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The banker who loaned to women when no one else would

The banker who loaned to women when no one else would

Jennifer Riria grew up in a rural village in Kenya, juggled motherhood and university studies in her late teens, and ended up running one of the biggest microfinance institutions for women in Africa, which allows women to access loans for their businesses. The entrepreneur pioneered giving small loans to women at a time when they were not allowed to get finance. We hear about her story in life and in business.

If you'd like to get in touch with the team, our email address is [email protected]

Presenter: Leanna Byrne Producers: Ahmed Adan and Amber Mehmood Sound mix: Toby James

Business Daily is the home of in-depth audio journalism devoted to the world of money and work. From small startup stories to big corporate takeovers, global economic shifts to trends in technology, we look at the key figures, ideas and events shaping business.

Each episode is a 17-minute deep dive into a single topic, featuring expert analysis and the people at the heart of the story.

Recent episodes explore the weight-loss drug revolution, the growth in AI, the cost of living, why bond markets are so powerful, China's property bubble, and Gen Z's experience of the current job market.

We also feature in-depth interviews with company founders - like Jennifer Riria - and some of the world's most prominent CEOs. These include Google's Sundar Pichai, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, and the CEO of Starbucks, Brian Niccol.

(Picture: Jennifer Riria.)

What next for Venezuela?

What next for Venezuela?

Six weeks after the capture of President Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela appears to be shifting its economic strategy.

The government is reopening its crucial oil industry to foreign investment and redirecting oil exports back toward the United States.

Presenter Rahul Tandon is joined by producer Gideon Long, who spent five years reporting from Venezuela, to examine the changes introduced since Maduro’s capture and explore what further steps may be required to persuade international companies to return and invest. They also consider whether Venezuela can reduce its reliance on oil and develop a more diversified, resilient economy.

We hear voices from inside and outside the country, including acting president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, as well as US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

If you'd like to get in touch with the team, our email address is [email protected]

Presenters: Rahul Tandon and Gideon Long Produced by Gideon Long and Elisabeth Mahy

Business Daily is the home of in-depth audio journalism devoted to the world of money and work. From small startup stories to big corporate takeovers, global economic shifts to trends in technology, we look at the key figures, ideas and events shaping business.

Each episode is a 17-minute deep dive into a single topic, featuring expert analysis and the people at the heart of the story.

Recent episodes explore the weight-loss drug revolution, the growth in AI, the cost of living, why bond markets are so powerful, China's property bubble, and Gen Z's experience of the current job market.

We also feature in-depth interviews with company founders and some of the world's most prominent CEOs. These include Google's Sundar Pichai, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, and the CEO of Starbucks, Brian Niccol.

(Picture: A man on a motorcycle transports water bottles past pumpjacks, beside deteriorating oil infrastructure on the shores of Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela. Credit: Reuters)

Biohacking: where fad meets finance?

Biohacking: where fad meets finance?

Biohackers say they're making their bodies and brains run better by hacking their biology. And it's not just kitchen counter experimentation anymore. There's now an entire industry promising to optimise you with supplements, treatments and increasingly strange gadgets.

Are these expensive, unproven “hacks” worth the investment?

To get in touch with the team, send an email to [email protected]

Presenter: Michelle Fleury Producer: Nathalie Jimenez

Business Daily is the home of in-depth audio journalism devoted to the world of money and work. From small startup stories to big corporate takeovers, global economic shifts to trends in technology, we look at the key figures, ideas and events shaping business.

Each episode is a 17-minute deep dive into a single topic, featuring expert analysis and the people at the heart of the story.

Recent episodes explore the weight-loss drug revolution, the growth in AI, the cost of living, why bond markets are so powerful, China's property bubble, and Gen Z's experience of the current job market.

We also feature in-depth interviews with company founders and some of the world's most prominent CEOs. These include Google's Sundar Pichai, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, and the CEO of Starbucks, Brian Niccol.

(Picture: North America Business Correspondent Michelle Fleury and Midtown Biohack owner Chuck Morris, standing over a client trying out a red light therapy headset.)

After the cyclone: Can Sri Lanka’s economy recover?

After the cyclone: Can Sri Lanka’s economy recover?

Sri Lanka: a country long loved and marketed as a tropical paradise is reeling after Cyclone Ditwah, which hit the island nation last November.

The storm left a third of the island in ruins. Hundreds of lives were lost, homes were destroyed, and hundreds of thousands of people were displaced. The country's President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has called it the country's worst-ever economic disaster. Can it recover?

We hear from citizens and businesses affected by the latest disaster to hit a country that has already endured so many setbacks.

If you'd like to get in touch with the team, our email address is [email protected]

Presented and produced by Vishala Sri-Pathma

Business Daily is the home of in-depth audio journalism devoted to the world of money and work. From small startup stories to big corporate takeovers, global economic shifts to trends in technology, we look at the key figures, ideas and events shaping business.

Each episode is a 17-minute deep dive into a single topic, featuring expert analysis and the people at the heart of the story.

Recent episodes explore the weight-loss drug revolution, the growth in AI, the cost of living, why bond markets are so powerful, China's property bubble, and Gen Z's experience of the current job market.

We also feature in-depth interviews with company founders and some of the world's most prominent CEOs. These include Google's Sundar Pichai, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, and the CEO of Starbucks, Brian Niccol.

(Photo: An aerial view of Warsaw, Poland, including modern skyscrapers. Credit: Getty Images)

Is Poland’s “economic miracle” for real?

Is Poland’s “economic miracle” for real?

Poland’s economy is expected to be the fastest-growing in Europe this year according to the European Union, with the spending power of its average worker on course to overtake that of Japan.

So how, three and a half decades after the fall of communism, has it become a case study of capitalism?

We hear from some of the country's biggest companies on that increased consumer power, their ambitions to take on the world with international expansion, and ask what hurdles lie in the way for what one economist calls "Europe's growth champion."

If you'd like to get in touch with the team, our email address is [email protected]

Presented and produced by Will Bain

Business Daily is the home of in-depth audio journalism devoted to the world of money and work. From small startup stories to big corporate takeovers, global economic shifts to trends in technology, we look at the key figures, ideas and events shaping business.

Each episode is a 17-minute deep dive into a single topic, featuring expert analysis and the people at the heart of the story.

Recent episodes explore the weight-loss drug revolution, the growth in AI, the cost of living, why bond markets are so powerful, China's property bubble, and Gen Z's experience of the current job market.

We also feature in-depth interviews with company founders and some of the world's most prominent CEOs. These include Google's Sundar Pichai, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, and the CEO of Starbucks, Brian Niccol.

(Picture: An aerial view of Warsaw, Poland, including modern skyscrapers. Credit: Getty Images)

The ex-ballerina betting big on prediction markets

The ex-ballerina betting big on prediction markets

In our first edition of Meet the Founders, we meet Luana Lopes Lara, creator of Kalshi, a prediction markets startup that allows users to trade on the outcome of real-world events - from inflation and interest rates to elections and geopolitics.

Kalshi drew attention for showing Zohran Mamdani as a favourite in the NYC mayoral race, as prediction markets gain traction as political barometers. But the wider industry has also faced scrutiny: a trader on rival platform Polymarket reportedly made nearly half a million dollars betting on the capture of Venezuela’s former president Nicolás Maduro before it was announced.

The controversy around prediction markets has placed Lopes Lara and her company at the centre of a growing regulatory and ethical debate in the US. In this episode, the Brazilian founder explains how the discipline and resilience of ballet has shaped her approach to building a business, and why she believes markets can often forecast the future better than experts.

If you'd like to get in touch with the team, our email address is [email protected]

Presenter: Sam Fenwick Producer: Amber Mehmood Sound mix: Toby James

Business Daily is the home of in-depth audio journalism devoted to the world of money and work. From small startup stories to big corporate takeovers, global economic shifts to trends in technology, we look at the key figures, ideas and events shaping business.

Each episode is a 17-minute deep dive into a single topic, featuring expert analysis and the people at the heart of the story.

Recent episodes explore the weight-loss drug revolution, the growth in AI, the cost of living, why bond markets are so powerful, China's property bubble, and Gen Z's experience of the current job market.

We also feature in-depth interviews with company founders - like Luana Lopes Lara - and some of the world's most prominent CEOs. These include the CEO of Google Sundar Pichai, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, and billionaire founder Judy Faulkner of Epic Systems, one of the world's largest medical record software providers.

(Picture: Luana Lara Lopes, founder and Chief Operating Officer of Kalshi.)

Japan's economic crossroads

Japan's economic crossroads

As Japanese people prepare to head to the polls, economic concerns are back at the centre of public life.

We explore how inflation, wages, demographics and geopolitics are shaping expectations, and whether the country can finally move beyond the "lost decades".

To get in touch with the team, send us an email to [email protected]

Presenter: Rahul Tandon Producer: David Cann

Business Daily is the home of in-depth audio journalism devoted to the world of money and work. From small startup stories to big corporate takeovers, global economic shifts to trends in technology, we look at the key figures, ideas and events shaping business.

Each episode is a 17-minute deep dive into a single topic, featuring expert analysis and the people at the heart of the story.

Recent episodes explore the weight-loss drug revolution, the growth in AI, the cost of living, why bond markets are so powerful, China's property bubble, and Gen Z's experience of the current job market.

We also feature in-depth interviews with company founders and some of the world's most prominent CEOs. These include the CEO of Google Sundar Pichai, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, and billionaire founder Judy Faulkner of Epic Systems, one of the world's largest medical record software providers.

(Picture: Office workers cross a road near Tokyo station in Tokyo, Japan, on the second of December 2025. Credit: Getty Images)

Spain's economic case for more migration

Spain's economic case for more migration

The Spanish government has announced plans to legalise the status of half a million undocumented migrants. Many arrive with student or tourist visas but overstay and start working on the black market.

Migration is a polarising issue in western Europe, so why is Spain keen to hurry up the process of regularisation? One reason is that Spain’s economy has been outstripping its European Union partners. In 2024 the economy grew by 3.5% but in sectors that struggle to recruit enough workers, so Spain wants its migrant population to work in a legal way to keep its economic momentum going.

We meet some of the people the Spanish government wants to give legal status to and speak to organisations that are helping them to work legally.

If you'd like to get in touch with the team, you can send us an email to [email protected]

Presented and produced by Ashish Sharma

Business Daily is the home of in-depth audio journalism devoted to the world of money and work. From small startup stories to big corporate takeovers, global economic shifts to trends in technology, we look at the key figures, ideas and events shaping business.

Each episode is a 17-minute deep dive into a single topic, featuring expert analysis and the people at the heart of the story.

Recent episodes explore the weight-loss drug revolution, the growth in AI, the cost of living, why bond markets are so powerful, China's property bubble, and Gen Z's experience of the current job market.

We also feature in-depth interviews with company founders and some of the world's most prominent CEOs. These include the CEO of Google Sundar Pichai, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, and billionaire founder Judy Faulkner of Epic Systems, one of the world's largest medical record software providers.

(Photo: View of Madrid city skyline from a sky bar terrace where people are gathered. Credit: Getty Images)

Gates Foundation CEO on cuts to global aid

Gates Foundation CEO on cuts to global aid

As governments cut back on how much they spend on global aid, the head of the Gates Foundation Mark Suzman speaks exclusively to Business Daily about how the world’s poorest are being affected.

He tells us world governments “should be embarrassed” that the Foundation has overtaken them to become the largest financial backer of the WHO.

When governments reduce their air spend, the organisation inevitably becomes more prominent. But is there too much reliance on the Gates Foundation globally for an institution with little democratic accountability? And are its priorities the right ones?

If you'd like to get in touch with the team, our email address is [email protected]

Presenter: Sam Fenwick Producer: Matt Lines

Business Daily is the home of in-depth audio journalism devoted to the world of money and work. From small startup stories to big corporate takeovers, global economic shifts to trends in technology, we look at the key figures, ideas and events shaping business.

Each episode is a 17-minute deep dive into a single topic, featuring expert analysis and the people at the heart of the story.

Recent episodes explore the weight-loss drug revolution, the growth in AI, the cost of living, why bond markets are so powerful, China's property bubble, and Gen Z's experience of the current job market.

We also feature in-depth interviews with company founders and some of the world's most prominent CEOs. These include the CEO of Google Sundar Pichai, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, and billionaire founder Judy Faulkner of Epic Systems, one of the world's largest medical record software providers.

(Photo: Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman speaking at an event in New York City. Credit: Getty Images)

Can Starbucks regain its buzz?

Can Starbucks regain its buzz?

It’s probably the world’s best-known coffee chain but just over a year ago, business wasn’t doing well. Sales had slipped, customers were drifting away and the buzz had gone.

Newly-arrived CEO Brian Niccol was handed a tough task: stop the fall and make the coffee shops somewhere people wanted to return to.

In an interview with our North America business correspondent Michelle Fleury, he explains why customers are returning and seem to be giving the company another shot.

If you'd like to get in touch with the team, our email address is [email protected]

Producers: John Mervin and Justin Bones

Business Daily is the home of in-depth audio journalism devoted to the world of money and work. From small startup stories to big corporate takeovers, global economic shifts to trends in technology, we look at the key figures, ideas and events shaping business.

Each episode is a 17-minute deep dive into a single topic, featuring expert analysis and the people at the heart of the story.

Recent episodes explore the weight-loss drug revolution, the growth in AI, the cost of living, why bond markets are so powerful, China's property bubble, and Gen Z's experience of the current job market.

We also feature in-depth interviews with company founders and some of the world's most prominent CEOs. These include the CEO of Google Sundar Pichai, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, and billionaire founder Judy Faulkner of Epic Systems, one of the world's largest medical record software providers.

(Picture: Brian Niccol, CEO of Starbucks, sitting in one of the company's coffee shops in downtown New York.)

The man who built Africa's largest AI firm

The man who built Africa's largest AI firm

From the deserts of Tunisia to the boardrooms of global tech giants, we meet Karim Beguir, the mathematician who turned two laptops and 2000 dollars into Africa’s biggest AI firm.

We hear how his company, Instadeep, caught the attention of Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, and how it helped to track dangerous new variants in the Covid pandemic using large language models.

If you'd like to get in touch with the team, our email address is [email protected]

Presenter: Ed Butler Producers: Niamh McDermott and Hannah Mullane

Business Daily is the home of in-depth audio journalism devoted to the world of money and work. From small startup stories to big corporate takeovers, global economic shifts to trends in technology, we look at the key figures, ideas and events shaping business.

Each episode is a 17-minute deep dive into a single topic, featuring expert analysis and the people at the heart of the story.

Recent episodes explore the weight-loss drug revolution, the growth in AI, the cost of living, why bond markets are so powerful, China's property bubble, and Gen Z's experience of the current job market.

We also feature in-depth interviews with company founders and some of the world's most prominent CEOs. These include the CEO of Google Sundar Pichai, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, and the billionaire founder of Epic Systems, one of the world's largest medical record software providers, Judy Faulkner.

(Picture: CEO of Instadeep, Karim Beguir, at a photoshoot in Paris in 2024. Credit: Getty Images)

Why you buy what you buy

Why you buy what you buy

We lift the curtain on how everyone from toothpaste brands to the United Nations is using science to influence your choices in ways you’re probably not aware of. Behavioural science has even made its way into TV drama.

How does it work? And why is it so effective?

If you'd like to get in touch with the team, our email address is [email protected]

Presented and produced by Rowan Bridge

Business Daily is the home of in-depth audio journalism devoted to the world of money and work. From small startup stories to big corporate takeovers, global economic shifts to trends in technology, we look at the key figures, ideas and events shaping business.

Each episode is a 17-minute deep dive into a single topic, featuring expert analysis and the people at the heart of the story.

Recent episodes explore the weight-loss drug revolution, the growth in AI, the cost of living, why bond markets are so powerful, China's property bubble, and Gen Z's experience of the current job market.

We also speak to some of the world's most influential business leaders. These interviews include the CEO of Google Sundar Pichai, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, and the billionaire founder of Epic Systems, one of the world's largest medical record software providers, Judy Faulkner.

(Picture: The hand of a woman about to cause a chain reaction by pushing over a domino. Credit: Getty Images)

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