https://www.news24.com Listen Up! Is a two-person, weekly, conversational podcast featuring investment banker Mark Barnes and ranking journalist Tim Cohen. We gallop through the week’s events, offering thoughts, opinions and perspectives on South African and international affairs. We pride ourselves on being opinionated without prejudice, fun without being trivial, and thoughtful without being ponderous. Listen Up! does not reflect the editorial position of our host, News24, and quite often not even the position of the speakers. Sometimes we even agree. Sometimes... News en Mon, 16 Jun 2025 15:12:53 +0200 Wed, 21 Jan 1970 14:57:21 +0200 30 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss iono.fm 2.5.2.0 News24 no Tim Cohen & Mark Barnes Weekly feeds@iono.fm (Feed Manager) https://cdn.iono.fm/files/p3108/logo_9376_20250905_170803_1400.jpeg https://www.news24.com Listen Up! Is a two-person, weekly, conversational podcast featuring investment banker Mark Barnes and ranking journalist Tim Cohen. News24 episodic News24 graeme.raubenheimer@media24.com true ZA https://iono.fm/e/1651469 https://iono.fm/e/1651469 News Mon, 02 Mar 2026 17:56:00 +0200 0 0 The cradle of war 0 0 Tim Cohen & Mark Barnes full 21:33 Listen Up! https://iono.fm/e/1649029 https://iono.fm/e/1649029 News Mon, 23 Feb 2026 17:17:00 +0200 0 0 A soft budget and a hard Johannesburg mayoral race 0 0 Tim Cohen & Mark Barnes full 24:53 Listen Up! https://iono.fm/e/1647086 https://iono.fm/e/1647086 News Tue, 17 Feb 2026 14:39:00 +0200 0 0 There must be better ways to choose our leaders 0 0 Tim Cohen & Mark Barnes full 23:11 Listen Up! https://iono.fm/e/1644540 https://iono.fm/e/1644540 News Tue, 10 Feb 2026 18:05:00 +0200 0 0 The great national service debate 0 0 Tim Cohen & Mark Barnes full 22:47 Listen Up! https://iono.fm/e/1641787 https://iono.fm/e/1641787 News Mon, 02 Feb 2026 21:22:00 +0200 0 0 What’s so bad about anarchy? 0 0 Tim Cohen & Mark Barnes full 23:14 Listen Up! https://iono.fm/e/1638984 https://iono.fm/e/1638984 News Mon, 26 Jan 2026 18:04:00 +0200 0 0 SA’s golden opportunity 0 0 Tim Cohen & Mark Barnes full 22:54 Listen Up! https://iono.fm/e/1636465 https://iono.fm/e/1636465 News Mon, 19 Jan 2026 17:51:00 +0200 0 0 It never rains but it pours 0 0 Tim Cohen & Mark Barnes full 22:14 Listen Up! https://iono.fm/e/1634255 https://iono.fm/e/1634255 What happens to international relations now and what has this got to do with the Peace of Westphalia? 
Mark Barnes and Tim Cohen discuss how the international order has changed - and the local order has not.
Also, is AI investment now in a bubble? 
Listen Up! ]]> News Mon, 12 Jan 2026 20:07:00 +0200 0 0 The year that started off with a bang 0 0 Tim Cohen & Mark Barnes full 18:38 Listen Up! https://iono.fm/e/1628900 https://iono.fm/e/1628900 Well … not really. But I felt like it did.
In South Africa, things actually went a little bit better. In the rest of the world, things didn’t go as badly as many expected at the start.
Will 2026 be different?
The only way to find out is to Listen Up! ]]> News Mon, 15 Dec 2025 18:18:00 +0200 0 0 Listen Up! end of year special: How was that for you? 0 0 Tim Cohen & Mark Barnes full 22:30 Listen Up! https://iono.fm/e/1626618 https://iono.fm/e/1626618 News Mon, 08 Dec 2025 15:47:00 +0200 0 0 Dubai. And the joys and dangers of ambition 0 0 Tim Cohen & Mark Barnes full 21:09 Listen Up! https://iono.fm/e/1624297 https://iono.fm/e/1624297 But is that the whole story?
Not so much says Mark Barnes and Tim Cohen. It’s like golf - the winner is not the one who does the most work but the least. This … and other bits and pieces of the news this past week. ListenUp! ]]> News Mon, 01 Dec 2025 16:51:00 +0200 0 0 How hard do South Africans work? 0 0 Tim Cohen & Mark Barnes full 20:58 Listen Up! https://iono.fm/e/1621697 https://iono.fm/e/1621697 Whose fault is that? What does it mean? Why is that happening now? These are all questions we discuss, along with the joys of public transportation and the surprising utility and value of art. Listen Up! ]]> News Mon, 24 Nov 2025 16:32:00 +0200 0 0 How do you say 'global consensus' with a straight face? 0 0 Tim Cohen & Mark Barnes full 18:54 Listen Up! https://iono.fm/e/1619090 https://iono.fm/e/1619090 And then there is the unexpected S&P ratings upgrade.
And the JSE hitting yet another record.
And Jo’burg looking spectacular for the G20!
Actually, wait a bit; let's not get too carried away. Jo'burg's still a bit dodgy, except where the leader convoys will go, but things do feel different.
The question now is how to maintain the momentum, and one crucial question is whether we are overpaying or underpaying our leaders, like municipal managers for example.
Listen Up! to Mark Barnes and Tim Cohen on this and the rumours of spring. ]]> News Mon, 17 Nov 2025 17:05:00 +0200 0 0 Are municipal managers underpaid? 0 0 Tim Cohen & Mark Barnes full 21:05 Listen Up! https://iono.fm/e/1616709 https://iono.fm/e/1616709 Mark Barnes and Tim Cohen ask the crucial question: does that make the G20 in Johannesburg later this month a bit of a talk shop?
Was it a talk shop in the first place? What actually is the point of the G20? And the rugby. Obvs. Listen Up! ]]> News Mon, 10 Nov 2025 18:28:00 +0200 0 0 What is the actual point of the G20? 0 0 Tim Cohen & Mark Barnes full 20:35 Listen Up! https://iono.fm/e/1614273 https://iono.fm/e/1614273 Spain’s IBEX finally surpassed its 2007 highs, and even the big European countries with the slowest growth, Germany and France, managed to join in the act. In response, South Africans have decided to take a punt - but not on the JSE, which is up almost 30% over the past year, but on online betting sites.
South Africans bet over R1.5 trillion in the past year, a 45% increase over the previous year. There are dangers and joys, in both methods of potentially losing money.
In this podcast Mark Barnes and Tim Cohen discuss the season of having a punt. ]]> News Mon, 03 Nov 2025 20:17:00 +0200 0 0 Betting on sports and the stock market: you choose your poison, you take your chances 0 0 Tim Cohen & Mark Barnes full 22:20 Listen Up! https://iono.fm/e/1611803 https://iono.fm/e/1611803 News Mon, 27 Oct 2025 18:20:00 +0200 0 0 What’s coming down the track? Changes in rail transport, greylisting and art theft 0 0 Tim Cohen & Mark Barnes full 20:24 Listen Up! https://iono.fm/e/1609439 https://iono.fm/e/1609439 In this podcast Mark Barnes and Tim Cohen discuss the genius of simplicity in the midst of a discombobulated world. 
How do you achieve it in the face of societal and business pressures: excessive borrowing against the future, an emerging gambling addiction and a crisis in the police, just to name a few. 
Also, the greatest baseball game ever. ]]> News Mon, 20 Oct 2025 18:39:00 +0200 0 0 What are the odds for keeping it sane and simple? 0 0 Tim Cohen & Mark Barnes full 21:27 Listen Up! https://iono.fm/e/1607014 https://iono.fm/e/1607014 Mark Barnes and journalist Tim Cohen discuss why people do such odd things with their alleged ill-gotten gains - like buy three Lamborghinis. Why is one, or even three, never enough?
There is lots to discuss here, please do Listen Up! ]]> News Mon, 13 Oct 2025 17:02:00 +0200 0 0 Madlanga, Montana and the money 0 0 Tim Cohen & Mark Barnes full 21:31 Listen Up! https://iono.fm/e/1604619 https://iono.fm/e/1604619
Listen up! ]]> News Mon, 06 Oct 2025 19:35:00 +0200 0 0 What are the prospects of the new united party, and the United Nations? 0 0 Tim Cohen & Mark Barnes full 22:39 Listen Up! https://iono.fm/e/1601998 https://iono.fm/e/1601998 Contrast that with European 15-13 victory in the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in New York. Golf supporters were, as usual, flagrantly out of hand, dropping f-bombs, harassing players and wearing odd pants. 
But what do we learn from this?
Mark Barnes and  Tim Cohen take the score. And then there is Johannesburg...
Listen Up! ]]> News Mon, 29 Sep 2025 18:56:00 +0200 0 0 Rugby and golf: The various lessons of sport 0 0 Tim Cohen & Mark Barnes full 25:21 Listen Up!