Roger Hearing

I don't know if this is a development forward I mean at least there's still human beings involved in your social media if you move towards AI are we then saying well okay our interactions are just going to be with computers so this is like the first stage of human intercourse just disappears gosh

Well, let's talk to someone who's been writing about this, Richard Rogers.

He's Professor of New Media and Digital Culture at the University of Amsterdam.

And in fact, he's co-authored a paper suggesting precisely that this is the beginning of the post-social media age.

The Why Curve, with Phil Dobbie and Roger Hearing.

Zionism.

The Green Party says it is racism.

And I know as a journalist, you have to...

This is the one area...

And Roger and I, at the start of this, were thinking, OK, well, here we are, boots and all, because it's a topic that you have to be really careful about what you say.

And even as far as politics is concerned, anywhere else in the world, politics is fair game.

For some reason in Israel right now, it's not.

The Why Curve, with Phil Dobbie and Roger Hearing.

Labour is feeling the burn and bounce.

But is the country feeling it too? The new Prime Minister can do a speech.

But I would imagine he would be hoping and I think would expect to stay fairly long into it unless there was some unexpected catastrophe or crises, which do seem to pop up in the world with increasing regularity.

And the hope of that 10-year plan, obviously, is where we started, that it pacifies the bond vigilantes because they might see that there's a plan which is actually going to give some growth for the economy.

Look, before we go, Roger, I love your idea that Andy Burnham is not just for Christmas.

I feel as though, for Christmas, Andy Burnham dolls as giveaway presents could be

something all the family would love.

The Y

Curve, with Phil Dobbie and Roger Hearing.

Tension building in the Middle East again.

Now the Red Sea is blocked by Yemeni rebels.

And that is prompting a huge amount of anger in the kingdom, amongst the kingdom's population, and consternation.

There were reports, for instance, that the Houthis later rejected, I should add, that the Houthis had launched attacks on Mecca, which is something that I struggle to believe, but I guess points to the broader propaganda war that we're starting to see as well.

But I think you're right, Roger, the sense that the Houthis have closed the Red Sea, they've closed the Bab al-Mandeb, to to the saudis they say that it's open to everyone else whether it is or not i guess we'll we'll have to wait and see i can't believe that it's it's open to israeli ships given the houthis long um and deeply anti-semitic rejection of of israelis um but they they've explicitly said that it's closed to the saudis uh but it's open to everyone else The other point just to pick up on, if I may, is this complex relationship with Iran.

I mean, there's a lot of people who view that the Houthis are an Iranian proxy, but I think that's an oversimplistic reading of the situation.