Podcasts

This week, savings have been in the spotlight with National Savings and Investments cutting rates on a number of its offerings, including popular Premium Bonds. Both Marcus Bank and Saga also cut easy-access rates. On this week's podcast, Simon Lambert, Lee Boyce and Georgie Frost look at what's behind the cuts and question: should savers head elsewhere, and what is the point of tucking money away for little interest? Nationwide Building Society has launched a Start to Save easy-access account with a £100 lottery – is it any good and can it help get people into the savings habit? We cover a curious case of one reader who found their Spotify infiltrated by someone with appalling music taste. Simon reveals how he was stung by the loyalty penalty when a renewal letter came through from his insurer Halifax. It hiked his premium, but after weeks of back-and-forth, couldn't give him a concrete reason as to why. And Lee looks at whether a Fitbit is worth the money and how a fitness tracker helped his mum, with an underlying health condition, become healthier.

Adam Cox is joined by Maria Egorova, a relationship coach for men. Maria works with those who are struggling to cope with single life after relationship breakdown and divorce, and coaches them to reclaim their identity and gain the confidence to build new relationships. Maria discusses the ways in which men can struggle after a divorce, the tips that can help them to make progress, and why she feels it’s an advantage to be a female coach helping men.

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, members of The Motley Fool's recruiting team join us with their best advice for how to make your resume and cover letter stand out, nailing a job interview, and how to negotiate a great offer.

Tech guru Steve Caplin on how you can interact with Turner's masterpiece on the new £20 note, Jeff Bezos's pledge to save the environment, Samsung's new phones, the Met Police bringing in live facial recognition, an app taking revenge on nuisance calls, the knife that thinks it's a fork and vice versa and ends with organic robots, robot snakes, sweating robots and a giant Gundam robot.

James Cameron-Wilson examines the latest UK box office figures where the newly-released Sonic the Hedgehog is in the #1 spot. Oscar-winning Korean film Parasite rises from #4 to #2 while the new version of Emma enters at #6. Polish erotic film 365 Dni is at #8. For home viewing, James strongly recommends the Colombian-set movie Monos.

Joe Healey of The Share Centre looks at recent results from HSBC and Lloyds Bank as well as Morgan Sindall and Smith & Nephew and considers their prospects for private investors. He also looks ahead to what we might expect from Persimmon, IAG and Rolls Royce.

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: Nvidia shakes off its “crypto hangover” and reports blowout earnings; Shopify soars; Pepsi surprises; And Roku rises. Motley Fool analysts Emily Flippen, Ron Gross, and Jason Moser discuss those stories and weigh in on the latest from Mattel, Lyft, Under Armour, and Restaurant Brands International. Plus, our analysts talk about the coronavirus and what it means for investors. We dig into Facebook’s Pinterest-like app, Samsung’s foldable phone, Kellogg’s Incogmeato, and Kentucky Fried Crocs. And our analysts share three stocks on their radar: Appian, Tencent, and Salesforce.

This week started with rumours of a pension tax relief cut and mansion tax, saw the Chancellor fall on his sword, and ended with people none the wiser about whether a Budget tax raid is more or less likely after all that. Sajid Javid exited the stage to be replaced by one of his own men, Rishi Sunak, after an attempt by Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings to take back control at the Treasury was rebuffed by the short-lived Chancellor. The question now is just whose idea the pension tax relief and mansion tax plans were and whether they are now on the cards or not (or was the whole shebang just a bit of Machiavellian manoeuvring)? What we do know is that a Budget is due in less than a month, so other than the national purse strings being loosened for the ‘levelling-up’ agenda what are we likely to see? On this week’s podcast, Simon Lambert, Tanya Jefferies and Georgie Frost delve into the Chancellor saga, what we know about the new man, and what could happen in the Budget that will affect your finances, from a stamp duty cut, to IR35 easing and a tax raid on the wealthier.

Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University examines why big construction projects such as Crossrail and HS2 go over budget, what ought to be done about the BBC and its licence fee and he casts a look back over the UK's troubled relationship with the EU during its 47-year membership.

James Cameron-Wilson on the UK box office, where Dolittle has knocked the garlanded 1917 off its #1 perch. Birds of Prey enters at #2 with Parasite, the South Korean Best Film Oscar-winner in at #4. James also reviews Under Water, which didn't make the top ten, before turning his attention to the recent Oscars.