More or Less

Tim Harford explains the numbers and statistics in the news and in life.

Radio 4,685 episodes

Episodes

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Brexit exports, cladding and are 1 in 5 disabled?
Are exports to the EU down since Brexit? Plus removing flammable building cladding.
10 Feb 2021,28 mins
Glasgow vs Rwanda
Could life expectancy in some parts of Glasgow be worse than in Rwanda?
06 Feb 2021,8 mins
Teachers, Test & Trace and Butterflies
Are teachers more at risk from Covid-19?
03 Feb 2021,28 mins
The Rapid Test Row
The huge row among scientists about rapid coronavirus tests.
30 Jan 2021,8 mins
Deaths at Home, Supermarket Infections and the Cobra Effect
Where are people catching Covid-19?
27 Jan 2021,28 mins
Deaths at home, supermarket infections and the Cobra effect
Where are people catching Covid-19?
27 Jan 2021,28 mins
Counting Covid’s impact on GDP
Does GDP tell us whose economies have suffered most during Covid?
23 Jan 2021,8 mins
Will the vaccine bring back normal life? GDP and Fishing
If we vaccinate the top four priority groups by February, how much will things change?
20 Jan 2021,27 mins
How effective is one dose of the vaccine?
Is the first dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine 52% or 90% effective?
14 Jan 2021,29 mins
Ants and Algorithms
David Sumpter describes the algorithms ruling the world
09 Jan 2021,8 mins
Numbers of the year: Part two
Tim Harford showcases statistics from 2020
08 Jan 2021,8 mins
Numbers of the year: Part one
Tim Harford showcases statistics from 2020
08 Jan 2021,8 mins
The economics of a Covid Christmas
What to consider when buying presents this year
19 Dec 2020,8 mins
QAnon: Child runaways and trafficking numbers debunked
Tackling statistics spread by conspiracy theorists.
11 Dec 2020,8 mins
Vaccines: how safe and who gets it?
Is it too soon to approve a vaccine for use? Plus choosing who goes first.
05 Dec 2020,8 mins
Tracking Covid 19
Which countries are doing well at keeping track of the virus? And which are not?
28 Nov 2020,9 mins
Inviting Covid for Dinner
If you go to a gathering of 25 people, what are the chances one of you has coronavirus?
21 Nov 2020,9 mins
Vaccine numbers
How much protection will a new Covid 19 vaccine give?
14 Nov 2020,8 mins
How deadly is Covid 19?
Why there isn’t one single death rate.
07 Nov 2020,8 mins
Asymptomatic Covid19 Cases
How many Covid19 cases are truly asymptomatic?
31 Oct 2020,8 mins
US election: facts or fiction
Tim Harford hears about the sheer volume of false claims made in the campaign.
24 Oct 2020,8 mins
Auction Theory - Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson
This year’s Nobel memorial prize winners for economics and their work on auction theory.
17 Oct 2020,8 mins
A short history of probability
Gamblers, millionaires and annuities
10 Oct 2020,8 mins
Spreadsheet snafu, ‘Long Covid’ quantified, and the birth of probability
Missing coronavirus case data, long-term symptoms, and a big mathematical moment.
07 Oct 2020,21 mins
“Record” Covid cases, Trump on the death count, and ant pheromones
Case counts in perspective, a suspect stat from the US, and life lessons from insects.
30 Sep 2020,28 mins
Covid curve queried, false positives, and the Queen’s head
How fast are coronavirus cases doubling? Plus testing confusion and a royal face-off.
23 Sep 2020,29 mins
The magical maths of pool testing
Could pool testing hold the key to ramping up Covid-19 testing?
19 Sep 2020,8 mins
Covid testing capacity, refugee numbers, and mascara
Confusing claims on lab capacity, the UK’s record on asylum, and the volume of eyelashes.
16 Sep 2020,28 mins
Covid cases rising, a guide to life’s risks, and racing jelly-fish
How worrying is the UK’s jump in cases? Plus balancing risks and the speed of jelly-fish.
09 Sep 2020,28 mins
Schools and coronavirus, test and trace, maths and reality
Evidence on Covid-19 risks in schools, data on contact tracing, and a philosophical query.
02 Sep 2020,27 mins