Original Broadcast: The Bigger Picture
Political commentator Mike Indian looks at the political lie of the land after Rishi Sunak's first 100 days as Prime Minister. While believing he did the right thing when it came to Nadhim Zahawi, Mike feels that the Prime Minister needs to show more ruthlessness when it comes to his own party. As for the country as a whole, the current batch of strikes simply feed into the picture that nothing in Britain is working as it should.
Guests: Mike Indian
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Original Broadcast: The Bigger Picture
Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University wonders where and what are the benefits of Brexit, three years after the UK left the European Union. He looks at a fascinating set of numbers analysing housing trends over the past two hundred years. And, 100 years since the founding of the BBC, he explains why he admires the BBC, despite – or because of – its ability to irritate all sides equally at once.
Guests: Professor Tim Evans
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Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson canters through a b.o. down 33%. #2 is comic thriller M3GAN about a robotic doll which James thought funny and thought-provoking. Babylon, fun but way too long is doing poorly at #3 while Empire of Light, with Sam Mendes directing his own script is #7, depsite Olivia Coleman, Colin Firth and Toby Jones. James loved it, being in seventh heaven, as he was with Tár at #8 with Cate Blanchett playing a leading conductor. James found it mind-blowingly eloquent and that it made him "proud to be human".
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
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Original Broadcast: Gadgets and Gizmos
Steve Caplin tells Simon Rose about a UK self-driving bus & hydrogen-powered plane, about AI narrating Apple books and impersonating anybody after 3 seconds, about jumpers that can confuse facial recognition tech, an American SUV for dangerous school runs, electrified spoons, a GE pot plant to purify the air and how Ferrari are making ther electric cars produce the familiar petrol engine sound.
Guests: Steve Caplin
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Original Broadcast: The Financial Outlook for Personal Investors
Victoria Scholar of Interactive Investor updates Simon Rose on the latest news from the tech sector. Tesla's shares jumped on strong earnings, Microsoft had mixed results and Netflix performed better than expected. She discusses the figures and explains that, although 2022's woes for tech shares may have been overdone, investors in the sector in 2023 are still likely to be in for a bumpy ride.
Guests: Victoria Scholar
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Original Broadcast: The Financial Outlook for Personal Investors
Simon Rose takes a well-earned break this week, so we bring you his interview with Lord Lee, author of 'How to Make a Million Slowly', as recorded nearly six years ago. At that time, 1 February 2017, it had been an intriguing start to the year for investors with sterling hitting new lows, driving the stockmarket to a record high. Lord Lee cautioned that forecasting the future direction of markets is a tricky business but for investors who maintain a long term view, the importance of growing dividends and hard assets continues to stand out.
Guests: Lord Lee
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Original Broadcast: The Bigger Picture
Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University says that we must face the fact that Britain is going the way of Argentina and becoming a poor country. The war on the ultra-rich, he points out, will spell disaster for the UK's public finances. And it is surely time we recognised that the NHS is in a state of permanent crisis and that a Royal Commission should be set up to find a solution.
Guests: Professor Tim Evans
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Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson takes Simon Rose through the latest box office figures, down 21% on last week. A Man Called Otto with Tom Hanks enters at #4 with £1.1m; James found himself captivated by the film. The true-life lynching drama Till is at #6. While the story needs telling, James did find it somewhat overlong. Streaming on Apple TV+ is Raymond & Ray with Ewan McGregor and Ethan Hawke playing estranged brothers. He found the dialogue fake and the movie too full of eccentrics.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
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Original Broadcast: Gadgets and Gizmos
In our weekly gadgets show, Steve Caplin takes Simon Rose through some of the ideas coming out of the Consumer Electronics Show, including a 3D laptop, urine tester, fitness tracker for dogs, a completely wireless TV, a smellovision VR headset, an electric baby buggy and, from Cornwall, the first ever tractor to run on cow and pig manure.
Guests: Steve Caplin
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Original Broadcast: The Financial Outlook for Personal Investors
Richard Hunter of Interactive Investor discusses how the festive season went for retailers with Simon Rose. Despite the gloomy picture of consumers reigning in spending, the picture emerging from the high street over the most important period of the year is much more positive, with the likes of Next, Sainsbury's, Marks and particularly JD Sports, doing well. What happens in the next few weeks on the interest rate and inflation front, however, will prove very important for the sector.
Guests: Richard Hunter
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