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BBC Radio 4

Tim Harford explains - and sometimes debunks - the numbers and statistics used in political debate, the news and everyday life.

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1,133 episodes
Updated Saturday

Episodes1133

Newest first

Sep 2, 2020 · 27 min
Schools and coronavirus, test and trace, maths and reality
Evidence on Covid-19 risks in schools, data on contact tracing, and a philosophical query.
Aug 26, 2020 · 27 min
Covid plasma therapy
Claims about a Covid-19 treatment, breast cancer screening, and 18th century sex workers.
Aug 19, 2020 · 28 min
A-level algorithms, poker and buses
We unpick the A-level algoshambles and discover what poker teaches us about statistics.
Aug 15, 2020 · 9 min
Belarus’ contested election
Tim Harford looks at the numbers behind the widely questioned election result
Aug 12, 2020 · 27 min
Hawaiian Pizza, obesity and a second wave?
Covid-19 cases are rising in the UK - is it a sign of a second wave of the virus?
Aug 8, 2020 · 8 min
Melting Antarctic ice
If all the ice in Antarctica melted, would global sea levels rise by 70 metres?
Aug 1, 2020 · 10 min
Covid in Africa
Do we have enough data to know what’s happening on the continent?
Jul 25, 2020 · 8 min
Data in the time of cholera
A journey back to the birth of epidemiology
Jul 18, 2020 · 8 min
Covid misconceptions and US deaths
How many of us believe the myths about coronavirus?
Jul 11, 2020 · 14 min
Sweden’s lockdown lite
Sweden stayed open during the pandemic – how well did it work?
Jul 4, 2020 · 9 min
Why Trump is wrong about the USA’s coronavirus case comeback
Are cases really rising in the US or are they just testing more? Tim digs into the data.
Jul 1, 2020 · 28 min
Why did the UK have such a bad Covid-19 epidemic?
Was it bad decision-making, bad advice, or bad luck?
Jun 27, 2020 · 9 min
A new Covid-19 drug and a second wave
Tim Harford looks into why protests haven’t led to a spike in Covid-19 cases
Jun 24, 2020 · 28 min
Child Poverty, School Inequality and a Second Wave
As lockdown eases, why hasn't there been a spike in infections?
Jun 20, 2020 · 9 min
Who Should be Quarantined?
Tim Harford finds out which countries have the highest rate of Covid-19 infection.
Jun 17, 2020 · 28 min
Quarantine, Test and Trace and BODMAS
Is it true that Covid-19 mostly kills people who would die soon anyway?
Jun 13, 2020 · 9 min
Spanish coronavirus figures and pangolins
Are pangolins the most trafficked animal in the world?
Jun 10, 2020 · 27 min
Antibody tests, early lockdown advice and European deaths
Are more people are dying of Covid-19 in the UK than all the EU countries put together?
Jun 6, 2020 · 9 min
Keep your distance
Tim Harford examines how can we avoid infection spreading, while getting on with life.
Jun 3, 2020 · 27 min
False negatives, testing capacity and pheasants
How accurate are the swab tests used to diagnose Covid-19?