Episode summary: Food can tell us a lot about our politicians, at least that seems to be what we think. We love to see them eat and we obsess about what goes in their mouths. It can be a high-wire act. Do it right to prove that you are just like your voters but do it wrong and you are a slob, a phon...

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Episode summary: Tim Harford speaks to Jacob Goldstein about the unholy marriage of mathematicians, gamblers, and actuaries at the dawn of modern finance.

Episode summary: In the mid-1800s, Harvard Medical School had a reputation for being a “den of body snatchers.” And then, in November 1849, the school’s most prominent supporter went missing. He was last seen walking into the medical school building. Paul Collins’ book is Blood & Ivy: The 1849 Murde...

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Episode summary: Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the idea that God created the universe and then left it for humans to understand by reason not revelation. Edward Herbert, 1583-1648 (pictured above) held that there were five religious truths: belief in a Supreme Being, the need to worship him, the p...

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Episode summary: The challenges of being unhoused are almost too many to count. They take on a distinct flavor at night.

Episode summary: We talk to Peter Geoghegan of openDemocracy and Jennifer Cobbe of the Trust and Technology Initiative about Cambridge Analytica, money, power and what is and isn’t corrupting our democracy. How easy is it to buy influence in British politics? Did Cambridge Analytica break the rules...

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Episode summary: How [lessons from] programming can improve our politics.

Episode summary: When we think about carbon storage, we tend to think about forests, but peatlands are also incredible carbon sinks. In Europe, peatlands contain five times more carbon than forests. But back in the 80s, most people didn’t know this remarkable fact about peat. If anything, bogs were...

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Episode summary: Josie Long presents short documentaries and adventures in sound about absences which leave a mark. An unexpected visitor, a haunted literature and a grandson searches for the truth about a grandmother he never knew. Ghosts Featuring Mariana Enríquez Unexpected Guests (Extract) Produ...

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Episode summary: Folks who love to write, edit, and obsess over words are very much needed in podcasting. And maybe you don’t see it, but I do. Let me encourage you to get involved even if you don’t have a face (or voice) for audio.