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Saving, spending, planning — you've got money questions and we've got answers. Every week host Alison Southwick and personal finance expert Robert Brokamp challenge the conventional wisdom on life's biggest financial issues to reveal what you really need to know to make smart money moves. In this week's show, Bro pulled some strings and got both Megan Brinsfield and Sean Gates to join the team and talk about what they're doing, what they're not doing, and what you should consider doing to improve your finances in the new year. Plus, Alison tries her two hands at telling it like an economist.

Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University believes a coming reckoning for social media will be accelerated by the events in America's Capitol Building. He asks what the pandemic tells us about the evolution of science and how Britain has improved its early poor performance in the response to Covid-19. And he looks at the significance of the Strong Horse Theory in Political Science, particularly with regard to Keir Starmer and Labour and possibly Donald Trump too.

Share Radio's technology editor Steve Caplin marks the anniversary not only of the word "robot" but also of the first woman being sawed in half. He reveals the most-edited Wikipedia pages and Elon Musk's plans for bringing broadband to the remoter areas of the UK. He informs us of a sophisticated and expensive pet entry system as well as a robot that keeps pets occupied, along with a bird feeder with facial recognition. From the online CES he highlights a transparent computer screen, AR glasses with 5 virtual displays and a wellness lavatory.

With no cinemas open in the UK, James Cameron-Wilson looks at the news that Netflix is to move into movie-making in a big way, announcing a slate of 70 films featuring some major star names. He reviews one of Netflix's big hopes for awards glory, Pieces of a Woman starring our own Vanessa Kirby as well as One Night in Miami, a fictionalised account of an amazing night in American history. He also looks at the nominations for their awards just announced by the London Film Critics Circle.

Russ Mould of A J Bell asks the all-important question: when will the bull market end? What's keeping it going and what could take liquidity away from it? Russ believes investors should keep their eye on IPOs and other capital raisings, which could be a sign of froth at the top of the market. And while the UK has some catching-up to do and is still relatively cheap, he does not believe that UK stocks would be immune if markets took a tumble elsewhere.

Adam Cox is joined by hypnotherapist Derek Chapman, who discusses the approach he uses to effect change in his clients: the “Russian Doll” technique. Derek explains where the idea came from, how it works and the applications and circumstances in which it can be used. They also discuss how Derek used the protocol on Adam to enable him to make a change to his daily exercise habits.

President John F. Kennedy's inauguration speech, 20 January 1961

Adam Cox is joined by Rich Turner, Senior Vice-President of cybersecurity experts CyberArk, to discuss research which reveals workers’ attitudes to work-related cybersecurity at home – and how workers can improve their cybersecurity. They look at what businesses should be doing to improve their employees’ cybersecurity, and what CyberArk can do to help prevent cyber-attacks.

In this episode, hosts Franz Buscha and Matt Dickson again find themselves at the start of a coronavirus lockdown. This time, lockdown number 3 is much closer to the first lockdown with almost everything, including schools, closed once again. Matt and Franz begin by discussing their personal situations in lockdown as well as the national situation, before looking to the positives not only of the vaccines but also to the availability of existing drugs that are able to treat people who have already contracted COVID-19. After outlining the success of the ‘Recovery' programme that has been clinically trialling drugs for COVID-19 and has already saved 650,000 lives worldwide, Franz and Matt go on to discuss the importance of randomised controlled trails in providing robust evidence of causal effects both in medical science and public policy-making. The programme ends with consideration of the other big policy area that’s dominated recent weeks: Brexit. January 1st saw the end of the transition period and a new relationship between the UK and the EU, so Franz and Matt break their long-standing Brexit embargo to talk about the ways in which life has changed already, and how things may unfold in the longer term – committing to another 10 years of Policy Matters in the process!

Happy new year, happy new lockdown. 2021 has seen off 2020, but schools and large chunks of the economy have shut down again and people have been ordered to stay at home, as across the UK the nations adopt their own version of lockdown. It’s probably been the gloomiest start to a year for as long as many can remember and a tough winter for people, businesses and the economy lies ahead. So what happened? The UK stock market jumped, of course. Contrary as this may seem, there is some logic to investors buying into the hope that better times lie ahead. We have Covid-19 vaccines being rolled out that will hopefully make this national lockdown the last people have to endure – and we also have a Brexit deal. On this week’s podcast, Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Simon Lambert look at what the fresh lockdown means for the economy and why investors are choosing to look straight through it and develop a new appetite for buying British. Are UK shares undervalued and a great opportunity for 2021 and beyond – and will a strong consumer rebound once the economy is reopened prove the catalyst the FTSE needs? The team also discuss the potential implications of the Brexit deal for people’s finances and businesses. Meanwhile, the FTSE 100’s gains may have been substantial for a week on the stock market, but they are nothing compared to bitcoin’s continuing rise. The cryptocurrency cracked $40,000 this week: what’s going on, are people making real money out of this, and is there any idea what could happen next? Also, on this week’s podcast, the team talk moving home and getting your property looking attractive for a sale and with everyone stuck at home again, how to improve your wifi.