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Steve Caplin reveals some of the IgNobel prizewinners for the daftest scientific studies. Also the new Playstation and an upgrade to Oculus Quest, robot shelf stackers in Japan, economically-sound pellet guns, Amazon's patent for a burglar deterrent, Wikipedia's positive effect on tourism (except in the Netherlands) and why a second-hand TV has been causing havoc to broadband in a Welsh village.

Adam Cox is joined by mindset mentor, Malina Bien, who discusses how to become more confident – as well as the relationship between confidence and self-esteem. Malina shares some tips to immediately boost your confidence, and explains why the difference between confidence and arrogance.

Hosts Franz Buscha and Matt Dickson talk to Nadine Smith, Director of the Centre for Public Impact. Prior to her current role, Nadine was a civil servant at the Cabinet Office for many years, working at the centre of UK government at the intersection of policy, politics and communications. Franz and Matt begin by asking Nadine about the mission of the Centre for Public Impact and how they look to influence policymakers and improve government. The conversation considers the problems that arise when public service provision is marketized and driven by performance targets and league tables, and how many systems might be redesigned to be more responsive to the needs of citizens. Nadine, Franz and Matt then go on to discuss the possibilities for greater citizen involvement in decision-making – and the ways in which we could potentially introduce more deliberative democracy in the UK.

In this episode, Adam creates a hypnosis session designed to help someone with a bereavement or loss of a loved one. It uses elements of imagination to resolve unfinished business or loose ends and to say the words that couldn't or weren't said when the person was alive. This session uses an innovative metaphor for the pain and sorrow of loss, to reduce the impact and to introduce more positive and resourceful emotional states.

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. In this week's episode, the team is joined by Dr. Rakesh Kochhar from the Pew Research Center to help us understand how the unemployment rate is calculated, how to dig into the numbers of the monthly Jobs Report, and the impact of COVID-19 on workers in the US.

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: Snowflake dazzles with the biggest software IPO ever; Adobe reports record revenue; Lennar Corp raises the roof with big earnings; Nvidia makes a $40 billion buy; Telehealth company AmWell makes its debut on Wall Street; FedEx hits a new all-time high; Dave & Buster’s declines on bankruptcy concerns; And the nation prepares for a Peeps-free Halloween. Motley Fool analysts Andy Cross and Jason Moser discuss those stories and share a couple of stocks on their radar: Nike and Freshpet. Plus, award-winning personal finance expert Laura Adams offers helpful tips for anyone starting a business and shares other insights from her new book, Money-Smart Solopreneur: A Personal Finance System for Freelancers, Entrepreneurs, and Side-Hustlers.

Britain is in the grip of a mysterious property mini-boom. Talk of a property market more buoyant than it’s been in years, of viewings and offers flooding in and family homes in hot demand, doesn’t seem to just be the usual estate agent puff. Evidence from mortgage reports, surveyors and data on estate agent activity, appears to bear this out. The stamp duty holiday and lockdown itchy feet have combine to make parts of the market a sellers’ one, so as a buyer what can you do to get a decent offer accepted and avoid overpaying? On this week’s podcast, Simon Lambert, Georgie Frost and Lee Boyce talk buying homes. They discuss what’s going on, whether all parts of the market are flying (not quite), why some homes go to above asking price offers but others linger, and how as a buyer you can get a good deal, while as a seller you can also try to go under offer swiftly at a decent price. Also, on this week’s show, the team discuss the rise of the lockdown trader and why more people – and younger ones at that – are buying shares. They look at inflation and how many savings account beat it. And finally, why has the Royal Mint said it probably won’t need to make anymore 2p pieces or £2 coins for a very long time?

For women (59%), the resounding role of wealth is being able to provide comfort and security for themselves and their family. But many women neglect to plan and invest sufficiently to provide for their retirement; currently women lose nearly £1million over the course of their lives through a lack of investing. COVID-19 has dramatically impacted financial security, changed the ways in which we work, and the way we think about life, the future, and retirement. As the age of retirement keeps rising and we find ourselves in uncertain times, we should all be thinking about how we want to spend our lives and be armed with the knowledge needed to make the right financial choices to fuel the future we want. In this episode, Tamara Gillan is joined by Wealth Director of Brewin Dolphin, Carla Morris, to share her knowledge and expertise on pensions and female prosperity – both now, and in the future.

Graham Spooner of The Share Centre looks at recent numbers from Ocado, which has just begun its tie-up with Marks & Spencer, replacing its longstanding relationship with Waitrose. He also looks at the arrival on the stock market of the multi-billion e-commerce company The Hut Group. Looking ahead, he considers what we might expect from water companies United Utilities and Pennon, as well as retailer Kingfisher and conglomerate Smiths Group.

Tim Price of Price Value Partners looks at the psychology of money and investment as discussed in The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel. With reference to Benjamin Graham and Warren Buffett, he discusses why patience, time and compounding are the investor's friend. He gives his opinion on the current irrational state of markets, particularly those linked to tech companies from the viewpoint of a patient, value investor concerned with absolute rather than relative returns. And he explains why he so often invokes the films of John Carpenter when discussing modern markets.