Marginalia

If it doesn’t fit anywhere else, it’s here.

Foolproof by Sander van der Linden

Rukmani and her family were driving to a temple in Tamil Nadu, India, in May 2018, when they stopped to ask for directions from an elderly local lady. It seemed a safe enough thing to do. The family hadn’t realised that almost every local with access to WhatsApp had...

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Talks about the Truth Detective

I'm giving some talks about my imminent book, The Truth Detective. Come along! Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford - 2pm on 1st April at the Oxford Literary Festival Oxford Maths Festival - 3pm on 14th May. Hay Festival - 26th May, 1pm. The Royal Institution - 23 September,...

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Signed copies of The Truth Detective

I've finally received a finished copy of my first children's book, The Truth Detective - and thanks to Ollie Mann's fabulous illustrations it's a thing of beauty - aimed at children aged 9-13, it's fun, it's feisty, and it contains statistical heroes and villains from...

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Three thoughts from a Mastodon newbie

I'm not the only one to have hopped from Twitter over to Mastodon in the past few days, I know. But perhaps these three thoughts will be useful to others. First: it's not that hard! Come on in, the water's lovely! I've seen quite a lot of scary-seeming stuff about the...

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I’m now on Mastodon

For those switching over to Mastodon - or experimenting with doing so - I'm at @TimHarford@econtwitter.net. Feel free to give me a friendly wave and a follow! I'm not sure how much I'll be active there, to be honest. Let's see. As always the best way to keep up with...

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Authenticity, by Alice Sherwood

I loved this book. Fast, funny start, and absolutely fizzing with interesting ideas from art, science, history, commerce, fashion and beyond. Sherwood tells a great story, but one of the things that delighted me was the sheer range of stories that I'd not encountered...

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My favourite nerd podcasts

Of course there is 99 Percent Invisible, home of @RomanMars and the beautiful nerds. And @HelenZaltzman 's The Allusionist. And @NoSuchThing As A Fish. But you knew about those three, right? I wanted to recommend a few less well-known podcasts (no shade intended -...

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How Music Works, by David Byrne

Having somehow let Talking Heads pass me by as a teenager, I've been discovering the joys of David Byrne recently. The Strong Songs podcast had a terrific analysis of the Stop Making Sense concert movie, which is astonishingly good on every level. The BBC's Soul Music...

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