Vitamin D, explaining R and the 2 metre rule

Is Vitamin D an under-appreciated weapon in the fight against Covid-19?

• 28 mins

School re-opening, Germany’s Covid success and statistically savvy parrots

Will re-opening some schools put children or their teachers at risk?

• 28 mins

Obeying lockdown, flight arrivals, and is this wave of the epidemic waning?

Does the data show this wave of the epidemic is waning in the UK?

• 28 mins

False negatives, testing capacity and pheasants

How accurate are the swab tests used to diagnose Covid-19?

• 28 mins

Antibody tests, early lockdown advice and European deaths

Are more people are dying of Covid-19 in the UK than all the EU countries put together?

• 28 mins

Quarantine, Test and Trace and BODMAS

Is it true that Covid-19 mostly kills people who would die soon anyway?

• 28 mins

Child Poverty, School Inequality and a Second Wave

As lockdown eases, why hasn't there been a spike in infections?

• 28 mins

Why Did the UK Have Such a Bad Covid-19 Epidemic?

Bad decision-making, bad advice, or bad luck?

• 28 mins

Hawaiian Pizza, Obesity and a Second Wave?

Covid-19 cases are rising in the UK, is it a sign of a second wave of the virus?

• 28 mins

A-level algorithms, poker and buses

We unpick the A-level algoshambles and discover what poker teaches us about statistics.

• 28 mins

Covid plasma therapy

Claims about a Covid-19 treatment, breast cancer screening, and 18th century sex workers.

• 28 mins

Schools and coronavirus, test and trace, maths and reality

Evidence on Covid-19 risks in schools, data on contact tracing, and a philosophical query.

• 28 mins

Covid cases rising, a guide to life’s risks, and racing jelly-fish

How worrying is the UK’s jump in cases? Plus balancing risks and the speed of jelly-fish.

• 28 mins

Covid testing capacity, refugee numbers, and mascara

Confusing claims on lab capacity, the UK’s record on asylum, and the volume of eyelashes.

• 28 mins

Covid curve queried, false positives, and the Queen’s head

How fast are coronavirus cases doubling? Plus testing confusion and a royal face-off.

• 28 mins

'Record' Covid cases, Trump on the death count, and ant pheromones

Case counts in perspective, a suspect stat from the US, and life lessons from insects.

• 28 mins

Spreadsheet snafu, ‘Long Covid’ quantified, and the birth of probability

Missing coronavirus case data, long-term symptoms, and a big mathematical moment.

• 28 mins

How effective is one dose of the vaccine?

Is the first dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine 52% or 90% effective?

• 28 mins

Will the vaccine bring back normal life? GDP and Fishing

If we vaccinate the top four priority groups by February, how much will things change?

• 28 mins

Deaths at Home, Supermarket Infections and the Cobra Effect

Where are people catching Covid-19?

• 28 mins

Teachers, Test & Trace and Butterflies

Are teachers more at risk from Covid-19?

• 28 mins

Brexit exports, cladding and are 1 in 5 disabled?

Are exports to the EU down since Brexit? Plus removing flammable building cladding.

• 28 mins

Comparing death counts, Lock Down drinking and Long Covid

Is the UK’s Covid-19 death count among the worst in the world?

• 28 mins

Wales jab success, Eurovision and living with your parents

How to vaccinate a country quickly, plus the UK’s singing contest woes.

• 28 mins

Bolton vaccines, Yorkshire versus Scotland and the average gamer

Were tens of thousands of people getting their jab in Bolton every single day?

• 28 mins

Third wave fears, smart motorways and bra sizes

Should we worry about Covid-19 cases rising? Plus are smart motorways safe?

• 28 mins

Covid deaths, outdoor swimming and care homes

The global death toll has reached a grim milestone. Plus the UK’s low ranking waters.

• 28 mins

Delta cases, blue tits and that one-in-two cancer claim

Should we worry about the Delta variant? Plus how much do blue tits eat?

• 28 mins

Scotland cases, flood risk and taxing the poor

Covid-19 cases are on the rise in Scotland, plus will your town be under water by 2030?

• 28 mins

The Freedom Day Gamble

Tim Harford and the team try to work out how long Covid cases will continue to rise.

• 28 mins

Covid, HGV driver shortages and protest costs

Has Brexit caused a fall in lorry drivers? Plus policing Extinction Rebellion.

• 28 mins

Vaccine waning, hot dogs and Afghanistan

How worried should we be about antibodies? Plus food that shortens life.

• 28 mins

Death, Tax and Dishwashers

Why is estimating the number of unvaccinated people so tricky? And how deadly is 2021?

• 28 mins

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

Coronavirus checked, mask use measured, and a minister's claim questioned.

• 28 mins

Is it easy being green?

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

• 28 mins

Twenty years of More or Less

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

• 28 mins

Omicron, pandemic birth rates and boosters

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

• 28 mins

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

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

• 28 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

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

The prime minister in statistical bother

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

• 30 mins

Questioning claims about Covid and children

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

• 28 mins

Vaccinating children, lockdowns, and ebikes

Jabs for five- to 11-year-olds, lockdown effectiveness, and being green on two wheels.

• 28 mins

Troop and Casualty Numbers in Ukraine

How reliable are the figures coming out of the conflict in Ukraine?

• 28 mins

Germany’s excess deaths, Eurovision and teacher shortages

Did Germany really fare worse than the UK in the pandemic?

• 28 mins

Jubilee costs, fuel poverty and imperial measures

We debunk a claim the government is spending £38,000 per household on the jubilee.

• 28 mins

Employment puzzle, pyramids and triplets

The UK has a low unemployment rate but lots of people not working – how come?

• 28 mins

Maternity litigation, stars, bees and windowless planes

Are damages for maternity mistakes now more than wages for maternity nurses and doctors?

• 28 mins

Rail strikes, tyre pollution and sex statistics

Do rail workers really earn £13,000 a year more than nurses?

• 28 mins

Covid climb, childcare costs and why can't the French count properly?

How accurately are official figures picking up the new covid wave?

• 28 mins

Energy prices, excess deaths and Wales v England in counting

Is there an easy way to cut soaring energy bills?

• 28 mins

Pakistan flooding, UK power prices and Boris’s broadband claim

The scale of the disaster is huge, but is a third of Pakistan really under water?

• 28 mins

Energy crisis plan, imperial measures survey, gardens v national parks

How much will the UK government’s plan to limit energy price rises end up costing?

• 28 mins

The size of Ukraine’s offensive, weak pound and how much do women really exercise?

We ask how much progress Ukraine has really made in recapturing territory from Russia.

• 28 mins

Mini-budget, TV audience for the Queen’s funeral and 0.5 on the Richter scale

Did 4.1 billion people really watch the Queen’s funeral?

• 28 mins

Teens and antidepressants, stamp duty savings and earthquake probabilities

We debunk a claim that a third of British teenagers have been prescribed antidepressants.

• 28 mins

A&E delays and deaths, religious identity in N Ireland and naming the monster numbers

How many people may be dying because of treatment delays in the NHS?

• 28 mins

Ambulance response times, teacher pay and Irish pubs

How long are people really waiting when they call 999 for an ambulance?

• 28 mins

Coffee with the chancellor, inflation measures, GP numbers and toilet paper

We fact check Jeremy Hunt’s pledge to halve inflation.

• 28 mins

Brexit and trade; pensioner millionaires; and Hannah Fry on loyalty cards and cancer

We examine a claim that the UK’s trade with the EU has increased since Brexit.

• 28 mins

The IMF and the UK economy, NHS staff shortages and British v English

How much should we trust the IMF’s forecasts for the UK?

• 28 mins

Nurses' pay, ambulance times and forgotten female economists

We look at how much nurses in the UK are paid compared with those in Europe.

• 28 mins

Reoffending rates, Welsh taxes and the menopause

Tim Harford and team fact check a government claim about falling reoffending rates.

• 28 mins

UK v European energy prices, falling excess deaths, and is five grams of cocaine a lot?

We debunk a claim that the UK has by far the highest energy prices in Europe.

• 28 mins

NHS waiting lists, voter ID, and measuring divorce

A fall in those waiting longest for NHS treatment in England isn't telling the whole story

• 28 mins

Food prices, net migration and beef about beef

Does Britain really have the most affordable food in Europe?

• 28 mins

Lib Dem ambulance claims, affordable rent and goat meat

Did 120 people a day in England die last year whilst waiting for an ambulance?

• 28 mins

Electric vehicles, 600 million bottles and does oral sex cause cancer?

Is the weight of electric vehicles a risk to infrastructure?

• 28 mins

Mortgages, birth rates and does space contribute 18% to UK GDP?

Who will be most affected by mortgage rate increases?

• 28 mins

Halving inflation, Scottish tidal power and have 1 in 3 women had an abortion?

Will Rishi Sunak's pledge to halve inflation happen?

• 28 mins

Immigration: A More or Less Special Programme

Who is coming to the UK - and how do we count them?

• 28 mins

HS2 and electric cars, UK vs China emissions & massive maths errors

Can you really buy an electric car for everybody in the UK for the cost of HS2?

• 28 mins

Covid deaths, North Sea gas and Chloe Kelly's World Cup penalty

Covid-related deaths are rising in England and Wales, we investigate the figures.

• 28 mins

Skin cancer, London rents and your great-great-great-granddaughter

Is it true that 1 in 4 men and 1 in 5 women in the UK will get skin cancer?

• 28 mins

Social housing, NHS workforce and Liz Truss debt claims

Have the Tories really built a record number of social rent homes since 2010?

• 28 mins

NHS consultant pay, net zero claims and Scotland's ferry woes

Are consultants in England really paid an average of £120,000 a year?

• 28 mins

Vaccine claims, Alzheimer's treatment and Tim's Parkrun times

We debunk claims about excess deaths and the vaccine made by YouTuber John Campbell.

• 28 mins

Deaths, taxes and missing cats

We investigate claims about gun crime, the UK tax burden, and the number of missing cats.

• 28 mins

Life expectancy, inheritance tax and the NHS vs winter

How long will we live? Who pays inheritance tax? How did the NHS perform this winter?

• 28 mins

Shopping, shipping and wind chill-ing

We investigate the cost of a weekly shop and explore the workings of wind chill.

• 28 mins

Measles, Traitors and the cost of Brexit

Is measles spreading? How much is Brexit costing? How good are they at traitor guessing?

• 28 mins

Council tax weirdness: Hartlepool vs Westminster

Council tax comparisons, migration calculations and the carbon footprint of home-grown veg

• 28 mins

Debt, students, shark and chips

What is the government’s rule on debt? Do 90% of chip shops sell shark and chips?

• 28 mins

Per capita GDP, MP claims and the entire EU budget

What does per capita GDP tell us? How much did the EU spend on Covid recovery?

• 28 mins

School spending, excess deaths and billions of animals at Heathrow

Is school funding at record levels? Did 6.5bn creatures come to the UK by plane last year?

• 28 mins