Share Sounds

Share Radio's equivalent of James Bond's Q looks at the latest not-so-secret gadgets. There's the world's biggest and most expensive solar farm (by a factor of 10), being built for Singapore but located in Australia, an Alexa-powered robot from Amazon, pigs being employed at Schiphol airport to reduce bird strikes, a flapping wing room fan, lab-grown coffee, airless tyres from Michelin and a solution to the problem of regolith, the dangerous jagged pebbles thrown up by moon landings.

Political commentator Mike Indian discusses the energy crisis and fuel shortages, asking how we got into such a mess. He reviews the Labour Party conference: how did Starmer do and is Labour ready for government? He looks ahead to the Conservative Party conference: will Boris Johnson get a rough ride? And with one million people still on the furlough scheme, he considers the effect of its termination. He also looks at the latest problems with the fishing industry, with both British AND French fishermen in an angry mood.

Adam Cox is joined by Lisa Kramer, Business Psychologist from Kooth, to discuss why many Brits may be feeling anxious about their return to the office. They look at how employers can spot the signs of employee anxiety, and what can be done to combat it.

Leave your worries behind you and enjoy 38 minutes of pure relaxation with Adam Cox and his soothing background music, as he guides you to breathe in calm and breathe out tension; explaining how, just as food is fuel for the body, oxygen is fuel for the mind.

Chinese stocks are down 14% so far this year, Motley Fool analyst Ben Ra joins us to explain why. The Ascent’s Brian Frey shares the buttery soft red flags of a pyramid scheme. And we answer Adam’s question on which types of stocks belong in which types of accounts.

The week began with an energy crunch, as households woke up to the problems sending gas prices spiralling - and the impact that could have on their bills. It ended with a needless rush on petrol, as people were told there was no need to panic buy fuel… and some promptly panic bought it. The petrol issue we’re told is to do with a shortage of HGV drivers to deliver fuel, the gas problem is unfortunately far more complex. The immediate impact for households is that some are finding their energy supplier has gone bust and they are being transferred elsewhere, others are discovering they can’t switch, and many are staring down the barrel of a potential big imminent price cap rise followed by another next spring. In this podcast episode, This is Money’s energy and consumer correspondent Grace Gausden explains what’s happening and Georgie Frost and Simon Lambert discuss the implications with her. In the second part of the podcast, Tanya Jefferies joins to talk about the National Audit Office report into underpaid women’s state pensions, which highlighted her and our columnist Steve Webb’s work in exposing the fiasco, Tanya updates us on their investigations and what may happen next. And finally, there’s a new bank in town: Chase. Well it’s actually a very old one, because it’s JP Morgan launching current accounts in the UK under the Chase brand. It’s got 5% interest, with a catch, 1% cashback and some nifty features. Is it worth getting?

Costco ends the fiscal year on a strong note. Nike struggles with global supply chain issues. Adobe posts record revenue. FedEx cuts full-year guidance. Stitch Fix surprises with a quarterly profit. Salesforce and Darden Restaurants hit new all-time highs. And Toast pops 50% on its first day of trading. Emily Flippen and Jason Moser analyze those stories and share two stocks on their radar: Coupang and Compass. Plus, CNBC host Jon Fortt discusses the latest revelations about Facebook, what investors should know about new Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, and WeWork’s upcoming debut in the public markets.

Laith Khalaf, Head of Investment Analysis at A J Bell, looks at the problems of Chinese property company Evergrande and considers what the financial ramifications are likely to be. With the Federal Reserve hinting that it might begin cutting its pandemic stimulus as early as November, he looks at the popularity of the UK government's first green gilt, which could have been sold ten times over, and the impending arrival of an NS&I green savings bond later this year.

Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University looks at 100 years of the Culture War, as expounded in a new book by Frank Ferudi. He wonders if the Aukus pact is a sign of a new global order and discusses why the French are so very angry about it. And with NHS waiting lists approaching 6 million, he considers the ramifications for socialised healthcare of a growing number of people without health insurance deciding to pay for operations.

James Cameron-Wilson examines the UK box office, depressed by a lack of any new big films ahead of the new James Bond film, No Time To Die. Stylish Irish film Rose Plays Julie arrived at #30 in the chart, though James still recommends last week's Irish entry Herself, now at #15. With nothing else new to get his teeth into, James recommends the Netflix film Kate, starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Woody Harrelson, despite a somewhat derivative thriller plot. He also feels the 1954 Joan Crawford film Johnny Guitar, long held to be a camp classic, deserves a higher reputation; it is now out in a restored edition on DVD and Blu-Ray.