Podcast Corner: Digging deep to explain the Covid statistics
Colm O'Regan's podcast delves into the statistics we hear around Covid.
Colm O'Regan, radio broadcaster, novelist, and Irish Examiner columnist, adds podcaster to his CV with The Function Room, a show about the maths behind the daily coronavirus numbers and the world at large.
It turns out that O'Regan, whose children pose the hardest questions such as when do numbers end, could have had civil engineer among his job titles instead. "Even though the maths was really hard and I wasn't very good at it, I got lost in the maths, sometimes in a bad way," he explains - but often in a good way, figuring out how gadgets, and the world at large, works.
And so, with Covid-19 "a grim teacher about modelling and statistics and risk analysis", O'Regan delves into the daily case numbers and looks for context by talking to experts such as statisticians, mathematical biologists, and astrophysicists. It's to the affable O'Regan's credit that the conversations he has with these academics are relatable, funny, and, crucially, interesting and informative. There are four episodes so far, with plenty of information with which to fill your copybooks.
Meanwhile, Alison Spittle, stand-up and seasoned podcast veteran with her eponymous show and regular appearances on the Guilty Feminist, started Wheel of Misfortune on BBC Sounds in the summer, alongside Scottish comedian Fern Brady.
It is riotously funny, as the pair utilise their relationship with the listeners to cajole them into sending in their best/worst stories on a given topic.
On 'Problem Parents', one listener's tale of their dad having sex with his marriage counsellor (!) leads to Brady pondering why her own divorced dad had introduced his new partner as a housekeeper. Meanwhile, every story Spittle tells of life in an Irish estate with her British dad, is hilarious.
The Nobody Zone, the acclaimed podcast series from the RTÉ Documentaries on One team, returns with two new episodes that seek to answer some of the lingering questions from the series.
Was Irish man Kieran Kelly telling the truth about his alleged multiple murders in London?
The makers promise to tackle that with lots of new information having come to light since the series aired earlier this year. Episode 7 is out November 24, with another due on December 1.
