Share Sounds presented by Simon Rose

Steve Caplin feels (slightly) sorry for Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson, told just after their flights that they don't qualify to be astronauts. He reflects on those changing their Tinder location to Tokyo in the hope of dating an Olympic athlete. He also discusses the e-motorbike that will follow you around, a way to get your exercise bike to tilt on imaginary hills, how to experience the Great Barrier Reef while staying at home, a Covid mask with a speaker, making fake reviews illegal, a physical stock ticker, the return of the Mini Moke and a way of arranging camping in people's gardens.

James Cameron-Wilson reports that UK box office is not only up 8.9% week on week but 1,832% year on year! Despite its potential for a great story, he was underwhelmed by M. Night Shayamalan's Old with Gael Garcia Bernal and Rufus Sewell, in at #4. Nor was he convinced by Escape Room: Tournament of Champions, #7 in the chart. He did, however, find himself on the edge of his seat in Blood Red Sky on Netflix , finding it nerve-shredding. He also reflects on the joy of finding laughter in a film that is 100 year old.

Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University discusses why the Californian Dream is dying and why that should matter to us all. He looks at Keir Starmer's purging of the far left, attempting to make Labour a more moderate party that could bring some of those who parted under Jeremy Corbyn back into the fold. And he gives his thoughts on Lord Robertson's powerful reflections on our intervention in Afghanistan.

Laith Khalaf of A J Bell looks at some of the reasons the Bank of England might be right not to concern itself unduly with inflation, with the effects of the oil price and rising rages set to work their way out of the system before long. However, with the call on inflation being so hard to make for certain, he suggests that investors should ensure their portfolios aren't unduly skewed towards a low-interest-rate environment, reckoning it important that they ensure they are balanced.

Ahead of the banks' results, Russ Mould, Investment Director of A J Bell asks if the markets are saying something is not quite right in the sector. With all banks trading below book value, are they screamingly cheap or is it the case that the underlying valuations will prove to be highly inaccurate? Investors' attitudes may depend on whether they are optimistic for the economy as a whole or fear the worst.

James Cameron-Wilson laments the 41% drop in UK box office weekend takings - and that against cinemas hit by a weekend of sport. But he has trouble recommending the new chart entries, Space Jam: A New Legacy, The Forever Purge & The Croods: A New Age. Wondering why Brits don't seek shelter from the heat in air-conditioned cinema comfort, as Americans do, he still highly recommends A Quiet Place 2 and In The Heights.

Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University asks if we are going back to the future, with users of Britain's roads paying as they go as they used to with turnpikes in the Georgian era. If so, why can't our politicians admit that's where we are headed? As United States forces leave Afghanistan, he points out that a new regional "Great Game" is looming. And, as unrest erupts in Cuba, he wonders if the regime there knows that its days are numbered.

James Cameron-Wilson on the latest UK box office where Black Widow, starring Scarlett Johansson, has not quite topped the opening weekend success of Fast & Furious 9. He feels it to be, however, one of the better Marvel films for some time. Online, he reviews fantasy adventure The Water Man, with Rosario Dawson, the only film to be directed by actor David Oyelowo. He enthuses over Pixar's latest animated feature Luca, which doesn't underestimate its audience's intelligence, finding it sad, though, that it is released not in cinemas but on Disney+.