While Sliced Bread takes a break we serve up… Dough. Dough is the series from BBC Radio 4 which looks at the business behind profitable, everyday products and c...
Could the next generation of lawn mowers create any image you like on your lawn?The entrepreneur, Sam White, hosts Dough - the BBC Radio 4 series which looks at the business behind profitable everyday products and where the smart money might take them next.In each episode, Sam, and the futurist, Tom Cheesewright, are joined by product manufacturers and industry experts whose inside knowledge gives a new appreciation for the everyday things that we often take for granted.Together they look back on a product’s earliest (sometimes ridiculous!) iterations, discuss how a product has evolved and the trends which have driven its profitability.In this episode on lawn mowers, they hear from expert guests including: -Yvette Henshall-Bell - President of the European Business Unit at the lawn mower manufacturer, Husqvarna
-Craig Hoare - Sales and Marketing Manager for the lawn mower manufacturers Hayter and its parent company Toro
-Nick Darking - General Manager of the British Agricultural and Garden Machinery AssociationThey trade opinions on the lawn mower's 'game-changing' innovations and its most pointless, or least effective, ones too, before Tom draws on his expertise as a futurist to imagine what cutting the grass might be like in the decades to come.Dough is produced by Jon Douglas and is a BBC Audio North production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.Sliced Bread returns for a new batch of investigations in the spring when Greg Foot will investigate more of the latest so-called wonder products to find out whether they really are the best thing since sliced bread.In the meantime, Dough is available in the Sliced Bread feed on BBC Sounds
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Dough - Bicycles
How can the bicycle industry recover from sales that plummeted after the pandemic?The entrepreneur, Sam White, hosts Dough - the BBC Radio 4 series which looks at the business behind profitable everyday products and where the smart money might take them next.In each episode, Sam, and the futurist, Tom Cheesewright, are joined by product manufacturers and industry experts whose inside knowledge gives a new appreciation for the everyday things that we often take for granted.Together they look back on a product’s earliest (sometimes ridiculous!) iterations, discuss how a product has evolved and the trends which have driven its profitability.In this episode on bicycles Sam and Tom hear from expert guests including:- Nikki Hawyes - the chief executive officer of Whyte Bikes
- Andy Smallwood - the chief executive officer at Pashley Cycles
- Simon Irons - the Data and Insights Director at the Bicycle AssociationThey explain how the boom in sales during the Covid-19 pandemic bottomed out, creating huge turmoil from which the industry is still trying to recover.They trade opinions on the bicycle's 'game-changing' innovations and come up with some classic suggestions for 'pointless' innovations too, before Tom draws on his expertise as a futurist to imagine what bicycles could be like in the decades to come.Dough is produced by Jon Douglas and is a BBC Audio North production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.Sliced Bread returns for a new batch of investigations in the spring when Greg Foot will investigate more of the latest so-called wonder products to find out whether they really are the best thing since sliced bread.In the meantime, Dough is available in the Sliced Bread feed on BBC Sounds
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Dough - Washing Machines
Could washing machines soon be cleaning our clothes without using any water?The entrepreneur, Sam White, hosts Dough - the BBC Radio 4 series which looks at the business behind profitable everyday products and where the smart money might take them next.In each episode, Sam, and the futurist, Tom Cheesewright, are joined by product manufacturers and industry experts whose inside knowledge gives a new appreciation for the everyday things that we often take for granted.Together they look back on a product’s earliest (sometimes ridiculous!) iterations, discuss how a product has evolved and the trends which have driven its profitability.In this episode on washing machines, they hear from expert guests including:- Teresa Arbuckle - Regional Managing Director for the UK and Ireland at the washing machine manufacturer, Beko Europe
- John Elliott MBE - the founder and chairman of Ebac which make washing machines in County Durham
- Paul Hide - chief executive of the Association of Manufacturers of Domestic AppliancesThey trade opinions on the washing machine's 'game-changing' innovations and its most pointless, or least effective, ones too, before Tom draws on his expertise as a futurist to imagine what doing the laundry might be like in the decades to come.Dough is produced by Jon Douglas and is a BBC Audio North production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.Sliced Bread returns for a new batch of investigations in the spring when Greg Foot will investigate more of the latest so-called wonder products to find out whether they really are the best thing since sliced bread.In the meantime, Dough is available in the Sliced Bread feed on BBC Sounds
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Dough - Game Consoles
Game consoles have come a long way since the 1970s but could their days now be numbered?The entrepreneur, Sam White, returns with a new series of Dough - the BBC Radio 4 show which looks at the business behind profitable everyday products and where the smart money might take them next. In each episode, Sam, and the futurist, Tom Cheesewright, are joined by product manufacturers and industry experts whose inside knowledge gives a new appreciation for the everyday things that we often take for granted. Together they look back on a product’s earliest (sometimes ridiculous!) iterations, discuss how a product has evolved and the trends which have driven its profitability. In this episode on video game consoles, the pair hear from expert guests including:Seamus Blackley - the original creator of Microsoft's XboxKeza MacDonald - video games editor at the GuardianJames McWhirter - a senior analyst specialising in video games for the research firm, Omdia. They trade opinions on the game console's 'game-changing' innovations and its most pointless, or least effective, ones too, before Tom steps in, drawing on his expertise as a futurist, to imagine where consoles might end up in the decades to come. Dough is produced by Jon Douglas and is a BBC Audio North production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.Sliced Bread returns for a new batch of investigations in the spring when Greg Foot will investigate more of the latest so-called wonder products to find out whether they really are the best thing since sliced bread.In the meantime, Dough is available in the Sliced Bread feed on BBC Sounds
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Hearing Aids
Listener Angela is a musician, and long-time wearer of Hearing Aids – but as her parents and friends have started reaching an age where they might need them, she’s wondering what advice to give them - and whether paying more for a hearing aid, and potentially going private – would really help?There’s no question – Hearing Aids are Sliced Bread – but can the top end products really deliver on claims they can improve sound, reduce background noise, stream directly from phones or tables, and change what they listen to automatically? And are hearing aids available on the NHS capable of the same? The NHS England wait times described in this episode were accurate at the time of recording, and may have changed. A transcript of this episode is available here: https://downloads.bbc.co.uk/radio4/misc/sliced_bread_hearing_aids_transcript.pdf As always, all of our investigations start with YOUR suggestions. If you’ve seen an ad, trend or wonder product promising to make you happier, healthier or greener, email us at sliced.bread@bbc.co.uk OR send a voice note to our WhatsApp number, 07543 306807. PRESENTER: GREG FOOTPRODUCER: KATE HOLDSWORTH
While Sliced Bread takes a break we serve up… Dough. Dough is the series from BBC Radio 4 which looks at the business behind profitable, everyday products and considers how they might evolve in the years to come.In each episode, entrepreneur Sam White speaks to industry experts to find out how these products manage to make a profit and what game-changing - and pointless - innovations they have seen in their time.Tom Cheesewright, a technology expert and applied futurist, then offers his predictions on what might be coming beyond the current production pipeline.Episodes of Dough are released weekly on Thursdays wherever you get your podcasts. But if you’re in the UK, you can listen to the latest episode on BBC Sounds first, a week earlier than anywhere else. Produced by Jon Douglas. Dough is a BBC Audio North production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.Sliced Bread returns for a new batch of investigations in April when Greg Foot will investigate more of the latest so-called wonder products to find out whether they really are the best thing since sliced bread.In the meantime, Dough is available in the Sliced Bread feed on BBC Sounds.
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