Episodes

  • Thought for the Week: Dishonesty on a Pedestal

    Thought for the Week: Dishonesty on a Pedestal
    Jan 27 2025
    More than seven million people tuned in for the explosive finale of the third series of hit BBC series 'The Traitors', an entertaining romp through the psychological effects of dishonesty. The BBC has succeeded in making adjustments so that dishonesty doesn't always win, but the finale showed clearly how it evaporates trust. In a wider context, it's becoming increasingly clear that social media is driving people apart by enabling people to express views and aggression 'at arm's length' — the removal of fact-checking is another significant step backwards. So does social media drive people apart? We should not delay in seeking more research on the question. Background music: 'Hidden Agenda' by Kevin MacLeod — 'Hidden Agenda' by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Image source: Wikipedia Share Radio webpage for links Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    11 mins
  • Thought for the Week: Wealth and Autocracy

    Thought for the Week: Wealth and Autocracy
    Jan 20 2025
    This week is a real watershed, as we move from Biden to Trump. Joe Biden sounds a clear warning in his farewell address, setting out the risks for democracy and participation from the cohort of oligarchs that are now taking power, combined with the challenge from social media. Meanwhile the United Kingdom is losing its wealth creators at an accelerating rate due to the imposition of socialist ideology and a swathe of new taxes. Neither political stance will deliver the rallying cry of the French revolution, 'Liberté, égalité, fraternité'. Background music: 'Officer Of The Day March' by United States Marine Band Share Radio webpage for links Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    11 mins
  • Thought for the Week: Insuring Risks Unknown

    Thought for the Week: Insuring Risks Unknown
    Jan 13 2025
    The past year has seen a litany of climate change disasters of which the wildfires in Los Angeles are the latest. Yet Americans still supported Trump's call to 'drill, baby, drill' in the presidential election. This is just the latest disaster that financial markets have to contend with. How much pressure can the insurance and investment markets take? The one thing that we know for sure is that, while the American people may have locked in their choice for the next four years, there's no such insurance for the bond market — it can strike at any time. Background music: 'Trap Unboxing' by Jimmy Fontanez_Doug Maxwell Share Radio webpage for links Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    11 mins
  • Thought for the Week: Democracy threatened by impoverishing the young

    Thought for the Week: Democracy threatened by impoverishing the young
    Jan 6 2025
    Turnout at the 2024 general election was 59.7%, the lowest at a General Election since 2001, and 7.6 percentage points lower than in 2019. We are all keenly aware of the disproportionate number of Labour MPs (63.2%), notwithstanding their low overall polling (33.7%), but only now are we starting to see how young people have been disenfranchised by their poverty. This correlation between youth and poverty supports our consistent and strong calls for inter-generational rebalancing, and the need for more long-term focus in western democracies. If we don't take action, we run the risk of oscillating between an over-sized self-interested state driven by socialism and self-interested reactionaries driven by populism. Background music: 'Generations Away' by Unicorn Heads Share Radio webpage for links Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    12 mins
  • Thought for the Week: Should leadership be based on strategy or circumstance?

    Thought for the Week: Should leadership be based on strategy or circumstance?
    Dec 20 2024
    Leadership inspires and is transformative in character: it's hard to see how reacting to circumstances can achieve this outcome. The leadership given by Jesus Christ, whose birthday we celebrate each year on 25th December has provided both inspiration and transformation throughout the past two thousand years. Oh that the Church and our politicians could learn from that example! Background music: 'Carol of the Bells' by Quincas Moreira Share Radio webpage for links Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    9 mins
  • Thought for the Week: Short-termism — Democracy’s Achilles’ Heel

    Thought for the Week: Short-termism — Democracy’s Achilles’ Heel
    Dec 16 2024
    Food banks are very busy at this time of year, and Trussell, which co-ordinates and supplies 1,400 of them in the UK with 36,000 volunteers, is particularly active. Its combination of nationwide scalability and local partnerships shows how voluntary and philanthropic contributions can deliver hope in the face of a welfare state which has failed to break the cycle of deprivation over the past fifty years. Is this the model, combined with a more egalitarian form of capitalism, which can provide a more compassionate society with participation for all?Background music: 'Soul Food' by Chris Haugen Share Radio webpage for links Image source: Trussell Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    11 mins
  • The real merit of individual ownership is responsibility

    The real merit of individual ownership is responsibility
    Dec 9 2024
    Dame Julia Hoggett is Chief Executive of the London Stock Exchange, and featured in a half-page interview in The Sunday Times Business last weekend. She is a strong advocate for encouraging personal share ownership, which demonstrates clearly how a sense of responsibility builds from individual ownership: this is also particularly evident in employee share ownership. The correlation between ownership and responsibility at an individual level throughout society needs to be more fully understood and supported by business and politicians. Background music: 'Waiting' by Andrew Langdon Share Radio webpage for links Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    13 mins
  • Thought for the Week: A Matter of Life and Death

    Thought for the Week: A Matter of Life and Death
    Dec 2 2024
    Matters of life and death featured strongly in the House of Commons last Friday. thanks to Kim Leadbeater's Private Members' Bill on assisted dying — it's curious how the new UK parliament has developed such a fixation on 'end of life'. The Government's plans for inheritance tax might encourage people towards a serious look at philanthropy — register to join Philanthropy Impact's webinar on Donor Advised Funds, starting at 12 noon this Wednesday 4th December. Background music: 'Wandering Soul' by Asher Fulero Share Radio webpage for links Image Source: Philanthropy Impact Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    12 mins