More or Less: behind the statistics
Tim Harford and the More or Less team try to make sense of the statistics which surround us. From BBC Radio 4
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Episodes
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Lib Dem ambulance claims, affordable rent and goat meat
Wednesday, 7 June 2023
Did 120 people a day in England die last year whilst waiting for an ambulance?
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A short history of data
Saturday, 3 June 2023
How the evolution of data over centuries has shaped today’s world
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Food prices, net migration and beef about beef
Wednesday, 31 May 2023
Does Britain really have the most affordable food in Europe?
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NHS waiting lists, Voter ID and measuring divorce
Wednesday, 24 May 2023
Why a fall in those waiting longest for treatment in England isn't telling the whole story
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Detecting Bad Science with Data
Saturday, 20 May 2023
Uncovering fraud, malpractice and incompetence in science
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Do 94% of marriages in Portugal really end in divorce?
Saturday, 13 May 2023
We examine a social media post that claims to outline rates of divorce across the world.
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Why is life expectancy falling in the USA?
Saturday, 6 May 2023
We ask why average life expectancy in America is falling so quickly.
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How much is the Coronation crown worth?
Saturday, 29 April 2023
King Charles will be anointed with St Edward’s Crown – but what’s its true value?
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The Pentagon Leaks and Fox News
Saturday, 22 April 2023
Why did Tucker Carlson say far more Ukrainian troops than Russian are dying in the war?
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How accurate is baby's due date?
Saturday, 15 April 2023
This week we investigate how a baby's due date is calculated
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How to better understand and explain numbers
Saturday, 8 April 2023
Professor Oliver Johnson discusses the use of statistics in the pandemic and in life.
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A groundbreaking new proof for Pythagoras’ Theorem?
Saturday, 1 April 2023
Two high school students say they’ve discovered a new trigonometric proof for the theorem
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Covid vaccines and false claims about miscarriage
Saturday, 25 March 2023
We debunk viral claims that incorrectly link covid-19 vaccines with a risk of miscarriage
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Silicon Valley Bank: a very modern bank run
Saturday, 18 March 2023
How do bank runs happen?
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Do fungi kill three times as many people as malaria?
Saturday, 11 March 2023
We investigate the claim that fungal infections are a much bigger killer than malaria.
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Does your jewellery contain stolen Brink’s-Mat gold?
Saturday, 4 March 2023
We ask what happened to the 3 tonnes of pure gold after the infamous robbery of 1983
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UK vs European energy prices, falling excess deaths and is 5 grams of cocaine a lot?
Wednesday, 1 March 2023
We debunk a claim that the UK has by far the highest energy prices in Europe
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Do 29,000 coffee pods really go to landfill every minute?
Saturday, 25 February 2023
We explore the environmental consequences of our thirst for coffee
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Reoffending rates, Welsh taxes and the menopause
Wednesday, 22 February 2023
Tim Harford and team fact check a government claim about falling reoffending rates
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Florence Nightingale and how she visualised data
Saturday, 18 February 2023
Tim Harford discusses the power of the nurse statistician’s groundbreaking diagrams
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Nurses pay, ambulance times and forgotten female economists
Wednesday, 15 February 2023
We look at how much nurses in the UK are paid compared with those in Europe.
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Spreadsheet disasters
Saturday, 11 February 2023
The long and costly history of spreadsheet mistakes
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The IMF and the UK economy, NHS staff shortages and British vs English
Wednesday, 8 February 2023
How much should we trust the IMF’s forecasts for the UK?
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Hannah Fry on using shopping data to detect ovarian cancer
Saturday, 4 February 2023
The mathematician discusses a study that suggests loyalty card data could signal cancer.
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Brexit and trade, pensioner millionaires and Hannah Fry on loyalty cards and cancer
Wednesday, 1 February 2023
We examine a claim that the UK’s trade with the EU has increased since Brexit
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Are wild mammals only 4% of the mammal population?
Saturday, 28 January 2023
Are wild mammals only 4% of the mammal population?
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Coffee with the Chancellor, inflation measures, GP numbers and toilet paper
Wednesday, 25 January 2023
We fact check Jeremy Hunt’s pledge to halve inflation
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Does toilet paper cause 15% of global deforestation?
Saturday, 21 January 2023
We investigate the impact of our use of toilet paper on the world’s forests.
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Ambulance response times, teacher pay and Irish pubs
Wednesday, 18 January 2023
How long are people really waiting when they call 999 for an ambulance?
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How we shook the world of very large numbers
Saturday, 14 January 2023
How an edition of More or Less influenced the naming of enormous numbers
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