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Where have Cuba’s people gone?
We investigate the collapse in the Caribbean island’s population
Exclusions, black holes and dividing by zero
Plus special educational needs in Wales and Ghanian nurses in the UK
Who pays when trade wars heat up?
We look at Donald Trump’s claim that tariffs are a tax on other countries
How long does it take to turn around an oil tanker?
Plus, Migrants vs Pensioners and Ed Miliband’s energy auction claim
Nate Silver: Do risk-takers run the world?
Poker player and polling analyst Nate Silver on his new book
How do you count millionaires?
Plus, asylum seeker costs, private school bets and Baumol's cost disease
Do 85% of the world’s population practice a religion?
Counting religions across the globe – is the world getting more religious or less?
Could the winter fuel cut cost more than it saves?
Plus, ONS transgender stats, early-onset cancer, and puzzles you’re meant to get wrong
The puzzles you’re meant to get wrong
Alex Bellos sets Tim Harford logical conundrums designed to deceive
How do you breed seventeen octillion rats?
Plus, GPs working less, the UK working less, and Wetherspoons wanting to pay less tax.
Are 672 billion pounds of corn eaten in the US every year?
A lot of corn is eaten in the United States, but is it really 2.5kg per person per day?
Should the government target persnuffle?
Plus, childhood obesity, birds hitting windows and Sir David Spiegelhalter’s origin story.
Uncertainty, probability and double yoked eggs
Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter on his new book, The Art of Uncertainty
When are numbers like a horse at a gymkhana?
Plus: the taxes of 60 very rich people, water bill spreadsheets, and is 0 a small number?
Nobel prize: Why are some countries so much richer than others?
Why Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics
Do US crime statistics miss out the most violent cities?
Plus: MP capital gains claims and grizzly bear berry habits
Is Trump right about violent crime in Venezuela and the US?
Donald Trump says Venezuela is becoming safer than the US. Is he right?
Are older drivers more dangerous?
Plus, winter fuel deaths, prison sentence maths and leaves on railway tracks.
What can economics learn from sport?
From loss aversion to game theory, how sports provide evidence for economic theories
Do we have enough clothes for the next six generations?
We delve into the stats on the scale of the fashion industry
Did 20 million votes really go missing in the US election?
We investigate a viral graph that suggests turnout was drastically lower than in 2020
Do fossil fuels get $7 trillion in subsidies?
We investigate a huge estimate for how much governments pay to coal, gas and oil
Can Elon Musk save the US Government $2 trillion?
We look at whether DOGE can successfully balance the US budget.
Did one in 10 Greeks die in World War Two?
We investigate if 10 percent of the Greek population died during the second world war
How many Americans live ‘paycheck to paycheck’?
Did Mussolini make the trains run on time?
Fact checking the fascist regime.
Numbers of the year 2024
We ask experts about their favourite stats from 2024.
Numbers of the year part 2
Our listeners favourite numbers of 2024.
Do 79% of Swedish asylum seekers go on holiday to the country they fled from?
We investigate a refugee claim that is often being taken out of context.
Can redheads handle 25% more pain than brunettes?
We investigate if people with red hair have a hidden pain-blocking superpower
Did Trump make billions with his meme-coin?
We investigate if the US president’s crypto is really worth tens of billions of dollars.
