways in which the pandemic has affected the self-employed. The programme ends with a look ahead at some of the longer-term effects this experience might have on birth-rates and the implications these may have, and also considers what positive policy lessons could be taken forward and acted upon in the future.

In this episode, Adam shares a group hypnosis session that took place in front of an audience during his talk called Hypnotic Wealth. This uses a metaphor of a time machine to enable you to explore what you'd do to become wealthy if you have a time machine and what your financial future looks like at different levels of wealth including security, comfort, luxury and freedom. A great hypnosis session if you'd like to change how you think about wealth and money to be more financially successful.

Adam Cox is joined by the Managing Director of ABM UK, Adam Baker, to discuss how during the COVID-19 pandemic seeing is believing when it comes to cleaning. They consider the public’s attitude towards visible cleaning in public spaces to create a sense of safety and to gain back the public’s confidence in visiting businesses, and how the pandemic has created a greater demand for the facility services industry.

Adam Cox is joined by Angus Knights, Partnership Manager from Parcellab, to discuss the implications that come from retailers and businesses ignoring customers once they have made their purchases. They delve into the impact this will have on both the public and retailers, and how important customer service is in order to ensure a good relationship is maintained between the two once the customer has clicked “check out”.

Adam Cox is joined by masculinity coach, Vasileios Tsitsivos, who discusses the many issues faced by modern men. Vas explains that a lack of role models in childhood can have a devastating effect on men, and that many are playing a role of masculinity that doesn't reflect their true values. Vas shares his thoughts on toxic masculinity and offers some tips to men of all ages in areas such as relationships and fatherhood.

Saving, spending, planning — you've got money questions and we've got answers. Every week host Alison Southwick and personal finance expert Robert Brokamp challenge the conventional wisdom on life's biggest financial issues to reveal what you really need to know to make smart money moves. It’s the second part of our series with the help of the folks over at Industry Focus. This week, Dylan Lewis joins the team to talk about how the tech sector did in 2020 and what to watch in 2021.

'Be greedy when others are fearful.' Warren Buffett's investment adage was tested this year when the coronavirus crash hit and sent stock markets tumbling in late February and early March. But as nations went into lockdown, economies nosedived and draconian measures surpassing most seen in living memory were introduced, it was hard for most investors to get up too much of an appetite, however many times they may have heard that line. There seemed to be no way that markets would recover for some time and the most likely course was down. Then the rebound came, but still it all looked to good to be true - as if it was just fools and their money being parted in a FOMO rally. Except, it turned out to have legs. The world's dominant stock market, the US, has been on a tear since late March and many other countries have bounced back too. So, has the opportunity to go bargain hunting passed? Could our own humble stock market be one of the last places left where you can do it? Are we missing a trick and ignoring the fact the world has changed and there is no point talking about cheap value investments, just get on the tech train? On this week's podcast, Georgie Frost and Simon Lambert discuss investing bargains: what that means and whether there are any left? Also, while the stock market has been on the rise, the economy has been taking another lockdown beating. Chancellor Rishi Sunak updated us this week on the state of the UK economy, so how bad was the news? Also this week, NS&I and Marcus cut rates, so what can savers do now, and finally, is triple glazing worth splashing out on?

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: It’s our Thanksgiving Special! Host Chris Hill and Motley Fool analysts Ron Gross and Jason Moser explain why they’re thankful for Cerence, Nike, and PayPal. We discuss why investors might want to avoid stock market turkeys Blue Apron, Macy’s, and Slack. And since no Thanksgiving is complete without dessert, we dig into a few slices of humble pie and talk Zillow and EPR Properties. Our analysts explain why they don’t want to talk about Robinhood, stock splits, or “Stay at home” stocks at the Thanksgiving table. Plus, we revisit our conversation with Collaborative Fund’s Morgan Housel, author of the best-selling book, The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness.

Political commentator Mike Indian looks at the politics behind the end of the second lockdown and the transition into a revised tier system, with its Christmas exemption. He delves into Rishi Sunak's Spending Review and the accompanying OBR figures, lamenting the lack of imagination in the directions the money spigot is spraying. And he looks across the Atlantic, where Donald Trump has finally given way and authorised the transition towards President Biden.

With Welsh cinemas open again, as well as some in Scotland, James Cameron-Wilson looks at the latest dismal box office chart for the UK. He reviews the Russell Crowe thriller Unhinged, now out on DVD and Blu-Ray, having missed some of the film in the cinema through the unexpected absence of advertisements. He also looks at the Oscar-tipped Netflix premiere of Hillbilly Elegy, starring Glenn Close and Amy Adams and directed by Ron Howard, as well as black comedy Arkansas, starring Liam Hemsworth.