In a world where communication is only as effective as its ‘truthiness’, numbers are vital to political success. But, as John Lanchester explains, some of the most influential stats in UK politics are ‘pants’. John joins Tom to discuss why GDP, immigration numbers and English Premier League odds are so frequently misleading, and how we can be better attuned to the misuse of data.
Read more by John Lanchester in the LRB, or listen to his reading of ‘The Case of Agatha Christie’.
