ListenUP!
Merchant banker Mark Barnes and journalist Tim Cohen discuss key events in South Africa and the world every week. The podcast aims to be entertaining, interesting, informed, and brief, now featuring special guests.
Episodes
ListenUP! The final countdown.
In this our final episode, Merchant Banker Mark Barnes and Financial Mail journalist Tim Cohen, say cheers and thanks for the fish. This show, we think, has run its course, and we just want to say a quick goodbye. Along the way, by a rough estimate, we have reached over 300000 listeners and viewers over the past three years, which is pretty cool. We are extremely grateful for those who endured our
The ANC and the Bokke: each snatching defeat from the jaws of victory
South Africa doesn’t need a municipal election popularity contest; it needs a survival strategy. So says merchant banker Mark Barns in conversation with Financial Mail journalist Tim Cohen and former Goldman Sachs Partner and now Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School Colin Coleman. In this lively discussion, we talk about the November 4 elections not as a political event but as an opportun
ANC and the Bokke: each snatching defeat from the jaws of victory
South Africa doesn’t need a municipal election popularity contest; it needs a survival strategy. So says merchant banker Mark Barns in conversation with Financial Mail journalist Tim Cohen and former Goldman Sachs Partner and now Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School Colin Coleman. In this lively discussion, we talk about the November 4 elections not as a political event but as an opportun
The great Johannesburg poker game
The Financial Mail’s cover this week is about the political race for Joburg, the most consequential of the local government elections that are due to take place on November 4, 2026. FM senior editors Guiletta Talevi, and the writer of the cover story Shirley de Villiers, discuss the myriad possibilities in this crucial race, which could provide crucial pointers of SA future political direction.
What’s the word, Johannesburg
With just over 80 days to go before the local government, a flood of questions arise over the future of Johannesburg. Investment banker Mark Barnes and journalist Tim Cohen discuss the issue with Financial Mail senior editor Shirley de Villiers. What is going to happen? Who will be mayor? And we arrive at a definitive answer - we don’t know. But that doesn’t hold us back from speculating, particul
UncoveringIT! Diamonds are forever-ish
Diamonds are Forever - or perhaps not. Every week we provide a brief preview of the Financial Mail's cover story. The week the dramatic advent of lab-grown diamonds on the diamond market, its effects and consequences.
ListenUP! 📣 Fifa's fables, foibles and fraud
How do sport and money mix? Like oil and water. It's such a difficult balance to get right; sports can generate enormous turnover and need the cash to support development and pay the players. But if you go too far, you lose sight of the public and the ethic. So its turning out for Fifa, despite a fabulous world cup. Talk about an own goal! Merchant banker Mark Barnes and journalist Tim Cohen discu
Should the PIC be closed down?
Since the Public Investment Corporation, the nominal investor of over R3-trillion in retirement savings of the entire civil service, now has no board or permanent CEO, not to mention a broadly poor investment record, would this not be a great time to do away with it entirely and hand the mandate to the professionals? Merchant banker Mark Barnes and journalist Tim Cohen discuss this issue with SPEC
ListenUP! The Meaning of Sport
This weekend has seen a feast of sporting events, and your hosts, merchant banker Mark Barnes and journalist Tim Cohen dissect the soccer, the tennis, and the rugby ... deciding who should have won and who should not. Juuuuust kidding. We talk about how decision making at the peak of sporting events can be hobbled by too much mind. And there is that other sport, the Public Investment Corporation a
SA’s three biggest problems, right now
If you had to isolate the three biggest problems faced by South Africa right now, the quantity and variety of options would be numerous. Poverty, inequality and unemployment, are the typical trio mentioned. Merchant banker Mark Barnes, journalist Tim Cohen and SPECIAL GUEST Rob Rose make a case for an alternative trio; political parties unable or unwilling to choose the most qualified people; gove
Festooned with Festivities
The Durban July, Opera at La Scala, and the Soccer World Cup: we are festooned with festivities, and we discuss them! Merchant banker Mark Barnes and journalist Tim Cohen are joined by arts writer and enthusiast extraordinaire Sarah Buitendach to talk about some of the amazing events of our time, and artists in general. Also, if it's OK for presidents to second-guess referees, where were you when
ListenUp: Xenophobia in SA ... again
ListenUp: Xenophobia in SAThe terrible prospect of xenophobic violence is once again afflicting South Africa this week, dragging Mzanzi into the fraught global political issue of immigration. Having the national soccer side booed in the US by other African nations at the World Cup is deeply sad, but then again, so is struggling to find your job back home. Merchant banker Mark Barnes and journalist
How do you start investing in art?
Is investing in art actually an investment, or just a pleasure posing as a share portfolio? Merchant banker and artist Mark Barnes discussed this, the art scene, and whether Picasso’s work will eventually become valuable with journalist and art critic Tim Cohen. SPECIAL GUEST, executive director of auctioneers Strauss and Co. SUSIE GOODMAN joins in order to add some actual knowledge to the discuss
SA agricultural sector is blooming
South Africa’s agricultural exports could well hit record levels in 2026, surpassing even a spectacular 2025, despite Donald Trump’s tariff cadenza last year. Merchant banker Mark Barnes and journalist Tim Cohen discuss this, and other matters agricultural, with SPECIAL GUEST Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist at Agbiz. Amid the deluge of bad news confronting both the country and the world — and the
What is happening to the world? Literally.
It turns out that foreign affairs are much more complicated than you might imagine - even when they don’t involve an Italian lover. To find out more, Merchant banker Mark Barnes and journalist Tim Cohen talk to SPECIAL GUEST journalist and foreign affairs correspondent Linda van Tilburg about why the 10 Downing Street cat Larry seems to have more chance of maintaining his domicile than other recen
The Prime Minister, the President, and the lettuce
With South Africa’s unemployment rate up again among many other problems, to what extent has local politics reached its nadir? To put it another way, is the political system capable of achieving the needs and requirements of the population - both locally and in the world? Yes, says Investment banker Mark Barnes and SPECIAL GUEST Ann Bernstein, head of the Centre for Development and Enterprise. Jo
The Prime Minister, the President, and the lettice
With South Africa’s unemployment rate up again among many other problems, to what extent has local politics reached its nadir? To put it another way, is the political system capable of achieving the needs and requirements of the population - both locally and in the world? Yes, says Investment banker Mark Barnes and SPECIAL GUEST Ann Bernstein, head of the Centre for Development and Enterprise. Jo
The Trappings of Debt. Literally.
What does it mean for you and your investments that global public sector debt has now breached the $100-trillion mark, and by the end of the decade government debt will probably reach 100% of global GDP. It's confusing. Debt is a facility, a promise, a tool, a shock absorber … and a trap door. Merchant banker Mark Barnes and journalist Tim Cohen discussed this topic with Special Guest Rob Rose. Al
The tyranny of mediocrity
To unravel, as much as we can, a chaotic world at the moment, merchant banker Mark Barnes and journalist Tim Cohen draw on the services of Special Guest Iraj Abedian, economist and thinker extraordinaire for this episode of ListenUP! The consequences of the widening war in the Middle East are hard to predict, but one thing is very clear: we are surrounded by the tyranny of mediocrity, locally and
The Great South African Reboot
Look just a little under the surface, and big changes are starting to take place in South Africa. From the introduction of the private sector into Transnet into the competitive dynamics of the contest for Johannesburg, the times they are a’changing - at last. Merchant banker Mark Barnes and journalist Tim Cohen discussed these and other changes with Special Guest! the leader of RizeMzanzi and chai
The DA wants to be SA’s largest party. Is that possible? Really?
The DA has just chosen a new leader and leadership team, and the personable Geordin Hill-Lewis is now the Federal leader of the DA, who has set the party the target of becoming the country’s largest party. Merchant banker Mark Barnes and journalist Tim Cohen discuss this question, only somewhat cynically, with special guest Ryan Coetzee. Coetzee is a political advisor long associated with the DA w
The War and the Markets
What will the effects and consequences be for the conflicts developing in the Middle East? Big questions! And what does Machiavelli have to do with it? Merchant banker Mark Barnes and journalist Tim Cohen attempt to answer these questions, this week with Special Guest Giulietta Talevi! Also, the dark side of the moon.
