The chart with no axis
A viral chart claimed crime had tripled in one city. Siti finds the original data, explains what a missing axis and a changed definition hide, and gives four questions to ask any chart.
The miracle study that was eleven mice
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Show notes
Headline, press release, paper
A headline last week said a kitchen spice reverses memory loss. Siti follows the chain backwards, from the headline to the press release to the study itself, which turns out to involve eleven mice and no humans. This episode is about how to make that journey yourself.
- The three-click route from any health headline to the original paper
- What to look for first: how many, what species, who paid
- Why press offices exaggerate and journalists rarely check
- Relative risk versus absolute risk, with a one-in-a-thousand example
Listener segment: a teacher in Penang explains how she fell for a vaccine claim and what finally changed her mind.
Transcript
Welcome back to Wait, Is That True, I am Siti Nurhaliza Rahman. This week's claim came from a headline that about half of you have seen: a common kitchen spice reverses memory loss, scientists say. My mother sent it to me with three praying hands emojis. So I did what I used to do for a living. I followed the headline back to the press release, and the press release back to the study, and I read the study. It involved eleven mice. No people. The mice did do slightly better on a maze. I will show you how to make that same journey in three clicks, what to look for first, and the difference between relative and absolute risk, which is where most health headlines quietly cheat. You are listening on Witspeak Podcasts.
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