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Tim Harford explains - and sometimes debunks - the numbers and statistics used in political debate, the news and everyday life.

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Has the UK’s productivity puzzle been solved?

Are carrots becoming less nutritious?

Are bad teeth the number one reason kids go to A&E?

Could this be the strongest El Niño in 1,000 Years?

Why are so many ex-prisoners being sent back to prison?

Is every card shuffle unique?

Bonus podcast: Norman Numbers

Do Germans really take 19.5 days of sick leave per year?

How much of the world isn’t owned by anyone?

14 million deaths or zero deaths? The impact of the USAID cuts

How much of all the money in the world does Elon Musk have?

Would you take £50,000 or a 50/50 chance of £1m?

The mistake in Trump’s tariff formula

Is crime in London ‘through the roof’?

How much luck do you need to win the World Cup?

Does playing tennis make you live 9.7 years longer?

Does the average teacher really earn £54,000?

Does a full moon make crime rates go up?

Examining the numbers behind Andy Burnham’s ‘Manchester Miracle’

Benefits v minimum wage: Which pays more?

Is the US worse than North Korea for malnutrition deaths?

Does Europe suffer more heat deaths than the US?

Andrew Ross Sorkin: What can the Great Crash of 1929 tell us about today?

Education, Education, Education (and Immigration)

Factchecking claims that 400 churches were burned to the ground in France

Debunking the claim that migrants will get half of new homes

The known unknowns of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Does a fall in the UK's healthy life expectancy mean what you think it means?

Is the ‘loneliness epidemic’ real?

Are refugees more likely to commit crime?

Erdos Problem 1196: Can AI now solve maths that no human can?

Why it’s wrong to say vaping is as bad for you as smoking

Does it take 15,000 litres of water to produce a kilogram of beef?

Have RFK and MAHA really changed American views on vaccines?

Is Trump right that wind turbines are killing millions of birds?

Dr Spock’s dangerous advice on baby sleep

How likely is ‘likely’?

How much water does AI consume?

Paul Ehrlich: The man who bet England wouldn’t exist by the year 2000

Transgender women in sport: Does ‘comparable’ mean ‘equal’?

US-Israel war with Iran: Do the gulf states have enough interceptor missiles?

Has a company really discovered a million new species?

Did AI researchers let AI hallucinations into scientific papers?

Is an ancient charioteer the best paid sportsperson of all time?

Is this Premier League striker a secret maths genius?

Could Europe use its financial muscle to strong-arm the US?

Can you get £71,000 on benefits?

Is Greenland as big as Africa?

How close is Greenland to the United States?

No, a study has not shown that the covid jab causes cancer

Have more than 100 private schools been forced to close because of VAT?

Does Venezuela really have the biggest oil reserves in the world?

Immigration, Benefits and Inequality

The Stats of the Nation: Immigration, benefits and inequality

Older People, Education, Prisons and the Weather

The Stats of the Nation: Older people, education, prisons and the weather

The Stats of the Nation: Sex, drugs and empty homes

Sex, Drugs and Empty Homes

The Stats of the Nation: Health

Health

The Stats of the Nation: The Economy

The Economy

Numbers of the year 2026

Numbers of the Year 2025

Numbers of the year 2025

Were there really Three Wise Men?

The shocking world of US health costs

Do we really have ‘superflu’?

RCP 8.5: Why did the climate change model get it wrong?

Is RFK right about US sperm counts?

Richard Thaler and The Winner’s Curse

Is there a stock market crash coming?

Has there been a $50 trillion wealth transfer to the richest Americans?

Is RFK Jr right about China's diabetes rate?

Halloween special: How many people did the real Dracula impale?

Is your housework split sexist?

Nobel economics prize 2025: What's the big idea?

Are millions of people getting Motability cars for anxiety and ADHD?

Are 72% of prison inmates in Switzerland foreign?