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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

Oct 12, 2024 · 8 min
Uncertainty, probability and double yoked eggs
Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter on his new book, The Art of Uncertainty
Oct 9, 2024 · 27 min
Should the government target persnuffle?
Plus, childhood obesity, birds hitting windows and Sir David Spiegelhalter’s origin story.
Oct 5, 2024 · 10 min
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?
Oct 2, 2024 · 28 min
How do you breed seventeen octillion rats?
Plus, GPs working less, the UK working less, and Wetherspoons wanting to pay less tax.
Sep 28, 2024 · 8 min
The puzzles you’re meant to get wrong
Alex Bellos sets Tim Harford logical conundrums designed to deceive
Sep 25, 2024 · 28 min
Could the winter fuel cut cost more than it saves?
Plus, ONS transgender stats, early-onset cancer, and puzzles you’re meant to get wrong.
Sep 21, 2024 · 10 min
Do 85% of the world’s population practice a religion?
Counting religions across the globe – is the world getting more religious or less?
Sep 18, 2024 · 28 min
How do you count millionaires?
Plus, asylum seeker costs, private school bets and Baumol's cost disease
Sep 14, 2024 · 8 min
Nate Silver: Do risk-takers run the world?
Poker player and polling analyst Nate Silver on his new book
Sep 11, 2024 · 27 min
How long does it take to turn around an oil tanker?
Plus migrants v pensioners and Ed Miliband’s energy auction claim.
Sep 7, 2024 · 8 min
Who pays when trade wars heat up?
We look at Donald Trump’s claim that tariffs are a tax on other countries
Sep 4, 2024 · 28 min
Exclusions, black holes and dividing by zero
Plus special educational needs in Wales and Ghanaian nurses in the UK.
Aug 31, 2024 · 9 min
Where have Cuba’s people gone?
We investigate the collapse in the Caribbean island’s population
Aug 24, 2024 · 8 min
Do we eat a credit card's worth of microplastic each week?
We look at whether humans really ingest five grams of microplastic on a weekly basis
Aug 17, 2024 · 8 min
Are companies making more money from their customers?
We investigate claims mark-ups are larger than ever
Aug 10, 2024 · 10 min
Is planet Earth getting greener?
Jordan Peterson says Earth has greened by 20% in 20 years. Is he right?
Aug 3, 2024 · 9 min
Does a language die every two weeks?
Languages are disappearing. We investigate claims of how often this happens.
Jul 27, 2024 · 12 min
Are women 14 times more likely to die in natural disasters?
We unpick the idea that women outnumber men by 14 to 1 as casualties of natural disasters
Jul 20, 2024 · 10 min
Is increasing turbulence making flying more dangerous?
Exploring the link between bumpy flights and climate change
Jul 13, 2024 · 8 min
Federer’s 54%: Tennis stats explained
How Federer became the best in the world winning just over half the points he played