Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast

Once again I am talking to Kaya Niedenthal of the Currency Online Group – but in unusual circumstances. He is a busy man so I could interview him only on the move, from his high-rise office in London’s Waterloo to the nearby station. The dollar is king, the euro is queen and the pound is still more a prince than a joker, is my conclusion.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.

Travel desk Tuesday, and my excellent colleague Sophie Dickinson gives her thoughts on the highly popular airfare comparison site moving into the realm of Mediterranean package holidays. She and I discuss how useful this might be for your next family trip.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.

For insights and advice I've been talking to top expert Lauren McLeod, who heads up the Australia product portfolio for Trailfinders – the largest independently-owned travel company in the UK.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.

The UK has a fabulously competitive bunch of airports as well as airlines. Today, I’m talking to John Vincent, chief executive of Liverpool John Lennon – about rivalry with Manchester, what sets the Merseyside airport apart and how important the inbound market is from Beatles fans and football supporters.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.

In which the chief executive of Ryanair – Europe’s biggest budget airline – challenges the world's richest man to an arm-wrestling contest.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.

Fifty years to the day since the first British Airways Concorde took off with passengers on board, a final interview with Blake Scholl, founder of Boom Supersonic – and a word from Cuveé founder, Larry Mueller, about whether there is demand for breaking the sound barrier.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.

Patricia Yates does: she is chief executive of Visit Britain, which has just delivered a major survey on the value of inbound tourism to the UK.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.

Back by popular demand: more on supersonic flying. But Anna Hughes, director of Flight Free UK, does not believe we should return to the era of breaking the sound barrier. She recognises the achievement getting Concorde into the skies – but wants a different approach 50 years on from the first passenger flight.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.

All week I've been hearing about Boom Supersonic's plan for its Overture aircraft, 50 years after Concorde first flew with paying passengers. For an assessment of the routes on which there could be demand for faster travel, I turned to Oliver Ranson – editor of Airline Revenue Economics.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.