The Why? Curve
Each week Phil Dobbie and Roger Hearing get to grips with one issue that impacts our lives. It could be economic, social, technological or geopolitical. Whatever the subject, they'll talk to the experts who can give help explain what's really going on. And Phil and Roger back it up with their own research and opinions. It's half an hour to get across one of the key issues of the time, and they promise, it'll never be boring.
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- Update frequency
- every 7 days
- Average duration
- 38 minutes
- Episodes
- 171
- Years Active
- 2022 - 2025
The Generation Game - And Why Boomers Are Cheating
Why are the prospects for young people so much worse than for their parents’ generation? They can’t buy a house, their rents are extortionate, they have a massive student debt and there’s no job secu…
00:41:58 |
Thu 22 Feb 2024
A Matter of Life and Death. Who Decides?
Should we have the right to end our lives in the way we choose - with others allowed to help us? Euthanasia is back on the agenda after a number of celebrities pushing for a change in the law. But wh…
00:36:09 |
Thu 15 Feb 2024
Is the world ready for Trump 2.0?
Donald Trump could be back in the White House this time next year. Politicians from London to Berlin to Canberra are scratching their heads about how to deal with another season of Trump World - he’s…
00:45:25 |
Thu 08 Feb 2024
Rough Justice, No Justice
Many thousands of people are in prison for crimes they didn’t do, and their chances of getting their cases reopened are minimal at best. The Post Office scandal showed how hard it is to reverse a mis…
00:43:35 |
Thu 01 Feb 2024
Broken Britain - Can it be Mended?
Unheated classrooms, cancelled trains, delayed operations, potholed roads - it’s hard to avoid the impression that the UK isn’t working properly, that our systems are failing, that something has gone…
00:38:02 |
Thu 25 Jan 2024
Red Sea Crisis - Choking The Global Economy
The UK and US launched air strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen after their missile-attacks on international shipping - could this all turn into a regional conflict? London and Washington tell Iran to s…
00:36:32 |
Thu 18 Jan 2024
Democracy in Crisis
It's the biggest year in the history of democracy - more than half of the people on earth have the chance to choose, through the ballot box, who governs them. So why is democracy - the system that gi…
00:39:08 |
Thu 11 Jan 2024
Rishi v Keir - What To Expect in 2024
It's going to be a momentous year in British politics, with a Tory administration staggering towards what almost everyone thinks will be an electoral wipeout, and a Labour leadership desperate to avo…
00:35:03 |
Thu 04 Jan 2024
Choice Cuts - the Best of The Why Curve so far
A look back at the highlights of 2023 on WhyCurve.com . Phil and Roger covered everything from tax-cuts to racism, from AI to Rwanda, with experts and researchers. So here's a New Year gift - their p…
00:32:08 |
Thu 28 Dec 2023
Present Tense - The Changing Ways We Give
The last-minute dash to the shops, the frantic hunt for something just right for your cousin…. The giving season can be tough, but has buying online changed the way we think about gifts? Is it now in…
00:32:41 |
Thu 21 Dec 2023
Rwandan safety? The uncomfortable truth.
Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda bill has passed its first hurdle - it says, as a matter of law, the East African state is “safe”. But is it? Is it a place we could confidently send those who have arrived on our…
00:41:39 |
Thu 14 Dec 2023
Can It Be Profitable To Save The Planet?
The COP28 was big on promises, but can they be taken seriously when the location the president and so many of the participants are signed up to big oil? Is the secret to getting serious on mitigating…
00:40:01 |
Thu 07 Dec 2023
The Forgotten War - Whatever Happened To The Ukraine Conflict?
All eyes have been on Gaza since October, but what has been happening in the confrontation between Ukraine and Russia - the biggest European land war since 1945? Has the West lost hope of defeating V…
00:38:15 |
Thu 30 Nov 2023
A tax cut that’s good for Britain or a last-ditch hope for the Tory party?
Jeremy Hunt delivered his Autumn statement this week, with 110 policy measures. The most significant of those was a 2% cut in National Insurance contributions. Roger and Phil ask Simon French, Chief …
00:34:37 |
Thu 23 Nov 2023
The real bill for energy
Drill, baby, drill - but does it make sense to hand out, every year, new North Sea extraction licences for oil and gas as the UK government has promised? Aren’t we supposed to be ending our reliance …
00:40:16 |
Thu 16 Nov 2023
Animal Rights and Wrongs
Should animals have rights? Should dogs and cats be able to sue you for not feeding them on time? Should farm animals be able to get an injunction to stop us eating them? There’s a growing movement t…
00:41:44 |
Thu 09 Nov 2023
AI - technology breakthrough, or the end of humanity?
Artificial intelligence is everywhere - and politicians and business leaders are rushing to get on top of what could be an advance bigger than the Industrial Revolution. But could it also be a risk t…
00:39:06 |
Thu 02 Nov 2023
What is racism, and is it on the rise?
Accusations of attempted genocide from one side of the current Middle East crisis, and furious claims of anti-semitism from the other, show how deeply perceptions of racism still inform global confli…
00:43:58 |
Thu 26 Oct 2023
Middle East on the Brink
It’s a dangerous moment in one of the world’s most volatile regions. How far will Israel go to avenge the brutal killings inflicted by Hamas? Will the slaughter of innocent Palestinian civilians chan…
00:41:11 |
Thu 19 Oct 2023
Keir Starmer - not enough glitter?
Labour has a real chance of forming the next government, but does it have the sense of mission, the “vision thing” to carry voters with it? Matthew Flinders, Professor of Politics at Sheffield Univer…
00:35:34 |
Thu 12 Oct 2023
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