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Taking Stock

News & Politics Podcasts

Taking Stock takes a global view of the big business stories and the trends affecting the world economy. Listen and subscribe to Taking Stock on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Download, listen and subscribe on the Newstalk App. You can also listen to Newstalk live on newstalk.com or on Alexa, by and asking: 'Alexa, play Newstalk'

Location:

Ireland

Description:

Taking Stock takes a global view of the big business stories and the trends affecting the world economy. Listen and subscribe to Taking Stock on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Download, listen and subscribe on the Newstalk App. You can also listen to Newstalk live on newstalk.com or on Alexa, by and asking: 'Alexa, play Newstalk'

Twitter:

@newstalkfm

Language:

English


Episodes
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Time to kill the car?

10/24/2025
This week on Taking Stock Susan Hayes Culleton talks to Arthur Kay, co-author of ‘Roadkill: Unveiling the True Cost of Our Toxic Relationship with Cars.’ Susan is also joined by Mairéad O'Driscoll, professional tax advisor AKA The Tax Nerd, to look at how to minimize your Capital Gains Tax and what you might be liable for. Plus, we hear about the incredible business journey of the much-loved toy that is LEGO.

Duration:00:47:20

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Taylormaking: What Brands Can Learn from Taylor Swift.

10/17/2025
This week on Taking Stock Susan Hayes Culleton talks to Ken Hughes the author of ‘Taylormaking: A New Era of Modern Branding and Customer Connection’ which explores what we can learn from Taylor Swift’s unique ability to build loyalty, intimacy, and emotional connection with her fans — and translates that into a playbook for modern business. Susan asks what is behind this rise of Silver, and does it have the same strategic ‘power’ as Gold? She is joined by Edel Tully, the Director of Financial Services at the London Bullion Market Association. Plus, with news that the German government is trying to incentivize retirees to work longer, Susan talks to Economist Austin Hughes and Caroline Reidy of the HR Suite about the changing demographics around ‘Retirment’.

Duration:00:51:47

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Peak Social Media, Firey French Economics and a Changing Mortgage Landscape

10/10/2025
This week on Taking Stock Susan Hayes Culleton looks at the growing trend of people tuning away from social media when she talks to regular tech contributors Chris Stokel-Walker and Elaine Burke. With France going through more political and economic turmoil, Susan is joined by Mike O’Sullivan, author of The Levelling. Plus, with more mortgage providers entering the market, Susan talks to Michael Dowling from Irish Mortgage Brokers about how the market might be changing.

Duration:00:47:21

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The Economics of the Presidency

10/3/2025
With the campaigns to be the next Irish President in full swing, this week on Taking Stock Susan looks at how much candidates are spending and what is the cost of the office to the economy, when she talks to Tech and Democracy Strangest Liz Carolan. Norway is always held up as the ‘best-in-class’ when it comes to managing the public finances and Susan take a deep dive into Norwegian economic Miracle when she talks to Allister Doyle the former Oslo Bureau chief at Reuters Plus, in the run up to the budget Susan talks to Michelle Murphy of Social Justice Ireland about how a society is more than just an economy.

Duration:00:47:22

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The Commercial success of 'The Traitors Ireland'

9/26/2025
With the huge success of The Traitors Ireland, this week on Taking Stock Susan Hayes Culleton talks to Jill Downey, Managing Director of Core Sponsorship, who led negotiations on all the major brand deals for the show. With more and more companies spending eye-watering amounts of money on AI, Susan talks to Melissa Heikkila of the Financial Times about where this money is going and to what end. Plus, a new report suggests that under current policies, oil and gas use could actually keep rising all the way to 2050, putting the world on course for dangerous levels of warming. Susan talks to Paul Deane, Senior Lecturer in Clean Energy Futures at University College Cork.

Duration:00:50:08

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The allure of the 15-Minute City

9/19/2025
This week on Taking Stock Susan Hayes Culleton looks at the idea of the ’15-Minute’ city, where urban planning allows for residents to be only ever 15 minutes away from everything and anything they need. She is joined by Aitor Hernández-Morales of Politico. Sinead Ryan talks to Susan about the changing saving and spending habits of Gen Z. Plus, Susan debates the merits of scrapping ‘earnings’ calls as President Trump has called for, when she chats to Russ Mould of AJ Bell.

Duration:00:48:02

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Is there anybody out there? Customer service in the age of AI.

9/12/2025
This week on Taking Stock Susan Hayes Culleton looks at how agentic AI is changing and maybe making customer service a lot poorer when she talks to Elaine Burke of the ‘For Tech’s Sake’ Podcast and Ecommerce expert Vinny O’Brien. With an eventful week for the Murdoch Family, Susan talks to Hannah Miller of Bloomberg about their new ‘succession’ plan. Plus, in a week where the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council tells government to slow down on spending, Susan talks to IFAC chairman Seamus Coffey.

Duration:00:47:44

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What Does Irish Business really want?

9/5/2025
This week on Taking Stock Susan Hayes Culleton convenes a panel of some of Ireland’s busiest entrepreneurs when she talks to Pat McDonagh of Supermac’s, Lorriane Heskin of Gourmet Food Parlour and John Purdy of Ergo. We hear what they think the government needs to do to improve the landscape for indigenous Irish companies. Plus, with a possible IMF bailout being mentioned in France, Susan talks to Sarah Collins of the Business Post in Brussels about where France is heading.

Duration:00:46:04

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Are Farmers Markets the most circular thing in our economy?

8/29/2025
This week on Taking Stock Susan Hayes Culleton talks to Darina Allen of Ballymaloe Cookery School and Jack Spillane of Spillane World Markets about the economics of Farmers and Food Markets. Susan also looks at the economic impact of Ireland’s rising population when she talks to planning expert Conor Skehan and Professor of Geography at Maynooth University Mary Gilmartin. Plus, with the news that Germany are going to start giving each child 10 Euros to invest every month Susan talks to Olaf Storbeck of the Financial Times about Germany’s faltering economy.

Duration:00:50:18

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Is Ireland not as wealthy as headline GDP figures suggest?

8/22/2025
This week on Taking Stock, Susan HayesCulleton speaks to Reuters reporter Ann Saphir about what’s going on at Jackson Hole and why the annual event is so important for global economics. With Electric Picnic coming into focus, Susan lifts the hood on the economics of music festivals with Conor Hughes, Business Director at Core Research. Plus, as 'The Economist' bluntly claims, Ireland is not rich. Susan gets the perspective of Kate English, Chief Economist with Deloitte Ireland & economist Jim Power.

Duration:00:44:18

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Defence spending surges: What does it mean for Europe?

8/15/2025
This week on Taking Stock with Susan HayesCulleton: - Across Europe, defence spending is surging to levels not seen in decades. Declan Power, Security and Defence Analyst, joins Susan to discuss where defence spending goes, what it is preventing, and explore what the economic and policy implications may be for the bloc in the coming years. - We hear from Miri Rodriguez, the co-author of The Women of Microsoft: Stories of Innovation, a collection of voices from across the company that shine a light on resilience, creativity, and the ongoing challenges women face in tech. - Plus, as the Premier League kicks off, we’ll be diving into the macro and micro economics of one of the world’s biggest sporting juggernauts with James Reade, Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Reading.

Duration:00:48:51

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Why are people swiping left on the whole idea of dating apps?

8/8/2025
This week on Taking Stock with Susan HayesCulleton: - Following the publication of Revenue’s Taxation of Income from Social Media and Promotional Activities guidelines, Susan is joined by Mairead O’Driscoll, professional tax advisor, aka The Tax Nerd & Mark Corcoran, Marketing Manager at Taxback, to find out what it all means for content creators in Ireland. - We’ll be finding out how your brain and body hold the keys to leading smarter, not harder with Dr. Scott Hutcheson, author of Biohacking Leadership: Leveraging the Biology of Behavior to Maximize Your Impact. - Plus, we find out why online daters are swiping left on the whole idea of dating apps like Tinder & Bumble with Dr. Kathryn Coduto, Assistant Professor of Media Science at Boston University.

Duration:00:46:36

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The EU AI Act: Who is really winning the AI race?

8/1/2025
This week on Taking Stock with Susan HayesCulleton: Sarah Collins, Brussels Correspondent with the Business Post & John Fitzgerald, Professor in the Department of Economics at Trinity College Dublin, join Susan to give their views on this week’s EU-US trade deal. Susan looks to find out more about the next phase of the EU AI Act that comes into force this week with John Callahan, President and CTO of Partsol. Plus, Aidan Donnelly, Head of Equities at Davy, talks US inflation, equities, and the dollar outlook.

Duration:00:47:20

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Where does the US Economy go next?

7/25/2025
This week on Taking Stock Susan Hayes Culleton talks to David M Walker, a former Comptroller General of the United States, about the current state of American economics. Susan also looks at the economics of ‘food labelling’. Plus, Jamie Smyth of the Financial Times talks about Big Oil’s possible pivot back to fossil fuels.

Duration:00:49:26

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Do we have too many pubs?

7/18/2025
This week on Taking Stock Susan Hayes Culleton debates the future of the Pub and looks at the economic realities of running a pub in modern Ireland, when she talks to economist Colm McCarthy and Michael O'Donovan, President of Vintner's Federation of Ireland. Pilita Clark of the Financial Times looks at how the next financial crisis might look a lot different than what we might expect. Plus, Thomas Hubert of the Currency talks to Susan about what the Corporation Tax figures really mean.

Duration:00:50:03

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What makes a great CEO?

7/11/2025
This week on Taking Stock Susan Hayes Culleton talks to Michael Aldous and John Turner, authors of 'CEO: The Rise and Fall of Britain’s Captains of Industry'. Susan talks to Daniel Murray of the Business Post about why Ireland has a Sovreign Wealth Fund and if economic ill winds might clip its wings. Plus, Kate English of Deloitte on how threatened Tariffs are impacting Global Stock Markets.

Duration:00:49:54

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The Economics of Being a Carer

7/4/2025
This week on Taking Stock Susan Hayes Culleton looks at the economic realities of being a full-time carer when she talks to Majella Beattie from Care Champions as well as Jaimie Williams, Co-founder and Chair of the Phoenix Rising Network. Susan also hears about Big Tobacco and their continuing attempts to turn a profit when she talks to Clara Murray of the FT. Plus, Thomas Harr on his book 'The Great Inflation Resurgence'.

Duration:00:45:03

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Is the Ad Industry moving away from diversity and inclusion?

6/27/2025
This week on Taking Stock Susan Hayes Culleton talks to Daniel Thomas of the Financial Times about how some advertising and marketing departments seem to be changing priorities in a changing world. Economist Dan O'Brien takes a look back at the financial crisis of 2008 and asks if we are repeating any of those mistakes today. Plus, Susan is joined by Dr Chinyere Almona from the Lagos Chamber of Commerce to look at the opportunity that Africa may pose for Irish Businesses.

Duration:00:45:04

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Reconfiguring the Global Food System

6/20/2025
Susan is joined by David McGee who is PwC ESG Leader to talk about PwC's new report 'Reconfiguring the Global Food System' which looks at re-designing how we produce, process and consume food.

Duration:00:14:41

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Too much Insurance, Global food chains and a new Union for Europe

6/20/2025
This week on Taking Stock Susan Hayes Culleton looks at not just the cost of insurance but also the 'types' of insurance we're paying for and asks Sinead Ryan if we're spending too much on the wrong kind of insurance? David McGee PwC ESG Leader looks at a new report 'Reconfiguring the Global Food System.' Plus, Susan is joined by Javier Espinoza of the Capital Forum to examine what the new Savings and Investment Union might mean for Ireland and Europe.

Duration:00:48:26