Breaking Benford
Radiolab13 Nov 2020

Breaking Benford

In the days after the US Presidential election was called for Joe Biden, many supporters of Donald Trump are crying foul. Voter fraud. And a key piece of evidence? A century-old quirk of math called Benford’s Law. We at Radiolab know Benford’s Law well, and have covered it before. In this political dispatch, Latif and Soren Sherlock their way through the precinct numbers to see if these claims hold up. Spoiler: they don’t. But the reason why is more interesting than you’d expect.

This episode was reported by Latif Nasser.

Support Radiolab by becoming a member today at Radiolab.org/donate.

Links:

Walter Mebane, “Inappropriate Applications of Benford’s Law Regularities to Some Data from the 2020 Presidential Election in the United States”


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(653)

Atomic Artifacts

Atomic Artifacts

Back in the 1950s, facing the threat of nuclear annihilation, federal officials sat down and pondered what American life would actually look like after an atomic attack. They faced a slew of practical...

24 Apr 202041min

The Cataclysm Sentence

The Cataclysm Sentence

One day in 1961, the famous physicist Richard Feynman stepped in front of a Caltech lecture hall and posed this question to a group of undergraduate students: “If, in some cataclysm, all of scientific...

18 Apr 20201h 6min

Dispatch 4: Six Feet

Dispatch 4: Six Feet

Since the onset of the pandemic, we exist in a constant state of calculation, trying to define our own personal bubble. We’ve all been given a simple rule: maintain six feet of distance between yourse...

11 Apr 202019min

Space

Space

One of the most consistent questions we get at the show is from parents who want to know which episodes are kid-friendly and which aren’t. So today, we're releasing a separate feed, Radiolab for Kids....

6 Apr 202058min

Dispatch 3: Shared Immunity

Dispatch 3: Shared Immunity

More than a million people have caught Covid-19, and tens of thousands have died. But thousands more have survived and recovered. A week or so ago (aka, what feels like ten years in corona time) produ...

3 Apr 202038min

Dispatch 2: Every Day is Ignaz Semmelweis Day

Dispatch 2: Every Day is Ignaz Semmelweis Day

It began with a tweet: “EVERY DAY IS IGNAZ SEMMELWEIS DAY.” Carl Zimmer — tweet author, acclaimed science writer and friend of the show — tells the story of a mysterious, deadly illness that struck 19...

1 Apr 202034min

Dispatch 1: Numbers

Dispatch 1: Numbers

In a recent Radiolab group huddle, with coronavirus unraveling around us, the team found themselves grappling with all the numbers connected to COVID-19. Our new found 6 foot bubbles of personal space...

27 Mars 202032min

The Other Latif: Episode 6

The Other Latif: Episode 6

The Other Latif Radiolab’s Latif Nasser always believed his name was unique, singular, completely his own. Until one day when he makes a bizarre and shocking discovery. He shares his name with another...

17 Mars 202050min

Populärt inom Vetenskap

dumma-manniskor
allt-du-velat-veta
p3-dystopia
kapitalet-en-podd-om-ekonomi
rss-vetenskapsradion
rss-vetenskapsradion-2
rss-ufobortom-rimligt-tvivel
bildningspodden
medicinvetarna
paranormalt-med-caroline-giertz
svd-nyhetsartiklar
det-morka-psyket
rss-spraket
sexet
vetenskapsradion
rss-ronden
pojkmottagningen
ufo-sverige
hacka-livet
rss-broccolipodden-en-podcast-som-inte-handlar-om-broccoli