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Academics critique a controversial study claiming e-cigarettes hinder smoking cessation efforts. Experts highlight flaws in data collection and questionable conclusions. Debate ensues over the paper's publication in a respected journal, with conflicting views on its accuracy and impact.

Exploring controversies surrounding e-cigarettes and smoking cessation, including critiques of a study claiming e-cigarettes hinder quitting. Analyzing the accuracy of politicians' statements through fact-checking. Investigating the impact of term-time holidays on GCSE results and debunking the correlation. Calculating the probability of a father and two children sharing the same birthday, revealing the rarity of this occurrence.

Have refugees caused a gender imbalance in Sweden? It has been reported that there are 123 boys for every 100 girls aged between 16 and 17 in Sweden. In China, the ratio is 117 boys to 100 girls. We explore if the numbers add up and why this might be.

Professor David Speigelhalter, an expert in statistics and probability, discusses the new alcohol guidelines and the complexities of alcohol research. The podcast also explores the challenges of accurately diagnosing sepsis, a statistician's investigations in South Carolina graveyards, and the gender imbalance among refugees in Sweden.

Exploring Oxfam's report on global inequality, discussing the concentration of wealth among a few individuals. Examining the complexities of measuring wealth disparity and proposing alternative metrics. Highlighting global trends in inequality and the reduction of extreme poverty, driven by economic growth in poorer nations.

Exploring global wealth inequality, the podcast questions if 62 billionaires owning as much as half the world is truly telling. They also discuss UK's educational initiatives, language proficiency among Muslim women, and the discovery of a massive prime number. Engaging children in mathematical activities on a bus adds a fun twist to the episode.

One of our 2015 ‘Numbers of the Year’ predictions might have come to pass. There is great excitement over rumours that one of the predictions Einstein made in his theory of General Relativity has finally been observed. But it’s not the first time it’s been reported that ‘gravitational waves’ have been discovered, and the last time proved to be an equipment test.What is the total number of possible tweets that could be created from 140 characters? In a recent programme Professor John Allen-Paulos told us that when you take into account all of the symbols available, the total number of possible tweets is Googol^2.8 (which is a 1 followed by 280 zeros.) But has he missed some options?

The podcast delves into debunking Health Secretary's claims about weekend stroke deaths, exploring premium bonds luck, dissecting election polling failures, unraveling misconceptions about alcohol-related A&E admissions, discussing Einstein's theory confirmation, and addressing Beijing's severe air pollution impact.

Author Farai Chideya, ex-footballer Graeme le Saux, and cricket stat Andrew Samson dive into topics like American creativity barriers, English Premier League tax impact, skepticism around sports figures, and unique cricket innings analysis.

Exploring flood defense spending disparities in England, debunking myths about Christmas Eve traffic, calculating tweet combinations, and comparing Storm Trooper toys to real-life soldiers.