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*Spoiler-free for Avengers: Endgame* At the end of Avengers: Infinity War film the villain, Thanos, snapped his fingers in the magical infinity gauntlet and disintegrated half of all life across the universe. The Avengers want to reverse the snap but would it better for mankind to live in a world with a population of less than 4 billion? Tim Harford investigates the economics of Thanos with anthropologist Professor Sharon DeWitte and fictionomics blogger Zachary Feinstein PHD.
Image: The Avengers Endgame film poster Credit: ?Marvel Studios 2019
With all the breathless enthusiasm for the presidential race, no one seems very interested in the U.S. Senate. Why not?
Guest: Slate writer Jim Newell.
Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Jayson De Leon, and Anna Martin, with help from Samantha Lee.
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Nurse suicide rates
There were some worrying figures in the news this week about the number of nurses in England and Wales who died by suicide over the last seven years. We try to work out what the numbers are really telling us.
Are 27 million birds killed a year by cats?
Newspapers reported this week that 27 million birds are killed by cats each year. We find out how this number - which might not really be "news" - was calculated.
How rare are house shares?
A listener got in touch to say she was surprised to read that only 3% of people aged 18 to 34 live in a house share with other people. She feels it must be too low ? but is she living in a London house-sharing bubble? We find out.
Proving that x% of y = y% of x
Why is it that 4% of 75 is the same as 75% of 4? Professor Jennifer Rogers from the University of Oxford joins Tim in the studio to explore a mind-blowing maths ?trick?.
Presenter: Tim Harford Producers: Charlotte McDonald, Darin Graham and Beth Sagar-Fenton
Deutsche Bank was the one lender that couldn’t quit Donald Trump. Now the bank holds the key to understanding President Trump’s finances.
Guest: David Enrich, finance editor for the New York Times.
Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Jayson De Leon, and Anna Martin, with help from Samantha Lee.
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Attorney General William Barr showed up to the Senate Judiciary Committee to testify, but the spotlight was also on his colleague, Special Counsel Robert Mueller. What will it take to resolve the growing divide between these two men and their views of the Mueller investigation?
Guest: Jeremy Stahl, senior editor at Slate.
Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Jayson De Leon, and Anna Martin, with help from Samantha Lee.
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Back in 1991, when a 35-year-old law professor named Anita Hill accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment, it was Joe Biden who got to decide how to handle the allegation. Why does Hill think Biden failed her and all subsequent women who would bring a harassment allegation before the Senate? And what does Biden owe those women now, as he seeks the Democratic nomination for president?
Guest: Dahlia Lithwick, writer for Slate and host of the Amicus podcast.
Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Jayson De Leon, and Anna Martin, with help from Samantha Lee.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
At Brigham Young University, students and alumni are forcing a conversation about the severe enforcement of the school’s strict Honor Code. How did BYU’s high standards lead to some students feeling less safe?
Guest: Erin Alberty, reporter for the Salt Lake Tribune.
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