About the
Why Curve

Roger and Phil spent most of their lives oblivious to each other. Then, in early 2022 they met at a coffee shop in Guildford and hatched a plan for an exciting new weekly podcast that would delve into topical issues in a lively, intelligent and entertaining way. 

Roger Hearing is a seasoned journalist, with many years at the BBC World Service, where he's still called on to host shows like Business Matters. He's also had a recent stint at Bloomberg, as co-host of the London-based Daybreak Europe.

Phil Dobbie has a mix of business, radio and podcasting experience. He has hosted a variety of music and talk shifts on commercial and public stations in the UK and in Australia. Now, he's a prolific podcaster. Alongside The Why Curve he hosts The NAB Morning Call, a daily finance podcast for Australian audiences, and Debunking Economics with Steve Keen.

All Episodes

Recent Episodes

Featured award-winning podcasts

Welfare or Warfare?
The Why? CurveApril 23, 2026x
203
37:5026.2 MB

Welfare or Warfare?

Can we afford to boost national defence alongside the growing bill for benefits, health and social care? Can the UK's shaky finances cope with both? Or is there a choice to be made, as the Russian threat pushes the need for more tanks, drones and bullets? Simon French, chief economist and head ...

Poor Lebanon
The Why? CurveApril 16, 2026x
202
39:0453.87 MB

Poor Lebanon

The bombs have stopped falling on Iran, but not on Lebanon. Israel is talking to the Lebanese government, but has not let up in its assault on Hezbollah, which continues to fire rockets into Israel. The war in the last few weeks has cost more than 2000 Lebanese lives. Lebanon has been attacked again...

Meanwhile in Ukraine
The Why? CurveApril 09, 2026x
201
41:0656.66 MB

Meanwhile in Ukraine

While the world’s attention has been fixed on the Iran war, the conflict in Ukraine has not gone away - and what’s happened in the Gulf is changing the situation there too. Putin has more money from the rise in the oil price, and has seen the US use its diminishing stockpile of weapons against ...