More or Less: Behind the Stats - Transgender Numbers, Parkrun and Snooker

How many transgender people are there in the UK?

The UK produces official statistics about all sorts of things ? from economic indicators to demographic data. But it turns out there are no official figures for the number of transgender people in the UK. We explore what we do know, and what is harder to measure.

Do 4% of the population drink nearly a third of the alcohol?

According to recent headlines, just 4% of the population drink nearly a third of the alcohol sold in England. But can so few people really account for so much of the countries bar tab? We find out where the statistic came from.

Bank of England?s Mark Carney says no to RPI

At a hearing of the House of Lords? economic affairs committee, the Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, said it would be useful to have a single measure of inflation for consumers ? and that CPI was a much better measure than RPI, which he said had ?no merit?. We find out why with the FT?s Chris Giles.

A statistical take on parkrun

Every weekend over 1.5 million people run 5,000m on Saturday mornings for parkrun which is a free event that takes place all over the UK and indeed across the globe. Each runner is given a bar code, which is scanned at the end of the run and fed into a database showing them what place they came in their race? we take a look at which courses are the fastest, slowest, hardest and easiest.

Testing for a cough correlation between snooker and smoking

A listener emailed us this week to ask whether you can connect the number of coughs during snooker matches to the decline in smoking. We got counting to see if the theory was a trick shot - with help from John Virgo.

Photo: Jimmy White Credit: Photo by Jamie McDonald/Getty Images

The NewsWorthy - Super Bowl, Uber Bike & Groundhog Day – Friday, February 2nd, 2018

All the news you need to know for Friday, February 2nd, 2018! 

Today we're talking all things Super Bowl: from the cost of tickets and commercials to what you'll see in the halftime show.

Plus: President Trump's ratings, Uber's electric bike share, Target's same-day shipping and it's Groundhog Day.

All that and much more in less than 10 minutes!

Award-winning broadcast journalist and former TV news reporter Erica Mandy breaks it all down for you. 

For links to all the stories referenced in today's episode, visit https://www.theNewsWorthy.com and click Episodes.

Today's episode is brought to you by SOL Organics. SOL​ ​Organics​ ​sells​ ​luxuriously​ ​comfortable​ ​organic​ ​sheets​ ​and​ ​bedding. Go to www.SOLOrganix.com to redeem 20% off + free shipping with CODE 'ERICA20

Bay Curious - Eucalyptus: How California’s Most Hated Tree Took Root

Depending who you ask, eucalyptus trees are either an icon in California or a fire-prone scourge.


Reported by Daniel Potter. Bay Curious is Olivia Allen-Price, Jessica Placzek, Paul Lancour, Suzie Racho, David Weir, Craig Miller, Ryan Levi and Amanda Font. Theme music by Pat Mesiti-Miller.


Ask us a question at BayCurious.org.


Follow Olivia Allen-Price on Twitter @oallenprice.

The Gist - LBJ, Reconsidered

Lyndon B. Johnson doesn’t always get the consideration he deserves as one of America’s great presidents. On today’s Gist, historian Joshua Zeitz says LBJ’s fight for welfare reform and civil rights redefined the country, even as those legal achievements come under attack by today’s Republican Party. Zeitz is the author of Building the Great Society: Inside Lyndon Johnson’s White House.    

Plus, a Spiel from the 2016 archives: Vote Jabba!

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The NewsWorthy - Classified Memo, FEMA & Alexa Commercial (+ 3QTh with Kathlyn Hart ) – Thursday, February 1st, 2018

All the news you need to know for Thursday, February 1st, 2018! 

Today, the heated debate about a classified memo and why FEMA had some people in Puerto Rico in a panic.

Plus: homeownership rates go up, Amazon's Alexa loses her voice and Super Mario Brothers go to the big screen.

All that and much more in less than 10 minutes!

 Then, hang out after the news for Three Question Thursday. This week's guest is Kathlyn Hart. She's a salary negotiation coach on a mission to help women earn more. Through her coaching, speaking and online negotiation bootcamp "Be Brave Get Paid" she helps women gain the skills and the confidence to negotiate for the income they deserve.

In addition, she hosts The Big Leap Show podcast where she interviews women about their journey of going from dreaming to doing.

Award-winning broadcast journalist and former TV news reporter Erica Mandy breaks it all down for you. 

For links to all the stories referenced in today's episode, visit https://www.theNewsWorthy.com and click Episodes.

The Gist - We Still Have No U.S. Ambassador to South Korea

On The Gist, Trey Gowdy bows out.

Fred Kaplan explains why foreign policy experts are concerned by the Trump administration’s move to renege on its choice of ambassador to South Korea at the last minute. Kaplan writes the War Stories column for Slate. He is the author, most recently, of Dark Territory: The Secret History of Cyber War.

In the Spiel, you know what they say: The president who claps the loudest pleases the crowd best.

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