3 November 2021, 18:30 – 19:30

Bristol-Myers Squibb Lecture Theatre

The current pandemic has emphasised the key role that statistics play in understanding what is going on around us.  But how reliable are all these numbers?  How much should we trust what we hear and read?  I will look at the way that statistics can be used to try and …

Michael Blastland returns to nudge Sir David out of his own podcast hosting chair and turn the tables, to interview Sir David Spiegelhalter and Dr Anthony Masters on what they've learnt about communicating the risks from Covid-19 after a year of writing regular weekly newspaper columns on the topic (now turned into book form).

Listen here: https://riskytalk.libsyn.com

(Or download from …

Politicians and civil servants are hungry for data to help design effective policy. How do we best collect and communicate this evidence - to support good governance and public accountability?

Joining David to explore interactive dashboards, misinformation and what’s not in the data are:

Professor John Aston - former chief scientific adviser to the Home Office, now Harding Professor of …

Please note this article dates from 7th April 2021. New data from the MHRA and falling incidence of COVID-19 in the UK mean that these illustrations are no longer current. We are trying to source the necessary data to be able to update them.

All medical treatments have potential harms as well as potential benefits, and it's important to be …

Statistics need care and context - but journalists are under pressure to craft engaging stories. Is there a way of doing both?

Joining David to explore how you turn data into a clear and compelling story are:

Caelainn Barr - Data Projects Editor at The Guardian

Tom Chivers - Science Editor at UnHerd and the author of How To Read …