Is opinion polling broken?

Following some high profile slip-ups in recent US elections, is opinion polling broken?

• 9 mins

The numbers behind 'natural' birth control

We examine online claims about the effectiveness of “natural” birth control methods

• 9 mins

Kenya’s Election Rounding Error

Official figures didn’t add up - but due to rounding, not fraud

• 9 mins

Can we use maths to beat the robots?

Why improving how we teach and think about maths could help us keep an edge over machines

• 9 mins

Is a third of Pakistan really under water?

We investigate a widely reported claim as Pakistan deals with devastating flooding

• 9 mins

How bad is fashion for the environment?

Does fashion really account for 10% of greenhouse gas emissions?

• 9 mins

Ukraine’s progress in numbers

We ask how much progress Ukraine has really made in recapturing territory from Russia.

• 9 mins

Nasa’s asteroid collision: How many asteroids are really out there?

As Nasa rams an asteroid to try and alter its course, how many are yet to be discovered?

• 9 mins

Catching chess cheats with data

A cheating scandal is rocking the world of chess - and data is at its heart

• 9 mins

Ben Bernanke and the magic of banking

Tim Harford explains the work of this year’s Nobel Economics Prize winners

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Do half of new books really sell fewer than twelve copies?

We look into a claim that 50% of new books in the US sell just a handful of copies.

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Can China’s GDP data be trusted?

Are China’s most recent figures for economic growth wrong?

• 9 mins

Lula’s 'zero deforestation' plan for the Amazon

How much of the rainforest has been lost? And can Brazil’s new president save it?

• 9 mins

Improving the numbers in the news

Tim Harford discusses the role statistics should play in the reporting of the news

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A $220 billion World Cup?

Has hosting the Fifa football World Cup really cost Qatar $220bn?

• 9 mins

When do food shortages become a famine?

With Somalia in crisis, we ask how data is used to officially declare a famine

• 9 mins

World Cup in Qatar: How many migrant workers have died?

Examining the wildly varying estimates of deaths in the run-up to the tournament in Qatar

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Why is data so important in determining how we live?

Tim Harford on how good policies depend on the availability of reliable statistics

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Qatar World Cup: The pressure of penalties

We analyse World Cup penalty data to ask what boosts the chance of scoring from the spot

• 9 mins

What are the numbers of 2022?

Tim Harford and guests on the numbers that help tell the big stories of the year.

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Irish pubs - a global numbers game

Are there more Irish pubs in Ireland than in all other countries combined?

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Can China's data on Covid deaths be trusted?

Is China under-reporting data on Covid related deaths?

• 9 mins

How we shook the world of very large numbers

How an edition of More or Less influenced the naming of enormous numbers

• 9 mins

Does toilet paper cause 15% of global deforestation?

We investigate the impact of our use of toilet paper on the world’s forests.

• 9 mins

Are wild mammals only 4% of the mammal population?

We examine a study that says humans and livestock dominate mammal life on Earth

• 9 mins

Hannah Fry on using shopping data to detect ovarian cancer

The mathematician discusses a study that suggests loyalty card data could signal cancer.

• 9 mins

Spreadsheet disasters

The long and costly history of spreadsheet mistakes

• 9 mins

Florence Nightingale and how she visualised data

Tim Harford discusses the power of the nurse statistician’s groundbreaking diagrams

• 9 mins

Do 29,000 coffee pods really go to landfill every minute?

We explore the environmental consequences of our thirst for coffee

• 9 mins

Does British jewellery contain stolen Brink’s-Mat gold?

We ask what happened to the 3 tonnes of pure gold after the infamous robbery of 1983

• 9 mins

Do fungi kill three times as many people as malaria?

We investigate the claim that fungal infections are a much bigger killer than malaria.

• 9 mins

Silicon Valley Bank: A very modern bank run

How do bank runs happen?

• 9 mins

Covid vaccines and false claims about miscarriage

We debunk viral claims that incorrectly link covid-19 vaccines with a risk of miscarriage

• 9 mins

A groundbreaking new proof for Pythagoras’ Theorem?

Two high school students say they’ve discovered a new trigonometric proof for the theorem

• 9 mins

How to better understand and explain numbers

Professor Oliver Johnson discusses the use of statistics in the pandemic and in life.

• 9 mins

How accurate is baby's due date?

This week we investigate how a baby's due date is calculated

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The Pentagon leaks and Fox News

Why did Tucker Carlson say far more Ukrainian troops than Russian are dying in the war?

• 9 mins

How much is the Coronation crown worth?

King Charles will be anointed with the St Edward’s Crown – but what is its true value?

• 9 mins

Why is life expectancy falling in the USA?

We ask why average life expectancy in America is falling so quickly.

• 9 mins

Do 94% of marriages in Portugal really end in divorce?

We examine a social media post that claims to outline rates of divorce across the world.

• 9 mins

Detecting bad science with data

Uncovering fraud, malpractice and incompetence in science

• 9 mins

Are young people more single than ever before?

How to define and measure being single – and are dating apps to blame?

• 9 mins

A short history of data

How the evolution of data over centuries has shaped today’s world

• 9 mins

Counting Hunger in India

Is it true that hunger has worsened in India?

• 9 mins

Is breastfeeding the key to exam success?

We look at a new UK study that links being breastfed as a baby with academic achievement.

• 9 mins

US national debt: Is $32 trillion a big number?

How concerned should we be about how much the US government borrows?

• 9 mins

Will there be just six grandchildren for every 100 South Koreans?

We look at the numbers around South Korea’s birth rate and the reasons why it’s so low.

• 9 mins

Does it take 10,000 litres of water to make a pair of jeans?

The numbers behind water use and denim production.

• 9 mins

Are more adult nappies sold in Japan than baby ones?

We examine a claim related to the perception of Japan as an ageing society.

• 9 mins

Ukraine war: A new way of calculating Russian deaths

How Russian journalists are using probate records to estimate fatalities

• 9 mins

Data, extreme weather and climate change

The role data plays in climate attribution - and why we don’t always have it

• 9 mins

Are the media exaggerating how hot it is in the Mediterranean?

A look at how accurately media report on the weather – especially recent heatwaves.

• 9 mins

Why is it so hard to predict the outcome of competitions like the Premier League?

What variables do we look at when we try to predict the outcome of a sports competition?

• 9 mins

How many butterflies are there in the world?

The world’s butterfly population doesn’t seem to be online – so what is it?

• 9 mins

How safe is the release of Fukushima nuclear plant water?

We ask whether there are any risks posed by the release into the Pacific Ocean

• 9 mins

What percentage of our brain do we actually use?

Do we have access to some or all of our brain-power?

• 9 mins

Did 35,000 Americans die building the Panama Canal?

We fact check a claim made by Donald Trump about the world famous canal

• 9 mins

How to approach the world through numbers

Professor David Sumpter talks to Tim Harford about his new book

• 9 mins

Which city has the longest canals?

We dive into the world of waterways after a listener asked who has the longest canals.

• 9 mins

Is the UK really ahead in cutting carbon emissions?

As the UK changes course in its path to net zero, how does it compare with other nations?

• 9 mins

Are half the words in English from French?

We ask whether almost half the words in the English language are of French origin.

• 9 mins

Greedy jobs and the gender pay gap

Tim Harford discusses the work of Nobel Economics prize winner Claudia Goldin

• 9 mins

What do windscreen splats tell us about insect decline?

We ask whether the ‘windscreen phenomenon’ suggests falling numbers of insects

• 9 mins

The overlooked mathematicians of history

A global history of mathematics, from ancient China to the Middle East

• 9 mins

Do Indian women own 11% of the world’s gold?

The cultural importance of gold is well known – but how much do Indians actually own?

• 9 mins

Can maths prove the existence of aliens?

We look a famous equation which tries to explain whether life exists in outer space

• 9 mins

Are women in the UK the biggest binge drinkers in the world?

Checking out stats on boozing Brits and fishing fleets in the South China Sea.

• 9 mins

A boy meets girl meets stats story

A data scientist takes on rom com films to see how women in STEM are represented

• 9 mins

Will there be a billion climate refugees?

We investigate if floods, droughts and storms will cause mass international migration

• 9 mins

Does endurance sport harm your heart?

We investigate the connection between high levels of exercise and arrhythmia

• 9 mins

China’s missing numbers

How the Chinese state make inconvenient statistics disappear

• 9 mins

Can chocolate be better than salad?

We investigate a nutritional conundrum – can chocolate ever be better for you than salad?

• 9 mins

Numbers of the year 2023

Hand-picked stats that tell you something interesting about the world

• 9 mins

How much money do the ‘Ndrangheta mafia make?

We investigate whether one criminal group could have a turnover of billions of dollars

• 9 mins

Do we see 10,000 adverts per day?

We investigate the claim that each of us sees thousands of adverts every single day

• 9 mins

Are there more possible games of chess than atoms in the universe?

We investigate how the vast possibilities in chess compare to the vastness of the universe

• 9 mins

Is Oxfam right about the world’s richest and poorest people?

We investigate how Oxfam use wealth stats to illustrate global inequality

• 9 mins

A pocket-size history of the calculator

Tim Harford explores the history of calculators from clockwork to the Kashio brothers

• 9 mins

The global gender split in young people’s politics

Tim Harford investigates the growing political divergence between young men and women.

• 9 mins

The digital ‘robots’ unlocking medical data

Ben Goldacre on OpenSAFELY, protecting patient privacy while analysing health data

• 9 mins

NBA basketball: Is height more important than skill?

How much does a man’s height affect his chances of becoming an NBA basketball player?

• 9 mins

Ultramarathons: Are women faster than men?

Is it really true that in extremely long races, women run faster than men?

• 9 mins

Is public speaking really our biggest fear?

Tim Harford investigates the claim that public speaking is people’s number one fear.

• 9 mins

Does the Russian government really spend 40% of its budget on the military?

We investigate how much the Russian state is spending on the war in Ukraine

• 9 mins

What’s happening to Arctic ice?

Arctic ice has been in long decline. Do recent fluctuations change the story?

• 9 mins

Remembering Daniel Kahneman

Tim Harford on the great social scientist, who has died at the age of 90

• 9 mins

Is loneliness as bad for you as smoking?

The connection between being alone and an early death

• 9 mins

Tackling The Three-Body Problem

Is the physics in Netflix's new show accurate?

• 9 mins

Is misinformation being spread about a review of trans youth medicine?

Investigating claims that the Cass Review ignored 98% of valuable evidence

• 9 mins

Has Milei fixed Argentina’s inflation problem?

What falling inflation means for Milei’s austerity plan and economic “shock” measures

• 9 mins

Do one in five young Americans think the holocaust is a myth?

How problems with opt-in polling can lead to controversial headlines

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