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In an interesting episode for summer holidays in the moors, woods and countryside: yes, this is about calming anxiety about unpleasant insects that burrow and bite, such as ticks. Adam Cox helps you to look at such perceived threats in a different way — to disassociate from anxiety, and to build your confidence to deal with such infestation!

James Cameron-Wilson reports on a healthy UK box office despite the hot weather. New #1 is Deadpool & Wolverine, the first Marvel film James has enjoyed in a long time. Its 15 certificate is well-deserved as it has lots of blood, beheadings and bad language and there's too much CGI combat but Ryan Reynolds' meta-banter is undeniably funny and the film is full of "Easter Eggs" for fans. The 1959 Sylvia Syms and Herbert Lom British drama No Trees in the Street is available on 4K restoration disc. Shot like an American film noir it's a poverty row drama which is a fascinating time capsule and makes you appreciate the conveniences and luxuries of modern life. Guy Ritchie's films keep going straight to streaming in the UK, including the supposedly true-life war film The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. It's very Guy Ritchie, bloody with lots of OTT violence but is nonetheless a guilty pleasure.

Steve Caplin's love for Perplexity deepens. OpenAI's rival to Google is almost ready but ChatGPT apparently makes up URLs. BA's hilarious new safety video has been watched on YouTube half a milion times. Fruit – but not veg – reduces age-related depression. There's a new supermarket delivery robot, while a Japanese supermarket uses AI to standardise smiles and Simon warns about Sainsbury's illusory online offers. There are a couple of devices to help stop snoring, but one uses AI and the other electrocutes your tongue! And the Royal Mail app can now detect counterfeit stamps.

Following the Bank of England's interest rate cut Russ Mould of A J Bell discusses the positives and negatives of lower rates. He also talks about the strong flow of share buybacks in the UK, with almost £50bn announced so far this year. He explains why they aren't always a good idea and should be viewed on a case-by-case basis. Although private investors don't benefit directly, their equity stake in the company grows. With a total cash yield on the FTSE100 of 6.3% (even more with FTSE250), he feels the UK market is looking ever more attractive.

Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University says that Keir Starmer feels more like a Prime Minister than Rishi Sunak. The big themes emerging from the new government are wealth creation and growth, reducing debt and building homes. Labour's competence could pose problems for the Conservatives. Tim runs through the candidates for the Leadership, with Badenoch and Jenrick the frontrunners. But the new leader may need to purge its left wing, as Labour has, if it is to see off Reform. Reform, for its part, has huge opportunities and challenges and must modernise and professionalise if it is to become a proper, grown-up party.

The new Chancellor of the Exchequer's speech to the House of Commons on 29th July 2024, unabridged and as delivered.

David Willetts set out the challenge of inter-generational injustice 14 years ago in his book, 'The Pinch': but the problems have got worse, not better, during that same period of Conservative government. Young people face huge problems as a result of a fiscal environment structured to benefit older people, student debt, asset prices inflated by prolonged low interest rates — and then the pandemic: not to speak of demographic dislocations as a result of migration. Government finances may indeed require a complete overhaul, but it needs to be done in combination with resolving inter-generational injustice. Background music: 'Generations Away' by Unicorn Heads

Building up a savings pot and then investing to grow your wealth and provide a decent pension for retirement is the key to long-term financial success. But there's lots to consider at each step — and most people will want to buy a home along the way. So what do you need to think about when sketching out your lifetime finances and then trying to achieve your goals? Georgie Frost and Simon Lambert take it step by step and look at each element of saving, investing, buying a home and building a pension. How much should you have in an emergency savings pot? How do you move from saving to investing? How can first-time buyers get ahead in tricky times? How much do you need to save for retirement? They look at all of these things and more.

We talk through the estimated $5Bn in lost activity across banking, travel, and other industries due to Crowdstrike’s faulty update and the $30Bn shaved off the company’s market cap. Jason Moser and Matt Argersinger discuss the impact of the global IT outage, where it will show up financially and how Crowdstrike responded, why the market is down on Tesla’s profitability, and how Spotify’s stellar run is continuing and why dividend investors might want to keep an eye on UPS. Then, 19 minutes in, Motley Fool co-founder and Chief Rule Breaker David Gardner talks with Emily Flippen about his best stock recommendation, some of his best investing lessons and how to make sense of the nascent artificial intelligence space. Finally, 31 minutes in, Jason and Matt break down two stocks on their radar: Twilio and Coupang. Stocks discussed: CRWD, MSFT, TSLA, CMG, SPOT, UPS, NVDA, TWLO, CPNG. Host - Dylan Lewis; Guests - Matt Argersinger, Jason Moser, David Gardner, Emily Flippen

Liz Ann Sonders is a Managing Director and Chief Investment Strategist at Charles Schwab. Motley Fool’s Bill Mann interviewed Sonders for our member event FoolFest: this show is a cut of that conversation. They discuss how a deluge of economic information has changed investing, what’s happening beneath the surface of broad market indexes, and the Magnificent Seven and the best performers in the S&P 500. Companies mentioned: SCHW, GE, NVDA. Host - Bill Mann; Guest - Liz Ann Sonders