Business Daily

Does the proliferation of microphones in our mobile phones and home smart speakers mean that anyone can eavesdrop on us?Manuela Saragosa hears from the BBC's own technology correspondent Zoe Kleinman about a creepy experience she had when her phone appeared to listen in on a conversation with her mother, and how it led her to discover how easy it is to hack someone's microphone and spy on them. That's exactly what Dutch documentary film maker Anthony van der Meer did, when he purposely let his phone get stolen so he could use it secretly to record the thief. Cyber-security expert Lisa Forte says these stories may be the tip of the iceberg, with everyone from governments to big tech firms to hackers and cyber-criminals potentially listening in on our private conversations.Producer: Laurence Knight(Picture: Outline of a mobile phone visible in the back pocket of a woman's jeans; Credit: Yuri Arcurs/Getty Images)

Cryptocurrencies are on the rebound, but does the case for investing in them make any more sense?Manuela Saragosa hears both sides of the argument. Jay Smith is a long-time player in the markets for these digital tokens, and is a popular player on the electronic trading site eToro. He explains why he believes Bitcoin and its ilk have a long-term future, even though he doesn't personally subscribe to the libertarian ideology that most of his fellow investors share.However, cold water is poured on this vision by sceptic David Gerard, author of a book called Attack of the 50ft Blockchain. Plus Angela Walch, a research fellow at the Centre for Blockchain Technologies at University College London, says she thinks the crypto craze is a symptom of the broader rise of populism since the 2008 financial crash.(Picture: A visual representation of the digital Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin; Credit: Chesnot/Getty Images)

The British prime minister looks for a new deal to solve the deadlock over Brexit. Ed Butler hears from Jill Rutter, Brexit programme director at the Institute for Government in the UK, and Tom McTague, chief UK correspondent for the website Politico. Yanis Varoufakis, the Greek former finance minister who negotiated with the EU over Greece's bailout deal, tells us where Theresa May went wrong.(Photo: Theresa May delivers her latest speech, Credit: Getty Images)

The rise and fall of Indian jeweller Nirav Modi, arrested in London and accused by Indian authorities of a massive fraud. Ed Butler speaks to Mick Brown, a journalist at the UK's Daily Telegraph who has covered the story, and James Crabtree, author of the book The Billionaire Raj.(Photo: Nirav Modi at his office in Mumbai in 2016, Credit: Getty Images)

Voice assistant apps like Alexa, Siri and Google Assistant are about to transform the economics of the web.Nearly a quarter of all households in the US and in China already have a smart speaker in their homes, allowing them to play music, order a delivery or find out the news, all by simply talking to their computer. Meanwhile an estimated 2.5bn smartphones now carry these wannabe AI oracles.Manuela Saragosa asks Silicon Valley analyst Carolina Milanesi whether this new technology could one day rival the conversational prowess of the ship's computer on Star Trek. And what kind of vision do the likes of Google, Apple and Amazon have for it? Meanwhile journalist and author James Vlahos explains why he thinks their advent is bad news for anyone who wants to maintain any visibility on the internet. And we put his criticisms to one of the major players - Andrew Shuman from the team behind Microsoft's Cortana voice assistant.Producer: Laurence Knight(Picture: Amazon Echo Sub subwoofer; Credit: Philip Barker/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

Rome's decision to sign up to China's One Belt One Road initiative has proved controversial both at home and among Italy's closest allies.Washington DC and Brussels are both sceptical of the true intent behind Beijing's programme for financing major overseas infrastructure projects, ostensibly to enhance China's trade routes. President Xi Jinping's recent invitation to Rome to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Italian government - an initiative spearheaded by the little known Italian economy minister Michele Geraci - has caused consternation.Manuela Saragosa gets the view in Washington DC from Jonathan Hillman of think tank the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. And the former Italian foreign affairs minister Giulio Terzi Sant'Agata explains why many of his compatriots are worried about the contents of the that memorandum.(Picture: Italys Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte greets China's President Xi Jinping at Villa Madama in Rome; Credit: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP/Getty Images)

Can the continent remove trade barriers and create a billion-person internal market? That's the hope of the African Continental Free Trade Area, but a year on from its initial signing, many obstacles remain.Nearly all of Africa's 55 nations have signed up to the initiative, yet the most populous country Nigeria remains a hold-out. And there still remain huge logistical barriers to free trade, as Will Bain discovers when he speaks to frustrated truckers on the Zambia-Botswana border.Ed Butler speaks to Ghana's minister for trade Alan Kyerematen, as well as Pearl Uzokwe of the African conglomerate Sahara Group, and Alex Vines of London-based think tank Chatham House. (Picture: Trucks drive along the Ethiopian side of the Ethiopia-Eritrea border; Credit: Michael Tewelde/AFP/Getty Images)

It is only 100 years since women in the UK were first allowed to practice law. Women now make up more than 50% of lawyers in many parts of the world, but why are so few in the top jobs? Katie Prescott speaks to Dana Dennis-Smith, who has collated the stories of women in the law over the last century. Farmida Bi of Norton Rose Fulbright, a huge international law firm, speaks about her journey from non-English speaking Pakistani child to global leader in her profession. We also hear from Shana Knizhnik, co-author of Notorious R.B.G: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, about one of the most iconic women in the US legal profession.(Photo: A statue of justice. Credit: Getty Images)

The lucrative business of 'essay mills' - companies that will write your university assignments for you. Chris makes thousands of dollars a year writing essays for fellow Chinese students struggling with English. Gareth Crossman from QAA - a UK education standards agency - says technology is facilitating the growing problem of essay mills. (Photo: A stock image of a classroom assignment, Credit: Getty Images)

The economy of Russian occupied territories in Ukraine. Ed Butler reports on the people living between western Ukraine and the eastern occupied territories including the city of Donetsk, and the flow of goods and people across an active front line.(Photo: Russian servicemen near the Crimean town of Dzhankoy, 12 miles away from the Ukrainian border, Credit: Getty Images)

How is the Scottish city of Aberdeen coping with the UK's imminent exit from the EU? It is home to the country's oil and gas industry, as well as some 5,000 fisherman.Katie Prescott speaks to local businesspeople in both industries, who are increasingly anxious at the complete lack of certainty about what will happen when the UK does eventually leave - albeit that the date of departure has now been postponed by a few more weeks beyond 29 March.How will European fishing quotas and access to British waters be decided post Brexit? And what will happen to Aberdeen's oil production, particularly as the flow of fossil fuels from under the North Sea begins to run dry? Aberdeen is the most vulnerable city in the UK to Brexit, according to Andrew Carter of research group, the Centre for Cities.Producer: Sarah Treanor(Picture: Fish at the Aberdeen fish market; Credit: BBC)

Would a Universal Basic Income help solve inequality or make it worse, and would it protect us from robots taking our jobs?Finland has just completed a two-year experiment in doing just that. Manuela Saragosa speaks to one of the grateful recipients of the pilot project, freelance journalist Tuomas Muraja. A similar approach has already been taken for many years by some charities in the developing world, as Joe Huston of the GiveDirectly explains.So how does it work? Anthony Painter of the Royal Society of Arts in London says the financial security it provides allows people to be more creative and invest more in themselves. But Professor Ian Goldin of Oxford University is sceptical, saying there are more effective and affordable ways of helping those most in need.(Picture: Money falling on people; Credit: stocknroll/Getty Images)

To follow the world's headlines these days - from fake news to murderous terror attacks, from disease pandemics to global warming - you might be forgiven for thinking the world is becoming a pretty scary place. But is it really? Harvard University cognitive psychologist and author Steven Pinker tells us that is measurably not the case. As he argues in his new book Enlightenment Now, we are in a golden age of human existence.But, David Edmonds meets academics who are putting Pinker's ideas to the test, concluding that with climate change and overpopulation, there is a 10% chance of humans not surviving the 21st Century.(Photo: Activist at a climate change protest in Spain. Credit: Getty Images)

Are chemical elements critical for the modern economy in dangerously short supply? It's a question that Justin Rowlatt poses a century and a half after the Russian chemist Dmitry Mendeleev published the original periodic table.Justin speaks to two chemists - Andrea Sella of University College London explains the significance of Mendeleev's scheme to the modern world, while David Cole-Hamilton talks us through an updated version of the table he has just published that highlights chemical elements that could run out within the next century unless we learn to make better use of them.However, perhaps we don't need to worry just yet, at least not for two of those red-flagged elements. Thomas Abraham-Jones describes how he happened across the world's biggest reserve of helium in the African savannah, while Rick Short of Indium Corporation explains why the metallic element his company is named after is in abundant supply, so long as you don't mind sifting an awful lot of dirt for it.Producer: Laurence Knight(Picture: Manuscript of Mendeleev's first periodic system of elements; Credit: Science & Society Picture Library/SSPL/Getty Images)

As the UK parliament votes to delay Brexit beyond 29 March, businesses brace for yet more uncertainty. But will the EU even be willing to grant a delay?Manuela Saragosa speaks to companies on both sides of the English Channel. British Barley farmer Matt Culley says he now has to plant his coming year's crop with no clue whether or how he will even be able to export his produce to breweries in Germany come harvest time. Meanwhile Chayenne Wiskerke, who runs the world's biggest onion exporting operation from the Netherlands, expresses her exasperation that with two weeks to go, every possible outcome - from delay, to cancellation, to the UK leaving without any agreement at all - remains on the table.But fear not says David Henig, director of the UK Trade Policy Project at the European Centre for International Political Economy. He explains why he thinks a year's delay is the most likely outcome.(Picture: A pro Brexit supporter holds up a placard that reads 'Just Leave' outside the Houses of Parliament; Credit: John Keeble/Getty Images)

The brewer has been accused of complicity with Africa's murkiest politics, and of failing to protect female brand promoters from sexual harassment. But can a company really separate itself from its political environment?Manuela Saragosa hears from the Dutch investigative journalist Olivier van Beemen, whose book Heineken in Africa makes multiple accusations against the company, including collusion with the regimes of Burundi and DR Congo. Plus Heineken provides its response.But is it a case of damned if you do, and damned if you don't? When a company finds that it cannot control what is happening on the ground in a politically challenging country, should it simply pull out of the country altogether? Human rights lawyer Elise Groulx Diggs of Doughty Street Chambers gives us her view.(Picture: Heineken logo on a beer bottle; Credit: Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

A continued political crisis in the UK means more uncertainty for businesses. We hear from the boss of a manufacturing company in Birmingham and Nicole Sykes, head of EU negotiations at the UK business group the CBI, as well as the BBC's Rob Watson in Westminster and Adam Fleming in Strasbourg.(Photo: A protester carries an EU flag in London, Credit: Getty Images)

Ed Butler reports from Ukraine ahead of the presidential elections scheduled for the end of March. With endemic corruption and ongoing conflict with Russian-backed rebels in the east, what verdict will the voters give to the President Petro Poroshenko? Ed Butler speaks with MP Serhiy Leschenko who's recently left Poroshenko's Solidarity faction over concerns about corruption and nepotism.Other candidates include the former Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko and comedian and actor Volodymyr Zelensky. Olesia Verchenko from the Kyiv School of Economics says she has doubts about all of them.And Deputy Minister of Health Pavlo Kovtoniuk explains measures taken within the healthcare service to clean up its act.This programme was produced by Anna Noryskiewicz.PHOTO: Anti-corruption protest in Kyiv, Ukraine. Copyright: Ed Butler, BBC

In India experts and parents increasingly question whether the country's education system is fit for purpose.With huge emphasis placed on college entrance exams and academic degrees - like engineering, medicine or law - Rahul Tandon explores what consequences that has on children's overall development. He visits an unorthodox school that uses Harry Potter to develop critical thinking, and he asks whether the economy would be better served by encouraging vocational training.(Picture: Students seen coming out of the examination centre at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan School in New Delhi, India; Credit: Getty Images)

In a world designed by men for men, women often come off worst, sometimes with fatal consequences.Manuela Saragosa speaks to author Caroline Criado Perez about the gender data gap - the fact that everything from smartphone health apps to lapel microphones is designed with a male body in mind, and how for example cardiovascular problems in women go under-diagnosed because the female body is treated as "atypical".This blind spot for women is built into our work environments in large part because the people designing those environments are mostly men. So how do we get more women into positions of power? The answer, according to organisational psychologist Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, is not to ease the way for women to reach the top, but rather to make it more difficult for so many incompetent over-confident men to do so.Plus, Kathryn Colas, founder of consultancy Simply Hormones, explains how the affect of the menopause on women in the workplaces is only just beginning to be recognised by employers.(Picture:

Is the US sugar industry's relationship with politicians, from Florida to Washington DC, just a little bit too sweet?Gilda Di Carli reports from the Sunshine State, where the newly elected Governor Ron DeSantis has vowed to take on the sugarcane lobby, which he blames for impeding efforts to tackle the gigantic algae blooms that have blighted Florida's rivers and coasts.Meanwhile Manuela Saragosa speaks to Guy Rolnik, professor of strategic management at the Chicago Booth School, about two of the industry's wealthiest and most politically connected magnates, Alfy and Pepe Fanjul. Plus Ryan Weston of the Sugar Cane League - which represents US growers including the Fanjuls - explains why he thinks the industry gets an unfair rap from the media.Producer: Laurence Knight(Picture: Sugar cubes on black background; Credit: tuchkovo/Getty Images)

Are health services around the world wilfully blind to the problem of dangerously long hours being worked by junior medics?Vivienne Nunis speaks to doctors in Australia and America about how tiredness and depression are not only ruining their lives, but also pose a threat to the safety of patients going under the knife or receiving prescriptions. And it's a worldwide problem - as Sydney-based doctor Yumiko Kadota discovered when a blog she wrote attracted similar stories of exhaustion from Colombia to Poland. Author Margaret Heffernan says the culture of many health systems is one of wilful blindness to the physical limits of human employees, while the campaigning American medic Pamela Wible MD explains how it is driving many hospital staff to suicide.(Picture: Exhausted surgeon resting his head on operating theatre table; Credit: Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Our appliances are getting increasingly difficult and expensive to mend, in some cases by design. So should consumers demand the right to repair?Ed Butler speaks to those campaigning for manufacturers to make it easier for us to fix our electronics goods - with everything from tractors to phones to baby incubators in their sites. Clare Seek runs a Repair Café in Portsmouth, England, a specially designated venue for anyone who wants to get their stuff to last longer. And Ed travels to Agbogbloshie in Accra in Ghana, one of the places where our mountains of e-waste end up being pulled apart and melted down for scrap.The programme also features interviews with Gay Gordon-Byrne, executive director of The Repair Association; Kyle Wiens, founder of iFixit; intellectual property lawyer Jani Ihalainen; and Susanne Baker, head of environment and compliance at techUK.(Picture: Broken iPhone; Credit: Edmond So/South China Morning Post via Getty Images)

Should the collection of vast genetic databases be dominated by private companies such as 23andMe or Ancestry.com?In the second of two programmes looking at the businesses riding high on the boom in home DNA testing kits, Manuela Saragosa looks at how the enormous head start these companies have over public sector DNA research initiatives may be skewing medical research. Will the profit motive drive these companies to wall off their databases, and give access only to pharmaceutical companies capable of developing lucrative new drugs that mainly benefit the predominately wealthy, white customers who send in their DNA samples in the first place?The programme features interviews with Kathy Hibbs of 23andMe, Mark Caulfield of Genomics England, and Kayte Spector-Bagdady of the University of Michigan Medical School.Producer: Laurence Knight(Picture: Woman's cheek being swabbed; Credit: AndreyPopov/Getty Images)

What can you really learn about your heritage from a home DNA testing kit? We hear from Bill and Ylva Wires, a couple in Berlin who used DNA testing kits to find out more about their ancestors. Manuela Saragosa speaks to Rafi Mendelsohn of MyHeritage.com - one major company in this field - and Kristen V Brown who covers genetics stories for Bloomberg.Producer: Laurence Knight(Photo: Old family photos, Credit: Getty Images)

The story of Theranos, a company that falsely claimed it could perform a full range of medical tests using just a tiny blood sample drawn by pricking your finger. Manuela Saragosa speaks to John Carreyrou, an investigative reporter with the Wall Street Journal and author of a book on the case, Bad Blood. Plus Silicon Valley venture capitalist Hemant Taneja explains why investors need to be more cautious.(Photo: Blood samples, Credit: Getty Images)

Should Facebook and others be forced by governments to take responsibility for what people are exposed to on their platforms?Social media companies' algorithms have come under particular scrutiny, with allegations that they push inappropriate content - such as neo-Nazi propaganda, self-harm videos and conspiracy theories - to its users, including to children. "Angry Aussie" YouTuber Andrew Kay describes how the video sharing platform shifted from being a site for video bloggers, to a place where contributors will do or say anything in order to get attention, and thereby earn money.Meanwhile Professor Alan Woodward, a cyber security expert at the University of Surrey, tells Vishala Sri-Pathma what he thinks governments should be doing to rein these global digital behemoths in.(Picture: Teenager looking at her smart phone in bed; Credit: Ljubaphoto/Getty Images)

Poor diet has been linked to diseases such as diabetes and cancer, but do you have much of a choice if you are on a tight budget?Organic food is rising in popularity in the West, but Vishala Sri-Pathma asks nutritionist Sophie Medlin whether the additional cost of buying organic is actually worth it. And what if you are time poor, as well as short of money? Chef Tom Kerridge has tips for how even if you have just 20 minutes spare, it's still possible to pull together a healthy family meal.Plus Dr Susan Babey, a senior research scientist for health policy at University College Los Angeles, explains another major factor affecting the diets of many ordinary Americans - so-called "food deserts" where there is simply nowhere to actually buy fresh produce.(Picture: Fresh locally grown vine tomatoes for sale outside a green grocer store in the the UK; Credit: John Keeble/Getty Images)

How bogus stats can get repeated again and again until they end up influencing policy at governments and major multilateral institutions.Ed Butler speaks to three people who claim they are struggling to slay these zombies. Ivan Macquisten is an adviser to the UK's Antiquities Dealers Association who actually wrote into Business Daily to complain about a previous programme that he claimed repeated false figures about the scale of looted archaeology from the Middle East finding its way into Western art markets.Meanwhile, Kathryn Moeller of Stanford University describes how she never found the source of a claim widely quoted by international development agencies that girls are much more likely than boys to invest their income to the benefit of their household. And Rachel Kleinfeld of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace explains the headache the UN faces in compiling international data about violent crime.Also in the programme, Lazare Eloundou- Assomo of Unesco and the BBC's own Tim Harford.Producer: Laurence Knight(Photo: Zombie cosplayer; Credit: Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images)

Exporters express their fears and frustration at the lack of any agreement about future trade relations with just six weeks left to go until the UK leaves the EU.Adam Sopher of popcorn manufacturer Joe & Sephs tells Ed Butler how he is now having to send his wares to Asia via air freight, because by the time the usual ships reach dock in Hong Kong the UK will have left already and he still doesn't know what tariffs he will have to pay. Pauline Bastidon of the Freight Transport Association describes how British road hauliers are having to take part in a lottery for permits to continue operating in the EU, with many being left empty handed.Meanwhile in the Netherlands, MP Pieter Omtzigt, who acts as a Brexit point person for his country's parliament, explains how the Dutch have been preparing far longer than their British counterparts for the possibility of the UK crashing out of the EU with no trade deal at all. Plus Paul Hodges of the consultancy Ready for Brexit explains why so many of the small businesses he speaks to are far from being that.(Picture: Frustrated businessman tearing at his hair; Credit: djedzura/Getty Images)

Are women finally breaking through off screen in the film industry? A year on from the Harvey Weinstein scandal, why aren't there more female movie directors at the Oscars?Regan Morris reports from a Hollywood still coming to terms with the #MeToo movement. She speaks to Leah Meyerhof, founder of Film Fatales - a movement that brings together female film and TV directors on the West Coast - as well as directors Alyssa Downs and Rijaa Nadeem.Meanwhile Nithya Raman of the Time’s Up campaign against sexual harassment explains why they have launched the "4% Challenge" - named after the derisory number of top-grossing films directed by women - as well as a legal defence fund and a mentorship programme for women.Plus actors Armie Hammer and Felicity Jones talk about a forthcoming movie about the pioneering Supreme Court judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg, being directed by Mimi Leder.(Picture: The 22 Oscars won by the Lord of The Rings ; Credit: Dean Treml/AFP/Getty Images)

Is the era of globalisation, unfettered markets and billionaire philanthropists drawing to a close? Is the answer to rising populism for the state to tax the wealthy and invest more in the public good?Manuela Saragosa speaks to three people who say the populist revolts, from Brazil to the US, are symptomatic of an economic system in crisis. Winnie Byanyima, head of anti-poverty campaigners Oxfam, explains why she thinks global jobs statistics mask the reality that many people do not receive dignified work or a decent wage.Development economist Paul Collier of Oxford University says he thinks corporations and billionaires have lost their way in an era of shareholder value and a growing wealth gap, while journalist Anand Giridharadas claims we are witnessing the death throes of the free market ideology that has dominated global politics since the 1980s.(Picture: Anti-capitalist protestors demonstrate in Paris; Credit: Kiran Ridley/Getty Images)

Should your head trump your heart when seeking lifelong love? That's the challenge Business Daily's Justin Rowlatt has taken on for this Valentine's Day.The hyper-rationalist businessman Ed Conard thinks he knows the answer, and his strictly mathematical strategy for romance is called "sequential selection, no turning back". He used it to meet his wife of the last 20 years, Jill Davis.But is Ed's approach right for everyone? Justin hears sceptical voices from two very different quarters - romantic novelist Nicola Cornick, and Nobel prize-winning economist Alvin Roth. And what about Jill? What's it like to be on the receiving end of such a calculated courtship?Producer: Laurence Knight(Picture: Jill Davis and Ed Conard; Credit: Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

Many African universities are not up to scratch, leaving African students vulnerable to scam institutions abroad. Ivana Davidovic reports from Northern Cyprus where many African students go looking for a better education. Nigerian businessman Evans Akanno explains the education problem at home, and Professor Tshilidzi Marwala, vice chancellor at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa, explains the scale of the problem.(Photo: University students in Lagos, Nigeria, Credit: Getty Images)

Nigeria goes to the polls to elect a president this weekend. Two issues are prominent - the state of the economy and corruption. Local businessman Evans Akanno tells us why just getting the electricity to stay on would be a good start. Amy Jadesemi, CEO of the Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics Base, explains why global oil prices are still crucial to Nigeria. Benedict Crave, Nigeria analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit, explains why challenger Atiku Abubakar might win the presidency.(Photo: A woman walks past presidential campaign posters in Lagos, Nigeria, Credit: Getty Images)

Last month Dutch historian Rutger Bregman told the billionaires at the World Economic Forum in Davos they should think less about philanthropy and instead pay more tax. The clip of his speech went viral. He comes on the programme to argue his point with Ed Conard, a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and author of the book The Upside of Inequality, who says higher taxes just stop people innovating.(Photo: Rutger Bregman, Credit: Getty Images)

Funereal solutions on an overcrowded planet - Ed Butler investigates what various countries do when they run out of space to bury their dead.In Japan, where the construction of new crematoriums has often been blocked by unhappy neighbours, there is a literal multi-day backlog of bodies awaiting burial - and businesses ready to host them. In Greece, crematoriums are opposed by the Orthodox Church, so the solution has been the controversial practice of exhuming bodies just a few months after burial and transferring the decomposed remains to an ossuary.Meanwhile in Los Angeles, mortician Caitlin Doughty tells Ed about an innovative new method of body disposal - disintegrate them in a solution of highly caustic potassium hydroxide.(Picture: Grave-digger; Credit: David Turnley/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)

Will online shopping and AI combine to kill the high street clothing store?Ed Butler gets himself digitally measured up in order to try on outfits in cyberspace, with the help of Tom Adeyoola, founder of virtual browsing business Metail. Meanwhile Julia Boesch - who runs Outfittery, one of Europe's biggest online fashion retailers, out of her office in Berlin - explains how artificial intelligence is enabling her company to provide customers with the kind of individualised style advice they would normally find in a bespoke tailors.So is the roll-out of AI-enhanced phone-based services going to revolutionise the way we buy our attire? Yes, says Achim Berg of consultants McKinsey - but not quite yet.(Picture: Body scan to provide exact measurements at custom tailoring shop Alton Lane in Washington DC; Credit: Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

At what point should you give up your day-job to pursue your own business side-project full-time? And should governments do more to help those who want to do it?Manuela Saragosa explores the world of the successful "side-hustler" - the closet entrepreneur who takes an after-hours pet project and turns it into a whole new business. Alexandria Wombwell-Povey gave up insurance brokerage to launch her jam-making company Cham, while Emma Jones set up the website Enterprise Nation to support such go-getters.Meanwhile, Maddy Savage reports from Sweden, where all full-time employees have a legal right to unpaid leave in order to pursue their own start-up.(Picture: Businesswoman looks wistful and distracted in a meeting with her colleagues; Credit: Squaredpixels/Getty Images)

If the UK crashes out of the EU on 29 March with no agreement on continuing trade relations, how will it affect Britain's supplies of fresh food? Could the country's supermarket shelves be left empty?Dan Saladino speaks to farmers, traders and officials fretting at the unknown but potentially serious consequences of a "no deal" Brexit for food security in the UK, as well as one middle class family who are already stockpiling their own food supplies.Interviewees include Guy Singh-Watson of Riverford Farm, Professor Tim Lang of City University London, Ian Wright of the Food & Drink Federation, Andrew Opie of the British Retail Consortium, Emily Norton of Nuffield College Oxford, Tim Worstall of the Adam Smith Institute, and New Covent Garden mushroom trader Michael Hyams.(Picture: A mother and her son look at the empty bakery shelves in a supermarket in Tewkesbury, England following flooding in 2007; Credit: Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Climate Change: Can the world economy continue to grow without burning fossil fuels? Or do we all need to cut back on our consumption in order to save the planet?It is a question that splits the green movement. Justin Rowlatt hosts a fiery debate between two environmentalists on either side of the divide, who have already been tearing chunks out of each other in a very public dispute online. Michael Liebreich, who runs a clean energy and transportation consultancy in London, says the technological solutions to global warming are within our grasp, and that maintaining economic growth is essential to bringing carbon emissions under control. Meanwhile Tim Jackson, professor of sustainable development at Surrey University, says that it is precisely the world's obsession with economic growth that is dooming Planet Earth to disaster.Producer: Laurence Knight(Picture: The sun sets behind an oil and gas platform in the Santa Barbara Channel, California; Credit: David McNew/Newsmakers/Getty Images)

Are Apple and Samsung running out of people to sell their smartphones to? And who wants to pay for an upgrade when their old phone is good enough?Manuela Saragosa asks whether Apple's recent disappointing earnings are less to do with China's slowing economy - as the company claims - and more the fact that the market for iPhones has become saturated. With few major tech improvements on the horizon, is the smartphone about to become just another mass-produced, low-margin product?The programme features interviews with phone industry analyst Ben Wood of CCS Insight, management professor Yves Doz of Insead in Paris, and Barry C Lynn of the Open Markets Institute thank tank in Washington DC.(Picture: Group of people using smartphones outdoors; Credit: ViewApart/Getty Images)

More and more women are choosing to freeze their eggs in their twenties - but is it all just a big waste of money?Manuela Saragosa speaks to Jennifer Lannon, who paid thousands of dollars at the age of 26 to preserve her eggs as a hedge against infertility later in life. But are the companies that offer this service - sometimes at special cocktail parties - just exploiting women's anxieties?Patrizio Pasquale is Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at Yale is a sceptic. But Gina Bartasi, founder of the US fertility business Kindbody, says it's all about female empowerment and overcoming the patriarchy.(Picture: Liquid nitrogen tank at a fertility clinic; Credit: SUPERFROYD/Getty Images)

Will indictments against China's tech giant overshadow US trade talks? We hear from Timothy Heath, defence analyst at the Rand Corporation, about the threat to security Huawei is perceived to pose in the US, and from cyber security expert Dmitri Alperovitch on the history of industrial espionage by Chinese actors. Dr Jie Yu, China research fellow at the London thinktank Chatham House assess the risk to the trade talks.(Photo: Huawei logo on a building in Poland, Credit: Getty Images)

Two rival presidents, oil sanctions from the US and hyperinflation. Venezuela's economic and political crisis is deepening and we hear from some of the people caught in it. Venezuelan economist Carlos de Sousa from Oxford Economics explains the economic context. Presented by Ed Butler.(Photo: A protester on the streets of Venezuela's capital Caracas, Credit: Getty Images)

Drones have been used increasingly in Africa for survey and mapping, but will cargo drone delivery companies be the next big thing? Jane Wakefield visits Mwanza on the banks of Lake Victoria to speak to African and international companies hoping to cash in on the drone delivery market. During a trial for a big World Bank project called The Lake Victoria Challenge Jane speaks to the Tanzanian drone pilot making waves across the continent, to the global start ups innovating rapidly, and to one drone company helping to map Cholera outbreaks in Malawi. Jane hears from Helena Samsioe from Globhe, Edward Anderson from the World Bank, Frederick Mbuya from Uhurulabs, Leka Tingitana Tanzania Flying Labs and others.(Photo: A delivery drone in Tanzania, Credit: Sala Lewis/Lake Victoria Challenge)

China's economy is slowing down. What does it mean for the rest of the world? We hear from Shanghai where consumers are spending less. Economist Linda Yueh gives her analysis while Shaun Rein, managing director of the China Market Research Group in Shanghai, worries about the growing trade war with the United States. Presented by Ed Butler.(Photo: A worker in a Chinese grocery store waits for customers, Credit: Getty Images)

The mega-philanthropist is in Davos lobbying governments and the global business elite to donate money towards the fight against infectious diseases. But is the world's second richest man the best person to spearhead this effort?Ed Butler speaks to Mr Gates about why he considers it critical that the US and other rich world governments continue to finance efforts to fight Aids, malaria, polio, TB and the like. Meanwhile, Peter Sands - executive director of the Global Fund, one of the four major health initiatives that Gates is backing - explains why any let-up in the fight could be very costly indeed, particularly for the developing world.But the philanthro-capitalism embodied by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation faces increasing criticism. Sophie Harman, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London, expresses her qualms about their lack of accountability, while historian Benjamin Soskis of the Urban Institute in the US says the very willingness of Gates to lobby for good causes is raising questions about why wealthy individuals should wield such influence over public policy.Producer: Laurence Knight(Picture: Bill Gates; Credit: Alessandro Di Ciommo/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Dating apps like Tinder are a multi-billion dollar business, but have they reduced romance to a commodity? Vivienne Nunis speaks to Stanford University economist Paul Oyer, author of Everything I Ever Needed to Know about Economics I Learned from Online Dating. Historian Moira Weigel, author of Labor of Love, explains how dating and commerce have always been intertwined, and Eric Silverberg, CEO and co-founder of Scruff, a dating app for gay and bisexual men, argues that dating apps are doing more than just selling romance. (Photo: Dating apps on a phone, Credit: Getty Images)

The number of female executives in the UK’s top companies remains stubbornly low. Vivienne Nunis speaks to Heather McGregor, dean of the Herriot Watt Business School and Sue Unerman, co-author of The Glass Wall, to hear what women can do to get a seat at the table in big business.(Photo: Young businesswoman in a meeting, Credit: Getty Images)