In an episode of More or Less from 2012, Daniel Kahneman explains his big ideas.
Published on Thursday, 28th March 2024.
Arctic ice has been in long decline. Do recent fluctuations change the story?
Published on Monday, 25th March 2024.
We investigate how much the Russian state is spending on the war in Ukraine.
Published on Saturday, 16th March 2024.
Tim Harford investigates the claim that public speaking is people’s number one fear.
Published on Saturday, 9th March 2024.
Is it really true that in extremely long races, women run faster than men?
Published on Saturday, 2nd March 2024.
Is school funding at record levels? Did 6.5bn creatures come to the UK by plane last year?
Published on Wednesday, 28th February 2024.
How much does a man’s height affect his chances of becoming an NBA basketball player?
Published on Saturday, 24th February 2024.
What does per capita GDP tell us? How much did the EU spend on covid recovery?
Published on Wednesday, 21st February 2024.
Ben Goldacre on OpenSAFELY, protecting patient privacy while analysing health data
Published on Saturday, 17th February 2024.
What is the government’s rule on debt? Do 90% of chip shops sell shark and chips?
Published on Wednesday, 14th February 2024.
Tim Harford investigates the growing political divergence between young men and women.
Published on Saturday, 10th February 2024.
Council tax comparisons, migration calculations and the carbon footprint of home-grown veg
Published on Wednesday, 7th February 2024.
Tim Harford explores the history of calculators from clockwork to the Kashio brothers
Published on Saturday, 3rd February 2024.
Is measles spreading? How much is Brexit costing? How good are they at traitor guessing?
Published on Wednesday, 31st January 2024.
We investigate how Oxfam use wealth stats to illustrate global inequality
Published on Saturday, 27th January 2024.
We investigate the cost of a weekly shop and explore the workings of wind chill
Published on Wednesday, 24th January 2024.
We investigate how the vast possibilities in chess compare to the vastness of the universe
Published on Saturday, 20th January 2024.
How long will we live? Who pays inheritance tax? How did the NHS perform this winter?
Published on Wednesday, 17th January 2024.
We investigate the claim that each of us sees thousands of adverts every single day
Published on Saturday, 13th January 2024.
We investigate claims about gun crime, the UK tax burden, and the number of missing cats
Published on Wednesday, 10th January 2024.
We investigate whether one criminal group could have a turnover of billions of dollars
Published on Saturday, 6th January 2024.
Hand-picked stats that tell you something interesting about the world
Published on Saturday, 30th December 2023.
We investigate a nutritional conundrum – can chocolate ever be better for you than salad?
Published on Saturday, 23rd December 2023.
How the Chinese state make inconvenient statistics disappear
Published on Saturday, 16th December 2023.
We investigate the connection between high levels of exercise and arrhythmia
Published on Saturday, 9th December 2023.
We investigate if floods, droughts and storms will cause mass international migration
Published on Saturday, 2nd December 2023.
A data scientist takes on rom com films to see how women in STEM are represented.
Published on Saturday, 25th November 2023.
Checking out stats on boozing Brits and fishing fleets in the South China Sea
Published on Saturday, 18th November 2023.
We look a famous equation which tries to explain whether life exists in outer space
Published on Saturday, 11th November 2023.
The cultural importance of gold is well known – but how much do Indians actually own?
Published on Saturday, 4th November 2023.
Exploring the global history of mathematics
Published on Saturday, 28th October 2023.
We ask whether the ‘windscreen phenomenon’ suggests falling numbers of insects
Published on Saturday, 21st October 2023.
Tim Harford discusses the work of Nobel Economics prize winner Claudia Goldin
Published on Saturday, 14th October 2023.
We ask whether almost half the words in the English language are of French origin.
Published on Saturday, 7th October 2023.
We debunk claims about excess deaths and the covid vaccine made by YouTuber John Campbell
Published on Wednesday, 4th October 2023.
As the UK changes course in its path to net zero, how does it compare with other nations?
Published on Saturday, 30th September 2023.
Are consultants in England really paid an average of £120,000 a year?
Published on Wednesday, 27th September 2023.
We dive into the world of waterways after a listener asked who has the longest canals.
Published on Saturday, 23rd September 2023.
Have the Tories really built a record number of social rent homes since 2010?
Published on Wednesday, 20th September 2023.
Professor David Sumpter talks to Tim Harford about his new book
Published on Saturday, 16th September 2023.
Is it true that 1 in 4 men and 1 in 5 women in the UK will get skin cancer?
Published on Wednesday, 13th September 2023.
We fact check a claim made by Donald Trump about the world famous canal
Published on Monday, 11th September 2023.
Covid related deaths are rising in England and Wales - we investigate the figures
Published on Wednesday, 6th September 2023.
Do we have access to some or all of our brain-power?
Published on Saturday, 2nd September 2023.
Can you really buy an electric car for everybody in the UK for the cost of HS2?
Published on Wednesday, 30th August 2023.
We ask whether there are any risks posed by the release into the Pacific Ocean.
Published on Saturday, 26th August 2023.
The world’s butterfly population doesn’t seem to be online – so what is it?
Published on Saturday, 19th August 2023.
What variables do we look at when we try to predict the outcome of a sports competition?
Published on Saturday, 12th August 2023.
A look at how accurately media report on the weather – especially recent heatwaves.
Published on Saturday, 5th August 2023.
The role data plays in climate attribution - and why we don’t always have it
Published on Saturday, 29th July 2023.
How Russian journalists are using probate records to estimate fatalities
Published on Saturday, 22nd July 2023.
We examine a claim related to the perception of Japan as an ageing society.
Published on Saturday, 15th July 2023.
The numbers behind water use and denim production.
Published on Saturday, 8th July 2023.
Who is coming to the UK - and how do we count them?
Published on Wednesday, 5th July 2023.
We look at the numbers around South Korea’s birth rate and the reasons why it’s so low.
Published on Saturday, 1st July 2023.
Will Rishi Sunak’s pledge to halve inflation happen?
Published on Wednesday, 28th June 2023.
How concerned should we be about how much the US government borrows?
Published on Saturday, 24th June 2023.
Who will be most affected by mortgage rate increases?
Published on Wednesday, 21st June 2023.
We look at a new UK study that links being breastfed as a baby with academic achievement.
Published on Saturday, 17th June 2023.
Is the weight of electric vehicles a risk to infrastructure?
Published on Wednesday, 14th June 2023.
Is it true that hunger has worsened in India?
Published on Saturday, 10th June 2023.
Did 120 people a day in England die last year whilst waiting for an ambulance?
Published on Wednesday, 7th June 2023.
How the evolution of data over centuries has shaped today’s world
Published on Saturday, 3rd June 2023.
Does Britain really have the most affordable food in Europe?
Published on Wednesday, 31st May 2023.
How to define and measure being single – and are dating apps to blame?
Published on Sunday, 28th May 2023.
Why a fall in those waiting longest for treatment in England isn't telling the whole story
Published on Wednesday, 24th May 2023.
Uncovering fraud, malpractice and incompetence in science
Published on Saturday, 20th May 2023.
We examine a social media post that claims to outline rates of divorce across the world.
Published on Saturday, 13th May 2023.
We ask why average life expectancy in America is falling so quickly.
Published on Saturday, 6th May 2023.
King Charles will be anointed with St Edward’s Crown – but what’s its true value?
Published on Saturday, 29th April 2023.
Why did Tucker Carlson say far more Ukrainian troops than Russian are dying in the war?
Published on Saturday, 22nd April 2023.
This week we investigate how a baby's due date is calculated
Published on Saturday, 15th April 2023.
Professor Oliver Johnson discusses the use of statistics in the pandemic and in life.
Published on Saturday, 8th April 2023.
Two high school students say they’ve discovered a new trigonometric proof for the theorem
Published on Saturday, 1st April 2023.
We debunk viral claims that incorrectly link covid-19 vaccines with a risk of miscarriage
Published on Saturday, 25th March 2023.
How do bank runs happen?
Published on Saturday, 18th March 2023.
We investigate the claim that fungal infections are a much bigger killer than malaria.
Published on Saturday, 11th March 2023.
We ask what happened to the 3 tonnes of pure gold after the infamous robbery of 1983
Published on Saturday, 4th March 2023.
We debunk a claim that the UK has by far the highest energy prices in Europe
Published on Wednesday, 1st March 2023.
We explore the environmental consequences of our thirst for coffee
Published on Saturday, 25th February 2023.
Tim Harford and team fact check a government claim about falling reoffending rates
Published on Wednesday, 22nd February 2023.
Tim Harford discusses the power of the nurse statistician’s groundbreaking diagrams
Published on Saturday, 18th February 2023.
We look at how much nurses in the UK are paid compared with those in Europe.
Published on Wednesday, 15th February 2023.
The long and costly history of spreadsheet mistakes
Published on Saturday, 11th February 2023.
How much should we trust the IMF’s forecasts for the UK?
Published on Wednesday, 8th February 2023.
The mathematician discusses a study that suggests loyalty card data could signal cancer.
Published on Saturday, 4th February 2023.
We examine a claim that the UK’s trade with the EU has increased since Brexit
Published on Wednesday, 1st February 2023.
Are wild mammals only 4% of the mammal population?
Published on Saturday, 28th January 2023.
We fact check Jeremy Hunt’s pledge to halve inflation
Published on Wednesday, 25th January 2023.
We investigate the impact of our use of toilet paper on the world’s forests.
Published on Saturday, 21st January 2023.
How long are people really waiting when they call 999 for an ambulance?
Published on Wednesday, 18th January 2023.
How an edition of More or Less influenced the naming of enormous numbers
Published on Saturday, 14th January 2023.
How many people may be dying because of treatment delays in the NHS?
Published on Wednesday, 11th January 2023.
Is China under-reporting data on Covid related deaths?
Published on Saturday, 7th January 2023.
Are there more Irish pubs in Ireland than in all other countries combined?
Published on Saturday, 31st December 2022.
Tim Harford and guests on the numbers that help tell the big stories of the year.
Published on Saturday, 24th December 2022.
We analyse World Cup penalty data to ask what boosts the chance of scoring from the spot
Published on Saturday, 17th December 2022.
How good policies depend on the availability of reliable statistics
Published on Saturday, 10th December 2022.
Examining the wildly varying estimates of deaths in the run-up to the tournament in Qatar
Published on Saturday, 3rd December 2022.
With Somalia in crisis, we ask how data is used to officially declare a famine
Published on Saturday, 26th November 2022.
Has hosting the FIFA football World Cup really cost Qatar $220bn?
Published on Saturday, 19th November 2022.
Tim Harford brings you the first episode of his new podcast and explains inflation
Published on Monday, 14th November 2022.
Tim Harford discusses the role statistics should play in the reporting of the news
Published on Saturday, 12th November 2022.
How much of the rainforest has been lost? And can Brazil’s new president save it?
Published on Saturday, 5th November 2022.
Are China’s most recent figures for economic growth wrong?
Published on Saturday, 29th October 2022.
We look into a claim that 50% of new books in the US sell just a handful of copies.
Published on Saturday, 22nd October 2022.
Tim Harford explains the work of this year’s Nobel Economics Prize winners
Published on Saturday, 15th October 2022.
A cheating scandal is rocking the world of chess - and data is at its heart
Published on Saturday, 8th October 2022.
We debunk a claim that a third of British teenagers have been prescribed antidepressants
Published on Friday, 7th October 2022.
As NASA rams an asteroid to try and alter its course, how many are yet to be discovered?
Published on Saturday, 1st October 2022.
How worried should we be about the steep falls in the pound?
Published on Wednesday, 28th September 2022.
We ask how much progress Ukraine has really made in recapturing territory from Russia.
Published on Saturday, 24th September 2022.
We ask how much progress Ukraine has really made in recapturing territory from Russia
Published on Thursday, 22nd September 2022.
Does fashion really account for 10% of greenhouse gas emissions?
Published on Saturday, 17th September 2022.
How much will the UK government’s plan to limit energy price rises end up costing?
Published on Wednesday, 14th September 2022.
We investigate a widely reported claim as Pakistan deals with devastating flooding
Published on Saturday, 10th September 2022.
The scale of the disaster is huge, but is a third of Pakistan really under water?
Published on Wednesday, 7th September 2022.
Why improving how we teach and think about maths could help us keep an edge over machines
Published on Saturday, 3rd September 2022.
Is there an easy way to cut soaring energy bills?
Published on Wednesday, 31st August 2022.
Official figures didn’t add up - but due to rounding, not fraud.
Published on Saturday, 27th August 2022.
We examine online claims about the effectiveness of “natural” birth control methods
Published on Saturday, 20th August 2022.
Following some high profile slip-ups in recent US elections, is opinion polling broken?
Published on Saturday, 13th August 2022.
We debunk spurious rumours that Liverpool FC use asthma medication to enhance performance
Published on Saturday, 6th August 2022.
From ancient tally bones to a jar of peanut butter, a look at the history of measurement
Published on Saturday, 30th July 2022.
We examine the rules and tech of false starts after the disqualification of Devon Allen.
Published on Saturday, 23rd July 2022.
We assess President Museveni’s claim that Uganda is nearing a higher economic status.
Published on Saturday, 16th July 2022.
The numbers behind water use and denim production
Published on Saturday, 9th July 2022.
In the wake of the historic overturning of Roe vs Wade, we look at the statistics.
Published on Saturday, 2nd July 2022.
How accurately are official figures picking up the new covid wave?
Published on Wednesday, 29th June 2022.
Ed Sheeran thinks that musical coincidences will always happen… but do the numbers agree?
Published on Saturday, 25th June 2022.
Do rail workers really earn £13,000 a year more than nurses?
Published on Wednesday, 22nd June 2022.
Looking at sex and statistics in Japan and America.
Published on Saturday, 18th June 2022.
Are damages for maternity mistakes now more than wages for maternity nurses and doctors?
Published on Wednesday, 15th June 2022.
The maths professor on the choices she and others have faced after a cancer diagnosis
Published on Saturday, 11th June 2022.
The UK has a low unemployment rate but lots of people not working – how come?
Published on Wednesday, 8th June 2022.
We look into a claim that the age of girls’ puberty is falling rapidly
Published on Saturday, 4th June 2022.
We debunk a claim the government is spending £38,000 per household on the Jubilee
Published on Wednesday, 1st June 2022.
The world’s most famous psychologist on how 'noise' impacts our decision making
Published on Saturday, 28th May 2022.
Did Germany really fare worse than the UK in the pandemic?
Published on Wednesday, 25th May 2022.
Looking at numbers on green house gas emissions and stress
Published on Saturday, 21st May 2022.
We look at the World Health Organisation’s latest estimates of the pandemic’s death toll
Published on Saturday, 14th May 2022.
Tim Harford asks how we measure the health of our oceans
Published on Saturday, 7th May 2022.
Has Sweden’s pandemic response been a triumph or a disaster…or something in-between?
Published on Saturday, 30th April 2022.
What can data tell us about a country of 1.4 billion people?
Published on Saturday, 23rd April 2022.
How can we clearly explain complex numbers to the public without losing their meaning?
Published on Friday, 15th April 2022.
How tea became an accidental lifesaver in 18th Century England.
Published on Saturday, 9th April 2022.
How much of the worlds wheat comes from Ukraine and Russia
Published on Saturday, 2nd April 2022.
How good negotiation can help us split pizzas fairly and also avoid Nuclear War
Published on Sunday, 20th March 2022.
Fact checking Boris Johnson’s claim.
Published on Sunday, 13th March 2022.
Troop and casualty numbers in Ukraine
Published on Sunday, 6th March 2022.
How reliable are the figures coming out of the conflict in Ukraine?
Published on Wednesday, 2nd March 2022.
Did lockdowns actually save any lives?
Published on Sunday, 27th February 2022.
Jabs for five to 11-year-olds, lockdown effectiveness, and being green on two wheels
Published on Wednesday, 23rd February 2022.
Do 1 in 100 children who catch Covid end up hospitalised?
Published on Sunday, 20th February 2022.
How likely are children to end up in hospital because of Covid? And how many have died?
Published on Wednesday, 16th February 2022.
Trans women’s participation in elite sport
Published on Sunday, 13th February 2022.
Boris Johnson has been ticked off for misleading Parliament on jobs and on crime.
Published on Wednesday, 9th February 2022.
Looking at the power of expectations
Published on Sunday, 6th February 2022.
How fast is our economy growing? And what is happening with Omicron reinfections?
Published on Wednesday, 2nd February 2022.
Fertility rates around the world
Published on Sunday, 30th January 2022.
Does inflation hit poor households harder and how many people have died of Covid?
Published on Wednesday, 26th January 2022.
Should women be worried about having a male surgeon?
Published on Sunday, 23rd January 2022.
Surgery death risks, Test and Trace costs in the UK and Germany, and podcast plans
Published on Wednesday, 19th January 2022.
Fact checking a QAnon claim
Published on Sunday, 16th January 2022.
An Omicron update, pandemic birth rates and the booster drive.
Published on Wednesday, 12th January 2022.
Looking at Mark Rober and Mr Beast’s plastics pledge.
Published on Sunday, 9th January 2022.
Will Nigeria’s population really reach 600million?
Published on Sunday, 2nd January 2022.
The most significant numbers of the year
Published on Sunday, 26th December 2021.
How to buy gifts people actually want.
Published on Sunday, 19th December 2021.
Infection vs injection: Could prior infection provide 27 times more protection?
Published on Sunday, 12th December 2021.
Is it true wearing a mask reduces Covid-19 incidence by 53%?
Published on Sunday, 5th December 2021.
A tricky statistical phenomenon at play.
Published on Sunday, 28th November 2021.
How a well-meaning TikTok disrupted 4,600 studies
Published on Sunday, 21st November 2021.
Can a vegan croissant really be worse for the environment than a bacon roll?
Published on Sunday, 14th November 2021.
Why the same data can produce different conclusions.
Published on Sunday, 7th November 2021.
Tim Harford talks to author Deborah Stone about her book which explores counting.
Published on Sunday, 31st October 2021.
Could you survive a round in Squid Game, and how many have watched it?
Published on Sunday, 24th October 2021.
A look at the work of this year’s winners of the most prestigious prize in economics.
Published on Sunday, 17th October 2021.
A chat with More or Less's founding producer and presenter plus the first episode in full
Published on Thursday, 7th October 2021.
A look back at our origins, plus the usual mix of numerical nous and statistical savvy.
Published on Wednesday, 6th October 2021.
Can Machiavelli help women get a better deal in the workplace?
Published on Sunday, 3rd October 2021.
Expensive electricity, inadequate insulation, and a tale of tumbling trees.
Published on Wednesday, 29th September 2021.
A coronavirus check-in, our daily mask use measured, and the universal credit cut.
Published on Wednesday, 22nd September 2021.
Tim Harford talks to Jordan Ellenberg about the pandemic, geometry and drinking straws.
Published on Sunday, 19th September 2021.
Why is estimating the number of unvaccinated people so tricky? And how deadly is 2021?
Published on Wednesday, 15th September 2021.
How worried should we be about antibodies? Plus food that shortens life.
Published on Wednesday, 8th September 2021.
Did the war in Afghanistan cost the US $2 trillion?
Published on Saturday, 4th September 2021.
Has Brexit caused a fall in lorry drivers? Plus policing Extinction Rebellion
Published on Wednesday, 1st September 2021.
What role do numbers play in helping us think more rationally?
Published on Saturday, 28th August 2021.
The life of mathematics educator and civil rights organiser, Dr Robert Moses
Published on Saturday, 21st August 2021.
What can the data tell us about the quality of the Covid hit games?
Published on Monday, 16th August 2021.
Why increasing Covid infections amongst the vaccinated isn’t necessarily bad news
Published on Saturday, 7th August 2021.
The odds and probability behind record-breaking temperatures
Published on Saturday, 31st July 2021.
Where’s this new Variant spreading and what can be done to stop it?
Published on Saturday, 24th July 2021.
Tim Harford and the team try to work out how long Covid cases will continue to rise.
Published on Monday, 19th July 2021.
Recent reports have claimed that Nigeria has 40 million Twitter users – but is this true?
Published on Saturday, 10th July 2021.
What do we know about the efficacy of Ivermectin as a treatment for Covid-19?
Published on Saturday, 3rd July 2021.
Covid 19 cases are on the rise in Scotland, plus will your town be under water by 2030?
Published on Wednesday, 30th June 2021.
Are there really 35 million descendants of the Mayflower alive today?
Published on Saturday, 26th June 2021.
Should we worry about the Delta variant? Plus how much do blue tits eat?
Published on Wednesday, 23rd June 2021.
How similar are the Covid strains?
Published on Saturday, 19th June 2021.
The global death toll has reached a grim milestone. Plus the UK’s low ranking waters.
Published on Wednesday, 16th June 2021.
The story of how data helped extend our lives
Published on Saturday, 12th June 2021.
Should we worry about Covid cases rising? Plus are smart motorways safe?
Published on Wednesday, 9th June 2021.
Were tens of thousands of people getting their jab in Bolton every single day?
Published on Wednesday, 2nd June 2021.
Why it’s unlikely our oceans will be virtually empty by 2048.
Published on Saturday, 29th May 2021.
How to vaccinate a country quickly, plus the UK’s singing contest woes.
Published on Wednesday, 26th May 2021.
The Recovery Trial identified drugs that did and did not help save lives.
Published on Saturday, 22nd May 2021.
Tim Harford speaks to mathematician Milo Beckman about the beauty of maths.
Published on Saturday, 15th May 2021.
How two amateur data detectives revealed the pandemic’s impact.
Published on Saturday, 8th May 2021.
How an obscure theory came into fashion.
Published on Sunday, 2nd May 2021.
We ask if this year’s global death toll will surpass 1.8 million.
Published on Saturday, 24th April 2021.
Adding together the doses for everyone on the planet.
Published on Saturday, 17th April 2021.
AstraZeneca’s clot controversy turns attention on the contraceptive pill.
Published on Saturday, 10th April 2021.
Gamers raise suspicions over speed run times - are they right?
Published on Sunday, 4th April 2021.
How we came to expect dashboards full of statistics.
Published on Saturday, 27th March 2021.
Weighing up the risk of unproven side effects with stopping Covid 19.
Published on Saturday, 20th March 2021.
Are countries with higher obesity rates suffering from more deaths?
Published on Saturday, 13th March 2021.
Your chances of becoming a saint, plus football odds.
Published on Saturday, 6th March 2021.
From herd immunity to the weather, Tim Harford explores the theories.
Published on Saturday, 27th February 2021.
Tim Harford finds out if we can trust international comparisons with the available data.
Published on Saturday, 20th February 2021.
Is the UK’s Covid 19 death count among the worst in the world? Plus are we drinking more?
Published on Wednesday, 17th February 2021.
Counting all the virus particles in every human on the planet.
Published on Saturday, 13th February 2021.
Are exports to the EU down since Brexit? Plus removing flammable building cladding.
Published on Wednesday, 10th February 2021.
Could life expectancy in some parts of Glasgow be worse than in Rwanda?
Published on Saturday, 6th February 2021.
Are teachers more at risk from Covid-19?
Published on Wednesday, 3rd February 2021.
The huge row among scientists about rapid coronavirus tests.
Published on Saturday, 30th January 2021.
Where are people catching Covid-19?
Published on Wednesday, 27th January 2021.
Does GDP tell us whose economies have suffered most during Covid?
Published on Saturday, 23rd January 2021.
If we vaccinate the top four priority groups by February, how much will things change?
Published on Wednesday, 20th January 2021.
Is the first dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine 52% or 90% effective?
Published on Thursday, 14th January 2021.
David Sumpter describes the algorithms ruling the world
Published on Saturday, 9th January 2021.
Tim Harford showcases statistics from 2020
Published on Friday, 8th January 2021.
What to consider when buying presents this year
Published on Saturday, 19th December 2020.
Tackling statistics spread by conspiracy theorists.
Published on Saturday, 12th December 2020.
Is it too soon to approve a vaccine for use? Plus choosing who goes first.
Published on Saturday, 5th December 2020.
Which countries are doing well at keeping track of the virus? And which are not?
Published on Saturday, 28th November 2020.
If you go to a gathering of 25 people, what are the chances one of you has coronavirus?
Published on Saturday, 21st November 2020.
How much protection will a new Covid 19 vaccine give?
Published on Saturday, 14th November 2020.
Why there isn’t one single death rate.
Published on Saturday, 7th November 2020.
How many Covid19 cases are truly asymptomatic?
Published on Saturday, 31st October 2020.
Tim Harford hears about the sheer volume of false claims made in the campaign.
Published on Saturday, 24th October 2020.
This year’s Nobel memorial prize winners for economics and their work on auction theory.
Published on Saturday, 17th October 2020.
Gamblers, millionaires and annuities
Published on Saturday, 10th October 2020.
Missing coronavirus case data, long-term symptoms, and a big mathematical moment.
Published on Wednesday, 7th October 2020.
Case counts in perspective, a suspect stat from the US, and life lessons from insects.
Published on Wednesday, 30th September 2020.
How fast are coronavirus cases doubling? Plus testing confusion and a royal face-off.
Published on Wednesday, 23rd September 2020.
Could pool testing hold the key to ramping up Covid-19 testing?
Published on Saturday, 19th September 2020.
Confusing claims on lab capacity, the UK’s record on asylum, and the volume of eyelashes.
Published on Wednesday, 16th September 2020.
How worrying is the UK’s jump in cases? Plus balancing risks and the speed of jelly-fish.
Published on Wednesday, 9th September 2020.
Evidence on Covid-19 risks in schools, data on contact tracing, and a philosophical query.
Published on Wednesday, 2nd September 2020.
Claims about a Covid-19 treatment, breast cancer screening, and 18th century sex workers.
Published on Wednesday, 26th August 2020.
We unpick the A-level algoshambles and discover what poker teaches us about statistics.
Published on Wednesday, 19th August 2020.
Tim Harford looks at the numbers behind the widely questioned election result
Published on Saturday, 15th August 2020.
Covid-19 cases are rising in the UK - is it a sign of a second wave of the virus?
Published on Wednesday, 12th August 2020.
If all the ice in Antarctica melted, would global sea levels rise by 70 metres?
Published on Saturday, 8th August 2020.
Do we have enough data to know what’s happening on the continent?
Published on Saturday, 1st August 2020.
A journey back to the birth of epidemiology
Published on Saturday, 25th July 2020.
How many of us believe the myths about coronavirus?
Published on Saturday, 18th July 2020.
Sweden stayed open during the pandemic – how well did it work?
Published on Saturday, 11th July 2020.
Are cases really rising in the US or are they just testing more? Tim digs into the data.
Published on Saturday, 4th July 2020.
Was it bad decision-making, bad advice, or bad luck?
Published on Wednesday, 1st July 2020.
Tim Harford looks into why protests haven’t led to a spike in Covid-19 cases
Published on Saturday, 27th June 2020.
As lockdown eases, why hasn't there been a spike in infections?
Published on Wednesday, 24th June 2020.
Tim Harford finds out which countries have the highest rate of Covid-19 infection.
Published on Saturday, 20th June 2020.
Is it true that Covid-19 mostly kills people who would die soon anyway?
Published on Wednesday, 17th June 2020.
Are more people are dying of Covid-19 in the UK than all the EU countries put together?
Published on Wednesday, 10th June 2020.
Tim Harford examines how can we avoid infection spreading, while getting on with life.
Published on Saturday, 6th June 2020.
How accurate are the swab tests used to diagnose Covid-19?
Published on Wednesday, 3rd June 2020.
What does the data show about whether this wave of the epidemic is waning in the UK?
Published on Wednesday, 27th May 2020.
Can there really only be 60 harvests left in Earth's soil?
Published on Saturday, 23rd May 2020.
Will re-opening some schools put children or their teachers at risk?
Published on Wednesday, 20th May 2020.
Where do the different social distancing measurements come from?
Published on Saturday, 16th May 2020.
Is Vitamin D an under-appreciated weapon in the fight against Covid-19?
Published on Wednesday, 13th May 2020.
Why don't we know how dangerous Covid -19 really is?
Published on Saturday, 9th May 2020.
Did the UK really carry out 100,000 coronavirus tests in one day?
Published on Wednesday, 6th May 2020.
With factories closed and flights grounded, what impact will this have on climate change?
Published on Saturday, 2nd May 2020.
Are doctors from ethnic minority backgrounds disproportionately affected by Covid-19?
Published on Wednesday, 29th April 2020.
Is it helpful to ask which countries are faring better in tackling the coronavirus?
Published on Saturday, 25th April 2020.
Mathematician John Conway died in April as a result of Covid-19.
Published on Thursday, 23rd April 2020.
We compare Covid-19 rates around the world. When is the UK going to be past the worst?
Published on Wednesday, 22nd April 2020.
Can professional predictors help us understand the course of the coronavirus pandemic?
Published on Saturday, 18th April 2020.
Tim Harford looks at the debate over making your own Covid-19 protection.
Published on Saturday, 11th April 2020.
Is the coronavirus death count misleading because of delays in reporting?
Published on Wednesday, 8th April 2020.
Tim Harford and Ruth Alexander examine the statistics around the world.
Published on Saturday, 4th April 2020.
Is the coronavirus pandemic having a different impact on men and women?
Published on Tuesday, 31st March 2020.
Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter puts the risks of Covid-19 into perspective.
Published on Saturday, 28th March 2020.
The risks of Covid-19 for different age groups and what restrictions mean for the economy
Published on Wednesday, 25th March 2020.
How statistical modelling can help us respond to the Coronavirus pandemic
Published on Saturday, 21st March 2020.
Does Iran have a lot more covid-19 cases that its figures suggest?
Published on Saturday, 14th March 2020.
Is it true that 40% of your body's heat loss comes from your head?
Published on Monday, 9th March 2020.
Does watching 30 minutes of Netflix have the same carbon footprint as driving four miles?
Published on Saturday, 29th February 2020.
Dipping into the archive for stories on the art of prediction and wood burner pollution
Published on Friday, 28th February 2020.
Is the problem with AI its lack of intelligence?
Published on Saturday, 22nd February 2020.
An update on Covid-19 statistics, with Tim Harford.
Published on Saturday, 15th February 2020.
Covid-19 stats, spreading jam far and wide, cooking with AI, and James Wong on vegetables
Published on Friday, 14th February 2020.
Can alligators run at 50kmph? Join us in clocking alligators’ gaits.
Published on Saturday, 8th February 2020.
Costing counter-terrorism, interrogating tomatoes, the UK's reading age, politics and GDP
Published on Friday, 7th February 2020.