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In this episode, hosts Franz Buscha and Matt Dickson again find themselves at the start of a coronavirus lockdown. This time, lockdown number 3 is much closer to the first lockdown with almost everything, including schools, closed once again. Matt and Franz begin by discussing their personal situations in lockdown as well as the national situation, before looking to the positives not only of the vaccines but also to the availability of existing drugs that are able to treat people who have already contracted COVID-19. After outlining the success of the ‘Recovery' programme that has been clinically trialling drugs for COVID-19 and has already saved 650,000 lives worldwide, Franz and Matt go on to discuss the importance of randomised controlled trails in providing robust evidence of causal effects both in medical science and public policy-making. The programme ends with consideration of the other big policy area that’s dominated recent weeks: Brexit. January 1st saw the end of the transition period and a new relationship between the UK and the EU, so Franz and Matt break their long-standing Brexit embargo to talk about the ways in which life has changed already, and how things may unfold in the longer term – committing to another 10 years of Policy Matters in the process!

Happy new year, happy new lockdown. 2021 has seen off 2020, but schools and large chunks of the economy have shut down again and people have been ordered to stay at home, as across the UK the nations adopt their own version of lockdown. It’s probably been the gloomiest start to a year for as long as many can remember and a tough winter for people, businesses and the economy lies ahead. So what happened? The UK stock market jumped, of course. Contrary as this may seem, there is some logic to investors buying into the hope that better times lie ahead. We have Covid-19 vaccines being rolled out that will hopefully make this national lockdown the last people have to endure – and we also have a Brexit deal. On this week’s podcast, Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Simon Lambert look at what the fresh lockdown means for the economy and why investors are choosing to look straight through it and develop a new appetite for buying British. Are UK shares undervalued and a great opportunity for 2021 and beyond – and will a strong consumer rebound once the economy is reopened prove the catalyst the FTSE needs? The team also discuss the potential implications of the Brexit deal for people’s finances and businesses. Meanwhile, the FTSE 100’s gains may have been substantial for a week on the stock market, but they are nothing compared to bitcoin’s continuing rise. The cryptocurrency cracked $40,000 this week: what’s going on, are people making real money out of this, and is there any idea what could happen next? Also, on this week’s podcast, the team talk moving home and getting your property looking attractive for a sale and with everyone stuck at home again, how to improve your wifi.

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: The business world reacts to the insurrection at the United States Capitol Building; Bezos, Buffet, and Dimon pull the plug on health venture Haven; Teledyne Technologies and FLIR Systems team up in an $8 billion merger; Bed Bath & Beyond tumbles on earnings; Constellation Brands rises on earnings; Fintech start-up SoFi prepares to go public via a SPAC; Qualcomm’s CEO retires; Starbucks’ CFO steps down; And Roku buys the Quibi catalog. Motley Fool analysts Ron Gross and Jason Moser discuss those stories and weigh in on Burger King’s rebranding and Chipotle’s cauliflower rice. And Ron and Jason share two stocks on their radar: Beam Therapeutics and Itron. Plus, Wall Street Journal Senior Personal Technology Columnist Joanna Stern talks CES, Facebook, Twitter, and weird tech.

James Cameron-Wilson runs us through the last box office chart of 2020 before the cinemas were all closed again. With streaming service still providing plenty of new content, he looks at The Midnight Sky, starring and directed by George Clooney, at Pixar's new hotly-tipped animated feature Soul, at Kirsten Johnson's documentary Dick Johnson Is Dead and at Charlies Brooker's Death to 2020.

Political commentator Mike Indian discusses the Capitol Hill rioters and asks what can possibly be done to defend the principles of democracy in America. As the UK is locked down for the third time since the pandemic started he wonders why more hard questions are not being asked about its efficacy and whether the right people are being prioritised for vaccination. And with the UK finally out of the EU, he looks at the details of the trade deal and what Britain managed to negotiate.

Share Radio's technology editor Steve Caplin discusses some of the more interesting innovations in the tech world. There's a competition for remote-controlled cars on the moon, the idea of wooden satellites to curb space junk, Facebook finally paying for news content, Amazon's first TV, the mistakes on the H G Wells' coin, a professional Polaroid camera, anti-radiation stickers, the UK's first electric hearse, restarting pigs' brains and self-healing phone screens.

In the first of a new weekly programme on Share Radio, Russ Mould, Investment Director of A J Bell, looks at the world of investment from a UK perspective. With markets and commodities buoyant despite the worldwide pandemic, Russ asks when or whether the money supporting them will run out. He wonders whether inflation will return seriously for the first time in decades and, if so, how investors might need to rethink their porfolios. And he asks if investors should treat Bitcoin seriously.

Adam Cox is joined by leadership expert, Dan McPherson, discussing the nature of leadership in modern times. Dan discusses the attributes of effective leaders, and provides tips to improve leadership skills. He also shares the crucial lessons he learned in his own leadership journey.

Adam was working with a high profile London lawyer to help her lose weight. While she had very high standards in other areas of her life, when it came to food she would eat poor quality processed food, often in large quantities. Adam uses clinical hypnotherapy to help her unlock higher standards when it came to food and exercise and experience what it would feel like to raise those standards over a sustained period of time. This is a great episode for anyone that wants to lose weight to increase self-esteem and be more confident.

Adam Cox is joined by Christian Armstrong from rental property pioneers Get Living, to discuss how Brits’ attitudes towards renting have changed over the last few years, and why build-to-rent properties have become so popular. They look at the benefits of build-to-rent schemes and how the pandemic has changed the needs and demands of the renter market.