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Tim Harford explains the numbers and statistics in the news and in life.

World Service,694 episodes

Episodes

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Are 80% of women really only attracted to 20% of men?
Dispelling an incel myth that featured in the Netflix drama Adolescence
26 Apr 2025,9 mins
The pioneers of proof
Professor Adam Kucharski on his new book, Proof: The Uncertain Science of Certainty
19 Apr 2025,9 mins
How much is a human life worth?
The Price of Life author Jenny Kleeman on the cost of making and taking a life
12 Apr 2025,9 mins
Trump tariffs: All about the deficits
Explaining the maths and economics of the US ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs
05 Apr 2025,9 mins
What’s Trump’s problem with Canada?
Does the US subsidise Canada $200 billion a year and why does Trump call them nasty?
29 Mar 2025,9 mins
What are the chances of an asteroid hitting earth in 2032?
Why the likelihood of planetary impact changed as asteroid 2024 YR4 approached.
22 Mar 2025,9 mins
What is an IQ map and can we trust them?
We investigate maps that suggest extremely low average IQs in developing countries
15 Mar 2025,9 mins
Is there really $500bn of Rare Earths in Ukraine?
Trump wants access to Ukraine’s Rare Earth deposits.
08 Mar 2025,9 mins
Has the US really given Ukraine more aid than Europe?
Donald Trump says the US has given Ukraine more aid than Europe - what does the data say?
01 Mar 2025,9 mins
Are 150 year olds getting social security payments?
Is this ‘the biggest fraud in the whole of history'?
22 Feb 2025,9 mins
Has the US sent $50 million worth of condoms to Gaza?
Are Hamas bombing Israel with condoms sent by the US?
15 Feb 2025,9 mins
Are black babies in the US really more likely to die under the care of white doctors?
How baby mortality statistics gave a misleading impression about racism in healthcare
08 Feb 2025,9 mins
Are quantum computers already super-powerful?
We investigate what a big claim about the speed of a quantum chip really means.
01 Feb 2025,9 mins
Did Trump make billions with his meme-coin?
We investigate if the US president’s crypto is really worth tens of billions of dollars.
25 Jan 2025,9 mins
Can redheads handle 25% more pain than brunettes?
We investigate if people with red hair have a hidden pain-blocking superpower
18 Jan 2025,9 mins
Do 79% of Swedish asylum seekers go on holiday to the country they fled from?
We investigate a refugee claim that is often being taken out of context.
11 Jan 2025,9 mins
Numbers of the year: Part two
Our listeners' favourite numbers of 2024
04 Jan 2025,9 mins
Numbers of the year 2024
We ask experts about their favourite stats from 2024.
28 Dec 2024,9 mins
Did Mussolini make the trains run on time?
Fact checking the fascist regime.
21 Dec 2024,9 mins
How many Americans live ‘paycheck to paycheck’?
How many Americans live ‘paycheck to paycheck’?
14 Dec 2024,9 mins
Did one in 10 Greeks die in World War Two?
We investigate if 10 percent of the Greek population died during the second world war
07 Dec 2024,9 mins
Can Elon Musk save the US Government $2 trillion?
We look at whether DOGE can successfully balance the US budget.
30 Nov 2024,9 mins
Do fossil fuels get $7 trillion in subsidies?
We investigate a huge estimate for how much governments pay to support coal, gas and oil
23 Nov 2024,9 mins
Did 20 million votes really go missing in the US election?
We investigate a viral graph that suggests turnout was drastically lower than in 2020
16 Nov 2024,9 mins
Do we have enough clothes for the next six generations?
We delve into the stats on the scale of the fashion industry
09 Nov 2024,9 mins
What can economics learn from sport?
From loss aversion to game theory, how sports provide evidence for economic theories
02 Nov 2024,9 mins
Is Trump right about violent crime in Venezuela and the US?
Donald Trump says Venezuela is becoming safer than the US. Is he right?
26 Oct 2024,9 mins
Nobel Prize: Why are some countries so much richer than others?
Why Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics
19 Oct 2024,9 mins
Uncertainty, probability and double yoked eggs
Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter on his new book, The Art of Uncertainty
12 Oct 2024,9 mins
Are 672 billion pounds of corn eaten in the US every year?
A lot of corn is eaten in the United States, but is it really 2.5kg per person per day?
05 Oct 2024,9 mins