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 that satisfied nobody. So is it unreasonable expectations from a party in government for the first time in 14 years, or a weakness of leadership in a time of crisis? Phil and Roger ask Rohan McWilliam, Professor of Modern British History at Anglia Ruskin University what Keir Starmer can do to make it all work in 2025.

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 this year, and what is the likelihood? Are we more at risk from our own folly, or from natural disasters about which we can do little? Haydn Belfield of the Cambridge University Centre for the Study of Existential risk takes Phil and Roger through the chances of global cataclysm

More people living on their own, fewer social connections - is the UK facing an epidemic of loneliness? And not just among the elderly. Young people are reporting higher levels of social isolation, too. And there’s evidence loneliness can damage your health. So is it down to social media replacing face-to-face interactions? Or are people happier now to admit the problems we have always had? Phil and Roger get the latest research on loneliness from Louise Arseneault, Professor of Developmental Psychology at Kings College London.

A sudden change in Syria. The men with beards and guns, labelled terrorists by the West, have seized power from a murderous dictator. Is this a recipe for peace in a war-blighted land? Can the US and Europe do business with the new rulers in Damascus? Will Russia have to withdraw? And could the redrawn map of the region lead to the end of a seemingly endless cycle of violence? Phil and Roger discuss all this with Michele Groppi, senior lecturer in defence studies at King’s College London, and president of the ITSS think tank in Verona

Rape, sexual assault, bullying - the list of allegations of abuse by powerful men in some of Britain’s most important institutions keeps growing. Many of the claims go back decades, with victims scared to bring complaints because they could lose their jobs. And many allegations were ignored or buried by the organisations. So why did the Church of England, the BBC, Harrods and the others fail to act? What needs to change in corporate culture to allow bosses and stars to be challenged? David Collinson, Professor of Leadership & Organisation at the University of Lancaster Business School tells Phil and Roger what can and should be done.

40 years since Band Aid - the lyrics and attitudes have dated badly, but the problem is still there. Africa remains desperate and underdeveloped and the only part of the world regularly threatened by famine, civil war and military coups d’etat. Why is this continent not thriving despite its vast natural resources and talent? Why do so many of its best and brightest choose to emigrate? Phil and Roger explore the question of Africa’s failure to move to the levels of development and wealth seen in Asia and the Middle East, speaking to Dr Emmanuel Mensah, assistant professor at the Utrecht University School of Economics.

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 now you’re facing unaffordable inheritance taxes….. Is it worth working the soil in modern Britain? Is the job more custodianship of the land than running a profitable business? Peter Gittins is a lecturer at Leeds University Business School, and he help run his family-owned livestock farm in West Yorkshire - he gives Phil and Roger a picture of what its like to be a farmer now, and the challenges they face.

Should we be allowed to take our own lives? Should doctors or friends be allowed to help us? For the first time in a decade, MPs have a bill to consider on assisted dying. Parliament and the cabinet is split, and there are vigorous campaigns on both sides. Will it open the door to euthanasia for convenience, with old people and the disabled pressured not to be a burden? Or is it a measure of compassion for the suffering and the desperate? Phil and Roger talk through the new bill and its limitations with Dr Sam Carr of the Centre for Death and Society at Bath University.

How ready are we for the results of climate change? While leaders talk at COP29 about lessening global warming, some of the extreme weather predicted by scientists is already here. The hundreds dead in the Valencia floods suggest governments need to do more to keep us safe. Do we need to build differently, or live in more secure places? Can we be adequately protected from the increasing numbers of wildfires or hurricanes? Phil and Roger get the latest research from Ilan Kelman, Professor of Disasters and Health at University College London