The Why? Curve

By: Phil Dobbie
  • Summary

  • 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.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Phil Dobbie
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Episodes
  • Nips and Tucks
    Oct 17 2024
    Why do so many of us opt to go under the knife to change our appearance? Cosmetic surgery is having a boom, with injections as well as scalpels and offering cheaper and barely-regulated treatments. It can be dangerous as well as pricey, and often ineffective, so why do it? Is it down to a distorted perception of beauty, conditioned by social media and reality TV? Does it need more regulation, as well as a push to ease social pressures? Phil and Roger ask Ruth Holliday, Professor of Gender and Culture at Leeds University, and co-author of the book "Kitsch! Cultural Politics and Taste"

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    37 mins
  • Middle East On The Brink
    Oct 10 2024
    A year after October 7 and the landscape shaped over decades is irrevocably changed - Palestinians and Israelis killed in unprecedented numbers, Hezbollah and Hamas decapitated, Iran humiliated. And no end in sight to the bloodshed and destruction. So where have the pieces fallen? What chance of any kind of ceasefire on any front?What hope for the remaining Israeli hostages? Will things change further after the election hiatus in the US - Israel's biggest backer? Can Prime Minister Netanyahu cling to power indefinitely? Simon Mabon, Professor of International Politics at Lancaster University, tells Phil and Roger what the next year might bring

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    40 mins
  • Blue Funk
    Oct 3 2024
    The Tory ship seems rudderless, and the vote for a new captain less than enthralling. After their underwhelming Birmingham conference, what hope is there for the Conservatives - hitherto the most successful political organisation in Europe? With the fewest MPs in its history, and missing many of the former big beasts of Toryism, does the party’s salvation lie in lurching further to the right to win back supporters from Reform? Or is the safe ground in the centre where the Lib Dems have drained their vote? Phil and Roger get the views of Tim Bale, Professor of Politics at Queen Mary University of London, and Thor of “The Conservative Party After Brexit: Turmoil and Transformation”

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    35 mins

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