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Paul Romer and William Nordhaus’ Big Ideas

The economists tackling climate change and growth

• 9 mins

Foreign Aid: Who’s The Most Generous?

In foreign aid terms what’s the best way of measuring how generous a country is?

• 9 mins

Vaccines: The Importance of The Herd and Social Media

What proportion of a population needs to be vaccinated to stop a disease spreading?

• 9 mins

Timing a Tsunami

How fast do Tsunamis travel?

• 9 mins

Do Assassinations Work?

How likely are assassination attempts on heads of state to succeed?

• 9 mins

When’s a Kilogram Not a Kilogram?

Updating the kilogram.

• 9 mins

Are 90% of War Fatalities Civilians?

Xavier Zapata examines what the data tells us about the deadly impact of war on civilians

• 9 mins

Sex and Heart Attacks

Are women more likely to die from a heart attack than men?

• 9 mins

Lennon or McCartney?

How statistical modelling can work out which Beatle wrote which song

• 9 mins

Dam Lies and Statistics

Are mega-dams really sustainable?

• 9 mins

Mission: Impossible - Quantifying Santa

What to look out for on Christmas Eve

• 9 mins

Numbers of the Year Part One

The numbers that made 2018

• 9 mins

Numbers of the Year Part Two

Helena Merriman with numbers about water shortage, plastic recycling and American jobs

• 9 mins

The Mathematics of Fever

We look at the numbers behind body temperature – what is normal?

• 9 mins

Close Encounters of a Planetary Kind

Which planet is closest to Earth?

• 9 mins

Is Suicide Seasonal?

Tim Harford asks which times of the year are riskiest for suicide.

• 9 mins

You Have 15,000 Likes!

When listener Helen got 15,000 likes on Tinder she questioned the stats behind swiping

• 9 mins

Hyperinflation in Venezuela

Tim Harford on the astonishing speed of price rises in Venezuela; teenagers’ screen use

• 9 mins

When maths mistakes really matter

Tim Harford talks to Matt Parker about how simple maths mistakes can cause big problems.

• 9 mins

How to make your artwork more valuable

Six top tips on how to get the best price for your art

• 9 mins

Insectageddon

Could insects go extinct in one hundred years?

• 9 mins

The gender gap in tech

Are women really less likely than men to be hired for jobs in tech?

• 9 mins

Daylight saving time and heart attacks

Does the sudden loss of an hour of sleep raise the risk of having a heart attack?

• 9 mins

Is Mansa Musa the richest person of all time?

Is the West African king, Mansa Musa, the richest person who ever lived?

• 9 mins

Chess cheats and the GOAT

What a statistical analysis of chess moves can teach us about this ancient game.

• 9 mins

Rounding up the weed killer cancer conundrum

We examine the cancer-causing potential of the weed killer glyphosate

• 9 mins

Where is Scotland’s highest village?

A battle is brewing in the Southern Scottish uplands between two rival villages.

• 9 mins

The economic impact of mega sporting events

Major sports events and the benefits to the local economy.

• 9 mins

Bernie Sanders and the cost of having a baby

Did Bernie Sanders get the cost of giving birth right?

• 9 mins

Avengers - Should we reverse the snap?

Exploring the economic impact of losing half the world’s population

• 9 mins