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Things are bleak in Brazil. Prices are high, governments are broke, and gangs are tightening their control over the country’s slums. But on The Gist, Slate contributing editor Franklin Foer has hope for a national renewal. The reason? A prominent federal judge is dead set on rooting out political corruption, though it may rival soccer as the national pastime.
For the Spiel, hands across the ages.
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The Gist has been bedeviled by one question: Do the clothes really make the man? On today’s show, regular guest Maria Konnikova joins us to investigate the link between clothing and performance. Konnikova writes for the New Yorker and is the author of The Confidence Game.
For the Spiel, Trump, truth, and fact-checking.
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World Records are being set at a much faster rate in swimming than in other sports. At the Rio Olympics, British swimmer Adam Peaty managed to break the men's 100m breaststroke world record twice in two days. Tim Harford speaks to swimming coach, Rick Madge, about the reasons swimmers keep getting better results in the pool.
Also, science writer Christie Aschwanden makes the case for the virtues of the 5,000 metre race. She says that in recent times it has become very popular for people to train to run a marathon. But when you look at the numbers, is the 5K a better distance?
Presenter: Tim Harford Producer: Charlotte McDonald
Commuters are regularly hit with the announcement “Gambling is prohibited on CTA trains.” We find the reason behind the rule and look for those who inspired it.
Commuters are regularly hit with the announcement “Gambling is prohibited on CTA trains.” We find the reason behind the rule and look for those who inspired it.
On every great improv team there’s an undertow of angst. Who will get snatched up by a TV show? Who will toil in relative obscurity? Who will quit after the big break doesn’t come? On Ep. 560, comedian Mike Birbiglia and This American Life creator Ira Glass talk about their film Don’t Think Twice, an ode to improvisational comedy and recalibrating what it means to be a success. Find it in a theater near you.
For the Spiel, our Lobstar of the Antentwig.
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It has been reported that Prime Minister Theresa May is planning on lifting the ban on creating new grammar schools. Chris Cook, Policy Editor for Newsnight, has been looking at the evidence for whether these selective schools improve exam performance or social mobility.
Swimming World Records New world records are being set in swimming at a much faster rate than other sports ? but why? Tim Harford speaks to swim coach and blogger, Rick Madge about the reason swimmers keep getting better results in the pool. Why do other sports, like athletics, not seem to have the same continual improvements in results?
Teenage girls aren?t so bad after all This week?s Desk of Good News challenges the concept that teenage girls and young women are badly behaved. It features statistics on falling teenage pregnancy rates, drinking figures and improving educational success.
The rise of TV Was the Queen's Coronation the event that sparked the biggest rise in TV sales ever? We take a look at the rise of television in the UK.
Lottery wins Adam Kucharski, author of The Perfect Bet, looks at the maths behind playing the lottery or gambling.
Presenter: Tim Harford Producer: Charlotte McDonald
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On The Gist, Republican “merchant of mud” Mike Murphy ponders Donald Trump’s effect on down-ballot GOP candidates. Murphy is known for putting the “!” in “Jeb!” as an adviser to Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign. His podcast is called Radio Free GOP.
For the Spiel, Mike tries to get to the bottom of an Olympian canard about the happiness of bronze medalists.
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