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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Shakespeare’s maths
Author Rob Eastaway on the numbers in Shakespeare’s writing
15 Jun 2024,9 mins
Leaflets, taxes, oil workers and classrooms
We look at bad graphs, oil rig extrapolations and pupil populations
12 Jun 2024,28 mins
Why medical error is not the third leading cause of death in the US
Investigating how many deaths are caused by mistakes by doctors and nurses
08 Jun 2024,9 mins
Debate, Reform, tax evasion and ants
Fact-checking the leaders' debate, tax evasion savings and the weight of ants
05 Jun 2024,30 mins
Data for India
Changing India in numbers: what type of country will the next administration lead?
01 Jun 2024,8 mins
UK growth, prisons and Swiftonomics
Is the UK economy growing faster than Germany, France and the US?
29 May 2024,28 mins
Is intermittent fasting going to kill you?
Investigating research which suggested time restricted eating increased the risk of death.
25 May 2024,10 mins
MP misconduct, NHS waiting lists and gold (gold)
Will it take 685 years to clear the NHS waiting list? Are 10% of MPs under investigation?
22 May 2024,29 mins
Are falling marriage rates causing happiness to fall in the US?
Investigating the relationship between matrimony and melancholy.
18 May 2024,9 mins
Is reading for pleasure the single biggest factor in how well a child does in life?
What research says about the connection between reading and success in later life.
11 May 2024,10 mins
Do one in five young Americans think the holocaust is a myth?
How problems with opt-in polling can lead to controversial headlines
04 May 2024,9 mins
Has Milei fixed Argentina’s inflation problem?
What falling inflation means for Milei’s austerity plan and economic “shock” measures
26 Apr 2024,8 mins
98%: Is misinformation being spread about a review of trans youth medicine?
Investigating claims that the Cass Review ignored valuable evidence
20 Apr 2024,11 mins
Tackling The Three-Body Problem
Is the physics in Netflix's new show accurate?
13 Apr 2024,8 mins
Is loneliness as bad for you as smoking?
The connection between being alone and an early death
06 Apr 2024,8 mins
Remembering Daniel Kahneman
Tim Harford on the great social scientist, who has died at the age of 90
30 Mar 2024,8 mins
Bonus episode: Daniel Kahneman on Thinking, Fast and Slow
In an episode of More or Less from 2012, Daniel Kahneman explains his big ideas.
28 Mar 2024,9 mins
What's happening to Arctic ice?
Arctic ice has been in long decline. Do recent fluctuations change the story?
25 Mar 2024,9 mins
Does the Russian government really spend 40% of its budget on the military?
We investigate how much the Russian state is spending on the war in Ukraine.
16 Mar 2024,8 mins
Is public speaking really our biggest fear?
Tim Harford investigates the claim that public speaking is people’s number one fear.
09 Mar 2024,8 mins
Ultramarathons: Are women faster than men?
Is it really true that in extremely long races, women run faster than men?
02 Mar 2024,8 mins
School spending, excess deaths and billions of animals at Heathrow
Is school funding at record levels? Did 6.5bn creatures come to the UK by plane last year?
28 Feb 2024,28 mins
NBA basketball: Is height more important than skill?
How much does a man’s height affect his chances of becoming an NBA basketball player?
24 Feb 2024,8 mins
Per capita GDP, MP claims and the entire EU budget
What does per capita GDP tell us? How much did the EU spend on covid recovery?
21 Feb 2024,28 mins
The digital ‘robots’ unlocking medical data
Ben Goldacre on OpenSAFELY, protecting patient privacy while analysing health data
17 Feb 2024,9 mins
Debt, students, shark and chips
What is the government’s rule on debt? Do 90% of chip shops sell shark and chips?
14 Feb 2024,28 mins
The global gender split in young people’s politics
Tim Harford investigates the growing political divergence between young men and women.
10 Feb 2024,8 mins
Council tax weirdness: Hartlepool vs Westminster
Council tax comparisons, migration calculations and the carbon footprint of home-grown veg
07 Feb 2024,28 mins
A pocket-size history of the calculator
Tim Harford explores the history of calculators from clockwork to the Kashio brothers
03 Feb 2024,9 mins
Measles, Traitors and the cost of Brexit
Is measles spreading? How much is Brexit costing? How good are they at traitor guessing?
31 Jan 2024,28 mins