In the UK, whistleblowers are encouraged to report wrongdoing, but often at cost to their livelihoods and careers. One solution would be to pay corporate whistleblowers for coming forward. However, many in government have held the idea for years that doing so is not very “British.” But now, longtime opposition to the idea seems to be shifting. Suzi Ring, the FT’s legal correspondent in London, explains how and why. Plus, we speak with Nick Ephgrave, the director of the UK’s Serious Fraud Office, who is taking inspiration from his decades spent with London’s Metropolitan Police Service to try to change the system.

Clips from ITV

If you missed part one of this series, listen to it here.

The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.

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For further reading:

Should corporate whistleblowers get paid?

Whistleblowers could earn millions as HMRC targets tax fraud

UK SFO director pushes to pay whistleblowers and use covert tactics

Corporate whistleblowing in the UK needs a shake-up

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Behind the Money host Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special episode of Behind the Money, the FT’s senior business writer Andrew Hill interviews author Stephen Witt about his book The Thinking Machine: Jensen Huang, Nvidia, and the World’s Most Coveted Microchip. Witt and his book won the FT and Schroders Business Book of the Year for 2025.

The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.

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For further reading:

In future ‘books could respond’ says winning author Stephen Witt

FT and Schroders Business Book of the Year 2025 — the shortlist

FT and Schroders Business Book of the Year 2025 — the longlist

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Follow Andrew Hill on X (@andrewtghill) or on Bluesky (@andrewtghill.ft.com) and Stephen Witt (@stephenwitt) on X. Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For years, corporate whistleblowers in the UK have found themselves in an unenviable predicament. They’re encouraged to report wrongdoing, but at the same time they often feel like they’ve risked everything: their careers and livelihoods in exchange for little. In this special two-part series, we explore why critics think this system is failing whistleblowers and what the UK can do to change things.

In part one: We hear from two whistleblowers who share why they blew the whistle and what went wrong after. Plus, the FT’s financial regulation editor Martin Arnold and Mary Inman, the attorney who represented well-known whistleblowers such as Frances Haugen of Meta and Tyler Shultz of Theranos, discuss the systemic issues whistleblowers have faced in the UK.

Part two airs next Monday, December 15.

The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.

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For further reading:

Should corporate whistleblowers get paid?

Whistleblowers could earn millions as HMRC targets tax fraud

Corporate whistleblowing in the UK needs a shake-up

Asset management: inside the scandal that rocked GAM

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Behind the Money host Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we’re sharing an episode from Business History, a podcast from Pushkin Industries. Former Planet Money hosts Jacob Goldstein and Robert Smith explore what the businesses of the past can teach us about commerce today.

In this episode, Goldstein and Smith look at how Southwest Airlines developed a winning formula that forced its competitors to change how they did business — but then the Southwest model fell apart.

Find Business History on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When international private equity groups first entered Japan at the turn of the 21st century, newspapers criticised them as vulture funds and politicians steered clear of public contact. Today, it’s a different story. Dozens of buyout groups have set up in the country and the establishment is courting them. The FT’s Tokyo correspondent David Keohane and Tokyo bureau chief Leo Lewis explain why there’s been a shift, and how private equity’s presence may rejuvenate Japanese corporates. Clips from Toho.

The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.

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For further reading:

Is Japan private equity’s next frontier?

Buyout firms play the long game beyond Tokyo

Investors sense this time is different for Japan

KKR-owned auto parts supplier Marelli files for US bankruptcy protection

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Follow David Keohane (@DavidKeo) and Leo Lewis (@Urbandirt) on X. Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more.

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To sign up for free to the new FT Alphaville newsletter on substack, go to ftav.substack.com

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Investors are spending billions of dollars on novel ways to extend human life through inventive treatments, therapies, and even manipulating our genes. And increasingly, it seems as though anti-ageing efforts have moved from the super rich to a mass market consumer industry. In this series, we’re covering the past, present and future of the longevity movement. We’ll be looking at where the fixation on longevity is coming from, and trying to understand the practical and ethical issues at the heart of this cutting-edge field of research.

From Silicon Valley fantasies, to Singaporean health spas, to Colombian genetic clinics and beyond, the FT’s Hannah Kuchler and Michael Peel ask whether breakthroughs in science and technology can really help us live longer, and even stop us aging altogether.

Free to read:

US ‘wellness’ industry scents opportunity to go mainstream

The quest to make young blood into a drug

This season of Tech Tonic was produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. The senior producer is Edwin Lane. Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Fact checking by Simon Greaves, Lucy Baldwin and Tara Cromie. Original music by Metaphor Music. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio.

The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

OpenAI is entering a new era. It's restructured to add a for-profit arm to its business and has signed more than a trillion dollars’ worth of deals to secure chips and build out data centres. But those huge financial commitments also raise massive questions: How will a heavily loss-making company fund $1.4tn worth of deals with some of the biggest publicly listed companies in the world? And what systemic risks could that come with? The FT's US west coast financial editor Tabby Kinder and venture capital correspondent George Hammond answer the questions everyone's asking.

The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.

Clips from Bg2 Pod, CNBC, Yahoo Finance

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For further reading:

How OpenAI put itself at the centre of a $1tn network of deals

Who owns OpenAI? Blockbuster deals complicate investor payouts

OpenAI shunned advisers on $1.5tn of deals

How high are OpenAI’s compute costs? Possibly a lot higher than we thought

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Attend the FT Global Banking Summit, December 2-4 in London: Enter SAVE20 for a 20% discount, register here.

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Follow Tabby Kinder (@Tabby_Kinder) and George Hammond (@GeorgeNHammond) on X or on Bluesky (@tabbykinder.bsky.social), (@georgehammond.bsky.social). Behind the Money host Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.