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Welcome to our 250th commentary, produced over these last five years since Share Radio moved to 100% online broadcasting. It's been a period of massive change and increasing clarity on what we need to do to sort out the problems of the world, and we hope these thoughts are making some contribution in that respect. To mark this staging point we thought it might be helpful to set out some of the guiding principles which have steered, and will continue to steer, our comment. For our full list of commentaries, please visit https://www.shareradio.co.uk/thinkingaloud/newsletters/ Background music: Hovering Thoughts by Spence

The Commonwealth's extraordinary ability to reconcile and accept diversity of politics and faith in this huge and growing family of nations started with Elizabeth seventy years ago. Democracy works well within nations, but her generosity of spirit has proved how an appointed leader can bring about real reconciliation between nations. The British people have yet to learn what this lesson of true partnership in the Commonwealth of nations and faith really means. We are too quick to recall our sense of history and importance, too quick to reach for our Union Jacks and our ‘Rule Britannia’. We have a lot to learn from our Queen, and perhaps we should start by paying much more attention to the Commonwealth which she has fostered so brilliantly over the past seventy years. Background music: Airline by Geographer

Will Johnny go marching home, after this awful set of mid-term elections for the Conservatives? He has the intelligence needed to steer this country forward, as he's shown with both Brexit and the Covid-19 vaccine strategy. However, he has a major handicap: he not only lacks a firm foundation in Conservative values, but he's also prone to falling foul of the cult of personality. As he can't seem to get to grips with this handicap, the Conservative Parliamentary Party should take steps to build a new leadership to move it forwards, closely aligned to its core values. Background music: 'Johnny comes marching home' by Cooper Cannell

Adam Cox is joined by Hannah Bellamy, managing director of the charity, charity: water, live from the 'Pledge Float' parading from Tower Bridge for World Water Day. Hannah explains what's going on today on the streets of London, and what the charity is hoping to achieve from the parade. She also discusses the current water crisis, and the positive things the charity are doing to help people get access to safe and clean water. www.charitywater.org

Our commentary for w/c 28 February: as Peter Kropotkin predicted over 100 years ago, the communist legacy of centralised dictatorship has left the Russian leadership in a total moral vacuum, steered by fear and greed; and now, noting their nuclear warning, also with a degree of insanity. By a strange co-incidence, two programmes broadcast by the BBC on the day the war started point the way to a brighter future, if we can steer our path through the current tragedy engulfing Ukraine.

With Simon Rose taking a well-earned break and with an action-packed PMQ on Wednesday, please enjoy 55 minutes of democratic challenge at its best. Christian Wakeford (circled in the image) has just switched sides from Conservative to Labour, Sir Keir Starmer's on the warpath, and Boris is fighting back - at last. Enjoy!

The news that Sarah Green has wrested the constituency of Chesham and Amersham off the Conservatives for the first time in its history merits a look back over the Liberal Democrat's long decline. The centre ground is not an easy place to be in politics, and the new MP has needed the frequent sight of HS2 bulldozers and stormtroopers to get her majority - but she's done it. This look-back over Liberal Democrat history with Simon Rose and Mike Indian was first published in October 2019, just before the last General Election.

Research into workplace productivity and management practice is often focused on the links between ‘Good’ and ‘Efficient’ practices. ‘Good’ covers employee-friendly policies; for instance, those providing opportunities for better Work Life Balance. In contrast, ‘Efficient’ practice includes the use of KPIs, setting clear performance expectations and tackling underperformance where it is identified. In this episode Peter Urwin and Professor Richard Saundry discuss this, drawing on their own understanding as researchers and experiences as line managers. The operational reality is that managers hold a position between the interests of their organisation and those who work for them – how do they balance the (often competing) need to create both efficient and good workplaces?

In this episode, hosts Matt Dickson and Franz Buscha are joined by Sonia Bhalotra, Professor of Economics at the University of Warwick. Sonia has a prodigious volume of research on topics relating to the creation of human capital, early child development, gender inequality, intergenerational mobility, and the impact of early life health on later life outcomes. Sonia discusses her research on the impact of the advent of antibiotics in the US in the 1930s on child pneumonia, and how this had long-lasting impacts on children’s education and labour market outcomes. She explains how improvements in child health and mortality have implications not just for the children themselves, but also for women’s fertility decisions and labour supply. The discussion then turns to the trade-off between the “quality” and the quantity of children that a family have – including the surprising news that having twins is not as random as we might have assumed. Finally, they touch on Sonia’s research into the long-term benefits of treating maternal depression, which highlights how a non-drug therapy can have profound and long-lasting impact on maternal health and wellbeing.

This month, the WealthiHer Network is proud to partner with the UN Girl Up Foundation, to talk about how women and girls have been most impacted by Covid-19 and what can be done to redress the balance. Joining Tamara Gillan is Hallie Hudson, Director of Development, Girl Up and Bethel Kyeza, Co-president Girl Up London to discuss how girls around the world are overcoming inequality and how Girl Up are helping them to become the leaders of tomorrow.