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Tim Harford explains the numbers and statistics in the news and in life.

Radio 4,682 episodes

Episodes

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Debunking the claim that migrants will get half of new homes
Tim Harford investigates migration and housing, Welsh literacy, and bond market drama
03 Jun 2026,28 mins
The known unknowns of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The data race to find out how fast Ebola is spreading
30 May 2026,8 mins
Does a fall in the UK's healthy life expectancy mean what you think it means?
Tim Harford explores healthy life expectancy, HS2 costs, VAT cuts and his marathon time
27 May 2026,28 mins
Is the ‘loneliness epidemic’ real?
We investigate if loneliness is increasing at epidemic rates
23 May 2026,8 mins
Are refugees more likely to commit crime?
Asylum seekers, nuclear power plants and fish, Sir David Attenborough and blue tit chicks
20 May 2026,28 mins
Erdos Problem 1196: Can AI now solve maths that no human can?
How a 23-year-old mathematician used AI to crack an unsolved maths problem
16 May 2026,8 mins
Why it’s wrong to say vaping is as bad for you as smoking
Vaping vs smoking: how the evidence on cancer and other health risks compare
09 May 2026,8 mins
Does it take 15,000 litres of water to produce a kilogram of beef?
How a stat about cows and water is not all it seems
02 May 2026,9 mins
Have RFK and MAHA really changed American views on vaccines?
Why a Politico headline overstated vaccine scepticism in the US
25 Apr 2026,8 mins
Is Trump right that wind turbines are killing millions of birds?
Investigating the scale of bird deaths caused by wind turbines
18 Apr 2026,9 mins
Dr Spock’s dangerous advice on baby sleep
How evidence eventually showed front sleeping was linked to sudden infant deaths
11 Apr 2026,8 mins
How likely is ‘likely’?
Adam Kucharski explains what people really mean when they use probability language
04 Apr 2026,8 mins
How much water does AI consume?
We take a deep dive into AI’s water consumption
28 Mar 2026,8 mins
Paul Ehrlich: The man who bet England wouldn’t exist by the year 2000
Why Paul Ehrlich’s dire predictions about a population collapse failed to materialise
21 Mar 2026,8 mins
Transgender women in sport: Does ‘comparable’ mean ‘equal’?
Investigating a scientific paper analysing the strength and fitness of transgender women
14 Mar 2026,8 mins
US-Israel war with Iran: Do the gulf states have enough interceptor missiles?
What we know about missile stockpiles following the US-Israeli strikes on Iran
07 Mar 2026,8 mins
Has a company really discovered a million new species?
Investigating whether Basecamp Research found hundreds of thousands of bacteria species
28 Feb 2026,8 mins
Did AI researchers let AI hallucinations into scientific papers?
Investigating a claim that 100 made-up claims were found in AI papers
21 Feb 2026,8 mins
Is an ancient charioteer the best paid sportsperson of all time?
Did a Roman charioteer really earn the equivalent of $15 billion dollars?
17 Feb 2026,8 mins
Is this Premier League striker a secret maths genius?
Tim Harford explains the numbers and statistics in the news and in life.
07 Feb 2026,8 mins
Could Europe use its financial muscle to strong-arm the US?
Europe holds trillions of dollars of US shares and bonds - but can they use them?
31 Jan 2026,8 mins
Can you get £71,000 on benefits?
Tim Harford investigates benefits, church attacks, saunas and marathon running
28 Jan 2026,28 mins
Is Greenland as big as Africa?
Tim Harford asks if Greenland is really as vast as most maps seem to suggest
24 Jan 2026,8 mins
How close is Greenland to the United States?
Tim Harford investigates Greenland maps, climate costs, house prices and Traitors maths
21 Jan 2026,29 mins
No, a study has not shown that the covid jab causes cancer
Why a study from South Korea does not show that vaccines cause cancer
17 Jan 2026,8 mins
Have more than 100 private schools been forced to close because of VAT?
Tim Harford investigates closing schools, X users, Covid deaths and churchgoers
14 Jan 2026,28 mins
Does Venezuela really have the biggest oil reserves in the world?
We investigate if there are actually 300 billion barrels of oil in Venezuela's reserves
10 Jan 2026,8 mins
The Stats of the Nation: Immigration, benefits and inequality
Tim Harford explores the stats on some of the UK’s most potent political debates
09 Jan 2026,28 mins
The Stats of the Nation: Older people, education, prisons and the weather
Tim Harford explores the stats on pensioners, exams, justice and climate change
08 Jan 2026,28 mins
The Stats of the Nation: Sex, drugs and empty homes
Tim Harford explores the numbers that help explain fertility, pharmaceuticals and crime
07 Jan 2026,29 mins