Share Sounds

Steve Caplin, Share Radio's technology editor, tells Simon Rose of the Texas scientists who have worked out how to combine cellulose and konjac to make water from thin air while, in New South Wales, they've found a way to get solar panels to generate power at night! There's also a $2m jigsaw, though the puzzle itself is a QR code, Rolls Royce have a new $28m car while the Genesis GV60 comes with facial recognition, a fingerprint engine start and a crystal ball. After 45 years, Voyager 1 is 14.5 billion miles away but still transmitting, though nobody can understand it.

Political commentator Mike Indian discusses the Sue Gray Report into Pandemic parties in Downing Street and how it reflects upon the culture there. Although he thinks that the PM might yet survive, he feels he's a two-dimensional figure in a world where 3,4 or even 5 dimensions are needed and wishes he was a student of history any later than Pericles. He also gives snap judgement on Rishi Sunak's measures to cope with the rising cost of living, the recording being made while the Chancellor was speaking.

'Consult not your fears, but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.' - Pope John XXIII The old saying ‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it’ (George Santayana) has its place, but only to the extent that it helps us to move to a better future. It is a feature of our material existence that time marches forward at a constant pace — we cannot revisit the past, for better or for worse: so why dwell in it? At a time when there is a perfect storm of convergent problems, it's worth looking beyond our present experiences and seeing how we can make the world a better place. Background music: 'Communicator' by Reed Matthis

Inflation continues to surge, the Bank of England says there is little it can do to stall it but is raising rates any way, and at the same time is warning of a potential recession looming. It seems safe to say this isn’t the Covid recovery year that many people were hoping for: the longed-for bout of calm and optimism has turned out to be a cost of living crisis instead. So, with inflation now at 9% and set to rise further and central banks swiftly changing their tune on low interest rates, is a recession inevitable? Georgie Frost, Helen Crane and Simon Lambert take a look at what is driving inflation, whether there is anything the Bank of England can do, if it should have acted sooner and whether we can hope for a nice surprise with inflationary pressure subsiding quicker than expected. The new proposal for a four times a year energy price cap change rather than one every six months is also on the agenda, along with the sting in the tail that some say means energy firms will be much less likely to offer cheap fixes once prices start falling. But in one part of the energy market prices are falling already. The cost of gas in Britain has plummeted recently: Simon explains how that has happened and why we can’t take advantage to lower our energy bills now. And finally, Crane on the Case continues to rack up consumer victory after consumer victory. Helen fills us in on her latest cases and what readers are flocking for help on.

"We got the inventory wrong." That's basically what Target CEO Brian Cornell said about his company's latest results. Bill Mann discusses why Cornell and Walmart CEO Doug McMillon should have warned investors sooner about their latest quarterly numbers, the inventory glut major these retailers will have to work through, Lowe's benefitting from the residential home environment, and whether Target's stock is more attractive after last week's drop. Also, Tim Beyers talks with Arista Networks CEO Jayshree Ullal about how her company is diversifying its revenue stream, and one thing investors often get wrong about Arista.

You might not think of your money as a flock of sheep, but Dr. Martha Beck does. And it makes more sense than you’d imagine. A best-selling author and life coach, Beck joins Motley Fool contributor Brian Stoffel to discuss why you should ask yourself “how much is enough?”; how to align your investments with a personal mission statement; and yes, financial lessons from chimpanzees.

People's approaches towards money vary widely; issues of relative abundance and scarcity combine with motives of generosity to produce a wide array of psychological attitudes. What parents do for their children, personal sacrifices, feelings of guilt and putting the interests of others before yourself - these are all familiar themes. This episode tackles these different attitudes, and reaches into our ability to scale the impact we can make, and what legacy it could create.

Adam Cox is joined by Tim Vetters, Managing Director at SIXT UK, to discuss new research suggesting Brits are worried about the rising cost of car ownership, and how this will affect the car industry. He explains the shift away from car ownership and towards rental or subscription services, and how SIXT UK is involved in this discussion. www.sixt.co.uk

Adam Cox is joined by health and wellbeing advocate, Katie Piper, and the CPO of Unilever, Sara Alsen, to discuss new research from Blueair that shows Brits' concerns around indoor air pollution. Katie discusses why this is a topic close to her heart, whilst Sara talks through the research and why this is such an issue. www.blueair.com

Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University agrees with Andrew Neil that, around the world, democracy is on the march again. Putin's Ukraine invasion is actually helping to bring the rest of the world together and reconsider the attractions of autocratic rule. Tim wonders if the Bank of England is plagued by groupthink and, as a result, has boxed itself into a corner and could be about to crash the economy. And he ends by asking why modern culture is so dull in the UK and wonders whether the 1990s were the last golden cultural age.