Business Daily

Is the US sugar industry's relationship with politicians, from Florida to Washington DC, just a little bit too sweet?Gilda Di Carli reports from the Sunshine State, where the newly elected Governor Ron DeSantis has vowed to take on the sugarcane lobby, which he blames for impeding efforts to tackle the gigantic algae blooms that have blighted Florida's rivers and coasts.Meanwhile Manuela Saragosa speaks to Guy Rolnik, professor of strategic management at the Chicago Booth School, about two of the industry's wealthiest and most politically connected magnates, Alfy and Pepe Fanjul. Plus Ryan Weston of the Sugar Cane League - which represents US growers including the Fanjuls - explains why he thinks the industry gets an unfair rap from the media.Producer: Laurence Knight(Picture: Sugar cubes on black background; Credit: tuchkovo/Getty Images)

Are health services around the world wilfully blind to the problem of dangerously long hours being worked by junior medics?Vivienne Nunis speaks to doctors in Australia and America about how tiredness and depression are not only ruining their lives, but also pose a threat to the safety of patients going under the knife or receiving prescriptions. And it's a worldwide problem - as Sydney-based doctor Yumiko Kadota discovered when a blog she wrote attracted similar stories of exhaustion from Colombia to Poland. Author Margaret Heffernan says the culture of many health systems is one of wilful blindness to the physical limits of human employees, while the campaigning American medic Pamela Wible MD explains how it is driving many hospital staff to suicide.(Picture: Exhausted surgeon resting his head on operating theatre table; Credit: Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Our appliances are getting increasingly difficult and expensive to mend, in some cases by design. So should consumers demand the right to repair?Ed Butler speaks to those campaigning for manufacturers to make it easier for us to fix our electronics goods - with everything from tractors to phones to baby incubators in their sites. Clare Seek runs a Repair Café in Portsmouth, England, a specially designated venue for anyone who wants to get their stuff to last longer. And Ed travels to Agbogbloshie in Accra in Ghana, one of the places where our mountains of e-waste end up being pulled apart and melted down for scrap.The programme also features interviews with Gay Gordon-Byrne, executive director of The Repair Association; Kyle Wiens, founder of iFixit; intellectual property lawyer Jani Ihalainen; and Susanne Baker, head of environment and compliance at techUK.(Picture: Broken iPhone; Credit: Edmond So/South China Morning Post via Getty Images)

Should the collection of vast genetic databases be dominated by private companies such as 23andMe or Ancestry.com?In the second of two programmes looking at the businesses riding high on the boom in home DNA testing kits, Manuela Saragosa looks at how the enormous head start these companies have over public sector DNA research initiatives may be skewing medical research. Will the profit motive drive these companies to wall off their databases, and give access only to pharmaceutical companies capable of developing lucrative new drugs that mainly benefit the predominately wealthy, white customers who send in their DNA samples in the first place?The programme features interviews with Kathy Hibbs of 23andMe, Mark Caulfield of Genomics England, and Kayte Spector-Bagdady of the University of Michigan Medical School.Producer: Laurence Knight(Picture: Woman's cheek being swabbed; Credit: AndreyPopov/Getty Images)

What can you really learn about your heritage from a home DNA testing kit? We hear from Bill and Ylva Wires, a couple in Berlin who used DNA testing kits to find out more about their ancestors. Manuela Saragosa speaks to Rafi Mendelsohn of MyHeritage.com - one major company in this field - and Kristen V Brown who covers genetics stories for Bloomberg.Producer: Laurence Knight(Photo: Old family photos, Credit: Getty Images)

The story of Theranos, a company that falsely claimed it could perform a full range of medical tests using just a tiny blood sample drawn by pricking your finger. Manuela Saragosa speaks to John Carreyrou, an investigative reporter with the Wall Street Journal and author of a book on the case, Bad Blood. Plus Silicon Valley venture capitalist Hemant Taneja explains why investors need to be more cautious.(Photo: Blood samples, Credit: Getty Images)

Should Facebook and others be forced by governments to take responsibility for what people are exposed to on their platforms?Social media companies' algorithms have come under particular scrutiny, with allegations that they push inappropriate content - such as neo-Nazi propaganda, self-harm videos and conspiracy theories - to its users, including to children. "Angry Aussie" YouTuber Andrew Kay describes how the video sharing platform shifted from being a site for video bloggers, to a place where contributors will do or say anything in order to get attention, and thereby earn money.Meanwhile Professor Alan Woodward, a cyber security expert at the University of Surrey, tells Vishala Sri-Pathma what he thinks governments should be doing to rein these global digital behemoths in.(Picture: Teenager looking at her smart phone in bed; Credit: Ljubaphoto/Getty Images)

Poor diet has been linked to diseases such as diabetes and cancer, but do you have much of a choice if you are on a tight budget?Organic food is rising in popularity in the West, but Vishala Sri-Pathma asks nutritionist Sophie Medlin whether the additional cost of buying organic is actually worth it. And what if you are time poor, as well as short of money? Chef Tom Kerridge has tips for how even if you have just 20 minutes spare, it's still possible to pull together a healthy family meal.Plus Dr Susan Babey, a senior research scientist for health policy at University College Los Angeles, explains another major factor affecting the diets of many ordinary Americans - so-called "food deserts" where there is simply nowhere to actually buy fresh produce.(Picture: Fresh locally grown vine tomatoes for sale outside a green grocer store in the the UK; Credit: John Keeble/Getty Images)

How bogus stats can get repeated again and again until they end up influencing policy at governments and major multilateral institutions.Ed Butler speaks to three people who claim they are struggling to slay these zombies. Ivan Macquisten is an adviser to the UK's Antiquities Dealers Association who actually wrote into Business Daily to complain about a previous programme that he claimed repeated false figures about the scale of looted archaeology from the Middle East finding its way into Western art markets.Meanwhile, Kathryn Moeller of Stanford University describes how she never found the source of a claim widely quoted by international development agencies that girls are much more likely than boys to invest their income to the benefit of their household. And Rachel Kleinfeld of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace explains the headache the UN faces in compiling international data about violent crime.Also in the programme, Lazare Eloundou- Assomo of Unesco and the BBC's own Tim Harford.Producer: L

Exporters express their fears and frustration at the lack of any agreement about future trade relations with just six weeks left to go until the UK leaves the EU.Adam Sopher of popcorn manufacturer Joe & Sephs tells Ed Butler how he is now having to send his wares to Asia via air freight, because by the time the usual ships reach dock in Hong Kong the UK will have left already and he still doesn't know what tariffs he will have to pay. Pauline Bastidon of the Freight Transport Association describes how British road hauliers are having to take part in a lottery for permits to continue operating in the EU, with many being left empty handed.Meanwhile in the Netherlands, MP Pieter Omtzigt, who acts as a Brexit point person for his country's parliament, explains how the Dutch have been preparing far longer than their British counterparts for the possibility of the UK crashing out of the EU with no trade deal at all. Plus Paul Hodges of the consultancy Ready for Brexit explains why so many of the small business

Are women finally breaking through off screen in the film industry? A year on from the Harvey Weinstein scandal, why aren't there more female movie directors at the Oscars?Regan Morris reports from a Hollywood still coming to terms with the #MeToo movement. She speaks to Leah Meyerhof, founder of Film Fatales - a movement that brings together female film and TV directors on the West Coast - as well as directors Alyssa Downs and Rijaa Nadeem.Meanwhile Nithya Raman of the Time’s Up campaign against sexual harassment explains why they have launched the "4% Challenge" - named after the derisory number of top-grossing films directed by women - as well as a legal defence fund and a mentorship programme for women.Plus actors Armie Hammer and Felicity Jones talk about a forthcoming movie about the pioneering Supreme Court judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg, being directed by Mimi Leder.(Picture: The 22 Oscars won by the Lord of The Rings ; Credit: Dean Treml/AFP/Getty Images)

Is the era of globalisation, unfettered markets and billionaire philanthropists drawing to a close? Is the answer to rising populism for the state to tax the wealthy and invest more in the public good?Manuela Saragosa speaks to three people who say the populist revolts, from Brazil to the US, are symptomatic of an economic system in crisis. Winnie Byanyima, head of anti-poverty campaigners Oxfam, explains why she thinks global jobs statistics mask the reality that many people do not receive dignified work or a decent wage.Development economist Paul Collier of Oxford University says he thinks corporations and billionaires have lost their way in an era of shareholder value and a growing wealth gap, while journalist Anand Giridharadas claims we are witnessing the death throes of the free market ideology that has dominated global politics since the 1980s.(Picture: Anti-capitalist protestors demonstrate in Paris; Credit: Kiran Ridley/Getty Images)

Should your head trump your heart when seeking lifelong love? That's the challenge Business Daily's Justin Rowlatt has taken on for this Valentine's Day.The hyper-rationalist businessman Ed Conard thinks he knows the answer, and his strictly mathematical strategy for romance is called "sequential selection, no turning back". He used it to meet his wife of the last 20 years, Jill Davis.But is Ed's approach right for everyone? Justin hears sceptical voices from two very different quarters - romantic novelist Nicola Cornick, and Nobel prize-winning economist Alvin Roth. And what about Jill? What's it like to be on the receiving end of such a calculated courtship?Producer: Laurence Knight(Picture: Jill Davis and Ed Conard; Credit: Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

Many African universities are not up to scratch, leaving African students vulnerable to scam institutions abroad. Ivana Davidovic reports from Northern Cyprus where many African students go looking for a better education. Nigerian businessman Evans Akanno explains the education problem at home, and Professor Tshilidzi Marwala, vice chancellor at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa, explains the scale of the problem.(Photo: University students in Lagos, Nigeria, Credit: Getty Images)

Nigeria goes to the polls to elect a president this weekend. Two issues are prominent - the state of the economy and corruption. Local businessman Evans Akanno tells us why just getting the electricity to stay on would be a good start. Amy Jadesemi, CEO of the Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics Base, explains why global oil prices are still crucial to Nigeria. Benedict Crave, Nigeria analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit, explains why challenger Atiku Abubakar might win the presidency.(Photo: A woman walks past presidential campaign posters in Lagos, Nigeria, Credit: Getty Images)

Last month Dutch historian Rutger Bregman told the billionaires at the World Economic Forum in Davos they should think less about philanthropy and instead pay more tax. The clip of his speech went viral. He comes on the programme to argue his point with Ed Conard, a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and author of the book The Upside of Inequality, who says higher taxes just stop people innovating.(Photo: Rutger Bregman, Credit: Getty Images)

Funereal solutions on an overcrowded planet - Ed Butler investigates what various countries do when they run out of space to bury their dead.In Japan, where the construction of new crematoriums has often been blocked by unhappy neighbours, there is a literal multi-day backlog of bodies awaiting burial - and businesses ready to host them. In Greece, crematoriums are opposed by the Orthodox Church, so the solution has been the controversial practice of exhuming bodies just a few months after burial and transferring the decomposed remains to an ossuary.Meanwhile in Los Angeles, mortician Caitlin Doughty tells Ed about an innovative new method of body disposal - disintegrate them in a solution of highly caustic potassium hydroxide.(Picture: Grave-digger; Credit: David Turnley/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)

Will online shopping and AI combine to kill the high street clothing store?Ed Butler gets himself digitally measured up in order to try on outfits in cyberspace, with the help of Tom Adeyoola, founder of virtual browsing business Metail. Meanwhile Julia Boesch - who runs Outfittery, one of Europe's biggest online fashion retailers, out of her office in Berlin - explains how artificial intelligence is enabling her company to provide customers with the kind of individualised style advice they would normally find in a bespoke tailors.So is the roll-out of AI-enhanced phone-based services going to revolutionise the way we buy our attire? Yes, says Achim Berg of consultants McKinsey - but not quite yet.(Picture: Body scan to provide exact measurements at custom tailoring shop Alton Lane in Washington DC; Credit: Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

At what point should you give up your day-job to pursue your own business side-project full-time? And should governments do more to help those who want to do it?Manuela Saragosa explores the world of the successful "side-hustler" - the closet entrepreneur who takes an after-hours pet project and turns it into a whole new business. Alexandria Wombwell-Povey gave up insurance brokerage to launch her jam-making company Cham, while Emma Jones set up the website Enterprise Nation to support such go-getters.Meanwhile, Maddy Savage reports from Sweden, where all full-time employees have a legal right to unpaid leave in order to pursue their own start-up.(Picture: Businesswoman looks wistful and distracted in a meeting with her colleagues; Credit: Squaredpixels/Getty Images)

If the UK crashes out of the EU on 29 March with no agreement on continuing trade relations, how will it affect Britain's supplies of fresh food? Could the country's supermarket shelves be left empty?Dan Saladino speaks to farmers, traders and officials fretting at the unknown but potentially serious consequences of a "no deal" Brexit for food security in the UK, as well as one middle class family who are already stockpiling their own food supplies.Interviewees include Guy Singh-Watson of Riverford Farm, Professor Tim Lang of City University London, Ian Wright of the Food & Drink Federation, Andrew Opie of the British Retail Consortium, Emily Norton of Nuffield College Oxford, Tim Worstall of the Adam Smith Institute, and New Covent Garden mushroom trader Michael Hyams.(Picture: A mother and her son look at the empty bakery shelves in a supermarket in Tewkesbury, England following flooding in 2007; Credit: Matt Cardy/Getty Images)