David talks to the football writers Joe Devine and Seb Stafford-Bloor about VAR (Video Assistant Referee) technology, which football fans thought they wanted – and then when it arrived decided that they hated. How much does getting the decision right matter in football and in life? What happens when the truth gets in the way of a good story? And why is VAR-rage a metaphor for what has happened to politics in the age of digital technology? A conversation about football, fate, democracy and death – not just about football.

David makes his case to the technology writer John Naughton about what’s gone wrong with email – and gets some pushback. Where did email originate and has it done what its inventors hoped? Why has it proved so hard to filter out the rubbish and is it ever going to get better? Has email made us more efficient or less productive? And why it is making David so miserable?

David and Lea answer listeners’ question about political choice, personal commitment and the possibility of lasting change. What is the best way to make a difference in politics?  Does it matter who we vote for? Is revolution still a real possibility? What should we be most afraid of?  And why is change so hard?

David and Lea try to answer some of your questions about free will, determinism and technology. Is there more freedom online or off-line? What does it do to our sense of freedom to know that we are always being watched? What if we are just living in a giant computer simulation? Plus, is being asleep a liberation or is it a kind of death?

David and Gary answer some of the many questions we have received – about elections we missed, themes we only touched on and their connections to now. Plus we explore whether 2024 could mark another turning point in the history of American elections.

David and Gary discuss the extraordinary election year of 1968, marked by assassinations, riots, surprises and relentless drama. What was it like to live through? How did it change American history? And what might have happened if Bobby Kennedy had lived?