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BBC World Service


The daily drama of money and work from the BBC.


Business Daily

The superfan culture involves doing everything you can to be closer to your idols - often through concerts, merchandise, and streaming support.

And now oshikatsu is being praised by some economists for helping pull Japanese retail sales out of a long slump. 

Figures suggest the role of fan purchasing power has boosted Japan’s annual retail turnover by 2%. 

But what is so different about the way of supporting our heroes that has created such growth?

Produced and presented by Rick Kelsey

(Image: Anime and game fans attend the 105th ComicMarket Show in Tokyo, Japan, December 2024. Credit CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

What is oshikatsu and can it boost Japan's economy?

We find out whether new rules could allow it to move away distance itself from previous accusations of "greenwashing" and fraud? 

There have been previous false starts for a system which in theory allows for companies and countries to offset their carbon emissions by paying for projects which reduce or mitigate emissions elsewhere. 

But new UN legislation - which has been a decade in the making – now clarified and ready for use those in the sector hope that the next few years will prove fruitful for the industry. 

However, questions remain about whether overall the system will help to reduce global emissions. 

Produced and presented by Hannah Bewley

(Image: Renwick Drysdale, managing director of akre)

A fresh start for the carbon market?

As the country shifts away from fossil fuels, thousands of homes and businesses have been left on waiting lists to connect to its electricity grid. 

Has the Netherlands moved too fast in its switch to renewable energy, like solar, wind and hydropower?

Some commentators are calling it a “grid crisis” – so, could this affect economic growth?

If you'd like to get in touch with the programme, you can email us at businessdaily@bbc.co.uk

Presented and produced by John Laurenson

(Picture: A line of wind turbines in a field in the Netherlands. Credit: Getty Images)

What’s gone wrong with the Dutch power supply?

Tim Brown is a former footballer who went on to co-found Allbirds, a billion-dollar brand known for its woollen shoes. 

We hear how Tim balanced his passions for football and shoe design, while growing up in New Zealand.

The challenges that came when making a career change

And how his brand was inspired by a dream to rescue New Zealand's declining wool industry.

Presenter: Sam Fenwick
Producer: Amber Mehmood

(Image: Tim Brown, co-founder of the shoe brand, Allbirds. Credit: Getty Images)

Business Daily meets: Tim Brown, co-founder of Allbirds

We go to the heart of street photography in Berlin, Germany, to visit an independent camera shop where sales of analogue cameras are flying because of celebrities opting for old school tech. And we go behind the lens to the development labs to discover the rising demands and rising costs as equipment is sparse. What is the price of taking a good photo?

If you'd like to get in touch with the programme, our email address is businessdaily@bbc.co.uk

Presented and produced by Sean Allsop

(Picture: Staff member at Safelight Photography lab in Berlin, Germany, checking the camera negative reel that is ready to be processed. Credit: Getty Images)

Why are analogue cameras experiencing a comeback?

We find out why the country Japan ranks so poorly in the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Index and hear about what’s being done to change things

From bottom-up initiatives to raise the next generation of female entrepreneurs and businesses leaders and to the work being done by one of the country’s top educational institutions as it tries to shake off its men–only image. 

And will the country’s first female prime minister be the catalyst for change?

If you'd like to get in touch with the programme, you can email us at businessdaily@bbc.co.uk

Produced and presented by Phoebe Amoroso

(Image: Yumiko Murakami, co-founder of the WPower fund, the first in Japan to focus solely on supporting female founders and women-empowerment businesses)

Raising Japan’s female leaders

When is a bubble a bubble? When is hype around a new technology signalling the dawn of a new industrial revolution? We assess the arguments for and against AI and its inflated valuations. 

AI firms and their stocks have surged in the last year, accounting for more than 80% of America’s economic growth. But is there real demand underpinning this?

To get in touch with the programme, you can email us at businessdaily@bbc.co.uk

Presenter: Ed Butler
Producer: Gideon Long

(Picture: The Nasdaq MarketSite in New York, US, on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. Credit: Getty Images)

Is the AI boom a bubble?

New York City is in the midst of a cost of living crunch. As a result, the race to become its next mayor this week has been dominated by how to make the city more affordable.

We hear about radical plans and ask whether they add up, and look at what the race to run the capital of capitalism might teach other cities about how to fight an affordability crisis.

If you'd like to get in touch with the programme, you can email us at businessdaily@bbc.co.uk

Presenter: Will Bain
Producer: Matt Lines

(Picture: The sun sets on the skyline of lower Manhattan and One World Trade Center in New York City on October 24, 2025, as seen from Jersey City. Credit: Getty Images)

Is this New York’s cost of living election?

We speak to the American founder and CEO of Stine Seed, the largest private seed company in the world, Stine Seed Company. 

Harry Stine recalls working in a field on the family soybean farm at the age of four, and says he was soon driving tractors before officially starting work with his father. 

It was then that he realised the potential of plant breeding and seeds, leading him to start his own company. 

Stine Seed Company now has 1000 patents, and receives fees on about 85% of the acreage in the United States. 
 
Presenter: Ed Butler
Producer: Amber Mehmood

(Image: Harry Stine. Credit: Stine Seed Company)

Business Daily meets: Harry Stine

As Canada’s trade war with the US rumbles on, Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced ambitions for the country to become an "energy superpower" in clean electricity, oil and gas. 
 
Supporters say it could boost jobs and investment, but critics warn it may come at an environmental cost. 

We’ll hear about the projects underway, the challenges that could hinder them, and look at how other countries have achieved ‘superpower’ status. 

If you'd like to get in touch with the programme, our email address is businessdaily@bbc.co.uk

Presenter: Sam Gruet
Producer: Megan Lawton

(Picture: A flare stack at the LNG Canada facility in Kitimat, British Columbia, Canada. Credit: Getty Images)

Can Canada become an energy superpower?

We hear from businesses in California, Fiji and the UK that have been hit hard by natural disasters like floods, wildfires and extreme storms - followed by rising insurance premiums - or companies refusing to insure them at all. 

An alternative type of cover, parametric insurance, is being offered as a way of giving people some cover. But does it work for everyone? 

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: businessdaily@bbc.co.uk

Presented and produced by Lexy O'Connor

(Image: A view of flash flood in Daddu district southern Sindh province, Pakistan, on September 07, 2022. Credit: Farhan Khan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Insuring the uninsurable

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