Original Broadcast: The Bigger Picture
Political commentator Mike Indian tries his best not to mention “the giant orange elephant in the room”. He discusses the Lords amendment which would impose a ban on social media for the under-16s. This would follow a similar move in Australia and has strong cross-party consensus. Robert Jenrick’s defection to Reform was undermined to some extent by the response from a more assertive Kemi Badenoch which took some of the wind out of Nigel Farage’s sails. He does not have a history of playing nicely with people and Jenrick may yet find himself a bit player in the Nigel Farage Show. As for Trump’s speech in Davos, despite his trampling of the rule-based international order, he clearly yearns for acceptance from the world elite. But, as his health fails, he is becoming increasingly erratic and may yet try and find a way to get a third term.
Guests: Mike Indian
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Original Broadcast: Gadgets and Gizmos
Steve Caplin is intrigued by a robot that the University of Columbia has been training to lip-sync to make it more lifelike. He discusses the history of the laser, originally called a death ray and yet which is only now apparently worthy of the name. There’s also an airbag for cyclists, a cycle helmet that protects more than just head-on crashes as current helmets do, while the Australians have come up with a semi-recumbent electric trike. Peugot have tried to reinvent the steering wheel, which they claim will be the “future of driving”, and there’s a Norwegian sewing app that may defeat any non-Norwegians trying to find it.
Guests: Steve Caplin
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Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson says that #1 28 Years Later – The Bone Temple deserves its 18 certificate as you will need a strong constitution. Starring Ralph Fiennes and Jack O’Connell, it’s hard to watch but is a gripping horror film with style, beauty and terrific dialogue. #7 Rental Family, starring Brendan Fraser, is set in Japan and directed by the Japanese Hikari. It’s an odd but enthralling story with a light touch about an actor rented out as a family member. On Netflix, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck star in The Rip, a generic, often confusing but hard-hitting action thriller. It seems far-fetched but is based on a true story so outlandish, it had to be scaled back.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
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Original Broadcast: The Financial Outlook for Personal Investors
Russ Mould of A J Bell asks what lessons we can draw from Donald Trump’s speech at Davos, an event Russ would normally ignore. We know Trump likes to deal and to keep the US stock market happy and running hot. We can probably expect market volatility and there are indications that it makes sense not being too over-exposed to US equities. Investors keen to protect themselves should opt for shares that aren’t so highly-priced, which applies to lots of UK stocks. American shares are now such a high proportion of the world stock market that it makes sense to diversify away. The FTSE All-World ex-US index has broken out to a new all-time high. Once you go above a previous peak, momentum can be very strong. The UK has had 3 or 4 bids already this year including one for a FTSE100 company. You can still make a valuation case for the UK.
Guests: Russ Mould
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Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson is impressed that The Housemaid has risen to the top spot. #2 is the quintessentially British movie Hamnet, despite Irish leads (Paul Mescal & Jessie Buckley) and Chinese writer-director Chloé Zhao. It's a slow burn but builds to a highly emotional climax. James loved it to within an inch of its brocade. On Amazon Prime, he was impressed by The Tank, a German film about a Tiger crew on a secret mission against the Russians after Stalingrad. It's tense and excellent until the final, infuriating twist. He is a fan of Kate Winslet's directorial debut, Goodbye June on Netflix. Written by her son Joe Anders, the cast includes Helen Mirren and Timothy Spall. It has great humanity, humour and wisdom, despite its sentimental ending. He watched The Family Plan 2 on Apple TV+ to see why Mark Wahlberg's online movies are so popular. It has some good action and one-liners but the plot is incredibly familiar.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
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Original Broadcast: The Bigger Picture
For his first appearance in 2026, Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University looks as what he feels will be the big themes for the United Kingdom this year: geopolitics; living standards; state efficiency; devolution; leadership, the EU; trade & tech; and Net Zero. When it comes to ID cards, with the government heavily influenced by Tony Blair, the protests against the scheme made the public – who had been moderately in favour – realise the drawbacks and cost, so that it became a political liability. Tim cantered through the various Labour U-turns on income tax thresholds, workers' rights, the WASPI women, grooming gangs, winter fuel payments, pub business rates, farming inheritance tax and welfare reforms. Labour appears to have no strategy. The U-turns smack of weakness and, in the public mind, echo the 14 years of Conservative rule.
Guests: Professor Tim Evans
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Original Broadcast: The Financial Outlook for Personal Investors
Neil Shah of Edison Group says that Greggs' shares are off almost 40% over the past couple of years. Like other fast food companies, weight loss jabs are having an effect on their business. But the recent Q4 update confirmed that the company will meet their profit expectations and the management team has a great track record of executing growth. Although they could simply farm their estate, further growth is worth pursuing and the price fall gives investors an entry opportunity. BP was the second best-performing oil major last year and now has a clear strategy of returning to its roots which appears to be bearing fruit. The numbers are encouraging and it should make new ground this year.
Guests: Neil Shah
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Original Broadcast: Gadgets and Gizmos
Steve Caplin returns to Las Vegas's Consumer Electronics Show, marvelling at AI lawnmowers, air conditioners, saunas, showers and even an AI robot triceratops for the lawn, though it's rather a small one. We are promised a single-seat eVTOL for around £30,000 very soon from China, whose BYD EV car company has now overtaken Tesla for sales volume. Amazon has entered the TV business with a set resembling a framed artwork. Matthew McConaughey has trademarked himself to prevent AI cloning him. Apple is to use Google Gemini to power Siri and Nike have taken a decade to develop shoes that apparently stimulate the wearer's feet.
Guests: Steve Caplin
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Original Broadcast: The Financial Outlook for Personal Investors
Musing on President Trump's interest in Venezuela, Russ Mould of A J Bell believes that second-guessing geopolitics is brutally difficult, although he can see why defence stocks are back in vogue. While Venezuela's oil has been much discussed, the United States doesn't really need more oil, thanks to shale. However, China does, which might make the country seem more interesting to Trump. However, there are plenty of other commodities there too. In the markets, gold, silver and now copper are at new highs. The latter has plenty of practical applications, including being needed for EVs. But it takes 10 years to bring a mine onstream. It's interesting that the commodity indices have remained so depressed despite these gains, but the indices are weighed down heavily by oil and gas. If markets are right to expect decent economic growth, then it's not a bad environment for commodities and cyclicals.
Guests: Russ Mould
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Original Broadcast: The Bigger Picture
Political commentator Mike Indian says that President Trump's abduction of Nicolás Maduro sets a new and dangerous precedent in international relations. It's a spectacular gesture but a "gesture" is all that it is and it could further destabilise an already unstable country. Trump's stated aims for Greenland risk undermining NATO and relations between the US and Europe. Mike believes he is acting to create a legacy, exerting power in the most direct way he can. However, even the US could overextend itself and then find that it does, after all, need other countries. In the meantime, Trump's actions will simply embolden the world's autocrats. 2026 could be a very volatile year. In the UK, Keir Starmer looks to be in a stronger position than he was before Christmas. There does not seem to be a credible challenge to his leadership. To some extent, his unpopularity is now almost a boon, as it is out of the way.
Guests: Mike Indian
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