Numbers of the year part 2

Our listeners favourite numbers of 2024.

• 9 mins

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.

• 8 mins

Can redheads handle 25% more pain than brunettes?

We investigate if people with red hair have a hidden pain-blocking superpower

• 8 mins

Did Trump make billions with his meme-coin?

We investigate if the US president’s crypto is really worth tens of billions of dollars.

• 8 mins

Are quantum computers already super-powerful?

We investigate what a big claim about the speed of a quantum chip really means

• 8 mins

Are black babies in the US really more likely to die under the care of white doctors?

How baby mortality statistics gave a misleading impression about racism in healthcare

• 8 mins

Has the US sent $50 million worth of condoms to Gaza?

Are Hamas bombing Israel with condoms sent by the US?

• 8 mins

Are 150 year olds getting social security payments?

Is this ‘the biggest fraud in the whole of history’?

• 8 mins

Has the US really given Ukraine more aid than Europe?

Donald Trump says the US has given Ukraine more aid than Europe - what does the data say?

• 8 mins

Defence Spending, Rare Earths and Trunk Truths

The numbers behind Ukraine’s rare earth worth and the UK’s defence spending ambitions

• 28 mins

Is there really $500bn of Rare Earths in Ukraine?

Trump wants access to Ukraine’s Rare Earth deposits.

• 8 mins

DOGE, apples and irregular migrants

Fact-checking government efficiency claims in the US.

• 28 mins

What is an IQ map and can we trust them?

We investigate maps that suggest extremely low average IQs in developing countries

• 8 mins

How did lockdown impact children?

Five years on, Tim Harford looks at the data on the effect of lockdown

• 41 mins

Why are more people claiming disability benefits?

Plus, UK vs Russia on free speech and the collapse of the Labour Force Survey

• 28 mins

What are the chances of an asteroid hitting earth in 2032?

Why the likelihood of planetary impact changed as asteroid 2024 YR4 approached.

• 8 mins

Could a 2% wealth tax raise £24bn?

Plus did trillions disappear from UK pensions? Why does the UK have a lot of old housing?

• 28 mins

What’s Trump’s problem with Canada?

Does the US subsidise Canada $200 billion a year and why does Trump call them nasty?

• 8 mins

Is one in four people in the UK disabled?

Plus, what has Canada done to Donald Trump? Is Rachel Reeves chasing the model?

• 26 mins

Trump tariffs: All about the deficits

Explaining the maths and economics of the US ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs

• 8 mins

The mistake in Trump’s tariff formula

Plus, counting bobbies, freezing tax and electrocuting redheads

• 29 mins

How much is a human life worth?

The Price of Life author Jenny Kleeman on the cost of making and taking a life

• 8 mins

The pioneers of proof

Professor Adam Kucharski on his new book, Proof: The Uncertain Science of Certainty

• 8 mins

Are 80% of women really only attracted to 20% of men?

Dispelling an incel myth that featured in the Netflix drama Adolescence

• 8 mins