Share Sounds.

40% of everything sold online in the United States is through Amazon. Its web services division owns almost a third of the worldwide cloud infrastructure. Amazon is a goliath. Dana Mattioli is an investigative journalist at the Wall Street Journal and the author of “The Everything War: Amazon’s Ruthless Quest to Own the World and Remake Corporate Power.” Mary Long caught up with Mattioli for a conversation about Amazon’s early days and how it withstood years of sustained losses, how Amazon makes Wall Street look genteel, and the lengths that the company went to get information from competitors. Companies discussed: AMZN, TGT, EBAY. Host - Mary Long; Guest - Dana Mattioli

Adam Cox is joined by Doug Glenwright from Fred. Olsen. They discuss new research that's been carried out, as well as some the findings. One of which is more and more travellers are looking at the off-peak months for their trips. https://www.fredolsencruises.com/

Compulsion is very different from habit: there's an internal dialogue driving that action, so that it feels essential in order to avoid some unpleasant consequence. It's not just eating, although that is the subject of this episode — it can apply to anything you feel you have to do, such as repetitively checking things or washing hands. It's therefore closely related to OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) and arguably a form of superstition, which is thought to affect between 1% and 4% of people. If this is something you experience, Adam Cox helps to break those patterns of inner dialogue to provide you with freedom of choice.

Neil Shah of Edison Group says that tech-focussed, early-stage venture capital company IP Group is worth taking a look at. With a market cap of £460m, some of the businesses it invested in are now quoted and, while the interim results reflected a difficult period, things are now improving. With some facinating things in the portfolio, the long-duration investor IP is at a 56% discount to net asset value. Discoverie creates and sources electronic designs and components and has just moved into security. It's an attractive long-term business with high returns yet is at a 27% discount to its peers. More info is on the Edison website (https://www.edisongroup.com/).

James Cameron-Wilson tells Simon Rose that box office is down 21%, with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice still #1. #2 is the James McAvoy thriller of manners Speak No Evil which James praised highly while advising cinemagoers to avoid the trailer. Kate Winslet stars in passion project Lee (#3) about WW2 photojournalist Lee Miller. While she is brilliant and the film looks amazing, the story is so slow paced and conventionally told James had trouble keeping his eyes open. And while he enjoyed Ian McKellen's performance in the 1930s-set The Critic (#7), he found it improbable, flat, leaden and lacking in humour as well, as too often these days, much too dark.

Political commentator Mike Indian discusses the increase in salary of Downing Street Chief of Staff Sue Gray to £170,000, £3,000 more than the PM. Only time will tell how valuable her role is. Given Labour's attack on sleaze when in opposition, how serious are the revelations about freebies given to Keir Starmer and other politicians? What do donors expect in return? Mike also discusses the optimism of the LibDem conference. But they aren't a cohesive parliamentary group yet and are very much a party of southern England. And he looks at the Darzi review into the NHS. What could reforms look like and how can Labour seriously reduce the number of people who are off work sick?

Steve Caplin explains how patients in rural America can now consult specialists using holographs. There's a less intrusive brain-to-computer interface. Scientists have found a way to help the voiceless speak. A car, unstable at high speeds, can expand its wheels to go faster. A new paint can be peeled off. A novel phone alarm makes sure you get out of bed. People are getting mules to do their exercising for them. And Steve reveals some of the most interesting entries for this years IgNobel Prize.

In a House of Lords debate on the continuing conflict in Sudan, Archbishop Justin Welby called for a long-term plan towards peace building. The need for that is just as acute in Ukraine and, using all his considerable skills in reconciliation, he could open the door to a pathway to peace by going to meet Patriarch Kirill in Moscow. Thus far Kirill has given steadfast spiritual support to Putin, but is this in keeping with the Christian faith? How can the clear instruction to 'love your enemies' be reconciled with the continuing devastation and anguish in Ukraine and the abduction of more than 20,000 children? Background music: 'Confliction & Catharsis' by Asher Fulero

Do you keep savings in your current account? It’s an easy trap to fall into, with a third of people admitting they do it in a recent poll. If you do keep a savings pot in a bank account you are likely to be missing out on a big chunk of interest you could otherwise earn. But even if they don’t do this, there’s two more mistakes people make — using convenient ‘insult’ accounts with their existing bank that pay pitiful interest and not using a Cash ISA and losing out to tax. Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Simon Lambert look at how to make more of your savings and avoid handing over returns to the bank or taxman. Plus, are you playing into the hands of shoulder surfing fraudsters or phone snatchers, why are more larger detached homes hitting the market and how can you get Steve Webb to answer your pension question on next week’s podcast?

Normally people love reaching a milestone – but Berkshire Hathaway hitting $1T might’ve triggered a different kind of thinking for Warren Buffett and his lieutenants. Jason Moser and Matt Argersinger discuss the signs execs at Berkshire Hathaway believe the market is rich – Ajit Jain reducing his Berkshire stake, and the company winding down its buyback activity, Brian Niccol’s vision for returning to Starbucks’ roots as a third place and why the market was up on RH’s results, down on Adobe’s outlook, and still hoping a Kroger/Albertson’s deal will go through. Then, 19 minutes in — this week was Apple’s annual product event. Dan Barbera from MacRumors gives the scoop on the latest releases, one way the latest iPhones could fuel Vision Pro adoption, and what to expect from Apple in 2025. Finally, 34 minutes in, Jason and Matt break down two stocks on their radar: Top Golf Callaway and Oxford Industries. Stocks discussed: BRK, SBUX, RH, ADBE, KR, AAPL, DNUT, OXM, MODG. Host - Dylan Lewis; Guests - Jason Moser, Matt Argersinger, Dan Barbera