Podcast Episodes

Halloween special: How many people did the real Dracula impale?

Vlad III Dracula, the Wallachian Prince who became Bram Stokers inspiration behind his famous vampire 'Count Dracula,' was a brutal ruler. So brutal that history dubbed him 'Vlad the Impaler' due to …

Published on 1 month, 3 weeks ago

Is your housework split sexist?

Do you ever have fights with your partner about who does more of the housework and whether it’s fair? Well data might have the answer.

Corinne Low is an associate professor at the Wharton School at …

Published on 2 months ago

Nobel economics prize 2025: What's the big idea?

Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt have been awarded this year’s Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.

The three are sharing 11 million Swedish kronor, over a million dollars, after bei…

Published on 2 months, 1 week ago

Are millions of people getting Motability cars for anxiety and ADHD?

Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news. This week:

The Conservative party conference has been told that millions of people are getting free cars from the government because they have…

Published on 2 months, 1 week ago

Are 72% of prison inmates in Switzerland foreign?

In a recent speech to the UN, US president Donald Trump set out some remarkable figures on the proportion of inmates in European prisons who were foreign nationals.

Citing statistics from the Council …

Published on 2 months, 2 weeks ago

Does half the UK get more in benefits than they pay in tax?

Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news. This week:

The Daily Mail says that over half of the UK population live in households that get more in benefits than they pay in tax - is it t…

Published on 2 months, 2 weeks ago

Is the world getting less miserable?

When you follow the news, particularly in countries like the UK and the US, it sometimes feels like people are less optimistic about their lives than they were in the past. But a new piece of analysi…

Published on 2 months, 3 weeks ago

Has Donald Trump ended seven 'unendable' wars?

Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news. This week:

US President Donald Trump claims he has ended seven “unendable” wars. Is that true?

Chancellor Rachel Reeves says the UK was the fas…

Published on 2 months, 3 weeks ago

The Case of the Missing US Data

In early February 2025, something strange started happening across US government websites.

Decades of data began disappearing from webpages for agencies such as the Centres for Disease Control and Pr…

Published on 3 months ago

Was it easier to deport migrants to France before Brexit?

Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news. This week:

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey says it was easier to deport illegal migrants to Europe when we were in the EU. Is that true?

Did the go…

Published on 3 months ago