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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
  • The Arab View of Trump’s War

    The Arab View of Trump’s War
    Apr 2 2026
    As Iran gets pounded by the US and Israel, how are the Arab nations of the Gulf feeling about the resulting disaster to their economies, and the missiles and drones landing on their cities? This wasn’t a war they wanted, and they are being left to pick up the pieces, including getting access to the Straits of Hormuz to export oil and gas. Dr Mira Al Hussein, of the Centre For The Study Of Islam In The Contemporary World at Edinburgh University, joins Phil and Roger to discuss the Gulf Arabs concerns about this conflict.

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    36 mins
  • Americans Don't Like This War

    Americans Don't Like This War
    Mar 26 2026
    The Iran war is not going down well in the US. Donald Trump's MAGA movement is badly split - this was the president who promised an end to 'forever wars' and provide a stable economy, yet troops could soon be on the ground in Iran and the price of filling up your car keeps rising. So how damaging is all this going to be for the president in a year of crucial elections? Or - if he somehow wins a great victory - could it be the saving of his presidency? Phil and Roger ask Paul Whiteley, Professor of Government at the University of Essex

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    38 mins
  • Cuba Next?

    Cuba Next?
    Mar 19 2026
    With the Iran war not going entirely as planned, does Donald Trump have his eye on another easier regime-change much closer to home? Cuba has been on his to-do list for a while, but the signals are that he needs a quick win right now, and Havana fits the bill. The Communist regime there is on its knees anyway, with its oil from Venezuela cut off, and its economy falling apart, 67 years after the Castro revolution. So could Cuba cut a deal, and what would that look like? Professor Joseph Gonzalez of Appalachian State University, North Carolina, who is writing a history of US-Cuba relations, tells Phil and Roger a surprising number of Cubans would welcome a new dose of US neo-colonialism

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    35 mins
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