Share Sounds.

December had barely begun when two of Britain's biggest High Street names collapsed. Sir Philip Green's Arcadia, the group that contains Topshop and Miss Selfridge, fell first - followed swiftly by Debenhams. Bonmarché, owned by retail tycoon Philip Day, then also slumped into administration. So how bad is the crisis on the High Street, if these stores couldn't even make it through the Christmas trading period? Can traditional bricks and mortar compete against the online giants and upstarts? Have the likes of Boohoo and Asos, put the fashion High Street online-only and there is no place for the likes of Topshop anymore? Or is there more that lies behind this story, such as financial engineering, debt, sale and leasebacks, and the lack of wriggle room that leaves when things take a downturn? On this week's podcast, Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Simon Lambert discuss the pre-Christmas High St collapse. Plus, why you should avoid gift vouchers and cards this year, the art of flipping houses for a profit - and why those after a quick buck should beware - and why it is worth having a pension.

Want to keep up with the latest earnings updates from the States? Well join Chris Hill and the Motley Fool Radio Show team here on Share Radio, direct from Washington DC, for news, views and analysis of the US stocks that matter. In this week's show: Wall Street shrugs off disappointing jobs numbers; Salesforce buys Slack and squares off against Microsoft; Docusign beats on the top and bottom lines; Crowdstrike, Five Below, and Zscaler all hit all-time highs; Zoom Video reports strong earnings but slips on slowing revenue growth; Ulta Beauty slips on slowing sales; Okta rises on earnings; WarnerMedia disrupts the movie business; And Oreos go Gaga! Motley Fool analysts Andy Cross and Ron Gross weigh in on those stories and share two stocks on their radar: Fulgent Genetics and Lemonade. Plus, toy industry analyst Jackie Breyer talks holiday toys, scented Play Doh, and the state of the toy business.

Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University considers whether there is light at the end of the Covid-19 tunnel or whether there's another - economic - tunnel just ahead that we're about to plunge into. He also asks if a new, cultural, Iron Curtain is descending on Europe, splitting the grouping into east and west. And he ponders whether the World's Central Banks' policies have set us up for a catastrophic fall.

Investment research analyst Helal Miah of The Share Centre looks at recent news from Topps Tiles, Iomart and AJ Bell and looks ahead to what we might expect from British American Tobacco, Rolls-Royce and Ocado. Simon Rose recommends two books for Christmas that might appeal to those interested in investment and economics: Investing for Growth by fund manager Terry Smith and Daylight Robbery: How Tax Shaped Our Past And Will Change Our Future by commentator/comedian Dominic Frisby.

James Cameron-Wilson looks at the sad UK box office chart with fewer than 30 cinemas open (Home Alone is #1). He looks at new Netflix offering, Yes, God, Yes about a religious, naive young woman in the early days of online chatting. Brandon Cronenberg's Possessor, starring Andrea Riseborough, he found stomach-turning. But he was very taken with gay-themed romcom Happiest Season, starring Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis, which he recommends strongly.

Share Radio's technology editor Steve Caplin discusses the odd result of the South African lottery with six consecutive numbers. He also marvels at robots serving champagne, cultured meat, an end to astronauts burning their underwear, quieter helicopters and silent ion-propelled drones, a fan that follows you around the room, even smarter smart photo frames and an electric conversion kit for classic Minis, a snip at just over £10,000.

In the midst of the second COVID-related national lockdown for England, this episode of Policy Matters sees hosts Franz Buscha and Matt Dickson revisit some of the questions that were being asked in the first episode recorded under lockdown restrictions back in April. They start with some personal reflections on what life has been like juggling working-from-home and home-schooling over the months since the pandemic began, and thinking about the impact that the disruptions to education will have on school-aged children and inequality. Franz and Matt then discuss some of the academic research related to the pandemic; highlighting in particular the unintended consequences of policies like the “Eat out to help out” scheme, and considering the different ways in which the pandemic has affected the self-employed. The programme ends with a look ahead at some of the longer-term effects this experience might have on birth-rates and the implications these may have, and also considers what positive policy lessons could be taken forward and acted upon in the future.

In this episode, Adam shares a group hypnosis session that took place in front of an audience during his talk called Hypnotic Wealth. This uses a metaphor of a time machine to enable you to explore what you'd do to become wealthy if you have a time machine and what your financial future looks like at different levels of wealth including security, comfort, luxury and freedom. A great hypnosis session if you'd like to change how you think about wealth and money to be more financially successful.

Adam Cox is joined by the Managing Director of ABM UK, Adam Baker, to discuss how during the COVID-19 pandemic seeing is believing when it comes to cleaning. They consider the public’s attitude towards visible cleaning in public spaces to create a sense of safety and to gain back the public’s confidence in visiting businesses, and how the pandemic has created a greater demand for the facility services industry.

Adam Cox is joined by Angus Knights, Partnership Manager from Parcellab, to discuss the implications that come from retailers and businesses ignoring customers once they have made their purchases. They delve into the impact this will have on both the public and retailers, and how important customer service is in order to ensure a good relationship is maintained between the two once the customer has clicked “check out”.