Some Labour politicians have been calling for a wealth tax, claiming a 2% tax could raise ?24bn. Where are the numbers from and do they add up?
A listener asked why housing in the UK is the oldest in Europe. We explain what?s going on.
The Office for National Statistics has changed how it measures the value of pensions and knocked ?2 trillion off its estimates of wealth. Not everyone thinks it was a good change. We find out why.
And Lent is here, but how long is the Christian fasting period? We look at the history of a very flexible 40 days.
Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news, and the world around us.
Presenter: Tim Harford
Reporter: Lizzy McNeill
Producers: Nathan Gower and Charlotte McDonald
Series producer: Tom Colls
Production co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Sound mix: Gareth Jones
Editor: Richard Vadon
Abdulrazak Gurnah won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2021 ‘for his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism.’ In his latest novel, Theft, he returns to the streets of his childhood home in Zanzibar, to trace the intertwined lives of three young people in a story of love, betrayal and kindness.
The Possibility of Tenderness is a memoir by the prize-winning poet Jason Allen-Paisant as he moves from his family home in the rural Jamaican hills, to Oxford’s gleaming spires, to the woodlands of Leeds. It’s a story about the transformative power of plants and the legacy of dreams.
Language, music and food are at the heart of Samantha Ellis’s new book, Chopping Onions On My Heart: On Losing and Preserving Culture. The daughter of Iraqi-Jewish refugees, she grew up surrounded by the noisy, colourful sounds of Judeo-Iraqi Arabic, a language in danger of being lost forever.
On 27 December 2024, astronomers spotted an asteroid that was potentially heading towards earth.
Named 2024 YR4, it was estimated to be between 40m and 90m across, with the potential to cause massive damage if it hit a populated area of the planet.
The chances of that happening, however, seemed to fluctuate significantly - ranging from 1% to a peak of 3%, before falling to virtually zero.
Tim Harford investigates what was going on, with the help of Davide Farnocchia, a navigation engineer at NASA?s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Presenter: Tim Harford
Producer: Lizzy McNeill
Series producer: Tom Colls
Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
Sound Mix: Hal Haines
Editor: Richard Vadon
More working age people are claiming disability benefits. What's driving the trend?
Is it true that the UK imprisons more people for their social media posts than Russia does?
One of the country?s most important data sources has been falling apart. We find out why.
Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news.
Presenter: Tim Harford
Reporter: Lizzy McNeill
Producer: Nathan Gower
Series producers: Charlotte McDonald and Tom Colls
Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
Sound mix: James Beard
Editor: Richard Vadon
Five years ago, in response to the Covid pandemic, the government mandated a series of lockdowns, with the closure of schools and businesses and social distancing. Tom Sutcliffe is joined by guests to discuss how such a monumental event could have had affected brain cognition, and whether there have been lasting effects on young people. But he also hears tales of resilience among neurodiverse communities.
The neuroscientist Daniel Yon looks at the cognitive impact of unprecedented events in his forthcoming book, A Trick of the Mind - How the Brain Invents Your Reality (published, June 2025). He explains how times of instability and uncertainty upset the brain’s ability to understand the world, and make people more susceptible to conspiracy theories.
The Covid-19 Social Study was the largest study exploring the psychological and social effects of the pandemic on the UK population. Dr Daisy Fancourt, Associate Professor of Psychobiology and Epidemiology at University College London explains what they learnt about the impact of social isolation. The developmental psychologist at Cambridge University, Professor Claire Hughes, has looked more closely at families with young children, across six different countries, with very different lockdown policies. Although there was a link between family stress related to the pandemic and child problem behaviours, more recent work questions whether the lockdown has had longer term effects.
The artist and zinemaker Dr Lea Cooper has co-curated a new exhibition at the Wellcome Collection, Zines Forever! DIY Publications and Disability Justice (until 14th September). Zines are self-published works, and Dr Cooper says several on display were created during lockdown, and showcase personal stories of resistance and self-expression.
Producer: Katy Hickman
Part of BBC Radio 4's series of programmes exploring Lockdown’s Legacy
In March 2020, the covid pandemic forced the UK into lockdown. Schools closed, universities went online and the economy shut down.
It slowly became clear that young people were not falling victim to the virus in significant numbers - they made up a fraction of a percent of the overall death toll.
But their lives were radically changed - most spending these formative ages stuck at home as the pandemic raged. Politicians and academics worried about the long term impact this would have on their chances in life.
Five years on, Tim Harford delves into the data to try to work out what we can say with confidence about the effect of the lockdown on the children and young adults who lived through it.
On questions of education levels, job prospects and mental health, what story does the best evidence show us?
Presenter: Tim Harford
Producer: Tom Colls
Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
Sound mix: Nigel Appleton
Editor: Richard Vadon
You may have seen a map circulated on social media that claims to show the average IQ of different nations.
If you look closely these numbers vary dramatically, with incredibly low scores in developing countries, including many in Africa.
Unsurprisingly the map is often used as a way to bolster arguments about racial or national superiority.
However, when you look at the data behind the claims the whole thing falls apart. We dive into the methods behind the map and ask whether it?s even possible to accurately put a number on intelligence.
Presenter: Charlotte McDonald
Producer: Lizzy McNeill
Series Producer: Tom Colls
Editor: Richard Vadon
Studio Manager: James Beard
Production Co-Ordinator: Brenda Brown
It?s been 12 weeks since President Trump announced the formation of DOGE, the so-called department of Government efficiency. We fact-check various claims connected with the drive to route out inefficiency. Listeners asked us to investigate the claim that 1 in 12 Londoners is an illegal immigrant. We look into the claim that imported New Zealand apples have a smaller carbon footprint than British grown apples. Plus - did VAT on private schools really boost the rate of inflation, or was that just a media concoction?
Presenter: Tim Harford
Series Producer: Charlotte McDonald
Producers: Lizzy McNeill, Nathan Gower and Josh McMinn
Sound Mix: Rod Farquhar
Editor: Richard Vadon
Production Co-Ordinator: Brenda Brown
In The Ideological Brain Leor Zmigrod studies the impact of political ideology on the makeup and shape of the brain. She found that those on the political extremes, as well as those with the most dogmatic beliefs, display more cognitive rigidity.
The historian John Rees focuses on the small group of firebrand parliamentarians at the heart of the English Civil Wars. The Fiery Spirits describes how the radical republicans influenced more moderate MPs and led to the defeat, and execution, of Charles I.
2025 is the centenary of the birth of Margaret Thatcher and fifty years since she became the first woman to lead a major political party in the UK. The political commentator and broadcaster Iain Dale publishes a biography of her later this year, and questions the role of ideology within Thatcherism.
As part of the fast-moving argument over US military support to Ukraine, the US demanded $500bn worth of access to what was variously reported as Ukraine?s rare earths or rare metals or rare minerals. But is there that amount of minerals in the ground?
Presenter: Tim Harford
Producer and Editor: Richard Vadon
Studio Manager: James Beard
Production Co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
