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In this episode, April outs herself as being "bad at math;" but after researching, writing, and publishing this episode, she's taken a vow to become more numerate. You should, too! Listen to the episode to find out how.

Episode 46 Show Notes

Bio of British economist Geoffrey Crowther: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Crowther,_Baron_Crowther

A great article about the history of innumeracy (honestly I don't know what "captive board" refers to): https://www.captive.com/articles/how-numerate-is-your-board-the-case-for-captive-board-numeracy

Here's the link to the download for Paulos' book on innumeracy: https://jirsresourcecentre.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/innumeracy.pdf

The OECD's discussion of numeracy skills among Americans: https://www.oecd.org/en/topics/adult-numeracy-skills.html

How many students need to take remedial math classes? Lots of them. I disagree, however, with the idea that the cure for this is to no longer require algebra courses in higher education, although something definitely needs to change: https://washingtonmonthly.com/2026/02/26/almost-no-one-needs-college-algebra-anymore/

Martin Gardner's home page: https://martin-gardner.org/#:~:text=First%20and%20last%2C%20he%20was,people%20all%20over%20the%20world

Math anxiety explained: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6087017/

Discalculia: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/23949-dyscalculia

Gender differences in math performance: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2138794/

The crazy story of the GoFundMe project to build the wall: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Build_the_Wall

Why people misunderstand probability: https://untamedscience.com/blog/why-humans-are-bad-at-understanding-probability-and-what-science-says-about-it/

Diego Ribiero's excellent Medium article: https://neverforget-1975.medium.com/innumeracy-8b2112c5787b

A review of Innumeracy in the Wild: https://newbooksnetwork.com/innumeracy-in-the-wild

Plane vs. car accidents: https://www.fellermanlaw.com/blog/is-flying-safer-than-driving/

Career Addict article about becoming more numerate: https://www.careeraddict.com/develop-numerical-skills

Khan Academy website: www.khanacademy.org

Duolingo website: https://www.duolingo.com/math

Tablet Class Math YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/tabletclass

Financial Literacy Resource Directory: https://www.occ.gov/topics/consumers-and-communities/community-affairs/resource-directories/financial-literacy/index-financial-literacy-resource-directory.html

The UK's National Numeracy Challenge page: https://www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk/

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In this episode, April debunks some common misconceptions and discusses why they are so "sticky" in our brains.

Episode 45 Show Notes

Definition of "factoid"--https://www.oed.com/dictionary/factoid_n?tab=meaning_and_use#4942990

Drs Carroll and Vreeman's great book debunking lots of health myths: https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Cross-Your-Theyll-Stuck/dp/0312681879

AOA's article discussing strabismus (crossed eyes): https://www.aoa.org/healthy-eyes/eye-and-vision-conditions/strabismus

Great article debunking several misconceptions your parents probably believed were true: https://www.uchealth.org/today/10-myths-you-may-have-heard-from-your-parents/

The five-second rule, explained: https://www.sciencefriday.com/articles/the-origin-of-the-five-second-rule/

The Cleveland Clinic's article setting the record straight about body heat loss: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/body-heat-loss

The truth about chastity belts: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/medieval-chastity-belts-are-myth-180956341/

Why you should be more afraid of your tray table making you sick than the air on an airplane: https://www.aarp.org/travel/travel-tips/safety/avoid-airplane-germs/#:~:text=%7C%20An%20airplane%20offers%20the%20perfect,soggy%20tissues%20and%20dirty%20diapers

What "vomitorium" really means: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/purging-the-myth-of-the-vomitorium/

An in depth-discussion of the term "Xmas:" https://eu.news-journalonline.com/story/news/2023/12/06/xmas-vs-christmas-why-offensive-origins-history-greek-chi-means-christ/71810050007/

https://www.yourdictionary.com/articles/xmas-origin

An extremely deep dive into the psychology behind misconceptions: https://philpapers.org/rec/DELIMA-3

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While it's always been the case that "A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting its boots on," it's exponentially more true since the rise of the internet, particularly social media. In this episode, April looks at how and why misinformation and disinformation (which are not the same thing, btw) travel so quickly around our media landscape and affect the way we view the world.

Episode 44 Show Notes

(I have so many sources I can't put descriptions on them because I would go over the character limit, but they're generally in the order they are found in the episode):

https://theonion.com/planned-parenthood-opens-8-billion-abortionplex-1819572640/

https://www.freedomforum.org/misinformation-vs-disinformation/#:~:text=Misinformation%20is%20false%20information%20disseminated,intentional%2C%20whereas%20misinformation%20is%20unintentional.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/north-carolina-man-sentenced-four-year-prison-term-armed-assault-northwest-washington

https://campaignlegal.org/results-lawsuits-regarding-2020-elections

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/14/alex-jones-sandy-hook-settlement-supreme-court-appeal-00607361

https://shorensteincenter.org/research-initiative/the-hks-misinformation-review/

https://news.mit.edu/2018/study-twitter-false-news-travels-faster-true-stories-0308

https://som.yale.edu/story/2023/reimagining-social-media-news-sharing-research-finds-users-habits-key-safer-and-more#:~:text=One%20important%20aspect%20that%20contributes,professor%20of%20psychology%20and%20business.

https://www.imperva.com/resources/resource-library/reports/2024-bad-bot-report/

https://www.clrn.org/how-much-of-the-internet-is-ai-generated/

https://theconversation.com/how-ai-bots-spread-misinformation-online-and-undermine-democratic-politics-234915

https://www.heinz.cmu.edu/media/2018/October/troll-farms-and-fake-news-social-media-weaponization#:~:text=Russian%20%E2%80%9Ctroll%20farms%E2%80%9D%E2%80%94groups,%E2%80%94literally%E2%80%94divide%20and%20conquer.

https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/