Podcast Episodes

Greensill: What went wrong?

Greensill Capital was a UK based finance firm and a darling of investors which made its money by lending to businesses. It went into administration in March 2021, leaving investors facing billions i…

Published on 3 years, 2 months ago

Will a multibillion dollar project get Americans back on trains?

New York’s Penn Station is the busiest transport hub in the United States - as many as 650,000 people pass through it in a day. But this intercity hub is widely agreed to be outdated and unloved.

Now …

Published on 3 years, 2 months ago

Mahira Khan on Pakistan's mental health emergency

In this episode we explore mental health provision in Pakistan. Pakistan has a population of more than 200 million people but only around 500 working psychiatrists. This means around ninety percent o…

Published on 3 years, 2 months ago

Can a giant seaweed farm help curb climate change?

A British businessman has come up with a bold plan to turn the floating seaweed sargassum into cash, and tackle global warming at the same time. In this episode, Justin Rowlatt meets John Auckland.…

Published on 3 years, 2 months ago

Rent-a-Robot

The use of robots in North American workplaces has increased by 40% since the start of the pandemic and the small to medium sized businesses, which never automated before, are getting in on the act. …

Published on 3 years, 2 months ago

Space: The final food frontier

Is space the final frontier for meat grown from animal stem cells?

Elizabeth Hotson asks whether growing steaks under micro gravity conditions could help in the quest for food security and whether, ba…

Published on 3 years, 2 months ago

How to quit

When women's tennis world number one Ash Barty suddenly announced in March 2022 that she was retiring from tennis, it was huge shock.

Barty, a three time grand slam champion, was only 25.

At the time s…

Published on 3 years, 2 months ago

Getting backpackers to return to Australia

Now that borders have opened up post pandemic, backpackers have been slow to return to Australia.

Despite a number of initiatives, the number of travellers is low. And that’s having an impact on busin…

Published on 3 years, 2 months ago

Why food could be the future of fashion

Fashion is one of the world’s most polluting industries – more than half of everything we wear is still made from plastic.

In the search for more sustainable ingredients – designers are now turning t…

Published on 3 years, 2 months ago

Are home solar panels the solution?

Home solar – putting panels on your roof or side of your house, used be something fairly unusual. However, rising energy costs means that people are increasingly looking for alternatives.

Presenter Ri…

Published on 3 years, 2 months ago