Australia is in the midst of a major social and economic experiment that centres on financial risks being shifted onto ordinary people. We are being asked to manage ourselves as if we are businesses, and these businesses are being squeezed tighter and tighter.Households are taking on more risk and financial stress, implicitly accepting demands that they be stable, secure payers. What is driving this, and how might we resist it?

Over the last 20 years — and especially over the last decade — the international expansion of money and commodities and the international relocation of production have grown tremendously. As a result, there now exists a real contradiction in accumulation: Although global in orientation, it remains structured by the nation state. Conventional economic literature generally explains the international economy as exogenous to the national economy. Though the former does influence the latter, na...

Most accounts of the current financial crisis tell a story of deregulation, out-of-control markets and irresponsible speculation. But few of those works have done more than regurgitate the newspaper coverage. In contrast, The Great Credit Crash digs deeper, drawing on some of the most prominent radical analysts of the modern market to foreground the key questions that are still waiting to be answered.This volume presents a more complete and convincing analysis of the recent...

Dramatisations of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s most popular works, plus bonus documentaryOften described as ‘the laureate of the Jazz Age’, F. Scott Fitzgerald captured the reckless, hedonistic spirit of 1920s America in his classic novels The Great Gatsby, The Beautiful and Damned and Tender is the Night. All three are dramatised here, as well as his sparkling short story ‘Head and Shoulders’, and a fascinating programme presenting a fresh perspective on Scott Fitzgerald...

Be disturbed, as you see the present reflected in the glass of an uneasy future…Enter ten darkly compelling futures in this stunning collection of full-cast radio dramas from some of the UK’s best writers, including Val McDermid, Anita Sullivan and Ed Harris. Starring Meera Syal, Tony Robinson, Gina McKee, Oliver Chris, Harriet Walter and more.From AI-controlled healthcare and genetic engineering to immersive virtual realities, ecological collapse, antibiot...

Brought to you by Penguin.From the No.1 bestselling author of The Shepherd's Life, an unforgettable story of friendship, redemption and a life-changing voyage of discovery on a remote Norwegian islandWe are all in need of lights to follow.One afternoon many years ago, James Rebanks met an old woman on a remote Norwegian island. She lived and worked alone on a tiny rocky outcrop, caring for wild Eider ducks and gathering the...

Matthew Beard and Sophie Rundle star in a brand new BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of the bestselling novel by Neil Gaiman, narrated by Eleanor Bron.Challenged to retrieve a fallen star, Tristran Thorn leaves the sleepy English village of Wall and crosses into the land of Faerie and the realm of Stormhold. Locating the star, he discovers it is no meteorite, but a young woman, Yvaine.When Yvaine evades him and escapes, Tristran discovers he is not the only one in pursui...

A thrilling BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation based on the third novel in C. J. Sansom's bestselling Tudor crime series featuring hunchback lawyer-detective Matthew Shardlake.Autumn, 1541. Henry VIII, accompanied by his young bride Catherine Howard, has embarked on a Great Progress from London to York, to establish his power and authority with his rebellious subjects in the North and receive their oaths of loyalty.Shardlake, sent ahead of the 3000-strong procession, is in...

The complete collected dramatisations of C. J. Sansom's historical mystery seriesSet during the reign of Henry VIII, these six stunning dramas follow the adventures of hunchbacked lawyer-detective Matthew Shardlake as he navigates the dangerous world of Tudor England, solving crimes and seeking out murderers.Dissolution - Winter, 1537. When a King's Commissioner is brutally murdered at Scarnsea monastery, Thomas Cromwell sends Shar...

BBC radio dramatisations of classic novels centred around engaging anti-heroes who dominate high societyAmbitious. Ruthless. Unprincipled. With their blurred morals and relatable imperfections, it’s no wonder we find anti-heroes so appealing and fascinating. Featuring a mixture of male and female anti-heroes across England, Scotland, France and New York, these fantastic adaptations of five of the best-known and best-loved classics of literature follow some of these...

A breathtaking BBC Radio 4 full-cast adaptation of the sixth novel in C. J. Sansom's best-selling Tudor crime series, featuring lawyer-detective Matthew Shardlake1546, and the great heretic hunt is underway across England. The radical Protestant preacher Anne Askew has been arrested and condemned to death, and Shardlake is ordered to attend the burning. It's a grisly, cruel spectacle that leaves him feeling disturbed. Rumours are circulating that Anne had connectio...

Edinburgh, 1853.In a city where reputation is everything, it doesn’t take much to destroy a man.When Cora Carlton, socialite and wife of a free-spending entrepreneur, dies suddenly on New Year’s Eve, the knives are out for her physician, the esteemed Dr James Young Simpson.Determined to separate medical fact from malicious rumour, Simpson’s protégé Dr Will Raven and aspiring medical practitioner Sarah Fisher traverse the heights of society and the de...