Podcasts

There is no doubt the pressure is on to spend a lot at this time of the year. But can you really reject the commercial and social pressure and just not buy anything. That's exactly what one blogger did. Our reporter Mary Newman spoke to Emily Hedlund to find out how and why she did this.

Sleep is absolutely fundamental, and can have a serious impact on our health and wellbeing if we don’t have enough. And yet we are one of the worst countries in Europe when it comes to sleep deprivation - in both adults and kids. Indeed 90% of us wake at least once in the night, for a tenth of us it is 5 times or more! Independent sleep practitioner, educator and analyst James Wilson aka The Sleep Geek joined Share Radio Morning’s Georgie Frost to analyse our sleep habits.

Who does the lion's share? Nearly 90% of women say they do most of the Christmas shopping, compared to just 3% of men. Sarah Pennells, founder of the site SavvyWoman.co.uk joined Share Radio Morning’s Georgie Frost on the line to talk about the findings.

Heather Barrie runs a coffee truck at Arundel Station in West Sussex and has been vocal on the strike. She spoke to Share’s Georgie Frost about the problems she’s witnessed so far for commuters and the local economy.

It’s day two of misery for Southern rail passengers. Share’s Georgie Frost was joined on the line by Summer Dean from the Association of British Commuters, one of the main protest groups against the strike.

Today Georgie Frost was joined in the studio by finance and consumer rights expert Martyn James. Today on the agenda, they discuss 11-year low of 4.8% unemployment, the Southern Rail train strikes and Britains 4G coverage on par with Albania. All these stories and more on The News Review.

Dan Hodges, Political commentator at the Mail on Sunday, joined Share Radio Breakfast to give his weekly politics round-up. He looked over the situation in Syria and gave his take on the ASLEF and RMT union strike affecting Southern rail services. Finally, we discussed the latest that the News industry is worth £5.3 billion to the economy.

The Taiwanese government had the diplomatic spotlights turned on it when Donald Trump accepted a phone call from Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen upon his ascension to President-Elect of the US - the first conversation between the two nations at this level in decades. But others were less pleased - namely the Chinese Government. Alongside other anti-China sentiments expressed by Trump, this conversation with President Ing-wen marks a new faux-pas. Share Radio's Matt Cox spoke to Dr Steve Tsang, Director of the SOAS China Institute, and expert in governance, foreign, and security policies of China and Taiwan.

Aviva's latest Real Retirement report reveals that baby-boomers are enthusiastic users of technology but pensions need to catch up. According to the report, the 45-64 year old is very confident when it comes to mobile technology where banking is concerned, but when it comes to pensions there's less confidence. So if this is a generation of tech adopters, what's the problem? Alistair McQueen, Aviva's retirement spokesperson, joined Share Radio to discuss.

The Schroder European Real Estate Investment Trust was launched a year ago. It targets growth regions in Continental Europe and aims to provide a regular and attractive level of income together with the potential for long-term income and capital growth. Tony Smedley, Investment Manager & Head of Continental Europe, joined Share Radio to discuss their latest full year results.