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The Why? Curve

The Why? Curve

By: Phil Dobbie
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About this listen

 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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Phil Dobbie Economics Politics & Government Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Epstein’s Hidden World

    Epstein’s Hidden World
    Feb 12 2026
    Champagne on the beach of a private island in return for cosy deals and confidential memos - has the Epstein saga lifted the lid on a world of elite partying and low morals at the heart of political and business decision-making? Could the conspiracy theories about global control by hidden cabals have a kernel of truth? Ronen Palan, Professor of International Politics at City St George’s University, tells Phil and Roger it’s not a new phenomenon in the world.

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    37 mins
  • Creating Life

    Creating Life
    Feb 5 2026
    Have we just, quietly, passed a key stage in human evolution? Scientists in California say they have created - not adapted - a virus. Artificial intelligence has enabled them to write the genome from scratch, and while a virus isn't, by definition, alive, they say they have the means to go further - to create life. What this could bring is a massive leap forwarded in treating disease, but it could also bring terrible risks - designer babies, insuperable biological weapons. Is this a technology anyone can control? Adrian Woolfson, co-founder of the biotech company Genryo, and author of "On the Future of Species: Authoring Life By Means of Artificial Biological Intelligence" tells Phil and Roger about the astounding opportunities and dangers.

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    34 mins
  • Right Going Wrong?

    Right Going Wrong?
    Jan 29 2026
    Is Reform UK looking increasingly like Conservatives 2.0? High-profile defections like Robert Jenrick and Suella Braverman help add experience to Nigel Farage's party, but will they also mean it's not really the new force in UK politics many of its adherents want? And, as Kemi Badenoch's Tories drift further to the right, where do centre-conservative voters go? What is the future of the right in Britain? Tim Bale, Professor of Politics at Queen Mary University of London, tells Phil and Roger.

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    36 mins
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