An interruption to your regular podcast feed: the first episode of a new BBC Radio 4 series investigating the steep rise in autism diagnoses. The Autism Curve looks into the data that has prompted arguments - and conspiracy theories - about what’s behind the rapid rise. It goes on to explore changes in what autism is, who gets to define it, and whose experience counts.In this first episode, Ginny Russell discusses her 20-year study that showed an astonishing eightfold rise in new autism diagnoses in the UK on an exponential curve. And Professor Joshua Stott explains how a surprising discovery at a dementia clinic led him to calculate that that enormous rise in diagnoses may still undercount the country’s autistic population by as much as 1.2 million.Listen to the rest of The Autism Curve here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002bszlArchive: BBC; CSPAN; Fox News; CNN.Presenter: Michael Blastland
Series Producer: Simon Maybin
Editor: Clare Fordham
Sound mix: Neil Churchill
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
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15:08
Donald Trump: 100 days fact-check
On the 29th April US President Donald Trump took to the stage in Michigan to celebrate his first 100 days in office. This is a milestone in American politics, but is everything he claims the administration has achieved true?The BBC’s US National Digital Reporter Mike Wendling joins us to fact-check President Trump’s claims on immigration, the stock market, fentanyl and….eggs. Presenter: Lizzy McNeill
Producer: Tom Colls
Production Coordinator: Brenda Brown
Sound mix: Jack Morris
Editor: Richard Vadon
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9:09
Are 80% of women really only attracted to 20% of men?
Netflix’s psychological drama Adolescence has started a debate about teenage boys and misogyny in modern society. It tells the story of a seemingly normal young boy, Jamie, who is arrested after the brutal murder of a girl in his class. The series focuses on how young men are being radicalised against women by various podcasts, blogs and forums that make up the anti-feminist movement, the so-called ‘manosphere’. These podcasts often give men tips about how to be an ‘alpha’ male and promote the idea that feminism has set back men's rights. They use a range of material to back up their claims, including statistics.
One such statistic was quoted in Adolescence and used to explain Jamie’s hatred towards women - that 80% of women are only attracted to 20% of men.
Where does this claim come from and is it true? We look into the alleged maths behind the misogyny.
Presenter/Producer: Lizzy McNeill
Series Producer: Tom Colls
Production Coordinator: Brenda Brown
Sound Mix: James Beard
Editor: Richard Vadon
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8:57
The pioneers of proof
Here are More or Less we’ll all about the facts. Every day we use a toolkit of known proofs to try and answer our listeners’ questions. But who do we have to thank for this toolkit and how did they set about proving the unknown?
Luckily for us mathematician Adam Kucharski has just written a book about this very topic called ‘Proof: The Uncertain Science of Certainty’.
Join us to hear more about some of the proof pioneers included in his book, from estimating the number of German tanks during WW2 to an unsung heroine of statistics.
Presenter: Tim Harford
Producer: Lizzy McNeill
Series Producer: Tom Colls
Editor: Richard Vadon
Production Co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
Sound Mix: Annie Gardiner
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8:59
How much is a human life worth?
What is the cash value of a human life? That’s the question at the heart of The Price of Life, a book by journalist Jenny Kleeman.
It turns out that there’s not just one price, there are many - depending on exactly how that life is being created, traded or destroyed.
Tim Harford talks to Jenny about what she discovered. Presenter: Tim Harford
Producer: Tom Colls
Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
Sound mix: Neil Churchill
Editor: Richard Vadon
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