Share Sounds

James Cameron-Wilson celebrates a 162% box office jump with Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy the new #1. Its £12.3m take was the biggest ever for a romcom. James, although recognising he's not the target audience, was a little less enthusiastic, as was Simon Rose, though James found it the best of the four films. #2 is Captain America: Brave New World, the 35th Marvel film. A thriller that gets increasingly far-fetched, James enjoyed it to an extent. He loved watching the BAFTAs and discusses the ceremony and the results.

Steve Caplin says that in 2 days, AI solved a problem that took Imperial College scientists 10 years. But it also caused a massive gaffe in a staggeringly expensive Super Bowl ad. He discusses new e-ink developments including outdoor posters, a tablet, a minimal phone and a gaming console. The BBC's Radiophonic Workshop output has been digitised. There's a high-tech bookmark. Italy is getting tough with fake TripAdvisor reviews which are damaging tourism. You should take your tablets with milk not water in future. And Gen Z is having problems hearing, but it's neurological and caused by noise-cancelling headphones say audiologists.

Political commentator Mike Indian discusses President Trump's recent statements on Ukraine, accusing it of having started the war, blocking elections and President Zelensky of being a dictator. How viable is Keir Starmer's statement that the UK will stand by Ukraine? After 78 years, relying on NATO for joint defence is no longer a certainty and puts presure on the UK's spending priorities. He also discusses the lack of awareness shown by Labour MPs over their offensive WhatsApp messages. Taken with other things, like gifts and fibs on CVs, it is death by a thousand cuts though Labour's big majority means that most MPs – bar Reeves – are expendable. However, the local elections could weaken Starmer's authority.

Russell Pointon of Edison Group discusses their latest ConsumerWatch report. Despite weak consumer confidence and low economic growth, the sector did well at the end of 2024. Looking ahead, they expect progress from every sub-sector. Those likely to prove consistently strong are hotels, restaurants and leisure with 27 companies highlighted, among them Topps Tiles, Deliveroo, M&S, Next and Hollywood Bowl. The report is on the Edison website. Russell also discussed BAT, which has just had full-year results. They anticipate getting half their revenue in future from smokeless products. It's a company that is innovating and, as a result, better growth and profits are coming through.

Sam Altman, the tech entrepreneur who built OpenAI and its ground-breaking ChatGPT Artificial Intelligence functionality, correctly says that increasing equality may require new ideas. He's right: governments and political ideologies of many hues just can't deliver, besieged by conflicts of interest and debt. The Credit Suisse Wealth Distribution chart shows the huge contrast between those who are super-rich (in blue), the wealthiest of whom are the giant tech oligarchs, and those who live in real poverty, in red. It's time we accepted that 'The State', whether socialist or populist, can't deliver, and for philanthropists to step up to the plate, working in partnership with governments who still need to provide the necessary regulation and logistics. Background music: 'Resolution' by Wayne Jones Image source: Wikipedia

The future of the Cash ISA has been in the spotlight of late, with rumours that the Chancellor could tinker with one of Britain's best-loved tax breaks. It's believed some City bosses are lobbying her to make the limit less generous, and push more people into investing their money instead. While just speculation, it's a move that would certainly ruffle a few feathers. This week, Lee Boyce, Georgie Frost and Angharad Carrick discuss the future of ISAs and ask: should people with cash parked in savings accounts be strong-armed into investing instead? Elsewhere, Octopus has launched an investment platform where you can buy into a wind turbine — is it a good home for your cash? Council tax has been in the spotlight, with some areas seeing increases in annual bills of up to 9.9% — and with it a social movement to cancel direct debits. Here's why that's not a wise move. Ang spoke to Virgin Media O2's customer service boss about their pledge to turn around their poor performance over the years. Will we just be shoved to chatbots? And does living in a hard water area make energy bills more expensive?

Now he wants to run OpenAI. Jason Moser and Mary Long discuss Elon Musk’s bid for OpenAI, what BYD’s rollout of self-driving technology means for Tesla, revitalized interest in Upstart’s AI lending platform, and developments in the buy now, pay later space. Then, 18 minutes in, Anand Chokkavelu hosts Fool contributors Jason Hall and Rick Munarriz for a Scoreboard episode breaking down Trex, the composite decking company. To become a premium Motley Fool member and gain access to all Scoreboard episodes, go to www.fool.com/signup. Companies mentioned: MSFT, TSLA, BYD, UPST, JPM, AFRM, FIS, TREX. Host - Mary Long; Guests - Jason Moser, Anand Chokkavelu, Jason Hall, Rick Munarriz

The principles of investing are fairly simple to understand. Application requires some intensity. William Green is the author of 'Richer, Wiser, Happier: How the World's Greatest Investors Win in Markets and Life'. Green also hosts a podcast with the same title. Robert Brokamp caught up with him for a conversation about what successful investing comes down to, the personality traits of market beaters, and investing lessons from Charlie Munger, Howard Marks, and John Templeton. Companies mentioned: BRK.A, BRK.B, MKL. Host - Robert Brokamp; Guest - William Green

Adam Cox is joined by Yvette Langton from YL Introductions. They discuss what YL Introductions does, as well as the concept of 'swipe fatigue' and building authentic connections through matchmaking services. https://www.ylintroductions.co.uk/

If you're trying to lose weight but your eating choices are already good, there's just two potential routes to follow: cut out an existing meal window (known as intermittent fasting), or exercise (increase physical activity): either route achieves a calorie deficit so that your energy requirement feeds on body fat. Adam Cox uses the metaphor of an invisibility blanket, as in Harry Potter stories, in order to show how small changes over a period can really work.