Category: Series

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More or Less: Behind the Stats - Shakespeare?s maths

AWilliam Shakespeare might well rank as the most influential writer in the English language. But it seems he also had a knack for numbers.

Rob Eastaway, author of Much Ado about Numbers, tells Tim Harford about the simple maths that brings Shakespeare?s work to life.

Presenter: Tim Harford Readings: Stella Harford and Jordan Dunbar Producer: Beth Ashmead-Latham Series producer: Tom Colls Production coordinator: Brenda Brown Sound mix: James Beard Editor: Richard Vadon

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The Indicator from Planet Money - Oil gluts, Russian bucks, and Starbucks

Indicators of the Week is back! This week, we've got indicators about oil gluts, big bucks for Ukraine and fewer bucks at Starbucks. (Apologies for the slurping.)

Related episodes:
How to get Russia to pay Ukraine
An oil boom, a property slump and dental deflation

ICYMI, preorder our new Indicator t-shirt at the NPR shop. For more ways to support our show, sign up for Planet Money+ where you'll get sponsor-free listening, bonus episodes, and access to even more Indicator merch.

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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The Indicator from Planet Money - Is Google search getting worse?

There are many anecdotal complaints about Google search not being what it used to be. A German computer scientist and his colleagues put this theory to the test recently focusing on product reviews. Today on the show, we bring their findings to Google's chief search scientist.

Related episodes:
How Fortnite brought Google to its knees (Apple / Spotify)
Microsoft vs. Google: Whose AI Is better? (Apple / Spotify)

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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The Indicator from Planet Money - Has the Fed lost the dot plot?

The Federal Reserve introduced a visual tool called the "dot plot" in 2012 to communicate where officials think interest rates should be in the coming years. The dot plot is eagerly dissected by Fed watchers looking for insight on future policy, but others think that the dot plot has become a visual example of just how little the Fed can predict where the economy is going.

Today on the show, we decode the dot plot and hear why some think that the Federal Reserve's artistic exercise should be scrapped altogether.

The Federal Reserve's latest dot plot (page 4)

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

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Cato Daily Podcast - David Boaz: The Libertarian Exponent

David Boaz was an intellectual leader of the Cato Institute for four decades and a libertarian thinker of the first order. In addition to his speeches, books, and clear-headed communication of libertarian ideas in the public sphere, David was a friend and mentor. David passed away on June 7, 2024. Aaron Ross Powell, founding director of Libertarianism.org, and Cato Senior Fellow Tom G. Palmer discuss the work and legacy of David Boaz.

Related:
The Libertarian Mind by David Boaz
The Libertarian Reader edited by David Boaz
“David Boaz: Liberty’s North Star” by Aaron Ross Powell
“David Boaz Is with Us” by Tom G. Palmer
“The Separation of Art and State” by David Boaz
The Crisis in Drug Prohibition edited by David Boaz
“David Boaz: ‘Now It’s Your Turn’” featuring David Boaz and Caleb O. Brown

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More or Less: Behind the Stats - Leaflets, taxes, oil workers and classrooms

What?s going on with the dodgy bar charts that political parties put on constituency campaign leaflets?

What?s the truth about tax promises?

Are 100,000 oil workers going to lose their jobs in Scotland?

Will class sizes increase in state schools if private schools increase their fees?

Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news.

Presenter: Tim Harford Reporter: Kate Lamble Producers: Nathan Gower, Beth Ashmead-Latham, Debbie Richford Production coordinator: Brenda Brown Sound mix: Neil Churchill Editor: Richard Vadon

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The Indicator from Planet Money - Is the ‘border crisis’ actually a ‘labor market crisis?’

Politicians on both sides of the aisle call the surge at the US Southern Border a "border crisis."

One camp says we need to focus on addressing the conditions in other countries that cause people to leave. The other says we have to focus on deterrence and enforcement.

But...what if both camps are actually ignoring a major piece of the picture? Today on the show, an overlooked cause and potential solution to the situation at our southern border that has nothing to do with the border at all.

Related episodes:
Why Venezuela is no longer in freefall
Welcome to the USA! Now get to work.

ICYMI, preorder our new Indicator t-shirt at the NPR shop. For more ways to support our show, sign up for Planet Money+ where you'll get sponsor-free listening, bonus episodes, and access to even more Indicator merch.

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.


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