Original Broadcast: The Bigger Picture
Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University looks at some of the more unusual aspects of the UK General Election, now five weeks away. He also looks at the life of former Soviet dissident Vladimir Bukovsky and his role in the demise of the USSR and considers what lessons we might usefully learn from the two currency collapses suffered by Germany in the past century.
Guests: Professor Tim Evans
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Original Broadcast: The Week That Was and The Week Ahead
Ian Forrest of The Share Centre looks at IAG's takeover of Air Europa, Mothercare putting its UK business into administration and news from Marks & Spencer, Imperial Brands and Rolls Royce. He also looks ahead to expected figures from Taylor Wimpey, Wincanton and British Land.
Guests: Ian Forrest
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James Cameron-Wilson on the UK box office chart, where Joker reigns supreme for a fifth week, the first film to do so since Avatar a decade ago. Stephen King's Doctor Sleep can only make #4 while Ken Loach's Sorry We Missed You enters at #9. For home release, James recommends British drama The Souvenir.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
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Steve Caplin laments the arrival of AI job interviewers at Unilever, while an Estonian company is using AI for workers after a pay rise. You could get £100,000 to be the face of a series of humanoid robots, get a camera drone to direct part of your movie, play an app game in real-world streets, trim your hedges and garden with a new device, get an ebike with facial recognition unlocking or order the tallest and widest business jet ever.
Guests: Steve Caplin
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Original Broadcast: The Bigger Picture
Political commentator Mike Indian looks at how the general election he predicted at the beginning of the year finally came about, at some of the MPs who are standing down (and some who aren't) and at the departure of John Bercow as Speaker. He discusses the suspension of Keith Vaz, the most severe ever that will have no effect thanks to the election. And he looks at which might happen when the country goes to the polls.
Guests: Mike Indian
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Steve Caplin hails the arrival of driverless cars on the streets of London, narrower, windier, busier and wetter than the US. Also, how an artificial leaf can make synthetic gas, a car powered by cow dung, the first selfies in space, an ecologically-sound lunchbox, a wallet-sized fork and spoon and how driverless taxis might make the streets of our cities even busier.
Guests: Steve Caplin
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James Cameron-Wilson looks at the UK box office where Joker remains in top slot for an amazing fourth week, pushing Terminator: Dark Fate (6th in the series) to #2 slot. Animated The Addams Family enters at #4 with horror pic Countdown at #8. James's pick for home viewing is the documentary Apollo 11, using archival footage and no commentary.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
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Original Broadcast: The Week That Was and The Week Ahead
Helal Miah of The Share Centre looks at recent news from banks HSBC and Lloyds neither yet out of the woods, oil giants BP and Shell in the wake of lower oil prices as well as Glaxo and BT. Looking ahead, he highlights forthcoming results from Morrison's, Sainsbury's and Marks and Spencer.
Guests: Helal Miah
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Original Broadcast: The Bigger Picture
Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University discusses the IMF's dire warnings on the state of the world economy, the eight mistakes made by Britain's Brexit negotiators and the way in which the UK's political turmoil is leading to an upsurge in applications to study politics at university.
Guests: Professor Tim Evans
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Original Broadcast: The Bigger Picture
Helal Miah of The Share Centre looks at recent company news involving Just Eat, Reckitt Benckiser, AstraZeneca and Royal Bank of Scotland. And he looks ahead to what we might expect from HSBC, Lloyds Bank, Standard Chartered, BP, Next and Glaxo.
Guests: Helal Miah
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