Podcasts

Since the late 1960s, UK productivity growth has been weak and poor management is seen as one of the main causes. In recent years Economists have waded into this debate, and in this episode Peter Urwin asks Prof. Richard Saundy what he thinks of recent findings. The discussion begins with a reminder of the fractious history of UK industrial relations. They then consider recent evidence on what makes a good manager and ask why there seems to be so little sharing of good managerial practice both between, and even within, organisations. Concluding with a discussion of what the ‘cure’ might look like, they consider work of the PrOPEL Hub and ESRC funded studies that aim to improve management through new approaches to training.

Adam Cox is joined by LGBTQ educator and NLP coach, Harris Eddie Hill, to discuss their journey from questioning, to changing, their identity. Harris talks about major perceptions and misconceptions faced by transgender people, the social pressures they face, and the role of mindset and beliefs in finding the courage to engender change. For more information, go to www.mxharrishill.com.

In this episode, Adam was working with a lady that would often procrastinate or jump from one task to another. Adam uses a combination of anchoring her resourceful state of 'flow', modelling the resources from someone she perceives has the approach she desires and also includes time management principles from people such as Stephen Covey, David Allen, Brian Tracy and Tony Robbins. A great episode for anyone that wants to be more productive while still having balance in their life.

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 show, Motley Fool analyst Ron Gross joins the team to answer your questions about how many stocks you should own, what makes a 401(k) stink, what to do when your spouse wants you to sell all your stocks, and much more.

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: Netflix hits an all-time high on strong subscriber growth; Bank of America, IBM, Intuitive Surgical, and Procter & Gamble slip on earnings; Intel stays flat despite surprising PC sales; Lumentum joins forces with fellow laser maker Coherent; Google grounds its balloon initiative; And Fiat Chrysler and PSA Group complete their merger and take on a new name: Stellantis. Motley Fool analysts Ron Gross and Jason Moser discuss those stories and share two stocks on their radar: McCormick and Schrodinger. Plus, Professor Erin Meyer talks about her best-selling book, No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention.

In case you hadn’t noticed, bitcoin went on bit of a tear recently. And as the price of the leading cryptocurrency soared again, so did the number of stories written about it. Bitcoin is an interesting tale, a welcome diversion in a Covid-bound world, and the circus around cryptocurrency is the gift that keeps on giving for journalists. But the vast majority of those column inches focus on two things: bitcoin’s price and should you invest? A question that’s not so much asked is what should you do if you’ve reaped handsome profits on bitcoin or another cryptocurrency? Should you cash in those gains or – to combine a couple of crypto phrases - hodl on the basis that it really could go to the moon? (Where that moon is and when it’s been reached is as yet undefined.) On this week’s podcast, we dive into the story of a This is Money reader and listener who told us about what it’s really been like to hold bitcoin long-term and how although he’s not quite got Lamborghini money, he did buy a Skoda and pay off some of his mortgage. Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Simon Lambert also look at the rival cryptocurrencies to bitcoin and Argo Blockchain, the small UK listed company that’s come from nowhere to place among investors top recent share buys. On a more pedestrian note, the team also discuss inflation-beating savings accounts and where they can be found – spoiler alert, don’t get too excited – and property guardians: would you live in an empty building for cheap rent? And finally, there are some new concocted financial terms doing the rounds – how many can Simon and Lee guess correctly?

Political commentator Mike Indian looks at what we might expect in America under President Joe Biden. Will he be able to heal the massive divisions in the USA and what is the future for both political parties in the post-Trump era? With the UK's vaccine rollout proceeding apace, he considers whether more thought should be given to the little-discussed drawbacks of lockdown. He also wonders if the UK ought to prepare for tackling any future pandemics.

Steve Caplin, Share Radio's technology editor, looks back at the early days of Wikipedia. He discusses two leaps forward in electric battery science, hopes for making night vision cameras smaller, the council that turned down £55m to find a hard drive, an app that failed to make a customised face mask and a smart bike light. He also looks at some of his favourite CES gizmos including a gamer's facemask, a vacuum that empties while charging, an ice-cream maker and a sat nav for the blind.

With UK cinemas closed, James Cameron-Wilson looks at the worldwide box office numbers so far for 2021. For review, he picks hotly-tipped Netflix documentary Athlete A, about the treatment and abuse of young female American athletes. He admires fresh crime drama I'm Your Woman, starring Rachel Brosnahan. And he is fascinated by futuristic sci-fi thriller Outside The Wire. He also celebrate the restoration of Agatha Christie's favourite cinema, The Paignton Picture House, the first purpose-built cinema in Europe.

Russ Mould, investment director of A J Bell, uses the arrival of Jette Nygaard-Andersen at the helm of Entain to examine the current state of diversity in top UK boardrooms. He wonders whether recent M&A activity could tell us anything about the current valuation of shares. And he celebrates the restoration of dividend payments from several companies and asks whether this will help to support the market.