Right, chooks, let’s play shops! First customer to the finish with all their bits & bobs, wins. Here's how to play:
- With a friend (or two), decide who will be the shopkeeper and customers.
- Ask a grown-up to snip everything out. The bits and bobs go to the shopkeeper, then share the dollarbucks between the customers.
- Customers take turns to roll a die and move around the board. If you land on something you like, buy it... but if you don’t have enough money, you gotta put something back!
“Flush with cash” might need to turn into “flush that cash” if fake money keeps popping up! Counterfeit cash used to be a problem for mostly shops and retailers, but there’s been a recent rise in fake cash popping up in the home! That doesn’t mean that more of your neighborhood pals have decided to print their own money, or that fake bills are appearing out of thin air, but enough of it is in circulation that everyday people are going to make a purchase or deposit money with counterfeit cash, very possibly by accident.
In 2024, there were 99,000 fake notes in circulation. Last year, that doubled to 200,000, partly because of a rise in organized crime. While the fake bills make their way between hands and households and businesses, people become increasingly reliant on electronic methods of payment (like cards and Venmo), so they fall a bit out of practice of knowing what physical, paper money looks and feels like.
Unfortunately, it’s not always the people making counterfeit bills that are punished. Shops and retailers are hurting, and customers go into banks and post offices to deposit money that can’t be accepted because it ends up being fake.
In How Warren Buffett Turned Smart Deals Into Billions, learn about Warren Buffett, famous for his unique way of making deals and spotting great business opportunities. When he bought Nebraska Furniture Mart, he skipped the usual long negotiations and paperwork, sealing the deal for $50 million — way less than it was actually worth! Buffett has a talent for staying calm and letting sellers lower their own prices without even realizing it. Thanks to his sharp business skills, he quickly turned his smart investments into a billion-dollar empire. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Warren Buffett: The World’s Greatest Money Maker, which explores Warren Buffett’s unique investment strategies and business mindset.
The Underground Railroad was a secret network that helped enslaved people escape to freedom in the North and Canada in the decades before the Civil War. Despite its name, it was neither underground nor an actual railroad. Instead, abolitionists, free Black people, and formerly enslaved people worked together to provide routes, shelter, food, and other assistance. They used railroad terms as code words: guides were called conductors, safe houses were stations, and people who provided supplies or money were stockholders.
Escaping was dangerous. Many people traveled at night on foot, by boat, or by train, stopping at safe houses along indirect routes to avoid capture. Fugitive slave laws put escapees and those who helped them at risk. Although journeys were especially difficult for families with children, people of different ages and backgrounds sought freedom. Harriet Tubman, who escaped slavery and returned South to guide others to freedom, and William Still, a free Black abolitionist who helped coordinate escapes, became important figures in the network. The Underground Railroad remains a significant part of African American history and a symbol of the struggle for freedom.
In The Stock Market Crash of 1929, learn about one of the most shocking financial disasters in history, which unfolded on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. At the Museum of Financial History, you can see a replica of the ticker tape machine that delivered the news — and the actual ticker tape from that fateful day. People watched in fear as their hard-earned money vanished, and the panic that followed changed the economy forever. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Road to Riches, which explores the history of money, wealth, and economic power.
In How Data Transformed Trading, discover how data became a powerful tool for understanding human behavior — and making big money! Meet David Harding, a science graduate who shook up the chaotic world of trading by using math and data to predict price patterns. While others trusted their gut, Harding believed data and the right computer algorithms could crack the code of the stock market. Today, his company invests billions, proving that smart data (and a little science) can change the game! This video is excerpted from BBC’s Horizon: The Age of Big Data, which explores how data has shaped industries, economies, and human behavior.
In The Sea Nomads of Southeast Asia, host Simon Reeve visits the Bajau community, known as the sea nomads of Southeast Asia, who live their entire lives on the water. He spends a night with Bari and his family, learning how they rely on Bari’s daily fishing trips to survive and earn money for essentials. Despite the dangers of diving alone in tiger shark territory, Bari provides for his family while they also raise chickens for extra food. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Wilderness With Simon Reeve, an epic adventure into the heart of Earth’s last great wild areas, where nature is at its most beautiful and fragile.
In What Does the Statue of Liberty Stand For?, historian Lucy Worsley investigates the origins and meanings of the Statue of Liberty. When it was unveiled in 1886, women protested that women did not have liberty; neither was there liberty and equality for African Americans. Emma Lazarus wrote a poem, The New Colossus, which not only raised money for the statue but gave her a new purpose: to welcome immigrants from the rest of the world. This video is excerpted from BBC's American History's Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley, in which Worsley reveals the myths and manipulations behind American history.
In The Alberta Oil Sands Crisis, host Simon Reeve takes us deep into the Alberta oil sands, an operation that generates billions of dollars for Canada but leaves behind environmental destruction and toxic waste. Simon learns that while the oil makes a lot of money, it’s not helping the local community, especially an Indigenous group struggling to survive. He meets Grace, who lives in a camper with no running water or heat in freezing temperatures, showing the harsh reality that many face in the area. This video is excerpted from BBC’s The Americas With Simon Reeve, in which Simon Reeve explores the landscapes, cultures, and wildlife of North and South America.
"Study hard! Get a good job! Stop buying avocado toast!" Young adults hear a lot of advice about money. But BBC reporters looking at life for people in their 20s in the UK found it's not that simple. People in their 20s have been saying that for years. Now there's research to back them up.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies, a UK group that studies money and the economy, found that earnings for young people have barely grown in the past 15 to 20 years, once you adjust for rising prices. Today's 25 year-olds do earn more than their parents did at the same age. But they earn about the same as people who started working just before the 2008 financial crisis, when banks and economies around the world crashed.
Meanwhile, everyday costs like rent and food are rising faster than paychecks. Young workers also don't have years of savings to fall back on, so they live off what they earn each month. Working harder doesn't always fix it. Many young people face job rejection after job rejection. Those who do find work often deal with long commutes, multiple jobs, and student debt.
That doesn't mean older generations had it easy. But slow pay growth, high costs, a tough job market, and debt add up to a real challenge for today's young adults. So the next time a relative brags about the house they bought at 25, you'll have some facts ready.
Over the next few months, scrolling on your phone may look a little different. That’s because Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram, has been facing more pressure over claims that its platforms harm young people, and both citizens and the legal system have been demanding a change that has landed Meta in a lawsuit.
A judge in New Mexico did not hold back on criticizing harmful content, declaring Meta’s platforms a "public nuisance" and comparing the company to a factory creating toxic pollution. Yikes. The court also called out Meta for design features like infinite scroll, notifications, and recommendation algorithms that encourage people to stay online longer.
Meta was ordered to put a whopping $567 million into a five-year fund addressing harms. That’s on top of $375 million awarded earlier in the same case! But believe it or not, that’s not a ton of money for the company. The important part is not the money itself, but the indication that people are demanding change and getting companies to listen. Meta isn’t just being asked to pay a fine but to actually make changes, like restricting contact with adults, limiting notifications, and placing limits on how long people under 18 can spend on Facebook and Instagram.
Meta strongly disputes the ruling and plans to appeal, but the case has already set a larger question into motion about if tech companies should be held responsible not only for what users post but also how their platforms are designed.
The “global space economy” refers to pretty much everything having to do with human progress through space, including exploration, research, management, and use. It also generates hundreds of billions of dollars every year.
You may not have heard the term “global space economy,” but you’ve probably heard of at least two of the big players: Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. As founders of Blue Origin and SpaceX, their companies are estimated to be worth $100 billion and $1.8 trillion, respectively. If you took 1.8 trillion standard dollar bills end-to-end, it would stretch 100 million miles — more than the distance from the Earth to the Sun! Imagine walking to the Sun on a bridge made of money! You couldn’t, because of all of the “zero gravity.” Your feet would also get very tired. There’s also no oxygen. But we know all of this because of how much we’ve studied space!
So why spend so much time and money on the space industry, which has expanded massively in the last few decades? Don’t only a few select astronauts go to space? Shouldn’t we be focusing on Earth? Well, what we learn in space has a big impact on what we do on the ground. Our findings from space show up as the GPS on our phones, in ships navigating the oceans, even as farmers using satellite photography to plan their crops.
There’s no sign of slowing down on the space front — the UK is focusing on small satellites, America is hoping to put astronauts back on the moon by 2028, and China is planning its own lunar landing by 2030. These explorations could provide valuable minerals, insight to getting past the Moon (like to Mars), and open up space tourism opportunities.
Right, chooks, let’s play shops! First customer to the finish with all their bits & bobs, wins. Here's how to play:
- With a friend (or two), decide who will be the shopkeeper and customers.
- Ask a grown-up to snip everything out. The bits and bobs go to the shopkeeper, then share the dollarbucks between the customers.
- Customers take turns to roll a die and move around the board. If you land on something you like, buy it... but if you don’t have enough money, you gotta put something back!
“Flush with cash” might need to turn into “flush that cash” if fake money keeps popping up! Counterfeit cash used to be a problem for mostly shops and retailers, but there’s been a recent rise in fake cash popping up in the home! That doesn’t mean that more of your neighborhood pals have decided to print their own money, or that fake bills are appearing out of thin air, but enough of it is in circulation that everyday people are going to make a purchase or deposit money with counterfeit cash, very possibly by accident.
In 2024, there were 99,000 fake notes in circulation. Last year, that doubled to 200,000, partly because of a rise in organized crime. While the fake bills make their way between hands and households and businesses, people become increasingly reliant on electronic methods of payment (like cards and Venmo), so they fall a bit out of practice of knowing what physical, paper money looks and feels like.
Unfortunately, it’s not always the people making counterfeit bills that are punished. Shops and retailers are hurting, and customers go into banks and post offices to deposit money that can’t be accepted because it ends up being fake.
In How Warren Buffett Turned Smart Deals Into Billions, learn about Warren Buffett, famous for his unique way of making deals and spotting great business opportunities. When he bought Nebraska Furniture Mart, he skipped the usual long negotiations and paperwork, sealing the deal for $50 million — way less than it was actually worth! Buffett has a talent for staying calm and letting sellers lower their own prices without even realizing it. Thanks to his sharp business skills, he quickly turned his smart investments into a billion-dollar empire. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Warren Buffett: The World’s Greatest Money Maker, which explores Warren Buffett’s unique investment strategies and business mindset.
The Underground Railroad was a secret network that helped enslaved people escape to freedom in the North and Canada in the decades before the Civil War. Despite its name, it was neither underground nor an actual railroad. Instead, abolitionists, free Black people, and formerly enslaved people worked together to provide routes, shelter, food, and other assistance. They used railroad terms as code words: guides were called conductors, safe houses were stations, and people who provided supplies or money were stockholders.
Escaping was dangerous. Many people traveled at night on foot, by boat, or by train, stopping at safe houses along indirect routes to avoid capture. Fugitive slave laws put escapees and those who helped them at risk. Although journeys were especially difficult for families with children, people of different ages and backgrounds sought freedom. Harriet Tubman, who escaped slavery and returned South to guide others to freedom, and William Still, a free Black abolitionist who helped coordinate escapes, became important figures in the network. The Underground Railroad remains a significant part of African American history and a symbol of the struggle for freedom.
In The Stock Market Crash of 1929, learn about one of the most shocking financial disasters in history, which unfolded on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. At the Museum of Financial History, you can see a replica of the ticker tape machine that delivered the news — and the actual ticker tape from that fateful day. People watched in fear as their hard-earned money vanished, and the panic that followed changed the economy forever. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Road to Riches, which explores the history of money, wealth, and economic power.
In How Data Transformed Trading, discover how data became a powerful tool for understanding human behavior — and making big money! Meet David Harding, a science graduate who shook up the chaotic world of trading by using math and data to predict price patterns. While others trusted their gut, Harding believed data and the right computer algorithms could crack the code of the stock market. Today, his company invests billions, proving that smart data (and a little science) can change the game! This video is excerpted from BBC’s Horizon: The Age of Big Data, which explores how data has shaped industries, economies, and human behavior.
In The Sea Nomads of Southeast Asia, host Simon Reeve visits the Bajau community, known as the sea nomads of Southeast Asia, who live their entire lives on the water. He spends a night with Bari and his family, learning how they rely on Bari’s daily fishing trips to survive and earn money for essentials. Despite the dangers of diving alone in tiger shark territory, Bari provides for his family while they also raise chickens for extra food. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Wilderness With Simon Reeve, an epic adventure into the heart of Earth’s last great wild areas, where nature is at its most beautiful and fragile.
In What Does the Statue of Liberty Stand For?, historian Lucy Worsley investigates the origins and meanings of the Statue of Liberty. When it was unveiled in 1886, women protested that women did not have liberty; neither was there liberty and equality for African Americans. Emma Lazarus wrote a poem, The New Colossus, which not only raised money for the statue but gave her a new purpose: to welcome immigrants from the rest of the world. This video is excerpted from BBC's American History's Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley, in which Worsley reveals the myths and manipulations behind American history.
In The Alberta Oil Sands Crisis, host Simon Reeve takes us deep into the Alberta oil sands, an operation that generates billions of dollars for Canada but leaves behind environmental destruction and toxic waste. Simon learns that while the oil makes a lot of money, it’s not helping the local community, especially an Indigenous group struggling to survive. He meets Grace, who lives in a camper with no running water or heat in freezing temperatures, showing the harsh reality that many face in the area. This video is excerpted from BBC’s The Americas With Simon Reeve, in which Simon Reeve explores the landscapes, cultures, and wildlife of North and South America.
"Study hard! Get a good job! Stop buying avocado toast!" Young adults hear a lot of advice about money. But BBC reporters looking at life for people in their 20s in the UK found it's not that simple. People in their 20s have been saying that for years. Now there's research to back them up.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies, a UK group that studies money and the economy, found that earnings for young people have barely grown in the past 15 to 20 years, once you adjust for rising prices. Today's 25 year-olds do earn more than their parents did at the same age. But they earn about the same as people who started working just before the 2008 financial crisis, when banks and economies around the world crashed.
Meanwhile, everyday costs like rent and food are rising faster than paychecks. Young workers also don't have years of savings to fall back on, so they live off what they earn each month. Working harder doesn't always fix it. Many young people face job rejection after job rejection. Those who do find work often deal with long commutes, multiple jobs, and student debt.
That doesn't mean older generations had it easy. But slow pay growth, high costs, a tough job market, and debt add up to a real challenge for today's young adults. So the next time a relative brags about the house they bought at 25, you'll have some facts ready.
Over the next few months, scrolling on your phone may look a little different. That’s because Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram, has been facing more pressure over claims that its platforms harm young people, and both citizens and the legal system have been demanding a change that has landed Meta in a lawsuit.
A judge in New Mexico did not hold back on criticizing harmful content, declaring Meta’s platforms a "public nuisance" and comparing the company to a factory creating toxic pollution. Yikes. The court also called out Meta for design features like infinite scroll, notifications, and recommendation algorithms that encourage people to stay online longer.
Meta was ordered to put a whopping $567 million into a five-year fund addressing harms. That’s on top of $375 million awarded earlier in the same case! But believe it or not, that’s not a ton of money for the company. The important part is not the money itself, but the indication that people are demanding change and getting companies to listen. Meta isn’t just being asked to pay a fine but to actually make changes, like restricting contact with adults, limiting notifications, and placing limits on how long people under 18 can spend on Facebook and Instagram.
Meta strongly disputes the ruling and plans to appeal, but the case has already set a larger question into motion about if tech companies should be held responsible not only for what users post but also how their platforms are designed.
The “global space economy” refers to pretty much everything having to do with human progress through space, including exploration, research, management, and use. It also generates hundreds of billions of dollars every year.
You may not have heard the term “global space economy,” but you’ve probably heard of at least two of the big players: Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. As founders of Blue Origin and SpaceX, their companies are estimated to be worth $100 billion and $1.8 trillion, respectively. If you took 1.8 trillion standard dollar bills end-to-end, it would stretch 100 million miles — more than the distance from the Earth to the Sun! Imagine walking to the Sun on a bridge made of money! You couldn’t, because of all of the “zero gravity.” Your feet would also get very tired. There’s also no oxygen. But we know all of this because of how much we’ve studied space!
So why spend so much time and money on the space industry, which has expanded massively in the last few decades? Don’t only a few select astronauts go to space? Shouldn’t we be focusing on Earth? Well, what we learn in space has a big impact on what we do on the ground. Our findings from space show up as the GPS on our phones, in ships navigating the oceans, even as farmers using satellite photography to plan their crops.
There’s no sign of slowing down on the space front — the UK is focusing on small satellites, America is hoping to put astronauts back on the moon by 2028, and China is planning its own lunar landing by 2030. These explorations could provide valuable minerals, insight to getting past the Moon (like to Mars), and open up space tourism opportunities.