The Why? Curve

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 nat...

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 ...

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 con...

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 diffe...

The Donald is back. Another Trump presidency - with a Republican-dominated congress. So how will a world that looks back on 2016-2020 and shudders, deal with a volatile, unpredictable narcissist, who is now also convicted felon, in the White House? What will it mean for Ukraine, for Gaza, for China,...

Just days from one of the most divisive and consequential elections in US history, what are the chances of a second Trump presidency, or the first woman being installed in the White House? And how true are the alarming predictions of what it might mean for America and for the world? Dr Thomas Gift, ...