The Curve

Hannah Mayfield swapped a career in fashion for financial coaching, and now teaches thousands of people how to build real financial freedom, not just save for the sake of it. In this episode, she and Sophie talk about why there's no single "right" way to manage your money, and how to invest ethically without it becoming all-consuming. They also unpack the "singles tax," the invisible financial gap women face after having kids, and why the healthiest relationship with money might be a fluid one rather than a rigid, rule-bound one. If you've ever felt like money is something to...

This week, Sophie and Emma finally have the conversation they've been avoiding for months (maybe years): what beauty spending actually costs women over a lifetime, and whether skipping it is a luxury anyone can afford. They get very honest about what they've personally spent on Botox, filler and laser, then run the numbers on what that money could be worth if invested instead. Plus they unpack why workplace ageism means looking young isn't just about vanity, and whether the "transparency era" of plastic surgery is helping women or just normalising more of it. At some point it stops being...

Would you take a guaranteed 50k or flip a coin for a shot at 1 million? A new YouGov poll reveals a huge gender gap in who's willing to take the risk, and Sophie and Abi discuss whether it's really about risk appetite, or just financial education. Then: why billionaires are buying up land in New Zealand, and how a Kiwi rocket company just spent $8 billion trying to take on Elon Musk. Plus, an AI model "hacked its way out" of a locked test environment (yes, it's as creepy as it sounds), why Apple just became the world's most valuable...

The secret's finally out: The Curve Investments is FINALLY here.

If you've been with us since the dusty, windowless studio days, this is the moment we've been building towards since episode one. If you're new here, welcome, you've picked a big week to join. In this episode, we sit down to unpack the biggest announcement The Curve has ever made: why it's taken years (and a lot of behind-the-scenes tears) to get here, what it actually means to invest alongside us, and why Vic left a career in funds management only to walk straight back into it...

Family disputes over wills and inheritance have risen by almost 130% in the last decade. We break down exactly why; from rising dementia rates to blended families and second marriages, to house price booms leaving families with tax bills they can't afford, and share practical ways to protect your family from becoming one of these statistics.

Plus, is the Cartier Love bracelet the new Birkin? We look at whether it's actually a smart investment or just expensive peer pressure, and how the pre-owned Birkin market has returned 92% in a decade. And finally, the India exam scandal: how wealthy...

A Chinese startup called Moonshot AI has released Kimi K3 - the world's largest open source AI model, and it's already rivaling the AI tools we all use every single day. It's cheaper, it's fast, and it's backed by the Chinese government. So why is this making investors panic? In today's episode we break down what Kimi K3 actually is, why "open source" AI could mean the end of paying for ChatGPT and Claude subscriptions and whether this is the moment the AI bubble finally pops

Plus: the UK's political chaos and why the stock market has...

Pete has spent 10 years in the property game, helping people build their wealth, including Sophie! In this episode, they team up to unpack the crucial things most buyers quietly ignore: why your life partner is actually your most critical financial asset, the dangerous psychology behind property auctions, and why understanding the difference between a home and an investment property can help you make better financial decisions. If you're buying with a partner, considering your next property move, or just want to know how to spot a red flag before it costs you $40,000, this one is worth your full attention.<...

This week on The Curve Weekly, we are joined by writer, broadcaster, journalist and founder of Sex Talks, Emma Louise-Boynton. We dive into Belle Burton's ‘Strangers’, the memoir everyone has been talking about: a story about a husband who ups and leaves after 21 years of marriage with no warning, or explanation.

Soph and Emma unpack why Strangers at the crux of it is a story about financial abuse, and how important it is to not hand over your financial identity. They also get into the rise of long-term relationship ghosting and why now more than ever...

This week Sophie's joined by chartered accountant, author and finance creator Abi Foster (filling in for Vic) to unpack the UK's brand-new Buy Now, Pay Later regulations - why they've come in, what they actually mean for your credit score, and how one woman ended up $50k in debt using it. Plus: should you be divesting from the US stock market right now, SpaceX's IPO wobble and Elon losing his trillionaire status, the $110bn Warner Bros/Paramount merger 12 US states are trying to block, and a genuinely lovely bonus story about a Costco cashier who built a $1m retirement...

If you've ever felt behind on money, like everyone else somehow "gets it" and you missed the lesson, this episode is for you. Sophie sits down with finance creator Ciara Anne to break down, step by step, how she went from financially avoidant to having over £200,000 invested, without cutting out the things she enjoys: what compound growth actually means and why it's so hard to grasp at first, what dollar-cost averaging is and how Ciara adapted it into her own "curated" version (holding back a portion each month to invest more when the market dips), what an ETF actually i...

Today we tackle one of the most controversial money topics out there: should billionaires pay more tax? With a wealth tax vote coming to California and France debating the same fight, Vic and Soph go head to head - one wants a minimum personal income threshold for the ultra-rich, the other says the real fix is corporate tax and preventing this level of wealth concentration in the first place. We also dig into the gender gap behind who's actually getting taxed (only 14% of billionaires are women), then switch gears to break down Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's reported $20 million...

New data shows 53% of engaged or married Americans under 45 now have a prenup, up from 34% just a few years ago - and women are the driving force behind the shift. Sophie and Vic unpack what's behind the surge, what the "default" marriage contract looks like if you never write your own, and the question lawyers say you need to answer before you book one: what's your actual worst-case scenario. Plus: New Zealand, Australia and the UK just made three different interest rate calls off the same oil shock, and Amazon's $25B bond raise came in softer than expected, a...

Sometimes budgeting can only get you so far. You can track every dollar, split your accounts perfectly, and still find there's nothing left over to invest in your future. That's when you need to shift your focus from saving what you have to earning more. Hannah Koumakis is back on the mic, and this time she's breaking down the side hustles that actually work, the ones that don't, and how to find the balance between hustling hard and burning out.

From extras work on Netflix shows to mystery shopping, pet sitting, and even being someone's...

First up, a Wimbledon winner takes home £3 million, but a player ranked 150th can't even afford their own lunch? Vic breaks down the brutal economics of tennis, how Centre Court tickets became high-return investments, and what happens when live sports suddenly become a massive lifestyle trend. Then, a historic $124 trillion is about to change hands, and 70% of it is going straight to women. We unpack why the traditional finance industry is completely unprepared for this shift, why the majority of widows fire their male advisors within a year, and the awkward conversations we need to start having with our p...

Why haven't flight prices dropped even though oil prices have? Vic breaks down airline hedging and why we're stuck paying more for a while yet. Then, Nike just posted a $1 billion profit, sounds amazing, right? We dig into why the share price tells a very different story, and what it teaches us about reading past flashy headlines. Finally, a record-breaking $1 trillion has poured into ETFs in the first six months of the year alone. We unpack why the funds outperforming right now might not be the ones you'd expect, and why "diversified" doesn't always mean what you...

This one is for anyone who has looked at the state of the world lately and thought: maybe I'll just wait until things settle down...

Vic and Soph recently spoke at The London Business School and someone in the crowd asked this question… “Given the state of the world - wars, oil, tariffs etc... do you really think it’s a good time to be investing?” And honestly? We know a lot of you are feeling the same way. In this episode we went through the five biggest market crashes of the last 30 years. What actually...

Argentina handed the US a list of 130,000 child support debtors and said: don't let them into the World Cup. Soph and Vic break down why this is so much bigger than football. They also get into 10 years of Brexit and what it's actually cost the average person in wages, housing, and political chaos. Plus, SpaceX has fallen 25% since it IPO'd and Vic didn't buy it. One day before trading, it received the lowest possible ESG rating, all because Elon Musk has almost full decision making control. And the community question this week: you've just got a pay rise. How...

Buying property with a partner is one of the biggest financial decisions you'll ever make, but most couples spend more time choosing the kitchen tiles than figuring out what happens if things go wrong. Holly Egerton is a property lawyer who has bought (and navigated the aftermath of) two properties with two different partners. She brings both the personal experience and the legal knowledge, and the combination makes for one of the most honest conversations we've had on this podcast.
This conversation is about what most couples never discuss: what happens to the house if the relationship ends...

El Niño is back, and it is already happening. Last time a weather event this strong hit, the global economy lost nearly $6 trillion. This time it is arriving on top of post-war inflation, elevated energy costs, and supply chains that are still finding their feet. We break down what El Niño actually is, why the timing is brutal, and where Vic sees a genuinely interesting long-term investing opportunity sitting inside all of it. Plus: the biggest IPO in history just landed, Elon Musk is officially a trillionaire, and the UK has finally banned social media for under-16s...

We've heard Sophie talk about money on this podcast hundreds of times. But this episode? This is different. For the first time, Emily (Podcast Producer) and Lucy (Social Media Manager) here at The Curve sat down with Soph to go deep, from stealing as a six-year-old, to blowing her dad's credit card after the Christchurch earthquake, to arriving in Italy with literally no money despite having 24k in investments. We also hear from Sophie's actual parents (yes, we went there), get the full story on her relationship with money inside a relationship, and land somewhere that honestly made us...

A Harvard study of 50,000 people across 25 countries has revealed something surprising about working mothers, and the data is hard to ignore. Soph and Vic unpack the findings, why they're still so relevant in 2025, and what it means for the way we think about work, family, and money. They also get into the lab-grown vs natural diamond debate (it's more divisive than you'd think), and break down the biggest IPO pipeline in history: SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI are all going public within months of each other, adding a combined $3.6 trillion to the US stock market, and Vic gives her honest...

CONTENT WARNING This episode touches on fertility struggles and the emotional weight of balancing family planning with career ambitions. If this is a sensitive topic for you, please take care of yourself, it's okay to come back to this one when you're ready.

What if the tension between your career and your personal life isn't a you problem, it's a system problem? In this episode, Soph sits down with Dr. Ellen Joan Ford: leadership expert, solo mum, army veteran, and author of Work School Hours. They get into the big, messy, deeply personal question of...

Everyone's talking about Anthropic (the AI company behind Claude), and it’s plans to go public at a valuation of nearly a trillion dollars. But is this the dawn of a new era, or are we living through dot-com déjà vu? We break down what Anthropic's IPO actually means for everyday investors, why a company that's only just turning profitable could be worth that much, and whether we should all be very, very nervous. We also dig into Warren Buffett's successor making his first big moves at Berkshire Hathaway, including a $10 billion bet on Alphabet (Google) and what that...

Hannah Koumakis (aka the internet’s favourite budgeting girl) is joining us for the next three episodes of IOU (Some Money Education), taking over from Lucy Blakiston, and she’s about to change the way you think about money. We start with Hannah’s story, from learning how to manage money at just seven years old to nannying for billionaire families in London - an experience that completely shifted her perspective on wealth, spending, and what actually matters. Then we get into the good stuff: her step-by-step method for splitting your money across multiple bank accounts so budgeting finally feels...

Spotify's stock jumped 18% in one day and we're breaking down exactly why, plus what it means for artists, your playlist, and the music industry at large. We also get into why birth rates are falling globally and the one reason researchers are pointing to that nobody was expecting, Victoria's Secret's unlikely comeback (up 200% in a year and yes, there's a female CEO involved), and quick updates on the SpaceX IPO that could be the biggest in history, the Lululemon founder drama, and what's going on at BP. Oh, and we answer a listener question on capital gains tax that's...

Most money advice tells you to spend less and save more. But what if the real answer is just spending better? This week Sophie sits down with Fran (aka Martha Stewish), chartered accountant and personal finance creator you're going to want to follow, to talk through one of the most practical frameworks we've covered on the show. We dig into how to figure out your authentic spending code: the personal values that should be driving every financial decision you make, and why ignoring them is probably why you feel stuck.

We also get into why deprivation always...

This week Vic's flying solo (miss you Soph!!), and she's brought the big stories. SpaceX has officially filed to go public, and it could be the largest IPO in history at a $2 trillion valuation. But is the hype justified? Vic breaks down what SpaceX actually is, what you'd be buying, and how everyday investors can get involved. Plus, Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI gets thrown out of court in under two hours, and the reason why is more embarrassing than the loss itself. Shakira just won a €55 million tax battle with the Spanish government, and there are some surprisingly pr...

This episode is, quite frankly, unhinged. Sophie sits down with Holly to hear one of the wildest relationship-and-money stories we’ve ever had on the podcast, involving property, trust, legal drama, a cancelled wedding, and the kind of plot twists that make you want to scream into a cushion. Without giving too much away, it’s a story about what can happen when love, money and home ownership get tangled together… and why protecting yourself financially isn’t unromantic, it’s essential. Juicy? Extremely. Educational? Absolutely. Please keep snacks nearby.
We’re proud to be partnering with BNZ, who know tha...

Lime is everywhere. A billion rides across 29 countries and 230 cities, and yet they're about to go public not because they're crushing it, but because they need the money. We break down what's really going on under the hood, what it means for investors, and whether this is a business worth backing.

We also cover:

We recorded an episode this week, edited it, and were ready to publish, then realised we hadn't done the topic justice. This is a short explanation of why we paused, and an open invitation to share your experience so we can cover this topic properly.

If you'd like to share your experience or perspective, please feel free to leave a comment wherever youre listening or watching, you can email us at hello@thecurveplatform.com (mailto:hello@thecurveplatform.com), leave a voice note on the Curve Hotline (https://thecurveplatform.com/pages/the-curve-hotline?srsltid=AfmBOopCf5wEepE-DTLGLkXkjbftJnk4kAfWjqM8...

Over 300,000 jobs have gone in the US alone in the first four months of 2026, up 30% on last year. The people losing them are disproportionately women in white collar roles. The people profiting? Anyone with money in the stock market. This week we get into the real AI story: not just who's at risk, but how AI is quietly making the wealth divide wider. Plus: fuel reserves in Australia and New Zealand are down to about 38 days - what actually happens if we run out? A meme stock just made a $60 billion hostile bid to buy eBay at four times...

This week, Soph sits down with Lily from Pathfinder (https://pathfinder.kiwi/) to untangle the delightfully messy world of ethical investing aka, what happens when your money wants to grow, but your conscience would also like a word. Lily shares her own money story, from growing up in a household where “ordinary” was basically a swear word, to becoming the main earner in her family, to realising that financial independence is about so much more than just having cash in the bank. Together, they unpack why women are so drawn to values-led investing, why “good” and “profitable” don’t have to be mor...

This week, we’re doing what any normal finance podcast would do after seeing Olivia Dean live: immediately investigating her business model. From billion-stream hits to sold-out O2 shows, merch, brand deals and the very juicy question of who actually makes the money behind your favourite artist, we unpack how pop stardom turns into serious cash. We also look at the London Marathon’s massive boost to the UK economy, why the UK’s financial glow-up is looking… less glow-y, what reporting season is telling us about AI, Amazon, Google and Microsoft, and the Lululemon boardroom drama that proves even leg...

In this episode of IOU (Some Money Education), we’re talking all about emergency funds - what they are, why they matter, and how much you might want to have set aside. Lucy, Soph and Vic unpack the role an emergency fund can play when life throws something unexpected your way, whether that’s a sudden medical bill, needing to leave a living situation quickly, or covering an essential expense without relying on debt. They also chat through where to keep your emergency fund, how to start building one, and why having that financial buffer can make you feel more...

Claude Design just disrupted an entire industry, and markets reacted instantly. We break down what this AI launch actually means, why companies like Adobe and Figma took a hit, and where the opportunity could be for investors as money starts shifting fast. But first… The Curve has had a full rebrand (yes, we’re obsessed, yes we read every comment). Then we get into the oil situation that’s quietly escalating, prices doubling, supply uncertainty, and why this could tip the global economy toward a recession (and what that means for your portfolio). Next: Apple. Tim Cook is stepping down a...

Frances Cook knows a ridiculous amount about money, but in this episode, she proves that knowing the rules and living them perfectly are two very different things. We get into the real stuff: the money habits shaped by childhood, the scarcity mindset that lingers long after your bank balance changes, why financial independence matters so much in relationships, and how she actually manages her money behind the scenes. There’s talk of KiwiSaver revelations, index funds, business risks, “enough” numbers, and the fact that sometimes even the finance gurus are just out here winging it with a direct debit and a...

This week, we kick things off with a 9am tequila shot for Lucy’s probation pass (completely normal workplace behaviour, obviously), before diving headfirst into the business of Coachella, where Justin Bieber’s payday, festival profits, and the money machine behind live music all get unpacked. We also get into the truly bizarre Allbirds plot twist as the struggling sneaker brand pivots into AI, plus what the rise in women-owned businesses says about work, wealth, and why more women are deciding to back themselves instead.

WTF does that mean? A guide to all the jargony bits...

Soph is back with property guru, Peter West to break down the story behind her second investment property, and how she managed to buy it without putting down a brand-new deposit. In this episode, they walk through what actually happened after the first renovation: how the house was revalued, how equity can be released through refinancing, and how that money can be used to help fund the next property. They also unpack key concepts like gross yield, cash flow, and why buying well in the first place makes such a big difference to the outcome of a project. Along...

We start this episode with a public apology… and that’s all we’re saying on that for now. Once we’ve addressed the situation, Vic and Soph get into what’s actually moving markets this week: oil prices swinging wildly as ceasefire hopes creep in, why airline stocks are suddenly perking up, and the slightly chaotic world of prediction markets (aka: investing or betting… still unclear). They also break down why Universal Music is catching takeover attention (turns out owning Taylor Swift’s back catalogue is a pretty nice business), how weight loss pills could send the GLP-1 trend into ove...

If you’ve ever thought “I should probably understand crypto… but I have no idea where to start”, this episode is for you. 

Sophie sits down with Danielle Lukins, founder of Crush Circle (https://crushcircle.com/applynow?utm_source=Substack) and a trusted crypto educator and expert to break everything down in a way that actually makes sense, even if you’re a total beginner.

They cover what crypto is (in plain English), the difference between Bitcoin and other coins like Ethereum, Solana and XRP, and why people are starting to see this as a serious inv...