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Inflation continues to surge, the Bank of England says there is little it can do to stall it but is raising rates any way, and at the same time is warning of a potential recession looming. It seems safe to say this isn’t the Covid recovery year that many people were hoping for: the longed-for bout of calm and optimism has turned out to be a cost of living crisis instead. So, with inflation now at 9% and set to rise further and central banks swiftly changing their tune on low interest rates, is a recession inevitable? Georgie Frost, Helen Crane and Simon Lambert take a look at what is driving inflation, whether there is anything the Bank of England can do, if it should have acted sooner and whether we can hope for a nice surprise with inflationary pressure subsiding quicker than expected. The new proposal for a four times a year energy price cap change rather than one every six months is also on the agenda, along with the sting in the tail that some say means energy firms will be much less likely to offer cheap fixes once prices start falling. But in one part of the energy market prices are falling already. The cost of gas in Britain has plummeted recently: Simon explains how that has happened and why we can’t take advantage to lower our energy bills now. And finally, Crane on the Case continues to rack up consumer victory after consumer victory. Helen fills us in on her latest cases and what readers are flocking for help on.

"We got the inventory wrong." That's basically what Target CEO Brian Cornell said about his company's latest results. Bill Mann discusses why Cornell and Walmart CEO Doug McMillon should have warned investors sooner about their latest quarterly numbers, the inventory glut major these retailers will have to work through, Lowe's benefitting from the residential home environment, and whether Target's stock is more attractive after last week's drop. Also, Tim Beyers talks with Arista Networks CEO Jayshree Ullal about how her company is diversifying its revenue stream, and one thing investors often get wrong about Arista.

You might not think of your money as a flock of sheep, but Dr. Martha Beck does. And it makes more sense than you’d imagine. A best-selling author and life coach, Beck joins Motley Fool contributor Brian Stoffel to discuss why you should ask yourself “how much is enough?”; how to align your investments with a personal mission statement; and yes, financial lessons from chimpanzees.

People's approaches towards money vary widely; issues of relative abundance and scarcity combine with motives of generosity to produce a wide array of psychological attitudes. What parents do for their children, personal sacrifices, feelings of guilt and putting the interests of others before yourself - these are all familiar themes. This episode tackles these different attitudes, and reaches into our ability to scale the impact we can make, and what legacy it could create.

Adam Cox is joined by Tim Vetters, Managing Director at SIXT UK, to discuss new research suggesting Brits are worried about the rising cost of car ownership, and how this will affect the car industry. He explains the shift away from car ownership and towards rental or subscription services, and how SIXT UK is involved in this discussion. www.sixt.co.uk

Adam Cox is joined by health and wellbeing advocate, Katie Piper, and the CPO of Unilever, Sara Alsen, to discuss new research from Blueair that shows Brits' concerns around indoor air pollution. Katie discusses why this is a topic close to her heart, whilst Sara talks through the research and why this is such an issue. www.blueair.com

Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University agrees with Andrew Neil that, around the world, democracy is on the march again. Putin's Ukraine invasion is actually helping to bring the rest of the world together and reconsider the attractions of autocratic rule. Tim wonders if the Bank of England is plagued by groupthink and, as a result, has boxed itself into a corner and could be about to crash the economy. And he ends by asking why modern culture is so dull in the UK and wonders whether the 1990s were the last golden cultural age.

Russ Mould of A J Bell talks to Simon Rose about representatives of the US Federal Reserve talking up interest rates, while big American retailers like Walmart and Target have demonstrated the problems they are already facing as inflation rises. So far they don't seem to be passing on all the price rises they face, while stock appears to be piling up. For Russ, the question now is what central banks will do and how far they can go before markets break.

James Cameron-Wilson looks at the UK box office, still dominated by the Doctor Strange film, now with £30.4m. Downtown Abbey is #2 with a £10.4m total. At #3 is Everything Everywhere All At Once with Michelle Yeoh while Steve King's Firestarter w. Zac Efron opened at #9 and, was says James, utterly unbelievable. At #16 is true story Father Stu with Mel Gibson and Mark Wahlberg, a film James found deeply unpleasant.

Share Radio's tech expert Steve Caplin tells Simon Rose about the Royal Mail's drone delivery to the Isles of Scilly, Shetlands, Orkneys and Hebrides. Mastercard have a new payment system requiring you to smile, there are teeth-cleaning nanobots on the way, underwater robots are killing jellyfish, drugs will have chocolate sprinkles to defeat counterfeiters, there's a battery that produces electricity from moisture and another from algae, the Dutch have produced a submarine party venue and Israeli scientists have mastered meat in space.