Ft News

'On the 12th day of Christmas, my true love sent to me a partridge in a pear tree ...' along with French hens, swans a-laying, lords a-leaping and a sackful of other online orders to put the logistics of Yuletide to the test. Andrew Hill's Christmas carol for delivery services everywhere  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Serial, the hit podcast in which journalist Sarah Koenig investigated the conviction of Adnan Syed for the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee, has concluded its first series. It has been the most successful podcast ever, but it has also raised a lot of questions about journalism ethics, the role of social media in sensitive stories, and the future of the podcast form. After listening to the final episode, Sarah Gordon, the FT's business editor; Helen Warrell, FT public policy correspondent; Sarah O'Connor, employment correspondent, and Shannon Bond, US media and marketing correspondent, react to the questions left unanswered by the innovative series.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Richard Mullender is a former hostage negotiator for the UK Metropolitan Police. Listening has been key to his work, he says, and is an under appreciated skill. Today, he teaches it to business executives. He tells Emma Jacobs people need to stop asking questions and listen more to what's being said.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Manj Weerasekera is an executive coach in London. During the course of his work, he met many businessmen who would reveal that they were having relationship problems. A happily divorced man himself, he thought they needed a helping hand and now he says 40 per cent of his work is dedicated to guiding divorced men towards their ideal partner. He tells Emma Jacobs his story.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Without global action, drug-resistant infections will cause 10m deaths a year worldwide by 2050 and cost at least $100tn during the next 35 years, according to the first economic analysis of the problem. Clive Cookson, FT Science Editor, spoke to Jim O'Neill, former Goldman Sachs economist and author of the review, about its findings.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Europe's mainstream parties are facing a growing challenge from rightwing anti-immigration parties like the Front National in France and Ukip in Britain. But in Spain, the two parties that have ruled the country for decades have been unsettled by an upstart from the left. Podemos, which translates as “We Can” has managed in the space of 10 months to become one of the most popular political movements in the country. Fiona Symon talks to Tobias Buck about the rapid rise of the anti-establishment party.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Thousands of foreign fighters have flocked to Syria to help create an austere Islamic state harking back to the past. But as Erika Solomon, FT correspondent in Beirut, found out, they have retained their taste for modern-day snacks and gadgets. She spoke to Fiona Symon about what she discovered.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Some senior bank managers have been reported to be on the point of resignation because of the onerous nature of the new regulatory structure that is set to be imposed on the industry. Patrick Jenkins discusses the new rules and the objections to them with Anthony Brown, chief executive of the British Bankers Association.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Nigerian Islamist extremists have carried out a series of increasingly bold attacks against towns and villages in the north east of the country, which the government security forces have seemed powerless to prevent. Fiona Symon talked to William Wallis in Lagos about the seemingly unstoppable rise of Boko Haram  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Qatar has been under pressure from fellow Arab Gulf states over its alleged support for Egypt's opposition Muslim Brotherhood, but according to Bahrain's foreign minister, it has now agreed to back the Egyptian government and curb the critical output of Al Jazeera - the TV network that once revolutionised the region's media with its fiercely independent voice. Simeon Kerr spoke to Sheikh Khalid Al Khalifa about the deal.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Zimbabwe’s veteran president Robert Mugabe has tightened his vice-like grip on power as his ruling Zanu-PF party gears up for a critical conference next week. His vice-president Joice Mujuru has been sidelined amid allegations that she was plotting against him, and the party has amended its constitution to give him sole power to appoint a deputy - or de facto heir apparent. Many people think he is lining up his wife Grace for the role. Fiona Symon spoke to Andrew England about the country's murky politics.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The first Ebola vaccine to be tested on humans, developed by GlaxoSmithKline and the US National Institutes of Health, has shown promising results in early trials, paving the way for it to be tested on healthcare workers in west Africa in the new year. Fiona Symon spoke to Andrew Ward about the potential of the vaccine to address the Ebola crisis  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Iraqi forces have begun to challenge the control of Islamist militants over parts of the Sunni province of Anbar west of the capital Baghdad. Fiona Symon talks to Borzou Daragahi, Middle East correspondent, about the new tactics being deployed by Iraqi forces in their battle against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Russian and Saudi Arabian telecoms companies have been targetted by a sophisticated cyber snooping operation reminiscent of the Stuxnet worm that was developed by US and Israeli government hackers to target Iran. Fiona Symon talks to Sam Jones and Hannah Kuchler how the operation - known as the Regin malware - came to light and who is thought to be behind it.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Apple is once again preparing to shake up the way people listen to music. After almost single-handedly creating the legal download market a decade ago, the company is now planning to bundle Beats music, a monthly subscription, into its iOS operating system. About 500m people own apple iPhones and iPads - so this has big implications for the music business. Robert Cookson talks to Matthew Garrahan about what this means for competitors like Spotify.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Britain is at the midway point in an austerity programme intended to bring down the deficit. However, as the FT pointed out in a series of articles recently, the cuts to come are set to be worse than those imposed so far and politicians have not been forthcoming about the pain that lies ahead or the choices the electorate faces. Readers put their questions about the series to FT Economics Editor Chris Giles  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Iraqi forces have taken near full control of the Baiji oil refinery north of the capital Baghdad. This is being claimed as a milestone in the battle against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Fiona Symon discusses the development with Borzou Daragahi, FT Middle East correspondent  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Patrick Jenkins talks to Marshall Bailey, president of the ACI, which represents the foreign exchange industry, about how best to reform the industry in the wake of the recent trading scandal and the record settlement reached by big banks last week.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Podcasts are undergoing a renaissance as millions download or stream audio recordings on their iPhones or through built-in apps in their cars. Robert Cookson talks to Shannon Bond about an industry that is starting to pull in serious money from advertisers and investors.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The landing of a European space probe on a comet 500m km away has caught the world's imagination. Philae, launched from the Rosetta satellite, is sitting on the head of the comet - its scientific instruments are working, but it is not properly anchored. Clive Cookson, FT science editor, asked space scientist Ken Pounds what the project may reveal about the history of the solar system.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.