Category: Series

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More or Less: Behind the Stats - Are older drivers more dangerous?

Could the cut in winter fuel payments cost thousands of lives? Is it really true that criminals sentenced to three years will be out of prison in two months? Are older drivers more dangerous than young ones? Do Southeastern Railway shift 50 million leaves from their lines?

Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news.

Presenter: Tim Harford Reporters: Bethan Ashmead Latham and Nathan Gower Producer: Natasha Fernandes Series producer: Tom Colls Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison Sound mix: James Beard Editor: Richard Vadon

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More or Less - Are older drivers more dangerous?

Could the cut in winter fuel payments cost thousands of lives? Is it really true that criminals sentenced to three years will be out of prison in two months? Are older drivers more dangerous than young ones? Do Southeastern Railway shift 50 million leaves from their lines?

Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news.

Presenter: Tim Harford Reporters: Bethan Ashmead Latham and Nathan Gower Producer: Natasha Fernandes Series producer: Tom Colls Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison Sound mix: James Beard Editor: Richard Vadon

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60 Songs That Explain the '90s - M.I.A—“Paper Planes”

Rob looks back at some major performances that came with pregnancy announcements, before focusing in on M.I.A and her 2008 hit “Paper Planes.” Along the way, Rob also touches upon the controversies that came with M.I.A’s fame. Later, writer and editor Puja Patel joins to discuss dancing on stage with M.I.A, the political and cultural conversation around the artist back in 2008, and much more.


Host: Rob Harvilla

Guest: Puja Patel

Producers: Jonathan Kermah and Justin Sayles

Additional Production Support: Olivia Crerie

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The Indicator from Planet Money - What happens when Social Security runs out of money?

Social Security has thus far been self-sustaining—payroll taxes go into this big fund, which then pays out monthly checks. But the problem we have now is the money coming into that fund is not keeping up with the money going out.

The election hasn't been great for people concerned about the government's finances. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates that Donald Trump's election proposals will speed up the rundown in the Social Security fund by a few years.

So, when Social Security runs out of money as it's projected to do ... could we just borrow more money? And if so, what would that mean for the already rising government's debt?

Today on the show, how worried should we be about Social Security and the federal debt? We explain a fresh indicator to assess whether or not America's getting too far in the red.

Related Episodes:
What does the next era of Social Security look like?
Iceberg ahead for Social Security

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The Indicator from Planet Money - What looks like a bond and acts like a bond but isn’t a bond?

The Maldives is a small island nation struggling with a heavy debt load. Its borrowing includes $500 million worth of something called sukuk. These are bond-like investments that don't pay interest, to be in line with Islamic law. Today on the show, we explain how sukuk works, how it fits into the larger world of Islamic finance and what might happen if the Maldives can't pay back its debt.

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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More or Less: Behind the Stats - Is Trump right about violent crime in Venezuela and the US?

On the campaign trail for the US presidency, former president Donald Trump has been saying that the US is becoming a more dangerous than Venezuela.

He also claims that the crime data for the US that the FBI collects is missing the most violent cities.

Is he right? Tim Harford investigates, with the help of Bastian Herre from Our World in Data and Jay Albanese from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Presenter: Tim Harford Producer: Bethan Ashmead Latham Series producer: Tom Colls Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison Sound Mix: Annie Gardiner Editor: Richard Vadon