Original Broadcast: The Bigger Picture
Political commentator Mike Indian assesses the Autumn Statement now that the dust has settled. It is clear that the public finances are in a dire state, which will give an interesting economic inheritance for any Labour government. He also looks at the issue of net migration, wondering if a cap is the right thing and whether it will lead to public discontent as in other countries. He considers the state of the Covid inquiry, feeling that a more rapid assessment of how to respond to a future pandemic is also needed. And he talks about Labour's strategy for a future government, such as it is.
Guests: Mike Indian
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James Cameron-Wilson assesses Ridley Scott's Napoleon, #1 with a take of £5.2m. Despite being 158m, he felt it cantered too rapidly through 32 years of Napoleon's life, as played by Joaquin Phoenix. However, the battle scenes are amazing, if gory, and he loved Martin Phipps's score. Shame about the longueurs. Disney's new U-certificate animation, Wish, is #3 with only £2.4m but such things are often slow starts and around for a long time. James also discussed true story Nyad, on Netflix, about a retired 60-year-old marathon swimmer who undertakes a crazy challenge. Sadly, despite Annette Bening, he found it uninspiring and unbelievable while the script was more DIRE-log than dialogue.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
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Original Broadcast: Gadgets and Gizmos
Steve Caplin delves into the world of tech. Sitting in traffic really does raise your blood pressure, it transpires. A wearable stethosope is being developed, as is a pill that can track your vital signs. Curtains could prove the answer to stopping superbugs being transmitted in hospitals. DAB is being phased out in favour of DAB+ and users need to be careful about buying second-hand radios. Kodak are producing a bizarre camera using Super 8 film. The Swiss have developed a machine for creating giant stone walls. Deliveroo are to add electronics then Screwfix and Boots to the things they'll bring. And the first disabled astronaut may be grounded beause his prosthetic leg could poison the air on the International Space Station.
Guests: Steve Caplin
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Original Broadcast: The Bigger Picture
Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University thnks that the Autumn Statement is one of the final suicide notes of this administration. Examining the small print reveals the biggest drop in living standards since records began in the 1950s and the big picture is bleak. He even wonders whether the Conservatives may soon no longer be seen as the natural party of government. He is fascinated by the success of anarcho-capitalist Javier Milei in Argentina and wonders how many of his ideas he will be able to enact. And he looks ahead to the next election, He feels that, if there's a hung parliament, the LibDems may yet get proportional representation which could hugely benefit Nigel Farage.
Guests: Professor Tim Evans
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Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson found Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes confusing and poorly made, though the new #1 helped box office rise 54% with a £5.4m take. Nor was he as enthusiastic as many critics about Saltburn, Emerald Fennell's darkly comic tale of aristocratic mayhem, though he did like Rosamund Pike's and Richard E Grant's performances, as well as the score. However, he loved the new NT Live screening of David Hare's play Skylight with Carey Mulligan and Bill Nighy, which he found insightful, funny and profound. On Netflix, he recommends David Fincher's procedural The Killer with Michael Fassbinder, which is beautifully filmed and very clever.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
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Original Broadcast: Gadgets and Gizmos
Steve Caplin takes Simon Rose through the drama of OpenAI's Sam Altman being sacked and then reinstated. Microsoft have an animated avatar that may make deepfakes even easier. Shipworms, which eat wooden boats, could be cultivated to be a fish substitute as a solution to overfishing. The Slow Ways walking app should benefits walkers everywhere, rural and urban. Logitech have produced an impressive articulating webcam. And, because they can, the US Marine Corps have created a robot dog with an anti-tank rocket launcher.
Guests: Steve Caplin
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Original Broadcast: The Financial Outlook for Personal Investors
Russ Mould of A J Bell says investors shouldn't get too excited by things like the Autumn Statement given that the government may change in less than a year, that if it was easy to pull a lever and energise the economy it would have been done by now and that the government and the Bank of England seem to be pulling in different directions. With changes imminent, he looks at the FTSE 100-Share Index. Who's in or out really doesn't make that much differnce and is far less important in the long-run than the fundamentals. Only 26 companies have survived over the index's 40-year history.
Guests: Russ Mould
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Original Broadcast: The Financial Outlook for Personal Investors
Neil Shah of Edison Group says that the UK market continues to look cheap, noting that bid activity is picking up. He hopes that the Autumn Statement from the Chancellor will contain something like changes in the ISA rules to encourage greater investment in UK equities. He also looks at the way in which the transformation set in train at Marks & Spencer 4 or 5 years ago to create a more nimble business is now bearing fruit. He feels there's still some way to go.
Guests: Neil Shah
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Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson laments another weak week at the UK box office where The Marvels took only £3.5m, the lowest per screen average of all 33 films in the Marvel universe. He found it a total mess with annoying tonal shifts and no emotional traction. He admired the filmmaking in Cannes' Palme D'Or winner Anatomy of a Fall, which took £413,000 at #5 but, while critics love it, he felt at over two and a half hours, it was overlong for what is a fairly ordinary court case drama. He was much more enthusiastic about Dream Scenario in which Nicolas Cage is a dull man who suddenly starts cropping up in other people's dreams. It is a witty, darkly comic fantasy that is Cage's best film in some 20 years.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
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Original Broadcast: Gadgets and Gizmos
Steve Caplin talks Simon Rose through the latest tech. A white dwarf predicted to hit the earth now apparently won't. Google's new weather prediction computer can massively improve the accuracy of forecasts. A crane has been designed to shin up wind turbines to repair them. A record-breaking supercar has set a new one – for driving backward. Japanese scientists have produced a plastic that not only self heals but turns into fish food. There's a new way of reading drums for sound checks. A crowdfunded multitool even has an adjustable spanner. And North American scientists have come up with an app that can tell if somebody is drunk or not.
Guests: Steve Caplin
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