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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

Jul 6, 2024 · 9 min
The magic of trigonometry
Tim Harford interviews Matt Parker on his latest book ‘Love Triangle’
Jul 3, 2024 · 37 min
Election endings, tennis and meeting men in finance
Exit polls, election claims, and a 54% chance of winning a point in tennis
Jun 29, 2024 · 9 min
How a tick box doubled the US maternal mortality rates.
We investigate changes to the way the US gathers their maternal mortality statistics
Jun 26, 2024 · 28 min
Election claims and erection claims
What did Liz Truss do to mortgage rates? Do erections use a litre of blood?
Jun 22, 2024 · 9 min
Do ‘pig butchering’ cyber scams make as much as half Cambodia’s GDP?
We investigate the money made by an international cybercrime operation
Jun 19, 2024 · 31 min
Worse mortgages, better readers, and potholes on the moon
We check some of the numbers that are flying about in the election campaign
Jun 15, 2024 · 9 min
Shakespeare’s maths
Author Rob Eastaway on the numbers in Shakespeare’s writing
Jun 12, 2024 · 28 min
Leaflets, taxes, oil workers and classrooms
We look at bad graphs, oil rig extrapolations and pupil populations
Jun 8, 2024 · 9 min
Why medical error is not the third leading cause of death in the US
Investigating how many deaths are caused by mistakes by doctors and nurses
Jun 5, 2024 · 30 min
Debate, Reform, tax evasion and ants
Fact-checking the leaders' debate, tax evasion savings and the weight of ants
Jun 1, 2024 · 8 min
Data for India
Changing India in numbers: what type of country will the next administration lead?
May 29, 2024 · 28 min
UK growth, prisons and Swiftonomics
Is the UK economy growing faster than Germany, France and the US?
May 25, 2024 · 10 min
Is intermittent fasting going to kill you?
Investigating research which suggested time restricted eating increased the risk of death.
May 22, 2024 · 29 min
MP misconduct, NHS waiting lists and gold (gold)
Will it take 685 years to clear the NHS waiting list? Are 10% of MPs under investigation?
May 18, 2024 · 9 min
Are falling marriage rates causing happiness to fall in the US?
Investigating the relationship between matrimony and melancholy.
May 11, 2024 · 10 min
Is reading for pleasure the single biggest factor in how well a child does in life?
What research says about the connection between reading and success in later life.
May 4, 2024 · 9 min
Do one in five young Americans think the holocaust is a myth?
How problems with opt-in polling can lead to controversial headlines
Apr 26, 2024 · 8 min
Has Milei fixed Argentina’s inflation problem?
What falling inflation means for Milei’s austerity plan and economic “shock” measures
Apr 20, 2024 · 11 min
98%: Is misinformation being spread about a review of trans youth medicine?
Investigating claims that the Cass Review ignored valuable evidence
Apr 13, 2024 · 8 min
Tackling The Three-Body Problem
Is the physics in Netflix's new show accurate?