More or Less

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

Radio 4,684 episodes

Episodes

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How expensive is Italy's World Cup failure?
How much will Italy's surprise failure to make it to the world cup cost FIFA?
17 Nov 2017,8 mins
WS More or Less: Why Albums are Getting Longer
More or less finds out the numbers that are changing modern music.
12 Nov 2017,13 mins
WS More or Less: Do Nigerian lawmakers get $1.7m and do Yams cause twins?
Finding out if Nigerian politicians really get paid more than the American President.
05 Nov 2017,8 mins
WS More or Less: Novelists in numbers
Counting the favourite words of well-known authors: Stephen King, Hemingway and others
30 Oct 2017,8 mins
WS More or Less: Are US millennials more politically engaged online?
Did the 2016 US election galvanise young people to become more engaged in politics?
20 Oct 2017,8 mins
How Richard Thaler changed Economics
The behavioural economist who has inspired governments around the world.
13 Oct 2017,22 mins
WS More or Less: Kilobyte to Brontobyte
Naming the monster numbers - how the names of digital storage files evolved.
09 Oct 2017,8 mins
WS More or Less: Big polluters - ships versus cars
Do the largest ships emit as much pollution as all the cars in the world?
02 Oct 2017,9 mins
Uber; EU passports; counting domestic violence
Is Uber safe? The post Brexit dual nationality surge and measuring partner abuse.
29 Sep 2017,24 mins
WS More or Less: Sperm - Are we going extinct?
How much of a problem is falling sperm count?
25 Sep 2017,9 mins
Statistics abuse, tuition fees and beer in 1887
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is accused of mis-using official statistics.
22 Sep 2017,25 mins
WS More or Less: How to measure a Hurricane
What’s the best way to measure a hurricane?
15 Sep 2017,9 mins
Are Natural Disasters on the Rise?
Has the number of natural disasters really quadrupled in the last forty years?
15 Sep 2017,25 mins
WS More or Less: More Horses than Tanks?
Is the UK the only country with more horses than tanks in its army?
11 Sep 2017,9 mins
Electric cars, school-ready and feedback
Will we need more power stations? Plus, are children in Manchester ready for school?
08 Sep 2017,25 mins
One in 500 Year Storm
Experts say that Houston just suffered a one in 500 year storm but what does that mean?
04 Sep 2017,6 mins
Grenfell Tower's Death Toll
The difficulties of finding the true number of people who died in the fire.
01 Sep 2017,27 mins
Fantasy Football - How to win
Figuring out the best strategy as a wannabe team manager.
28 Aug 2017,10 mins
A-levels, drowning and dress sizes
Are boys getting more top A Level grades than girls? Plus why are dress sizes so weird?
25 Aug 2017,27 mins
The Trump Bump
President Trump has taken credit for a booming economy. But is that fair?
20 Aug 2017,10 mins
Are there 15,000 transgender people serving in the US military?
President Trump says transgender individuals cannot serve, but how many do already?
14 Aug 2017,8 mins
Why is Kenya’s election so expensive?
Why the cost of running the vote will be $25 a person.
14 Aug 2017,8 mins
More boys than girls in Sweden?
Exploring if an influx of teenage boys claiming asylum skewed the population’s sex ratio
31 Jul 2017,8 mins
Maryam Mirzakhani – A Genius of Maths
Celebrating the only woman to win the biggest prize in mathematics.
24 Jul 2017,9 mins
Calling the shots at Wimbledon
Using statistics to prove or disprove the wisdom of tennis.
17 Jul 2017,8 mins
Is Steph Curry cheap and how random is random?
Evaluating the biggest basketball contract in NBA history, plus Ryanair’s seat allocation
10 Jul 2017,8 mins
In Search of Woodall Primes
Stand-up mathematician Matt Parker explains the obscure Woodall prime numbers
30 Jun 2017,20 mins
How rare are deadly tower block fires?
How statistics can help us understand the tragic fire at London’s Grenfell Tower.
26 Jun 2017,8 mins
Trumpton Extra
Tribute to the Voice of 1960s British children’s TV series 'Trumpton', Brian Cant
21 Jun 2017,16 mins
Post-Election Special
The results of the general election are in - but what do they mean?
19 Jun 2017,29 mins