Share Sounds presented by Simon Rose

Podcast Directory


Strand: Consuming Issues
Presenter: Simon Rose
Clear Selection

Simon Rose

Gadgets & Gizmos: The global IT outage, robot litter-picking dogs & spray-on trainers

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

Gadgets and Gizmos

Gadgets & Gizmos: The global IT outage, robot litter-picking dogs & spray-on trainers
Tech buff Steve Caplin explains the global IT outage caused by a Crowdstrike software update and Microsoft's extraordinary advice. There's an Italian litter-picking robot dog. Small aerial drones can learn to navigate by studying ants. Other drones can mimic geckos to cling to things. Spray-on trainers for athletes are now a reality, while athletes can also run faster if shielded from wind resistance. There's a crowd-funded Dymo-type printer. And Disney are retiring an animatronic attraction – for fear it will offend alcoholics.
Guest:

Steve Caplin


Published:
Simon Rose

The Financial Outlook for Personal Investors: The consumer sector and Card Factory

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

The Financial Outlook for Personal Investors

The Financial Outlook for Personal Investors: The consumer sector and Card Factory
Russell Pointon of Edison Group summarises the company's quarterly consumer report, which finds signs of better momentum in profit reports and, despite a tough macro background, sees consumer confidence increasing. Among companies that are lowly valued relative to their peers, Russell highlights Card Factory. Under relatively new management, it is extending its range beyond greetings cards into gifts and party goods and also moving into suitable overseas markets. Despite good growth prospects, its multiple is still in the high single digits and it has returned to paying dividends.
Guest:

Russell Pointon


Published:
Simon Rose

The Business of Film: Twisters, Horizon – An American Saga Chapter One & Sleeping Dogs

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

The Business Of Film

The Business of Film: Twisters, Horizon – An American Saga Chapter One & Sleeping Dogs
While box office is down 12%, James Cameron-Wilson is excited by Twisters, taking £3.1m at #2, thinking the disaster movie is ripe for revival. A standalone sequel, he found this big slice of popcorn escapism with Daisy Edgar-Jones intense and totally engrossing. He wished he'd been able to see Kevin Costner's gargantuan Western project Horizon: An American Saga Part One on the big screen but had to settle for its streaming appearance. Although flawed and sometimes hard to understand, he still found it brilliant and visually amazing. He wanted to like Russell Crowe as a detective with memory loss in Sleeping Dogs on Amazon Prime but, despite the presence of Karen Gillan, it's a B-movie which is formulaic and implausible.
Guest:

James Cameron-Wilson


Published:
Simon Rose

The Bigger Picture: How are Labour doing and what does Biden's exit mean for the Presidential election?

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

The Bigger Picture

The Bigger Picture: How are Labour doing and what does Biden's exit mean for the Presidential election?
Political commentator Mike Indian is surprised that so little attention has been paid to one of the more radical things in the King's Speech, the boosting of employment rights. He discusses the rebellion of 7 Labour MPs over the child benefit cap. While insignificant now with such a large majority, he feels that things could get trickier with such a broadly-based range of MPs from the second year onwards. He explains how much the American electoral landscape has changed with the exit of Joe Biden from the Presidential race. Harris, he feels, could be a serious contender against Donald Trump but that her choice of Vice President will be key.
Guest:

Mike Indian


Published:
Simon Rose

The Financial Outlook for Personal Investors: The outlook for global stocks and why Labour might revive sterling

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

The Financial Outlook for Personal Investors

The Financial Outlook for Personal Investors: The outlook for global stocks and why Labour might revive sterling
Daniel Casali, chief investment strategist at Evelyn Partners, looks at the outlook for global stocks, where it's been the AI theme that has driven markets, led by the six mega caps. But, unlike the dotcom bubble, there are real earnings here as these companies are generating big profits so the high ratings can be justified. We now need to see how AI will be utilised by businesses. He also explains why sterling could be heading for a revival under Labour, helped by an improved relationship with the EU which, with the Ukraine situation, needs UK military intelligence and equipment. If the pound improves for the right reasons, it could drive up the currently low valuation of the UK stock market.
Guest:

Daniel Casali


Published:
Simon Rose

The Bigger Picture: Can Labour and Reform squeeze the Conservative Party into oblivion?

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

The Bigger Picture

The Bigger Picture: Can Labour and Reform squeeze the Conservative Party into oblivion?
Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University found the King's Speech fascinating. He feels that if Labour can deliver 1.5m homes, reform the NHS and grow the UK economy, then it will cement its healthy electoral position. He wonders if the Conservatives can find the unity and clarity of strategy to survive, feeling that the party does not understand the hatred many of its former voters have for them. If Reform can capitalise on this, the Conservative Party may be in a much more precarious position than they realise.
Guest:

Professor Tim Evans


Published:
Simon Rose

The Business of Film: Despicable Me 4, Longlegs, Fly Me To The Moon & Sleep

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

The Business Of Film

The Business of Film: Despicable Me 4, Longlegs, Fly Me To The Moon & Sleep
James Cameron-Wilson revels in UK box office up 64% thanks to the bad weather and a raft of new films. #1 is Despicable Me 4 which he likes no more than the other 5 in the franchise, finding a U certificate for such a violent film surprising. At #3 is horror film Longlegs from Oz Perkins (Anthony Perkins' son) with Nic Cage, which James found well made and unnerving. He was less charitable about supposedly trueish #4 Fly Me To The Moon with Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum. Failing as both romcom and conspiracy thriller, it is flat and ludicrous. He was absorbed, if not scared, by the well-made and often amusing South Korean horror film Sleep about somnambulism, #17 in the chart.
Guest:

James Cameron-Wilson


Published:
Simon Rose

Gadgets & Gizmos: The world's smallest chariot, walking in a VR game & slowing down ageing

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

Gadgets and Gizmos

Gadgets & Gizmos: The world's smallest chariot, walking in a VR game & slowing down ageing
Steve Caplin delves into the world of tech, where Tokyo scientists have made the world's smallest chariot, pulled by algae. Carmarker Stellantis have patented an "improvement" to the steering wheel. VR gamers will soon have a way to walk in the games they play. There's an inflatable tent, though you may not be able to stand up in it. A PhD student has produced a way of monitoring the old and infirm without being too intrusive. Imperial College claims they've found a way to prevent cancer and increase lifespan by 25% – at least in mice. And King's College London believe they can help you lose weight with transcranial direct current stimulation.
Guest:

Steve Caplin


Published:
Simon Rose

The Business of Film: A Quiet Place – Day One, Kinds of Kindness & Beverly Hills Cop – Axel F

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

The Business Of Film

The Business of Film: A Quiet Place – Day One, Kinds of Kindness & Beverly Hills Cop – Axel F
Cineworld plans to close 25% of its cinemas and James Cameron-Wilson says box office is down 26%, though Inside Out 2 is riding high with £40.1m, making it the biggest hit of 2024. Prequel A Quiet Place: Day One is #2 but, while accomplished and watchable, it doesn't have the coiled tension of the first two films. Despite loving films of Yorgos Lanthimos like The Favourite and Poor Things, James was not enamoued of Kinds of Kindness, an anthology movie with Emma Stone which is weird without being wonderful and a case of the emperor's new clothes, with no narrative cohesion. 40 years on, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, out on Netflix, creaks in all the wrong places with Eddie Murphy looking the same but with his manic energy diminished. So by the numbers, it's not worth your time.
Guest:

James Cameron-Wilson


Published:
Simon Rose

Gadgets & Gizmos: Flying cars, butter made from air & uncannily recreating old stars' voices

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

Gadgets and Gizmos

Gadgets & Gizmos: Flying cars, butter made from air & uncannily recreating old stars' voices
Steve Caplin explains how Elon Musk will be destroying the International Space Station. There's a flying car that's a cross between a go-kart and a helicopter, while another helicopter gives tours without a pilot. Renault cars will soon score your driving performance while Bill Gates is investing in a company that will make butter from air. Chinese scientists have grown human brain cells that can control robots. Text to speech can now bring to audio life stars from the past with uncanny reality. There's a new way of trying to prevent rhino poaching by making horns radioactive. And there are some impressive crowdfunded smart binoculars.
Guest:

Steve Caplin


Published: