Don’t Panic: the Truth About Population
Thu Nov 7, 9-10pm, BBC2
The angle here is that Hans – like Corporal Jones from ‘Dad’s Army’ – doesn't want us to panic. Using the same jazzy visuals beloved of Peter Snow around election time, Rosling summons up scatter graphs with his hands like the world’s most boring ‘Harry Potter’ character. More informative however are the results of what Rosling calls ‘the great British ignorance survey’. It turns out that our views of average family sizes or literacy rates around the world are deeply out of step with the facts. Whatever could have warped our global outlook? (We’re looking at you here, Daily Mail).
It’s one of the few attention-grabbing ways that Rosling penetrates the issues at hand. But the bottom line is that stats are involved – so be warned.
Discover Time Out original video