Stuff Matters with Ed Conway

Sky News
Sky News
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We tell the hidden stories of the objects around you. Bananas, trainers, AirPods - they all reveal something about the modern world. Our hope is you’ll never look at stuff the same again. Hosted by Ed Conway.

  1. Episodio 1

    LEDs: How a little blue light changed the world

    A flashing wristband at an NFL game sends Ed Conway down an unexpected economic rabbit hole. To listen without ads, get new episodes a week early, exclusive bonus episodes and much more, become a Sky News Insider. Find out more and subscribe at skynews.com/stuffmatters. LEDs were supposed to be one of the great technological and environmental success stories: a revolutionary technology that uses a fraction of the energy of traditional light bulbs. But is that what they've become? Or are they just an example of humankind’s insatiable desire for stuff? After all - we’ve just started lighting up more of the world than ever before. Ed’s journey takes us from a small chemical factory in rural Japan where inventor Shuji Nakamura spent years battling explosions in pursuit of the world's first blue LED, all the way to Victorian Britain and the economist William Stanley Jevons whose ideas still shape the way we think about energy and consumption today. Along the way, Ed explores one of the biggest questions in economics and climate policy: The Jevons Paradox. When technology becomes more efficient, do we actually use less of it, or simply find new ways to consume more? Do you have any thoughts about the episode or questions for Ed? Email us at stuffmatters@sky.uk and maybe we'll feature your email in an upcoming Q&A episode! Sky News Insider requires a paid subscription and is available to UK listeners aged 18 and over. Find out more and subscribe at skynews.com/stuffmatters. In this episode we spoke with: Shuji Nakamura, the inventor of the blue LED and professor of materials at UC Santa BarbaraSandra Peart, dean of the Jepson School of Leadership StudiesAlex Trambath, executive director of The Breakthrough InstituteHannah Ritchie, deputy editor of Our World In Data The Stuff Matters series producer is Jake Otajovic. The production team includes assistant producer Valeria Rocca, specialist producer Aoife Yourell, and video producer Charlie Bell. Our bonus episodes are produced by Soila Apparicio. The editor is Philly Beaumont, and the commissioning editor is Paul Stanworth. Sound design and mixing by Luke Hatten. Original music for the series composed by Klong and Ed Conway.

    LEDs: How a little blue light changed the world

  2. Episodio 2

    AirPods: Why's everyone fighting over the mysterious elements inside?

    That satisfying snap when you close an AirPods case is powered by one of the most important materials in the modern world. To listen without ads, get new episodes a week early, exclusive bonus episodes and much more, become a Sky News Insider. Find out more and subscribe at skynews.com/stuffmatters. Hidden inside are tiny magnets made from rare earth elements: obscure minerals that help power everything from smartphones and wind turbines to fighter jets and electric cars. They're also at the centre of one of the biggest geopolitical struggles of our time. In this episode, Ed Conway follows the story of rare earths from an obscure Swedish town and the Manhattan Project to modern China, where decades of industrial strategy have given Beijing extraordinary control over a resource the rest of the world depends on. Along the way, he explores the strange economics of rare earth mining, the environmental costs hidden behind modern technology, and the growing fear that global supply chains can be turned into weapons. Do you have any thoughts about the episode or questions for Ed? Email us at stuffmatters@sky.uk and maybe we'll feature your email in an upcoming Q&A episode! Sky News Insider requires a paid subscription and is available to UK listeners aged 18 and over. Find out more and subscribe at skynews.com/stuffmatters. In this episode we spoke with: Jordan Lee Calderon, critical minerals and sustainability researcher at Colorado School of MinesTim Worstall, economics commentator and senior fellow at the Adam Smith InstituteKeith Bradsher, New York Times Beijing bureau chiefHenry Farrell, political scientist and co-author of "Underground Empire: How America Weaponized the World Economy" The Stuff Matters series producer is Jake Otajovic. The production team includes assistant producer Valeria Rocca, specialist producer Aoife Yourell, and video producer Charlie Bell. Our bonus episodes are produced by Soila Apparicio. The editor is Philly Beaumont, and the commissioning editor is Paul Stanworth. Sound design and mixing by Luke Hatten. Original music for the series composed by Klong and Ed Conway.

    AirPods: Why's everyone fighting over the mysterious elements inside?

  3. Episodio 3

    Bananas: Is it the end of our favourite fruit?

    It's a story that spans continents and centuries, taking in corporate empires and CIA-backed coups and it's all about bananas. Could Britain's favourite fruit be wiped out? Find out how to subscribe to our members club Sky News Insider here: skynews.com/stuffmatters They're cheap, convenient and available in every supermarket, every day of the year. Most of us barely give them a second thought. But behind the humble banana lies one of the most extraordinary stories in the modern economy, and one of the most remarkable supply chains ever created. Ed Conway follows the fruit's journey from vast plantations in Latin America to a giant ripening warehouse outside Coventry, uncovering a hidden world of global trade, technological innovation and corporate power. Do you have any thoughts about the episode or questions for Ed? Email us at stuffmatters@sky.uk and maybe we'll feature your email in an upcoming Q&A episode! Sky News Insider requires a paid subscription and is available to UK listeners aged 18 and over. Find out more and subscribe at skynews.com/stuffmatters In this episode we spoke with: Harry Wallop, consumer journalist and Columnist for Times BusinessMarcelo Bucheli, professor at Gies College of Business and author of "Bananas and Business: The United Fruit Company in Colombia, 1899-2000" The Stuff Matters series producer is Jake Otajovic. The production team includes assistant producer Valeria Rocca, specialist producer Aoife Yourell, and video producer Charlie Bell. Our bonus episodes are produced by Soila Apparicio. The editor is Philly Beaumont, and the commissioning editor is Paul Stanworth. Sound design and mixing by Luke Hatten. Original music for the series composed by Klong and Ed Conway.

    Bananas: Is it the end of our favourite fruit?

  4. Episodio 4

    Car seats: The mystery of our depopulating planet

    What if bulky children’s car safety seats are a clue to one of the biggest changes in human history – the reason people aren't having kids anymore? Ed Conway investigates. Become a Sky News Insider! You can listen to Stuff Matters, Electoral Dysfunction, and Trump100 without ads, get new episodes early, exclusive bonus episodes and much more, by becoming a Sky News Insider. Sky News Insider requires a paid subscription and is available to UK listeners aged 18 and over. Find out more and subscribe here: skynews.supportingcast.fm Across almost every continent, birth rates are falling. Countries that once worried about overpopulation are now confronting the opposite problem: a future with fewer children, ageing populations and shrinking workforces. In this episode, Ed uses the child safety seat as a starting point for a much bigger investigation. Why are people having fewer children? What happens when populations start to shrink? And how have technology, changing social norms and modern life transformed the way we think about relationships, family and parenthood? Do you have any thoughts about the episode or questions for Ed? Email us at stuffmatters@sky.uk and maybe we'll feature your message in an upcoming Q&A episode! Sky News Insider requires a paid subscription and is available to UK listeners aged 18 and over. Find out more and subscribe at skynews.com/stuffmatters In this episode we spoke with: Dean Spears, associate professor at the University of Texas and co-author of "After the Spike: The Risks of Global Depopulation and the Case for People"Alice Evans, visiting associate professor at Stanford University, senior lecturer at King's College and author of "The Great Gender Divergence" substack The Stuff Matters series producer is Jake Otajovic. The production team includes assistant producer Valeria Rocca, specialist producer Aoife Yourell, and video producer Charlie Bell. Our bonus episodes are produced by Soila Apparicio. The editor is Philly Beaumont, and the commissioning editor is Paul Stanworth. Sound design and mixing by Luke Hatten. Original music for the series composed by Klong and Ed Conway.

    Car seats: The mystery of our depopulating planet

  5. Episodio 5

    Howitzers: Medieval cannons and the supply chains of modern war

    Ed uncovers the surprising story of the howitzer – the artillery weapon that has dominated battlefields for hundreds of years, from Napoleon to Ukraine and forever changed the economics of war. But this isn't just the story of a big gun. Become a Sky News Insider! You can listen to Stuff Matters, Electoral Dysfunction, and Trump100 without ads, get new episodes early, exclusive bonus episodes and much more, by becoming a Sky News Insider. Sky News Insider requires a paid subscription and is available to UK listeners aged 18 and over. Find out more and subscribe here: skynews.supportingcast.fm As Ukraine battles ammunition shortages, Ed investigates what happens when a modern army runs out of shells, and why NATO struggled to replace them. From forgotten chemical factories in the First World War to today's fragile global supply chains, he reveals how manufacturing, trade and industrial capacity have become just as important as military strategy. Featuring frontline reporting from Ukraine and conversations with leading military experts, this episode explores how a shortage of artillery helped accelerate the rise of drone warfare - and asks a bigger question: if Britain ever had to defend itself, could it still make the things it needs to fight? In this episode we spoke with: Francis Farrell, frontline reporter at the Kyiv IndependentDuncan Weldon, economist and author of “Blood and Treasure: The Economics of Conflict from the Vikings to the Modern Era”Jack Watling, Senior Research Fellow at RUSI The Stuff Matters series producer is Jake Otajovic. The production team includes assistant producer Valeria Rocca, specialist producer Aoife Yourell, and video producer Charlie Bell. Our bonus episodes are produced by Soila Apparicio. The editor is Philly Beaumont, and the commissioning editor is Paul Stanworth. Sound design and mixing by Luke Hatten. Original music for the series composed by Klong and Ed Conway. Sky News Insider requires a paid subscription and is available to UK listeners aged 18 and over. Find out more and subscribe at skynews.com/stuffmatters

  6. Episodio 6

    Trainers: An old pair of Nikes that altered history

    Ed has a theory. Did an unbranded pair of trainers from the '70s help trigger Western deindustrialisation and pave the way for Trump, Farage and - ultimately - China's economic dominance? Find out how to subscribe to our members club Sky News Insider here: skynews.com/stuffmatters It all goes back to a pair of trainers secretly made by Nike in the 1970s – but without the famous Swoosh on them. They were part of Nike’s secret plan to fight back against a cataclysmic $25 million customs bill from the US government, orchestrated by Nike’s rivals. Back in the ‘70s, Nike disrupted the American sneaker industry by making shoes cheaply in Japan and importing them into the US. What followed was a battle for survival for all major Western footwear brands, and a total re-drawing of how and where the products we love are made. But once you lose all manufacturing and industrial capability – what is left for your economy? This is an epic tale about trainers and the footwear industry, about the West paying the price for getting all its stuff made cheaply, and the economic and geopolitical boom for the Asian countries who benefitted. In this episode we spoke with: Gary Gereffi, emeritus Professor of Sociology and Founding Director of the Global Value Chains Center at Duke UniversityTony Le, sneaker executive who’s worked at Adidas, Nike and SkechersPatrick McGee, tech & business journalist and author of the book “Apple in China: The Capture of the World's Greatest Company”Featuring audio from Phil Knight’s 2014 graduation speech at Stanford Graduate School of Business and his 2019 “View from the Top” talk Sky News Insider requires a paid subscription and is available to UK listeners aged 18 and over. Find out more and subscribe at skynews.com/stuffmatters The Stuff Matters series producer is Jake Otajovic. The production team includes assistant producer Valeria Rocca, specialist producer Aoife Yourell, and video producer Charlie Bell. Our bonus episodes are produced by Soila Apparicio. The editor is Philly Beaumont, and the commissioning editor is Paul Stanworth. Sound design and mixing by Luke Hatten. Original music for the series composed by Klong and Ed Conway.

  7. 27 may

    What is Stuff Matters?

    In Stuff Matters, Ed Conway takes an object, cracks it open and reveals the world shaping forces hidden inside. Each episode follows a trail of ideas that stretches beyond the object itself, uncovering far reaching economic powers that shape how we live. Along the way, Ed meets fascinating characters, from brilliant inventors to Latin American revolutionaries. He dives into their personal stories and reveals how they’ve changed the course of industries and economies. Because when you look closely enough, even the simplest things turn out to matter more than you think.

    What is Stuff Matters?

  8. 13 jul

    More Stuff Matters: If fertility is falling, who is having children?

    We're unlocking an episode of More Stuff Matters before coming back with more new episodes! In the main episode, Ed explored the mystery of falling birth rates through child car booster seats. In this bonus, he takes the conversation further. Featuring an extended interview with social scientist Dr Alice Evans, they explore not just why people are having fewer children, but who is still having them. From South Korea and Turkey to Zambia and Uzbekistan, Alice draws on years of research around the world to explore the changing expectations around relationships, marriage and family life. Together they look at how technology, culture and demographics are reshaping societies across the globe, and what those changes might mean for the future. Become a Sky News Insider! You can listen to Stuff Matters, Electoral Dysfunction, and Trump100 without ads, get new episodes early, exclusive bonus episodes and much more, by becoming a Sky News Insider. Sky News Insider requires a paid subscription and is available to UK listeners aged 18 and over. Find out more and subscribe here: skynews.supportingcast.fm

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We tell the hidden stories of the objects around you. Bananas, trainers, AirPods - they all reveal something about the modern world. Our hope is you’ll never look at stuff the same again. Hosted by Ed Conway.

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