Podcast Episodes

How to spot a suspicious statistic

Untruths sneak into our lives in all kinds of ways. Sometimes they’re outright lies. Blatant misinformation.

But in this episode, we’re going to talk about something else - those sneaky numbers and c…

Published on 6 months ago

Are 4% of young women in the UK on OnlyFans?

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

We debunk a false claim that the hotel bill for immigrants is the size of the tax bill for Manchester.

An article in th…

Published on 6 months, 1 week ago

Could you be hit by a falling satellite?

The number of satellites orbiting our planet has been rapidly increasing in recent years. But what are the risks when they start falling back down to earth?

The European Space agency estimate that by …

Published on 6 months, 1 week ago

How do you make something 10-times more lethal?

What does the government mean when it commits to developing a “10-times more lethal” army?

Why was the much-missed Sycamore Gap tree said to be worth a strikingly exact £622,191?

Are there really twi…

Published on 6 months, 2 weeks ago

Is the world’s population being miscounted?

Exactly how many people live on our planet is one of those difficult-to-answer questions. The UN estimates is 8.2 billion, but that’s largely based on census data, which is certainly not a perfect m…

Published on 6 months, 2 weeks ago

Does the average American have fewer than three friends?

Tim Harford is here to sprinkle a refreshing shower of statistical insight over the parched lawns of misinformation.

This week, we try to unpick the confusion over a claim made by London Mayor Sadiq K…

Published on 6 months, 3 weeks ago

Factchecking the Trump administration’s Autism claims

Picking Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a known vaccine sceptic, as the Secretary for Public Health might not be the most ‘out there’ thing the Trump administration has done but it certainly raised some eyebr…

Published on 6 months, 3 weeks ago

Is the UN underestimating the global fall in fertility?

Every two years, the UN release their predictions for the future population of humanity – currently expected to peak in the 2080s at around 10.3 billion people.

One of the things they use to work this…

Published on 7 months ago

How dead is the internet?

In the early 2020s, a conspiracy theory started circulating online known as the “dead internet theory”.

This suggested that, instead of a vibrant digital super-community where people freely share thi…

Published on 7 months, 1 week ago

Warren Buffett’s brilliant bets

Warren Buffett has announced he is stepping down as CEO of his company, Berkshire Hathaway.

Buffett is one of the richest people in the world, and is widely held up as the greatest investor who ever …

Published on 7 months, 2 weeks ago