Share Sounds.

Steve Caplin and Simon Rose look at the latest in high- (and low-) tech. Kyoto University have produced a face mask that can detect Covid, while Amazon are now selling PCR tests. Scientists have developed a phone security system that relies on how you walk, commercial-sized planes using liquid hydrogen and a yacht that makes its own hydrogen from seawater. With wearable electronics becoming more popular, Canadian boffins have come up with a washable battery while some in Japan have devised a bus that is also a train - and vice versa.

The greatest hurdle first-time buyers face after years of house prices rocketing far faster than wages is saving for a deposit. A 10 per cent deposit on the average £273,000 home, according to Halifax’s index, would be £27,300 – roughly an entire year’s average salary. That’s a tough gig to save while paying rent, bills, commuting costs, living expenses and trying to at least enjoy your 20s or 30s a little bit. So what can prospective homeowners do to get that money? How long would it take to save and can the often-maligned Lifetime Isa be a real no-brainer of a booster here. On this week’s podcast, Georgie Frost, Helen Crane and Simon Lambert talk about trying to buy your first home, saving for a deposit, and whether new Bank of England rules designed to make mortgages easier to get could end up backfiring and sending prices even higher. Those potential rule changes come about because problematically, if a first-time buyer could save that £27,300, they would then need to borrow £245,700 on a mortgage to buy the average home. Even if they were able to find a bank or building society that would offer to lend them five times their salary, an individual first-time buyer would need to earn about £50,000 per year to qualify. A shift to enabling first-time buyers to borrow more would bridge that gap, at the expense of huge mortgages, but could it just drive house price inflation. Also on this week’s podcast, could a savings platform boost your rate, what a damning report into Ofgem’s role in energy supplier collapse said and in the year that is a gift that keeps on giving, Christmas present inflation.

The Talk by the WealthiHer Network every month on Share Radio. Tamara Gillan, founder of WealthiHer, is joined by partners and experts from within the network to explore different aspects of what women should know about business, investing, money and leadership.

Adam Cox is joined by Richard Sager, drinks expert from NIO Cocktails, to discuss how to nail the perfect Christmas cocktail get together. They look at how NIO is aiming to make Christmas get togethers easier and how to plan the perfect party without the added stress of making custom drinks.

Reach forward, in this hypnosis session based on future pacing, to the life you would like to have. Adam Cox invites you to spend half an hour with him dwelling on how you can make it happen as you move forward through the years ahead.

Tens of millions of workers contribute to 401(k)s, thanks to a benefits consultant who got creative with a 1978 law. That consultant, Ted Benna, joins us to talk about how he came up with the idea, how he got Uncle Sam’s seal of approval, and the ways that Wall Street have abused the 401(k). He also discusses his new book, “401(k)s and IRAs for Dummies,” including why he thinks Roths are over-sold and his recommendations for retirement plans for small business and the self-employed.

The US inflation rate rises to a 39-year high. Pet supply retailer Chewy tumbles on earnings. Costco rises on big 1st-quarter results. CVS hits an all-time high after its investor day presentation. Motley Fool analysts Emily Flippen and Ron Gross discuss those stories and weigh in on the latest from Lululemon Athletica, Rent the Runway, Stitch Fix, RH Holdings, Intel, Beyond Meat, Jack in the Box, and Shake Shack, Plus, our analysts share two stocks on their radar: Tyler Technologies and Accenture. And CFP Dan Messeca talks 401Ks and last-minute financial planning tips for investors.

As a 12th company in the Footsie this year announces a special dividend, Russ Mould of A J Bell calculates that these, taken together with cashbacks and regular dividends, have amounted to payouts of £105bn, putting the FTSE on around a 5% yield. With fewer IPOs and placings than usual and dividend cover approaching 2, he feels this ought to be supportive of the market, even if some investors might baulk at the oils, banks and miners that are the big payers.

James Cameron-Wilson looks at the UK box office, where Boxing Day arrives at #7 and the unimpressive Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City at #8. Joaquin Phoenix stars in the charming C'mon, C'mon which debuts at #15. James found much to admire in the 2-versions-for-one Blu-Ray release of the 1927 silent film The Love of Jeanne Ney, by Pandora Box director G W Pabst and also the 1949 Kirk Douglas film Champion.

Share Radio's tech guru Steve Caplin takes us through a selection of possible Christmas gifts, from the sublime to the ridiculous. Among them are gin that lights up, a Lego typewriter, a James Bond Scalextric set, a CO2 bike tyre inflator, a wooden DIY projector, LED candles, a Casio keyboard, the champion of Swiss Army knives, a Dyson that tells you about the dust it's gathered and a couple of tech games.