Category: News

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More or Less: Behind the Stats - Are Afghan nationals more likely to be convicted of sexual offences?

Tim Harford looks at some of the numbers in the news. This week:

Is it true that interest payments on the UK’s national debt are equivalent to £240 per month for everyone in the country?

Reform UK claim that Afghan migrants are 22 times more likely to be convicted of sex offences. Is that number correct?

We try to make sense of a claim that one in 10 women are being driven to leave work by their menopause symptoms.

And we investigate a claim comparing the speed of a snail and the war in Ukraine.

If you’ve seen a number you think we should look at, email the team: moreorless@bbc.co.uk

Presenter: Tim Harford Reporter: Lizzy McNeill Producer: Nicholas Barrett Series producer: Tom Colls Production co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele Sound mix: James Beard Editor: Richard Vadon

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The Indicator from Planet Money - Can shareholders influence Elon Musk’s trillion dollar pay package?

Tesla’s board of directors recently proposed  a pay package for CEO Elon Musk that could pay him about a trillion dollars if he meets certain goals. It’s not a done deal yet—Tesla shareholders will vote on the proposal at the company’s annual meeting in November. But just how much of a say do shareholders actually have in that decision? Or any decision?

Today on the show, we look at what it takes for a shareholder to get their voice heard and how this may be changing under the Trump administration. Plus we talk to one Tesla investor agitating for changes at the company.

Related episodes: 

An epic proxy battle comes to Hasbro

Elon Musk and the fear of the activist investor

Impact investing, part 1: Money, meet morals

Impact investing, part 2: Can money meet morals?
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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Risky Business with Nate Silver and Maria Konnikova - Is There Really A Crisis of Masculinity?

Tesla has offered CEO Elon Musk a package worth $1 trillion to stay at the helm of the company — if he can hit a series of very ambitious goals. All of this comes in the midst of a serious dip in performance at the company, with stock falling 16% this year (partly as a result of Musk’s controversial moves on the world stage). So this week, Nate and Maria play armchair quarterback in a game of Good Call / Bad Call.

Then, they cut through the chatter over a modern masculinity crisis and get into the data. Is there really a crisis among men? Is it better to be a woman in 2025?

Further Reading:

Boy Crisis of 2025, Meet the ‘Boy Problem’ of the 1900s from NYT

The ‘Boy Crisis’ Is Overblown from NYT

For more from Nate and Maria, subscribe to their newsletters:

The Leap from Maria Konnikova

Silver Bulletin from Nate Silver

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Consider This from NPR - What Jeffrey Epstein’s bank knew

Six years after his death in prison, sex offender Jeffrey Epstein continues to dominate the news.

A House committee has released a suggestive note sent to Epstein for his 50th birthday that is signed "Donald J. Trump." The White House continues to deny now President Trump wrote or signed it.

Separately, a New York Times investigation tracked Epstein's relationship to the country's leading bank, JPMorgan Chase. It concludes that the bank enabled his sex crimes, even as evidence against him piled up.

Times reporter Matt Goldstein explains.

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. 

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

This episode was produced by Kathryn Fink and Connor Donevan, with audio engineering by J. Czys and Ted Mebane. It was edited by Patrick Jarenwattananon. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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The Commentary Magazine Podcast - Epstein and the Conspiracies

So now conspiracy thinking is OK, so long as it involves Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein—that seems to be the mainstream media takeaway from the continuing focus on this admittedly compelling and disgusting story. Trump is a conspiracist, and he's made it to the top—so does that make conspiracies true? Give a listen.


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Cato Podcast - Cato Cage Match: Monetary vs. Fiscal Policy

Norbert Michel and Dominic Lett square off over whether fiscal or monetary policy is the bigger mess. Lett highlights how entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare are driving unsustainable debt levels, while Michel explains how post-2008 Federal Reserve changes have created risks of “fiscal dominance,” where monetary policy is increasingly shaped by government borrowing needs. Both stress that without structural reforms and political restraint, the U.S. faces uncertain and potentially catastrophic economic consequences.


Show Notes:

https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/comprehensive-evaluation-policy-rate-feedback-rules#

https://www.cato.org/books/crushing-capitalism

https://www.cato.org/blog/medicaid-driving-deficits-republicans-are-scarcely-tapping-brakes

https://www.cato.org/news-releases/senate-bill-could-increase-debt-6-trillion-cato-analysis#

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Pod Save America - Trump’s Epstein Doodle Grosser than Expected

House Democrats get ahold of the infamous birthday letter Trump sent to Jeffrey Epstein and release it to the public. Turns out it's more disturbing than we imagined. Jon, Lovett, and Tommy react to the doodle and talk through the week's latest, including the administration renaming the Department of Defense the Department of War, a massive ICE raid on a Hyundai plant in Georgia, and the emerging debate over whether Democrats should shut the government down when funding expires at the end of the month. Then, Rep. Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic candidate for governor in New Jersey, stops by the studio to talk to Tommy about reversing the inroads Trump made in the state in 2024—and why New Jerseyans are weird about pumping their own gas.

Get tickets to CROOKED CON November 6-7 in Washington, D.C at http://crookedcon.com

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The Indicator from Planet Money - The cost of saving a species

Animals are going extinct at an alarmingly fast rate, largely due to human activity. Same for plants. This is bad for all kinds of reasons, not least of which is that breakthrough drugs often come from nature. But there isn’t consensus on how to save these species. 

Part of the debate asks the economic question: with limited money going to the work, where will it have the most impact? Today on the show, the cost-effective plan to maximize biodiversity that asks ecologists to approach the question more like economists. 

Related episodes: 
The Habitat Banker 
The echo of the bison 
Savings birds with economics 

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.  

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Chapo Trap House - 967 – Whitehat feat. Derek Davison (9/8/25)

Chapo Senior Foreign Policy correspondent Derek Davison is back once again to talk about the escalating possibility of war in Venezuela. We discuss the recent strike on a Venezuelan boat by Trump and his newly-Christened Department of War, a botched raid into North Korea, our collapsing relationship with India, China’s SCO summit with Russia, and conflict on the Thai-Cambodia border. Plus: a Matt Christman prediction comes true… Find all of Derek’s foreign policy coverage at: www.foreignexchanges.news www.americanprestigepod.com
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Consider This from NPR - Hackers are after your water. How this town defends against them.

Chris Hugues has what he calls an interesting job.

He’s an assistant operator at a wastewater treatment plant in Cavendish, Vermont.

On a recent August afternoon he gave NPR’s Jenna McLaughlin a tour of the plant.

Hughes loves his work, in all its technical, mathematical, chemical, and yes, dirty, glory.  

But lately, Hughes has had to worry about a new hazard: cyberattacks.  

The threat of someone cutting water off for Americans is real.

Chinese hackers recently spent nearly a year inside a Massachusetts utility company that provides power and water.

And last October, hackers targeted American Water, the largest wastewater utility company in the country.

Water is an appealing target for hackers. People like Chris Hughes are working to make sure a cyber-attack doesn’t stop the flow. 

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. 

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

This episode was produced by Alejandra Marquez Janse.

It was edited by Courtney Dorning and Andrew Sussman.

Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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