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With Nadine Dorries still an MP two months after saying she was quitting, political commentator Mike Indian discusses the difficulties of removing inadequate politicians, pointing out the serious democratic deficiency. As Labour waters down its pledges on workers' rights, he laments the party's cautiousness and asks where is the distinctive offering. He looks at The first Republican Party presidential debate, worrying that it shows that politics is becoming even dirtier and uglier. And with Rishi Sunak tacitly admitting he won't meet his small boats pledge, Mike argues for a fundamental reform of our migration system.

The UK box office is still dominated by Oppenheimer and Barbie, now the UK's 8th most successful film, beating Titanic, says James Cameron-Wilson. DC Comics' Blue Beetle, with a Latino superhero, enters at #3 but is depressingly unoriginal and unengaging. At #5 is Strays, a comedy with foul-talking dogs. Without a whiff of wit, James can't believe it got a 15 certificate. He's more interested in Eureka's restoration 100 years on of Buster Keaton's first feature, Three Ages, which is essentially a series of inventive skits. Fascinating rather than funny, the disc is full of great extras.

With AI-chip maker Nvidia surprising the market, Neil Shah of Edison Group looks at ways investors who feel they've missed that particular boat can invest in AI. He singles out as possible AI beneficiaries credit reporter Experian, Ocado and Rightmove and he explains why. But he also looks at the importance of energy efficiency as we head towards Net Zero, highlighting SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust, which has gone from a premium to a substantial discount and has a substantial yield.

Steve Caplin laments the end of Wilko's while marvelling at a toilet-cleaning robot for offices, a tech toilet brush, a sophisticated cocktail maker, braille-coded Lego bricks, vegan spare ribs with edible bones, a snorkel with 10 mins of air, an intelligent cat flap that will stop moggies bringing in unwanted "presents", a humanoid pilot that can do everything a real pilot can do and an ePaper 25-inch poster.

Medium-term strategies are quite common in securing weight loss objectives, but how can they be sustained in the long-term? Adam Cox interweaves a trio of potential approaches: pre-empting potential plateaus during which progress seems to be limited, labelling hunger cravings so that they don't throw you off balance, and tapping into new resources such as regular exercise/walking.

Nvidia earnings soaked up a lot of headlines, but they’re not the only one making moves in AI. Andy Cross and Jason Moser discuss the epic hype around Nvidia’s earnings release, and how AI is playing into the ambitions for other companies in tech like Workday, why “shrink” is the buzzword of the season in retail and how investors should be looking at it, and how Williams-Sonoma and Ulta bucked tough trends in retail to put up strong numbers, and the numbers behind updates from Intuit and Autodesk. Then, 19 minutes in, Olivier Pomel, CEO of DataDog, talks through the company’s recent results, the promising signs he’s seeing in customer spend, and why he thinks his company still has a 10X opportunity in front of it. Finally, 34 minutes in, Andy and Jason break down two stocks on their radar: Nike and Chewy. Stocks discussed: NVDA, WDAY, WSM, ADSK, ULTA, INTU, DLTR, FL, NKE, CHWY. Host - Dylan Lewis; Guests - Jason Moser, Tim Beyers, Olivier Pomel

A real estate bankruptcy shakes confidence in China and consumers across the globe focus on lower-priced items. Ron Gross and Emily Flippen discuss why the consumer focus on groceries and lower cost items are helping Walmart and hurting Target, the story behind Adyen’s 40% post-earnings drop, and the latest results from JD.com and Tencent, and how to look at some of the scary headlines coming out of China. 19 minutes in, VICI CEO Ed Pitoniak speaks with Motley Fool Money’s Deidre Woollard to talk about what to expect next on the Las Vegas strip, why wellness is an increasingly interesting category for experience spending, and what good real estate deals look like in this environment. Then, 33 minutes in, Ron and Emily break down two stocks on their radar: Astec and NICE. Stocks discussed: WMT, TGT, ADYEY, JD, TCEHY, ASTE, NICE. Host - Dylan Lewis; Guests - Emily Flippen, Ron Gross, Deidre Woollard, Ed Pitoniak

Just how big can Nvidia get? For CEO Jensen Huang, it’s to infinity and beyond. Tim Beyers and Deidre Woollard discuss Nvidia’s strong quarter and the cyclicality of chip demand, why Nvidia isn’t the only game in town for AI chips, and how Snowflake’s data warehouse solutions might grow over time. Companies discussed: NVDA, AMD, INTC, SNOW. Host - Deidre Woollard; Guest - Tim Beyers

Inflation falling, wages rising, mortgage rates fall back a bit and fixed savings rates seem to be peaking at 6% - all without a recession (yet)! Is the oasis in sight, or is this a mirage? Georgie Frost, Simon Lambert and Helen Crane review the prospects looking forward. Also, Rishi Sunak vows to keep the 'triple lock' on pensions, but can we afford it?

Last week we heard of sixty migrants dying in an attempt to reach Cape Verde across the Atlantic Ocean: young people risking all for a better life. But, as we wrote on 15th May, it's the underlying challenges, including conflict and poverty, that must be addressed. Global problems like these require global solutions: we suggest a combination of inter-generational rebalancing funding a programme of incentivised learning for young people across Africa, providing them with the resources and life skills to start achieving their potential. Background music: 'Six by Eight' by Jimmy Fontanez_Media Right Productions. 15th May Commentary link: https://www.shareradio.co.uk/thinkingaloud/newsletters/comment-wc-2023-05-15/