Podcasts

Dave Birss works in the corporate world, helping companies find new ways of coming up with ideas – and following them through. He's worked as a musician, a poet, and as a presenter; as well as for some of London's biggest marketing and advertising agencies. He's billed as an expert in creativity, and also writes. Sue Dougan finds out more in the latest episode of Track Record.

Britain takes a uniquely restrictive approach to occupational licensing. Around one in five UK employees requires a licence from government to practice their chosen occupation – a proportion which has doubled in the last fifteen years. Len Shackleton, IEA editorial fellow and author of a recent report into occupational licensing, sat down with us this week to discuss the current situation. He examines whether the government’s approach is necessary or desirable – particularly in a world of technological change, with algorithms, robotics and artificial intelligence increasingly able to perform some of the functions of the established professions.

Adam talks to Mastanee Ati of Success Resources, the world’s largest organiser of personal development seminars, about the unconventional way that people are learning business, finance and even sales skills. Mastanee has worked with high profile speakers including Tony Robbins, Robert Kiyosaki and Les Brown hosting events with up to 10,000 attendees.

Steve Caplin takes a look at a dog-walking service described as Uber for dogs, facial recognition sunglasses for the police, Land Rover's phone, the culture secretary's social network and an Internet of Things burglar deterrent called Kevin.

Brexit dominates the news agenda. But with all the talk of the single market, impact assessments and trade deals, it sometimes feels as if this debate is only happening in the comment pages of newspapers, or the corridors of Westminster. What happened to the people? The Weekly Economics Podcast is back with a special episode: a discussion we recorded live in London at the end of 2017, between political theorist Maurice Glasman, activist Ruth Ibegbuna, and the academic Rob Ford. The question journalist Mary Riddell put to them was: where are the people in the Brexit debate?

Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University asks whether the US economy is becoming dangerously unstable with spending increasing even as the economy booms. He also reflects upon a survey showing that the UK public appears not to care who runs hospitals as long as they are more efficient. Lastly, he considers Momentum dropping its pledge of non-violence and the MP the Czech secret police called Agent Cob.

Ahead of the BAFTA awards and with the Oscars not far away, James Cameron-Wilson looks at the UK cinema box office, reviewing the new No. 1, Fifty Shades Freed, the third in the S&M trilogy, as well as The Mercy with Colin Firth and Rachel Weisz and Russian Oscar hopeful Loveless.

Helal Miah of The Share Centre looks at recent numbers from TUI, Galliford Try, Convatec and Coca Cola HSC and looks ahead to the banking reporting season, as well as BAE Systems and BHP Billiton.

In this episode of Inside Business, Matthew Cook gets to grips with some of the biggest corporate scandals of the past few decades. He is joined by BBC Business reporter, Howard Mustoe, to discuss Enron, the Bank of Credit Commerce International, and more.

How would you define an ethical landlord or investor? Richard Blanco speaks to Susan Aktemel, founder of Glasgow based Homes For Good, Landlord Mary Ann Richmond-Coggan who created Green Farm Kent and Ed Fowkes, Development Director of Prosperity Capital Partners to find out what motivates them and how their practice stands out. We hear about how their businesses are structured, who benefits and what could be done to encourage more landlords and investors to nurture their social conscience. Inside Property is produced in collaboration with the National Landlords Association.