Podcasts

On Sunday, Italian voters will go to the polls in a referendum on whether to curb the powers of the senate. The polls suggest Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who has promised to resign in the case of a No Vote, is on course to lose. As Italy's fragile banking sector struggles to stay afloat, a change of government, which could see the populist anti-EU Five Star Movement elected, will have severe repercussions for the Italian economy and the Eurozone. Robert Van Egghen reports.

A number of companies which provide VPN's (Virtual Private Networks), or encryption services, are reporting a growth in the number of UK customers. One catalyst for this increased interest is the Investigatory Powers Bill. This will oblige internet providers to record which websites and services their user’s devices connect to. As a result, some UK based users are choosing to use tech companies which can hide their browsing habits. Matt Cox has been hearing more from tech consultant, Chris Green.

For many the thought of living forever is one of science fiction, but it was recently brought to reality with the news of a 14 year-old cancer sufferer whose dying wish was to be cryogenically frozen in the hope a cure would bring her back to life in the future. There has been plenty of debate around the emotional, financial and ethical questions of Cryonics, but where does faith come into it? To answer this, Marc is joined by Reverend Mark Woods and Rabbi Benjy Rickman

Linda meets the team at GapCap, an easy, fast and flexible cashflow solution, facilitating growth for SMEs, by providing capital to fund the gap between what companies are selling and the day the money arrives in the bank

Linda Lewis meets HEMA, a retail institution in the Netherlands that encompasses food, beauty, interiors, children's and more. All created by Dutch designers from HEMA, they have just opened their 7th store in the UK and Linda finds out why they are not put off by Brexit

This week Nick looks into the autumn statement and how it has addressed the skills gap with Verity O’Keefe, from the EEF, employee engagement with Ian McVey from Qualtrics, the depleted skills base and the need for more engineers in the civil sector with Charley Whitelock and Darren James and finally the social sector with Adele Blakebrough from the Social Business Trust.

Rita Lobo, is joined by Steve Newcomb, from the indigenous law institute to discuss the current situation at the Standing Rock reservation in North Dakota. Plans to build a pipe line through the reservation have been heavily disrupted by protesters looking to protect the sacred land of the Sioux people.

Matthew Cooks talks to Professor John Guillebaud, Professor of Family Planning and Reproductive Health at UCl, to talk about family planning and population growth, areas that could face tough times ahead under President-elect Donald Trump

Sara Macham, looks into Carers Rights Day, a day of meetings and events organised by Carers UK, to raise awareness for the 6.5 million people in the UK who look after others on a full or part time basis.

Sue is joined today by Jason Downes, CEO of Powwownow, who have changed the way business communicate with each other. Sue and Jason discuss this early aims and goals, his journey to becoming CEO of Powwownow and the music that has helped him along the way