Podcast Episodes

How many swimming pools full of vaccine do we need?

If we brought together all the Covid 19 vaccine needed for the whole world, how much space would it fill up? An Olympic size swimming pool? We do some back of the envelope sums.

Plus - we look at the…

Published on 4 years, 8 months ago

Clot risks: The Pill versus the vaccine

The Astra Zeneca Covid 19 jab remains in the headlines because some regulators have concluded that it may raise the risk of a very rare type of blood clot, albeit to a risk that is still very low. In…

Published on 4 years, 8 months ago

Too fast for Minecraft?

The impressive speed records of a well-known gamer called Dream for the video game Minecraft have come under scrutiny. Many say that Dream has completed speed runs in such a fast time that it doesn’t…

Published on 4 years, 8 months ago

In praise of Covid Data

On this week’s programme we talk to Clare Griffiths from the UK’s coronavirus dashboard and Alexis Madrigal from the Atlantic Magazine’s Covid Tracking Project in the US.

Published on 4 years, 9 months ago

Deciding when to suspend a vaccine

Many countries recently decided to suspend the use of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine over fears it was increasing the risk of blood clots. The European Medicines Agency and the WHO called on cou…

Published on 4 years, 9 months ago

The truth about obesity and Covid 19

A widely reported study claims that 90% of Covid 19 deaths across the world happened in countries with high obesity rates. While an individual’s risk of death is increased by having a high Body Mass …

Published on 4 years, 9 months ago

Sainthood and Cup draws

Tim Harford explores the chances of becoming a saint, inspired by a throw away comment by the detective on the TV drama ‘Death in Paradise.’

Plus, a listener has a question about the recent Europa Le…

Published on 4 years, 9 months ago

Why are US Covid cases falling?

Cases of Covid 19 began to soar in the US in the autumn. By early January there were around 300,000 new cases a day. But since then the numbers have fallen steeply. What caused this dramatic drop? Fr…

Published on 4 years, 10 months ago

Covid 19 death count: which countries are faring worst?

Are different countries counting deaths from Covid 19 in the same way? Tim Harford finds out if we can trust international comparisons with the data available.

We discover Peru currently has the most…

Published on 4 years, 10 months ago

Comparing death counts, Lock Down drinking and Long Covid

The UK was the first European country to surpass 100,000 deaths from Covid 19. The UK has one of the worst death rates. But can we trust the numbers? Many of our listeners have asked us to investigat…

Published on 4 years, 10 months ago