The Bottom Line BBC Radio 4

On the agenda for the final programme of the current series is meetings. Virtual or in person, it's difficult to avoid a work meeting. So how do you ensure a good meeting? What should their purpose be, how many people should attend, who should speak and when? Evan Davis and guests discuss.
GUESTS
Dave Brittain, Business Development Director, Amazon Fashion Europe
Phil Jones, MD Brother UK
Dr. Sarah Woolley, Senior Research Fellow, Warwick Business School
CLIPS
Series 3 Episode 3 W1A
Writer: John Morton
Rob Mayhew
Brother Meeting Manifesto
Writer: Rob Mayhew
PRODUCTION TEAM
Producer: Julie Ball
Editor: China Collins
Sound: Rod Farquhar and James Beard
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman

New medicines with sales in the billions of dollars each year are what every pharmaceutical company dreams of, but how do you create one and can they really justify their often high price tags?
Evan Davis and guests discuss the changing origins of so-called 'blockbusters' and their importance to the global drug industry, including recent examples like the obesity and diabetes treatments Wegovy and Ozempic, which have made Novo Nordisk one of the richest companies in Europe.
Plus, as outright cures for some diseases begin to emerge, how can the pharmaceutical industry and healthcare systems agree on what is a reasonable price to pay for them?
Evan is joined by:
Sir Patrick Vallance, former president of research and development at GSK, chief scientific advisor to the UK government, now chair of the Natural History Museum;
Ruth McKernan, venture partner at SV Health Investors;
David Brown, chairman and co-founder of Healx and co-creator of Viagra;
Natasha Loder, health editor, The Economist.
PRODUCTION TEAM:
Producer: Simon Tulett
Editor: China Collins
Sound: Graham Puddifoot
Production co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
(Picture: Rolls of dollar bills next to a bottle of pills. Credit: Getty Images)

For most people, the aeroplane is the default mode of long distance transport Whilst the UK has only two overnight sleeper services, long distance train travel and sleeper services are experiencing a resurgence in Europe. One company OBB, the Austrian State Railway has just ordered thirty new trains, some of which will be in service from December. But are these services mainly for train aficionados, romantics and those scared of flying, or could they become a serious competitor to the plane?
Evan Davis and guests discuss what's behind this apparent new 'Age of the Train'.
GUESTS
Kurt Bauer, Head of Long Distance Passenger Services and New Rail Business, OBB/Nightjet
Michael Guerra, Rail Design Engineer and Co-founder, Night X
Monisha Rajesh, Travel journalist and Author, 'Around the World in 80 Trains'
Reporter: Lisa Louis
PRODUCTION TEAM
Producer: Julie Ball
Editor : China Collins
Sound: Neil Churchill and Rod Farquhar
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman

Bad behaviour and big mistakes can destroy careers and even entire businesses if they're not addressed quickly, so why do some companies and their leaders try to downplay or even deny them?
Evan Davis and guests discuss the culture of defensiveness and denial that exists in some organisations, from the private to the public and charity sectors.
A former Oxfam worker describes how she was forced to blow the whistle on widespread sexual exploitation and abuse inside the charity, and the panel explores the ways in which leaders can tackle wrongdoing and encourage their teams to call it out.
Evan is joined by:
Helen Evans, former head of global safeguarding at Oxfam, now CEO of Cavernoma Alliance UK:
John Higgins, researcher on workplace activism and author of “Speak Up: Say What Needs to Be Said and Hear What Needs to Be Heard”;
Sarah Miller, CEO of Principia Advisory.
PRODUCTION TEAM:
Producer: Simon Tulett
Editor: China Collins
Sound: Graham Puddifoot and Rod Farquhar
Production co-ordinators: Gemma Ashman and Sophie Hill
(Picture: A businessman with his head in the sand. Credit: Getty Images)

Elon Musk’s decision to rename Twitter ‘X’ has been met with confusion, and in some cases even anger, but where does it rank amongst the best and worst rebrands?
Evan Davis and guests discuss the complexity of changing a company or product name, logo and message, the reasons for doing it, and how to make it a success.
These overhauls can be risky, though, and failure expensive – the panel discusses one the UK’s textbook rebranding disasters.
Evan is joined by:
Lee Rolston, chief growth officer at Jones Knowles Ritchie;
Caroline Wiertz, professor of marketing at Bayes Business School (formerly Cass) – City, University of London;
Amanda Mackenzie, former chief marketing and communications officer at Aviva;
Keith Wells, founder and director of Brandwell.
PRODUCTION TEAM:
Producer: Simon Tulett
Editor: China Collins
Sound: Graham Puddifoot and Rod Farquhar
Production co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
(Picture: The new ‘X’ logo displayed on a smartphone with the old Twitter logo in the background. Credit: Omar Marques/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images.)

As the UK gets ready to host a major global summit on the safety of artificial intelligence, Evan Davis speaks to one of the technology's leading global figures.
Demis Hassabis explains how he went from child chess champion to game developer to co-founder of AI research lab DeepMind, which was bought by Google in 2014.
He discusses Google's answer to ChatGPT and AI's ability to create breakthroughs in science, but also its downsides, including the potential extinction of the human race.
GUEST: Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind
PRODUCTION TEAM
Producers: Joel Moors and Simon Tulett
Editor: China Collins
Sound: Neil Churchill
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
(Picture: Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind)