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How many holes are there in a drinking straw?

Tim Harford talks to Jordan Ellenberg about the pandemic, geometry and drinking straws.

• 8 mins

Covid trends, face mask use, and the universal credit cut

A coronavirus check-in, our daily mask use measured, and the universal credit cut.

• 27 mins

Is it easy being green?

Expensive electricity, inadequate insulation, and a tale of tumbling trees.

• 29 mins

The Gender Pay Gap

Can Machiavelli help women get a better deal in the workplace?

• 8 mins

Twenty years of More or Less

A look back at our origins, plus the usual mix of numerical nous and statistical savvy.

• 27 mins

Bonus episode: the first ever More or Less

A chat with More or Less's founding producer and presenter plus the first episode in full

• 36 mins

The prize-winning economics of migration and the minimum wage

A look at the work of this year’s winners of the most prestigious prize in economics.

• 8 mins

The numbers behind Squid Game

Could you survive a round in Squid Game, and how many have watched it?

• 8 mins

The art of counting

Tim Harford talks to author Deborah Stone about her book which explores counting.

• 8 mins

Same data, opposite results. Can we trust research?

Why the same data can produce different conclusions.

• 8 mins

The carbon cost of breakfast at COP26

Can a vegan croissant really be worse for the environment than a bacon roll?

• 8 mins

A TikTok tale

How a well-meaning TikTok disrupted 4,600 studies

• 8 mins

Simpson’s Paradox: How to make vaccinated death figures misleading

A tricky statistical phenomenon at play.

• 8 mins

Does wearing a mask halve your chances of getting Covid-19?

Is it true wearing a mask reduces Covid-19 incidence by 53%?

• 8 mins

Does catching covid give you more immunity than being vaccinated?

Infection vs injection: Could prior infection provide 27 times more protection?

• 8 mins

The psychological economics of gift giving

How to buy gifts people actually want.

• 8 mins

Numbers of 2021

The most significant numbers of the year

• 8 mins

Will the population of Nigeria be larger than Europe’s?

Will Nigeria’s population really reach 600million?

• 8 mins

How much plastic is in the Ocean and can Mr Beast make a difference?

Looking at Mark Rober and Mr Beast’s plastics pledge.

• 8 mins

Omicron, pandemic birth rates and boosters

An Omicron update, pandemic birth rates and the booster drive.

• 27 mins

QAnon: Did 365,348 children go missing in the US in 2020?

Fact checking a QAnon claim

• 8 mins

Are women 32% more likely to die after operation by a male surgeon?

Surgery death risks, Test and Trace costs in the UK and Germany, and podcast plans

• 28 mins

Are female patients more likely to die if the surgeon is male?

Should women be worried about having a male surgeon?

• 10 mins

Should you follow the 5 second rule? And does inflation hit the poorest harder?

Does inflation hit poor households harder and how many people have died of Covid?

• 28 mins

Fertility rates: baby boom or bust?

Fertility rates around the world

• 8 mins

Does the UK have the fastest growing economy in the G7?

How fast is our economy growing? And what is happening with Omicron reinfections?

• 28 mins

Can you fool your brain?

Looking at the power of expectations

• 8 mins

The prime minister in statistical bother

Boris Johnson has been ticked off for misleading Parliament on jobs and on crime.

• 28 mins

Testosterone and sport

Trans women’s participation in elite sport

• 8 mins

Questioning claims about Covid and children

How likely are children to end up in hospital because of Covid? And how many have died?

• 29 mins