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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Andrew Dobbie Podcasts
A conversation with teachers about learning, leading, and life. We hear from educators around the world to find out the stories that made them who they are today.
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Your hosts James and Mike, with the occasional guest, look at the Canadian wargames scene. We're interested in miniature wargaming, board (hex and counter) games, and how Canadian military history inspires some of our projects. We hope to help tell the stories of a small but dynamic hobby scene in a big country.
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Powerful Conversations with Fascinating, Influential and Inspirational People.
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Welcome to the Glasgow Business Gameplan Podcast with Stephen O'Donnell! Here, we'll be sharing weekly episodes with fascinating entrepreneurs in Glasgow discussing all-things business from successes, to challenges, and revelations. Be sure to like and subscribe so you don't miss out on any episodes!
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Andrew Horribilis - The Future of the Monarchy
35:13
35:13
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Is it time our ancient monarchy got a modern makeover? When a prince of the realm can be downgraded to plain Mr Mountbatten Windsor, has something fundamental shifted in the magic and mystique? The accident of birth means that not all members of the royal family will be morally-upstanding and dutiful. So can a time-honoured but expensive and tainte…
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Flat Earth - Are We All Becoming The Same?
43:44
43:44
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Is everything becoming the same? High streets all over the world with identical shops, people consuming the same burgers, the same video games, the same social media, the same music? Are we losing what makes us different - the cultures, the foods, the languages? In a world of online hyper-connectivity, is it going to be a flattened, greyer world th…
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How do you deal with the world's second largest economy when it seem to be intent on spying in the UK, persecuting dissidents here, and hacking into our computer systems? Is the priority national security, or keeping on good terms with our third-largest trading partner at a time when we are in desperate need of economic growth? The challenges of th…
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Will we all soon be required to show our ID cards? The government says it wants a digital and universal ID system in place to counter illegal working and benefit fraud. It’s been tried before, and many of its opponents say it will fail again. But what is the case for ID cards? Will they solve any problems? Or are they an affront to liberty and a wa…
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The most successful political party in Europe is contemplating oblivion. The Conservatives, soundly rejected last year by voters, have a leader no-one likes, the fewest MPs in their history, and an existential threat from Reform UK’s rise. Is there a way back, as there was after 1997? Or is this the moment the Tories run out of ideas and time? Phil…
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The US president says paracetamol use can cause autism, and climate change is a giant con. A British GP tells the Reform party Covid vaccinations led to cancer in the royal family. Surveys show faith in conventional science is declining. So are fringe theories and fake medicines becoming mainstream? Is there a risk to our health and the planet as p…
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Keir Starmer has made a point of cosying-up to President Trump - even bringing him to the UK for an unprecedented second state visit - but does it actually make any difference to relations between London and Washington? Is the UK a useful ally? A client state? Or a quaint irrelevance in a world dominated by China, Russia and India? And is the rush …
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Canadian Wargamer Podcast 32 With Our Guest Don Perrin: The Wargaming Hobby and "The Churn"
1:40:31
1:40:31
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Mike and James are joined by our friend and wargaming dignitary Don Perrin to take a 360 degree view of the wargaming hobby in the midst of "the churn" of where we are as a society - "churn" being the vortex of technological, social, political and economic flux that we're all caught up in. I think out conclusion is surprisingly optimistic, but have…
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Whatever happened to the LibDems? The largest number of MPs for almost a century. The country’s right wing in chaos. The government in meltdown. Surely the one confident, united party should break through? But the LibDems seem to be absent. Phil and Roger speak about this to Paul Whiteley, Professor of Government at the University of Essex. Hosted …
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The chancellor has ten weeks to find a way to balance the books. But is she going to raise taxes - and risk harming economic growth? Or does she cut the welfare budget - and bring misery to many of those who voted her government into power? Has Keir Starmer now taken control of the process from Rachel Reeves - and these dilemmas? Kallum Pickering, …
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Flags are everywhere - Union Jacks and the Cross of St George going up on lamp posts, walls, street-corners and even roundabouts. Is it an attempt an intimidation by the far-right, or just a sign of patriotic spirit? Is a society that doesn’t usually wear its national identity on its sleeve, beginning to want to run it up the flagpole? And which fl…
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Asylum Seekers - Time To Change The Rules?
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The anger around asylum seekers and small boat crossings is rising - and providing fuel for Reform’s surge in the polls. Governments of any colour seem unable to get control. Reform and the Tories say it’s time to withdraw from the human rights conventions that stop deportations. But, short of that, is there a way to update the rules, while still s…
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Canadian Wargamer Podcast Episode 31 with our guest, Mike Hoyt of Battlespace Publishing
1:49:18
1:49:18
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In this episode James and Mike chat with Canadian wargamer and games designer Mike Hoyt. Mike has been throwing dice since he was a kid and now brings his professional military expertise as a Canadian Armed Forces design to serious games design. Battlespace Publishing: https://www.battlespacepublishing.ca/about Mike's contributions to the CWP Digit…
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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 of fighting closer? Will a Russia/Ukraine summit ever take place? Can Zelenskyy get real guarantees of future security for his country? Stefan Wolff, Professor of International Security at Birmin…
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Palestine Action - Protesters or Terrorists?
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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 group by the Home Secretary has led to mass protest and mass arrests, the police and courts overwhelmed by dealing with those who do not accept that direct action and criminal damage constitut…
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Rage is on the rise. On social media, on our roads, outside migrant hotels - things are getting under our skin that once would have caused mild irritation, and now lead to blind fury. Are we a more aggressive society? Or do we just feel more able to express it? Or are there more things to be angry about? Dr Nadja Heym is associate professor in Pers…
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Donald Trump can’t escape the shadow of Jeffrey Epstein, and he seems to have fallen out with many of his closest supporters over the failure to disclose the Epstein files. So, after 6 months of whirlwind policy making and broad success, are cracks beginning to appear in MAGA? Is he rather too involved in the foreign wars his base wanted to get sho…
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Are committees of randomly-selected amateurs the best way to decide someone’s guilt or innocence? As the government studies a report that recommends the right to jury trial be restricted further, to ease the court backlog, is there a case for changing the justice system further? There have been many severe and tragic cases of people being wrongfull…
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Canadian Wargamer Podcast Episode 30 With Our Guest Andrew Dobson of Dobbies' Hobbies
1:48:58
1:48:58
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As we reached Episode 30 of the CWP, James and I had a terrifically enjoyable chat with Andrew Dobson. Andrew is one of Canadian wargaming's rising stars, and is the proprietor of Dobbies Hobbies, a 3D printing factory licensed to produce a wide variety of models from a wide range of suppliers. We love Andrew's energy and his enthusiasm for the pot…
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Far away from the headlines, a war is raging in Africa that has taken at least 150,000 lives, has displaced 12 million people from their homes, and created what the UN calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Sudan is being fought over by two armies, with rape, bombardment of civilian areas and massacres a normal part of the conflict. There are…
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How did it all go so wrong for the Labour government? A massive majority of MPs, and a country yearning for change, but now, a year on: rock-bottom poll numbers and a seeming inability to get bills through parliament. Can Labour learn and improve? Can they roll back the growing disenchantment with both the main parties? Can they get some wins? Robe…
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Has the rise of new weight-loss drugs become a game-changer for the obesity crisis?Can we all now inject ourselves thin? Will restaurants and gyms go out of business as we don’t want to eat, and don’t need to exercise? The drugs are becoming available on the NHS and will soon be in pill form - and they seem to be safe. But does the medical treatmen…
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Why is it that we can't seem to run a railway project that's on time or affordable? Why do our trains also fail to turn up or charge reasonably? Is nationalisation going to make difference. Phil and Roger ask Paul Plummer, Professor in Rail Strategy, and Director of University of Birmingham Centre for Rail Research & Education,. Hosted on Acast. Se…
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The conflict between Israel and Iran shows no sign of easing and the threat of US involvement has heightened concerns about a war that is rapidly getting out of control. How does this end? Can Iran be forced away from building a nuclear bomb? Can Israel be reassured about its security? Is there a way to de-escalate when none of those involved seem …
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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. What’s happening to our democracy? Does the system still work? Or is the social media-fuelled clamour for instant policy-fixes not suited to going to the ballot box once every five years? Is…
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Is the Wild West of digital currency now becoming a respectable place to put your money? President Trump likes it, and his vice president, JD Vance, backs a US government digital reserve. Does that mean the crazy volatility of Bitcoin and the rest will calm down? Or is the essential ungovernability of blockchain money going to remain? Phil and Roge…
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Tanks, Troops or Drones? Spending the Defence Bonanza
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Billions in new spending for the UK’s defence, but how to spend it? Does Britain need more soldiers? More shells for artillery? More tanks? Or are drones the future of warfare? What has Ukraine’s war against Russia told us about what weapons we need to stand up to Putin? Dr Bence Nemeth, co-founder of the Centre for Defence Economics and Management…
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