rogerhearing.bsky.social
@rogerhearing.bsky.social
Co-Host of The Why Curve podcast http://whycurve.com and presenter BBCNews formerly Bloomberg, writer and broadcaster
High level diplomacy in Washington and Alaska, but Ukraine is still under fire. So is peace any closer? @stefwolff.bsky.social @unibirmingham.bsky.social tells me and @phildobbie.bsky.social Donald Trump isn't prepared to do what's needed to end the conflict
whycurve.com/episode/ukra...
Ukraine - Any Closer To Peace? | The Why Curve
Lots of high-level diplomacy - handshakes for European leaders in the White House, the red-carpet for Putin in Alaska - but does any of this bring the end...
whycurve.com
August 21, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Why are protesters being arrested for holding up signs? By banning Palestine Action - a group widely seen as non-violent - has the government moved the goalposts too far on what counts as terrorism? We asked @seethingmead.bsky.social @uniofeastanglia.bsky.social
whycurve.com/episode/pale...
Palestine Action - Protesters or Terrorists? | The Why Curve
Scenes few had expected in the UK - retired vicars carried away by the police for holding up a poster saying “I support Palestine Action”. The banning of the...
whycurve.com
August 14, 2025 at 10:55 AM
Reposted
I spoke with @phildobbie.bsky.social and @rogerhearing.bsky.social on The Why? Curve podcast about whether there is a crisis of representative democracy, why populists often fail to deliver, and how President Trump is attacking US democracy. Give it a listen here: whycurve.com/episode/demo...
Democracy On The Rocks? | The Why Curve
More than a quarter of UK voters back a party that’s only got 5 MPs. Labour won a stonking majority in parliament last year with just over a third of the vote....
whycurve.com
June 12, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Can there ever be real peace between India and Pakistan? 78 years of rivalry and on/off conflict despite (or because of) a shared history. @katesde.bsky.social @ox.ac.uk tells me and @phildobbie.bsky.social

whycurve.com/episode/indi...
India-Pakistan: Endless Enmity? | The Why Curve
The confrontation between the two south Asian neighbours this month seems to have been resolved into a ceasefire. It is almost certainly only a pause of...
whycurve.com
May 15, 2025 at 1:01 PM
The Holy Spirit or political calculation? What will drive the choice of a new pope when the cardinals meet? @sarasilvestri.bsky.social @citystgeorges.bsky.social tells me and Phil Dobbie what to expect when the cardinals meet
whycurve.com
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 exper...
whycurve.com
May 2, 2025 at 10:18 AM
Is it time to shrink the state? There’s an appetite on both sides of the Atlantic to cut back on what government does, improve efficiency and save money. But will it hurt more than help? Professor Patrick Diamond @qmul.ac.uk tells me and Phil Dobbie
whycurve.com/episode/time...
Time to Shrink the State? | The Why Curve
Is the state too big? As Rachel Reeves announces cuts in welfare and civil servants, is it a recognition that the administration of the UK needs to slim down?...
whycurve.com
March 27, 2025 at 12:53 PM
The aid tap is being turned off - USAID is suspended, and the UK is moving funds to defence. What happens to those who depend on this assistance? Phil Dobbie and I hear from @mikejennings101.bsky.social @soasuni.bsky.social
whycurve.com/episode/aid-...
Aid Emergency | The Why Curve
The aid tap is being turned off. USAID has suspended all its programmes and the UK is diverting much of the budget for overseas development to buying tanks and...
whycurve.com
March 20, 2025 at 1:37 PM
The most powerful man in the world - once again - is Donald Trump. So what will the next four years be like for the US and the world? How far does he mean what he says? I and Phil Dobbie seek some answers from Dr Thomas Gift, Director of the UCL Centre on US Politics whycurve.com/episode/trum...
Trump - How Crazy Will It Get? | The Why Curve
The 47th president of the United States has begun his administration with a rush of executive orders intended to change the direction of the US....
whycurve.com
January 23, 2025 at 1:23 PM
Starmer's stumbly start - the pound drops, damaging rows over grooming gangs and inheritance tax, social care kicked into the long grass. Prof Rohan McWilliam of Anglia Ruskin University tells me and Phil Dobbie what could still go right for the Labour government
whycurve.com/episode/star...
Starmer Stuck - Labour’s Poor Start | The Why Curve
Labour’s first six months in office has been something of a disappointment, with rows about pensioners’ energy payments, farmers’ inheritance tax and a budget...
whycurve.com
January 9, 2025 at 12:16 PM
You've survived the new year parties, but will you survive the new year? Nuclear war? Alien invasion? Another pandemic?Haydn Belfield of the Cambridge University Centre for the Study of Existential Risk takes me and Phil Dobbie through the latest research
whycurve.com/episode/what...
What May Kill You in 2025 | The Why Curve
Alien invasion? AI takeover? A new pandemic? Nuclear war? The list of dangers to mankind is long, so what could ACTUALLY bring the curtain down on planet Earth...
whycurve.com
January 2, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Who'd be a farmer? Hard work, low returns, and heavy regulation - plus, in some cases now, inheritance tax. Dr Peter Gittins of Leeds University tells me and Phil Dobbie why it's still a worthwhile job

whycurve.com/episode/trac...
Tractors in Whitehall | The Why Curve
Who’d be a farmer? You have tiny profit margins. You’re held to high environmental and welfare standards against cheaper less-scrupulous foreign imports, and...
whycurve.com
November 28, 2024 at 12:56 PM