Typical!

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BBC Radio 4 - Typical!

Discover untold stories about who and what is really typical in Britain today.

Think you’re the norm? Discover the surprising untold stories hiding in everyday statistics about who and what is really typical in Britain today.

What is really typical in Britain today? From sex to income, discover the surprising untold stories hiding in everyday statistics, and find out how our assumptions about the typical lead us astray.

Journalist Anna Lawlor explores the ways we can be blindsided by our dependence on the ‘average’ and asks instead, ‘What do most people do?’ Statistically, she reacquaints with the Mode - a measurement unloved, unused and under-reported in official statistics dominated by the Mean and Median.

What unfolds is a journey of discovery far more human than mathematical. It’s about what we earn, the homes we live in, the people surrounding us and the stories we tell ourselves. 

Threading through identity, belonging and cognitive shortcuts, Anna discovers how confronting evidence of the typical experience is to our core assumptions and stereotypes. Misjudging what is really typical has real-world ramifications - for us individually, for our society and for the economy.

Presented and Written by Anna Lawlor
Produced by Freddy Chick
Executive Producer Andy Smith 
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4

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