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The cost of living jumped by the largest amount on record to hit 3.2 per cent in August – is it set to run out of control and prompt the Bank of England to raise interest rates? Meanwhile, a gloomy report has lead some economists to talk about stagflation once more. What is it, is it a threat and does it matter? This week, Simon Lambert, Lee Boyce and Georgie Frost discuss the 'flations' and what it could mean for the coming months, and the pandemic recovery. Alongside this, there are supply chain problems and staff shortages. Can we expect higher prices in shops and is Britain set for a hiring boom? It's not just shops that are suffering, soaring costs and tradesmen shortages are leaving families doing home improvements themselves - or stuck with half-finished renovations. And we go inside the pocket sized houses aimed at first time buyers in London. We left the cat at home: there wasn't enough room to swing it…

Apple unveils new iPhones and iPads. Intuit buys MailChimp for $12B in cash and stock. Amazon gets ready to sell Amazon-branded TVs. Coffee retailer Dutch Bros rises 60% on its IPO. Walmart and Ford Motor team up on robo-deliveries. And Taco Bell tests a taco subscription service. Motley Fool analysts Maria Gallagher and Jason Moser discuss those stories and share two stocks on their radar: Teladoc Health and Duolingo. Plus, Karen Hao, senior A.I. editor at MIT Technology Review, talks with Motley Fool senior editor Anand Chokkavelu about machine learning, which industries are being affected the most by A.I., and the new jobs being created.

The Motley Fool’s Chief Investing Officer shares his latest thinking on the market, get more out of your spending with Values Based Budgeting, and we answer Ken’s question on when to take Social Security.

Adam Cox is joined by celebrity chef and Bake Off’s own vegan baker, Stu Hensall to talk all things Tofu. They discuss how an individual can cut down their meat consumption and some of the common mistakes made when cooking with Tofu. Stu also gives some great recipe ideas.

We've all experienced that feeling of anxiety brought on by a lack of confidence, and young people are particularly susceptible when the new school term begins: especially if starting at a new school. Adam Cox helps both children and adults tackle it in this episode: using three key influences in building confidence - a child's mother, Roald Dahl's 'Fantastic Mr. Fox', and Greta Thunberg, he shows how to bring these sustaining resources into whatever challenging environment may confront you.

Russ Mould, Investment Director of A J Bell, and a history buff, considers similarities between today's financial environment and the closing of the gold window by President Nixon in 1971, since when the dollar has lost 85% of its purchasing power. He explains why it might make sense to buy toys early for Christmas and why investors might want to pay attention to the level of margin debt in the United States (one of the frothy areas of the market), as it has just dipped for the first time since February 2020.

James Cameron-Wilson looks at Aretha Franklin biopic Respect with Jennifer Hudson (#3 in the chart), Cop Shop with Gerard Butler (#7) and, at #12, Herself, a British drama with Clare Dunne (also co-writer) and directed by Mamma Mia director Phyllida Lloyd, which James recommends highly. He also looks at the recent revelations of the paydays for the top Hollywood stars, with news that Bond star Daniel Craig is to get $100m from Netflix for making 2 sequels to Knives Out.

Tech maven Steve Caplin discusses cosmic concrete using Martian soil and astronauts' body fluids. Also MooLoos, training cows to pee environmentally soundly, hydrogen-powered, autonomous freight submarines, the idea of all homes and offices having to have charging points, the rifle that can shoot round corners, AR-equipped swimming goggles, a wireless portable hydrojet cleaner and the iPhone 13.

Political commentator Mike Indian discusses the UK Cabinet reshuffle which sees ministers like Gavin Williamson sacked and potential future leaders of the Conservative Party such as Liz Truss promoted, taking over as Foreign Secretary. He looks at what might happen with the uplift in Universal Credit and asks whether we should give credence to the talk that there could be a General Election before the scheduled date of May 2024.

Adam Cox is joined by Jo Vigneron, Founding Principle of Pearson's new Online Academy, to look at some new research revealing the publics attitudes towards online learning and schooling. They discuss how online institutions are working to make up for the lack of physical interaction and Jo explains what Pearson Online Academy UK Global is and how is it different to the online learning experience Brits have become accustomed to. https://www.pearsononlineacademy.com