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PODCAST

Mark and Pete

Successful Minds

What on earth is going on? Mark & Pete have a few thoughts. A weekly British podcast about news, politics, culture, faith and the peculiar things people do. Mark and Pete tackle the big headlines and the smaller stories that probably tell us rather more about ourselves than we’d like. Theme music : Title Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

news news commentary

All Episodes

00:31:49

Trump, Greenland & Day One: Did We See It Coming? |...

Mark and Pete ·

2026/10/04

Donald Trump’s 2024 election victory, his return to the White House, an extraordinary first day in office and his ambitions for Greenland. This Mark and Pete compilation revisits the beginning of Trump’s second term and some conversations that sound, listening back, suspiciously like advance notice.We thought we were recording a podcast. Parts of it now sound rather like a trailer.Bringing together episodes recorded around Trump’s second inauguration, we consider what his election victory meant for

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00:09:21

OpenAI Cracks 90-Year-Old Maths Problem

Mark and Pete ·

2026/09/25

OpenAI may have cracked one of the most famous unsolved problems in mathematics.In this episode of Mark & Pete, we look at the extraordinary claim that an OpenAI research system has solved a 90-year-old problem connected to the Navier–Stokes equations, the equations used to describe how fluids move.That means water, air, blood flow, turbulence, weather systems, aircraft, oceans and quite a lot of the physical world around us.The Navier–Stokes equations themselves are not new. Mathematicians and

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00:09:27

Do we need a Kill Switch, or just kill AI?

Mark and Pete ·

2026/09/23

The people building AI say it could destroy humanity, which is an unusually frank product review.In this episode of Mark and Pete, we ask: Do We Need a Kill Switch, or Just Kill AI? As artificial intelligence becomes more powerful, the argument about AI safety is getting rather harder to dismiss. Sam Altman and other industry leaders have raised serious concerns about where the technology could take us. Donald Trump wants America to win the AI race. British parliamentarians want stronger controls

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00:12:57

Warren Buffett: Sixty Years of Getting Rich Slowly

Mark and Pete ·

2026/09/21

Warren Buffett spent sixty years proving that patience pays, which is awkward news for everyone selling a six-week millionaire course.In this episode of Mark and Pete, we celebrate Warren Buffett’s investment philosophy, his business ethos and the unfashionable possibility that building something worthwhile might take a while. Quite a while, actually. You may need to sit down.As Buffett steps back from leading Berkshire Hathaway, we look at what made the “Oracle of Omaha” so extraordinary. There are

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00:11:46

Is Jaguar Landrover Running Out of Road?

Mark and Pete ·

2026/09/17

Here’s the episode 2 description, keeping the JLR story central but widening into the bigger British-industry and net-zero question.Jaguar Land Rover is cutting around 4,000 jobs, trying to save £1.7 billion and facing fierce competition from China, tariffs, rising costs and the lingering effects of a devastating cyberattack. Britain’s biggest carmaker is not going bust. But something is clearly going wrong. citeturn131080news47In this episode of Mark & Pete, we ask: is Jaguar Land Rover

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00:11:17

The $5000 Vote: Trump Dividend or Trump Bribe?

Mark and Pete ·

2026/09/15

Donald Trump is promising Americans a $5,000 payment if Republicans win control of Congress. He calls it a dividend. Critics call it a bribe. And somewhere in the middle sits one of the strangest election promises in recent memory.In this episode of Mark & Pete, we ask whether the proposed $5,000 Trump dividend is actually a reward for American economic success, a spectacular piece of political theatre, or something uncomfortably close to buying goodwill with public money.The numbers are

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00:09:51

Robotaxis: are we ready to sack drivers?

Mark and Pete ·

2026/09/11

Robotaxis have arrived in London. Uber and British autonomous-driving company Wayve have launched the UK’s first public autonomous ride-hailing service, using specially equipped all-electric Ford Mustang Mach-E cars. You can now request an UberX, Uber Electric or Uber Comfort and, if fate is feeling futuristic, a self-driving car may turn up instead.There is, however, one small detail.There is still a driver.For now, each of London’s first robotaxis carries a qualified human safety driver behind the

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00:10:35

Victoria Beckham: Posh has Finally Turned Profit.

Mark and Pete ·

2026/09/11

Victoria Beckham Holdings has finally made a profit. After 18 years of fashion shows, beauty launches, celebrity cachet, private investment, substantial losses and, one assumes, quite a lot of very expensive beige, Victoria Beckham’s fashion and beauty business has posted its first operating profit.And not a tiny one either.For 2025, Victoria Beckham Holdings reported revenue of £129.8 million, up 15 per cent from £112.7 million the year before. Operating profit came in at £7.3 million, compared

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00:13:38

Keir Starmer: Britain's Worse Ever Prime Minister?

Mark and Pete ·

2026/09/10

Keir Starmer resigns as MP, bringing an extraordinary political career to a rather abrupt close. After becoming Labour leader in 2020, winning a huge Commons majority in the 2024 UK general election, becoming Prime Minister and then leaving Downing Street in July 2026, Sir Keir has now decided to leave Parliament as well. So the question rather writes itself: was Keir Starmer Britain’s worst ever Prime Minister?That is the deliberately provocative question Mark and Pete tackle in this episode

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00:09:14

Say it with Flowers: Britain's Favourite Blooms.

Mark and Pete ·

2026/09/06

Britain’s favourite flowers, the occasions we buy them for, and one extraordinary donation of 17,000 white roses are at the heart of this episode of Mark and Pete. We look at why roses still dominate the British flower market, why flowers matter so much emotionally, and what happens when thousands of perfectly good blooms are rescued from the bin and turned into something useful.Because flowers are odd things, really.We cut them off a living plant, wrap them in paper, hand them to someone we love,

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00:08:22

Puppy Love: why cute animals sell us eveything.

Mark and Pete ·

2026/09/05

Why do advertisers use cute animals to sell us everything from toilet roll and insurance to paint, tea and batteries? In this episode of Mark and Pete, we celebrate Britain’s most memorable advertising animals, from the Andrex puppy and Compare the Market meerkats to the Dulux dog, Churchill the bulldog and those slightly unnerving PG Tips chimps.Because there is a principle here. A very successful one.Brands discovered long ago that if the product itself is dull, technical, embarrassing or simply

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00:11:20

We remember Dolly Parton: the queen of country music.

Mark and Pete ·

2026/09/01

Dolly Parton has died at the age of 80, and in this episode of Mark and Pete we pay tribute to one of the most remarkable, successful and strangely universally loved entertainers of the modern age. Singer, songwriter, actress, businesswoman, philanthropist and owner of rather more rhinestones than most regional theatres could manage between them, Dolly Parton became something far bigger than a country music star.Born into poverty in rural Tennessee as one of 12 children, Dolly went from singing in

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00:11:20

Gross Britannia: Britain is Getting Fatter

Mark and Pete ·

2026/08/29

Britain’s obesity crisis is getting worse, and the latest figures suggest younger adults are gaining weight faster than ever. According to the King’s Fund, obesity rates in England are now at record levels, with around 30% of adults living with obesity or severe obesity, roughly double the proportion seen in the early 1990s. Among 16 to 24-year-olds, the rise is even more striking. Around 18% are now obese or severely obese, compared with just 6% in 1993.Hence the title of this episode of Mark and

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00:08:02

E-scooters: a menace on Britain's streets.

Mark and Pete ·

2026/08/27

zE-scooter accidents in Britain are rising sharply, with hundreds of riders and pedestrians suffering serious injuries and hospitals seeing a worrying increase in children hurt while using electric scooters. They are fast, cheap, convenient and now thoroughly woven into city life. They are also, increasingly, a menace on Britain’s streets.In this episode of Mark and Pete, we look at the growing problem of e-scooter injuries, road safety and regulation in the UK, and ask whether it is time riders had

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00:10:58

Ferrari's First Electric Prancing Horse.

Mark and Pete ·

2026/08/25

Ferrari’s first electric car has arrived, and the Ferrari Luce is causing exactly the sort of argument you would expect when the most famous maker of roaring petrol-engined supercars decides to plug one into the mains. The new fully electric Ferrari Luce has more than 1,000 horsepower, four electric motors, a top speed of around 192 mph and a claimed range of 329 miles. It will cost about £440,000 in the UK. Which is quite a lot to spend to avoid buying petrol.But even that figure was

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00:04:27

A Truck Load of Tomato Sauce.

Mark and Pete ·

2026/08/23

Tomato sauce spill, Swaffham traffic, Norfolk news, lorry accidents, road closures and one enormous quantity of ketchup are the unlikely ingredients in this episode of Mark and Pete. Because sometimes the great machinery of world affairs pauses for a moment and Britain gives us the news story we actually need.A truck carrying tomato sauce overturned near Swaffham in Norfolk, spilling its load across the road and leaving emergency services with the sort of clean-up operation nobody quite expects when

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00:08:21

Count Binface for Prime Minister!

Mark and Pete ·

2026/08/20

Count Binface, Nigel Farage, the Clacton by-election, UK politics, protest voting and the strange state of British democracy are under discussion in this episode of Mark and Pete. Because something rather extraordinary has happened in Clacton. Count Binface, a man wearing a silver costume with what appears to be a bin on his head, came second.And not just “came second” in the sense of receiving 87 votes, including his mum and somebody who misunderstood the ballot paper. He received nearly 9,500

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00:12:03

Total Eclipse: now I understand all the fuss.

Mark and Pete ·

2026/08/18

Total Eclipse: Now I Understand the FussTotal solar eclipse 2026, Spain, eclipse chasing, solar eclipse photography and the extraordinary experience of totality are at the heart of this episode of Mark and Pete. Pete has now seen his first total eclipse of the Sun, in Spain on 12 August 2026, and has come back with a fairly straightforward conclusion: everyone should see one. At least once. Preferably somewhere with decent weather and a nearby supply of coffee.Because a total solar eclipse is not

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00:08:51

£50,000 or £1 Million: the coin that reveals how you...

Mark and Pete ·

2026/08/14

£50,000 or £1 Million? The Coin Toss That Reveals How You Think is a fascinating look at decision making, risk, money psychology, behavioural economics and the strange things our brains do when a large amount of cash is suddenly dangled in front of us.The dilemma is beautifully simple.You are offered £50,000 guaranteed. You can take it, walk away, and quite reasonably feel that life has improved.Or you can flip a coin.Heads, you get £1 million.Tails, you get nothing.No second go. No best of three

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00:09:52

Britain's Great Petrol Station Getaway.

Mark and Pete ·

2026/08/14

UK petrol theft, fuel drive-offs, rising petrol prices, shoplifting, retail crime and the cost-of-living squeeze are at the heart of this episode of Mark and Pete. Drivers are leaving filling stations without paying in growing numbers, retailers are reporting increasing theft across the board, and the obvious question is beginning to look rather difficult to avoid: why do so many petrol stations still let us take the fuel first and pay afterwards?Industry figures suggest fuel theft is now costing UK

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