Podcasts

Welcome to the This is Money and Share Radio podcast, brought to you in partnership with NS&I. It’s the last episode of the year and we’re looking back on the biggest financial stories we’ve seen in 2016- the year of the unexpected. In June in a poll defying result Britain voted by 52% to leave the EU. Since then Brexit has been a nearly constant presence in the headlines being blamed for everything from disappearing marmite to an abandoned sequel to the Mrs Brown’s Boys film. The surprises didn’t stop with Brexit though. Across the pond billionaire TV personality Donald Trump beat the odds to win the US Presidential Election. Looking back on the year Georgie Frost is joined by Editor Simon Lambert and Consumer Affairs Editor Lee Boyce. Also on the agenda they look at the ongoing woes of Britain’s housing market, the never ending story of the new plastic fiver and the third big surprise of 2016, Leicester City winning the Premier League.

Georgie Frost is joined in the studio by Retail expert Vix Leyton. Today on the agenda, they discuss our shopping habits despite a turbulent economic year, fire-prone tumble dryers and give a reasonable excuse for late tax returns you may avoid a fine. All these stories and more on The News Review.

Tim Evans, professor of Business and Political Economy at Middlesex University joins Simon for a look back at 2016

On the Travel Guide we like to take a look at some of the most popular holiday destinations- and speak to a local to get the insider's gen. This week, Olivia Demetriades spoke to Winston Wong, a guide from Tours By Locals in Vancouver and started by asking what he'd do if he was in the city for a day.

Adventure travel is booming- with many people choosing to take active holidays over beach breaks. To find out more about the rise in adventure travel Simon and Sarah were joined by Simon Grove- head of product at Explore- a company that runs small group adventure holidays.

This week on The Share Radio Travel Guide Simon Rose was joined travel journalist and author Sarah Tucker. They look at plans to revamp London's Stansted Airport, where people are planning to go this Christmas break. adventure and an insider's guide to Vancouver

Confidence in the UK's economic situation continued to dwindle in the face of uncertainty, but overall it remained resilient at the end of the year. This is according to the latest GfK barometer, which found that consumer confidence did not deteriorate further following November's sharp drop, instead managing to move up one point to -7. However, it seems we are more concerned about the economic outlook next year, with expectations for 2017 at their weakest since June's Brexit vote. As always when we discuss consumer confidence, Simon was joined live in the studio by Joe Staton, head of market dynamics, at GfK.

To finish off in what turned out to be a remarkable year, no year in review in the conventional sense, and no bog-standard, bank-type economic outlook 2017. Rather, and in keeping with the time of year, here is a list of nine economic lessons (but no carols) that we learned. ‘Learn’ may be a bit strong in many cases, so perhaps ‘became more aware’, instead.

As Christmas approaches many families will be spending several days in each other’s company. Now this could mean peace love and harmony, but in reality will probably mean a few rows. Roman Tagoe, head of content at music site Deezer rather optimistically thinks one way to soothe family feuds around the Christmas table is via music especially festive classics, as he told Share's Melanie Wray.

Georgie Frost hears why one Muslim-owned restaurant, Shish in Sidcup is promising to give elderly and homeless people a free three-course dinner on Christmas Day so ‘no one eats alone’. The man who came up with the idea is manager Irfan Genc and spoke to Georgie on the line.