How can we use statistics to predict how many medals each nation will win? We speak to Dr Julia Bredtmann, an economist at the RWI Leibniz Institute for Economic Research. She has come up with a model to predict how many medals each country will win, along with her colleagues, Sebastian Otten, also from the Leibniz Institute, and Carsten Crede of the University of East Anglia.
Some countries like the US and China have a large population and GDP, but a number of countries do very well for their size and wealth. Julia explains the different factors you have to consider to predict Olympic success.
On The Gist, Brad Meltzer from Lost History explains why he thinks of himself as one part of a “literary peanut butter cup.” Meltzer teamed up with Tod Goldberg to write The House of Secrets, a spy novel that imagines the final moments between Benedict Arnold and George Washington.
The rise of Donald Trump has clearly signaled the disconnect between voters and the GOP. Ben Domenech says a realignment of the parties may be well underway.
The Government says that since the introduction of the 5p fee for single use plastic bags their use has plummeted. We take a look at the numbers.
Olympic Medals at Rio 2016
The Olympic Games are with us again. So how can we use statistics to predict how many medals each nation will win? We speak to Dr Julia Bredtmann, an economist at the Leibniz Institute for Economic Research.
Income inequality
Politicians and commentators often claim that the rich are getting richer while the poor are getting poorer. But what do the numbers actually tell us about income inequality in the UK? Tim Harford interviews Jonathan Cribb of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the co- author of a comprehensive analysis of Living Standards, Income Inequality and Poverty in the UK.
Desk of Good News ? Maternal mortality rates
The number of women dying in childbirth is falling around the world. In 1990, maternal mortality rates were 385 deaths per 100,000 live births
Today there are 216 deaths per 100,000 live births. This means the death rate is down by nearly half.
The Coastline Paradox
Why is it so difficult to measure coastlines? The further you zoom into the detail of a coastline, the longer it becomes. This is referred to as ?The Coastline Paradox?. We speak to Mairi Walker, a mathematician at the University of Edinburgh, and Danny Hyam, from The Ordnance Survey - the UK government agency responsible for mapping our coastlines.
On The Gist, Facebook has become one of the world’s biggest disseminators of journalism, but it doesn’t care about journalism. Is that a problem? Farhad Manjoo ticks off a few reasons to be wary. Manjoo writes the State of the Art technology column in the New York Times. His podcast is called the Jay & Farhad Show.
On The Gist, should you swear off summer cookouts? Our regular guest Maria Konnikova joins us for a round of “Is That Bulls---?” Konnikova writes for the New Yorker and is the author of The Confidence Game.
For the Spiel, the parade of worries ahead of the Olympic Games.
A proposed return to Glass-Steagall financial regulation is now a part of both GOP and Democratic platforms. How did that happen? Would it prevent another financial crisis? Mark Calabria comments.
On The Gist, Jessi Klein explains her theory that women can be sorted into two categories: poodles and wolves. It’s an idea she explores in her new book, You’ll Grow Out of It. Klein is the head writer on the Comedy Central show Inside Amy Schumer.
For the Spiel, Trump is giving voice to an element we’ve known about—but he’s still losing.
What factors have led Haiti, once the world's leading coffee producer, to tumble into subsistence-level farming? And why does that industry repeatedly fail to return? Tate Watkins, author of Haitian Coffee Grows on Trees, discusses his work.
