More or Less: Behind the Stats

India’s election has been running since 19 April. With results imminent on 4th June, More or Less talks with Chennai based data communicator Rukmini S. She founded Data for India, a new website...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0j1jqj1

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said that the UK economy is growing faster than Germany, France and the US, while Labour says the typical household in the UK is worse off by £5,883 since 2019. Ar...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0j0t5yf

News stories earlier in the year appeared to suggest that time restricted eating – where you consume all your meals in an 8 hour time window – was associated with a 91% increase in the risk o...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0j04qd8

Is it going to take 685 years to clear NHS waiting lists in England? Are 10 per cent of MPs under investigation for sexual misconduct? How does gold effect the UKs export figures? What does...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0hzf1wg

It’s long been known that marriage is associated with happiness in survey data. But are falling marriage rates in the US dragging down the mood of the whole nation? We investigate the statist...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0hyps7n

If a child loves reading, how big a difference does that make to their future success? In a much-repeated claim, often sourced to a 2002 OECD report, it is suggested that it makes the biggest d...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0hx1drc

Polling by YouGov made headlines around the world when it suggested 20% of young adults in the US thought the holocaust was a myth. But polling experts at the Pew Research Centre thought the re...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0hvtlmh

Libertarian populist Javier Milei won the presidential election in Argentina on a promise austerity and economic “shock” measures for the ailing economy. Just a few months in, some are hail...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0htd5dp

The Cass Review is an independent report on the state of gender identity services for under-18s in England’s NHS. It found children had been let down by a lack of research and "remarkably wea...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0hry4wj

Netflix has a big new show named after and inspired by a classic problem in astrophysics, 'The Three Body Problem', where predicting the course and orbits of three or more celestial bodies proves...

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Is loneliness as bad for you as smoking 15 cigarettes per day? That’s the claim circulating on social media. We trace this stat back to its source and speak the scientist behind the original ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0hncdtk

Daniel Kahneman, a Nobel prize-winning behavioural economist and More or Less hero, has died at the age of 90. Tim Harford explains his ideas and influence. Presenter: Charlotte McDonald Series...

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In an episode of More or Less from 2012, Daniel Kahneman – the Nobel prize-winning behavioural economist who has died at the age of 90 – explains the big ideas in his book Thinking, Fast and ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0hmn3k8

The area of ice covering the Arctic ocean has been in a state of long decline, as climate change takes effect. But recent fluctuations in the ice have been seized on by climate change sceptics, w...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0hltprg

According to the head of the British military, the Russian government spends 40% of its budget on its war machine. But is it true? With the help of Professor Bettina Renz from Nottingham Universi...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0hjy95s

For over 50 years it’s been widely reported that speaking before a group is people’s number one fear. But is it really true? With the help of Dr Karen Kangas Dwyer, a former Professor in the ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0hhdyx9

As running races get longer, the gap between male and female competitors seems to close. Tim Harford and Lucy Proctor investigate the claim that when the race is 195 miles long, women overtake me...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0hg2764

Is school funding at record levels as the education secretary claimed? Why did the ONS change how they measure excess deaths? Is there a shoplifting epidemic? Did 6.5bn creatures arrive in the UK...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0hfgy9x

In the NBA, the US professional basketball league, the average player is a shade over 6ft 6 inches tall. So just how much does being very tall increase a man’s chances of becoming a professiona...

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What does per capita GDP tell us about the UK economy? Did the government spend £94bn helping with rising energy prices? Was Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg right about the cost of the EU covid recovery sch...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0hd42dt

Big medical datasets pose a serious problem. Thousands of patients’ health records are an enormous risk to personal privacy. But they also contain an enormous opportunity – they could show us...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0hcdw8r

What is the government’s fiscal rule on the national debt? Are international students stealing places from the UK’s young people? How much social housing is really being built? Do 90% of chip...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0hbt40l

In a surprising new trend, young men and women around the world are dividing by gender on their politics and ideologies. Whilst young women are becoming more liberal, young men are becoming more ...

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Do you really pay more in council tax on a semi in Hartlepool than a mansion in Westminster? How do the Office for National Statistics work out how much the UK population is going to grow by? How...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0h9cyx0

How was the calculator invented? How did it go from something the size of a table to something that could be carried in your pocket, the must-have gadget of the 1970’s and 80’s? Tim Harford...

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Was there really a 5% measles vaccination rate in Birmingham? Has Brexit already cost 6% of the UKs economy? For how long has crime been falling? And are contestants on the reality gameshow any g...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0h815h8

We investigate Oxfam’s claim that “since 2020, the five richest men in the world have seen their fortunes more than double, while almost five billion people have seen their wealth fall”. ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0h7crzz

Was Labour shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves wrong about the increase in the price of the weekly shop? What has the violence at sea done to the cost of shipping? Why did YouGov feel the need to cor...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0h6pnkc

We investigate how the vast possibilities in a game of chess compare to the vastness of the observable universe. Dr James Grime helps us understand the Shannon number – a famous figure on the...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0h621dv

We report on the state of the NHS as it struggles through a double wave of Covid and flu infections. We report on the state of the NHS as it struggles through a double wave of Covid and flu inf...

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How many adverts does the average person see in a day? If you search for this question online, the surprising answer is that we might see thousands – up to 10,000. However, the idea that we s...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0h4p2gb

Did London see a 2500% increase in gun crime? Are taxes in the UK the highest since the 1950s? Did the UK have high excess deaths from Covid, compared to the rest of Europe? Do three cats go miss...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0h40366

The ‘Ndrangheta are one of Italy’s biggest and most dangerous criminal gangs. One piece of research suggested they have an annual turnover of €53bn - more than McDonalds and Deutsche Bank c...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0h32dy9

Each year we ask some of our favourite statistically-minded people for their numbers of the year. Here they are - from the population of India to the results of a first division football match. ...

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We investigate a nutritional conundrum –can chocolate ever be better for you than salad? Today we dive in to one of our listener’s family debates and try to find an answer, with the help of n...

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How many young people are unemployed? How much debt does the government owe? How many people have died from Covid? These are questions that many governments will keep regularly updated. But in Ch...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0gzw3l2

Exercise is good for you in all kinds of ways, there is no medicine like it to prevent a whole range of illnesses. But for some endurance athletes, exercise also comes with increased risk of a he...

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Former Vice President Al Gore has said that climate change is predicted to lead to a billion climate refugees. But where do these predictions come from and are they realistic? We investigate the ...

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Veronica Carlin is a data scientist who loves romantic comedies. But she had a hunch about those movies, that there aren’t many women like her, women in STEM - science, technology, engineering ...

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We check out suspect stats on boozing Brits and fishy figures on fishing fleets in the South China Sea. With the help of Professor John Holmes from the University of Sheffield's School of Medic...

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Are we alone in the universe – and if not, how many other civilisations might there be? Remarkable images and data sent back to Earth by the James Webb telescope have given a new impetus to a w...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0grz4fl

The cultural importance of gold in India as a symbol of wealth, prosperity and safety is well known – but how much do Indians actually own? Reporter Perisha Kudhail looks at a widely circulated...

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Conventional histories of mathematics are dominated by well-known names like Pythagoras, Leibniz or Newton. But to concentrate solely on figures from Europe gives us only a patchwork understandin...

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Do you notice fewer insect splats on windscreens than you used to? There’s a study in the UK trying to measure this ‘windscreen phenomenon’, as it’s become known. We hear more about the s...

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Harvard professor Claudia Goldin has become only the third woman to win the Nobel Economics Prize for her groundbreaking research on women’s employment and pay. Tim Harford discusses her work s...

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Are almost half the words in the English language of French origin? It’s a claim one of our loyal listeners found surprising. Tim Harford talks to Dr Beth Malory, lecturer in English Linguistic...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0gjy078

John Campbell, a YouTuber whose posts get millions of views, has made claims about excess deaths and the Covid vaccine. We show why he's incorrect. Also will a much-vaunted new treatment for Alzh...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0gj8frd

The UK Prime Minister has announced several changes to key policies designed to help Britain reach net zero by 2050. In a major speech justifying what many see as a watering down of commitments, ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0ghk7dm

NHS consultants in England are striking over a pay offer of 6%. We look at whether they are paid an average of £120,000 a year and examine how much their pay compared to inflation has fallen. Al...

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After a listener emailed More or Less to ask whether world famous Venice or the slightly less famous English city of Birmingham has more canals, Daniel Gordon decided to investigate and widen the...

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Long: Housing minister Rachel Maclean claimed the government has built a record number of social rent homes. Tim and the team investigate. Following Lucy Letby’s conviction, we look at how sent...

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How can we navigate our lives in a more efficient and satisfactory way? It’s a question Professor David Sumpter is looking to answer in his new book, Four Ways of Thinking. He talks to Tim Harf...

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A BBC report quoted a study that said 1 in 4 men and 1 in 5 women in the UK will get skin cancer in their lifetime. Tim Harford and the team look into the detail. Also London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0gd5gfl

The construction of the Panama Canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through Central America is considered one of the greatest engineering feats of all time. It also caused enormous human...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0gcyz95

Covid related deaths are rising in England and Wales - but what do the figures really tell us? Also the UK's GDP during the pandemic has been revised upwards. Tim Harford and team ask why and dis...

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On this week’s episode of More or Less we interrogate a widely circulated myth relating to how much of our brain power we can access and engage. Ever heard someone say, “You know we can only ...

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Can you really buy an electric car for everybody in the UK for the cost of HS2? That claim was recently made on Radio 4's Broadcasting House programme. Also we look at a viral claim that 1 in 73 ...

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Water used to cool nuclear reactors at the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan is being released into the Pacific Ocean by Japanese authorities. The move has sparked protests and conc...

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Butterflies are a much-loved feature of summer in many parts of the world. But how many of them are there on Earth? That’s the question a young listener to More or Less wanted an answer to �...

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Football competitions are kicking off all around Europe in the coming days and weeks, including the world’s most watched division: The English Premier League. We might make our predictions on w...

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Reports on heatwaves across the globe have dominated our newsfeeds over the last few weeks, with temperatures said to have soared over the 40C mark in many parts of Europe. But across social medi...

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Recent global headlines have been dominated by record temperatures across Europe, North America and parts of Asia. As extreme weather events have happened for decades, how are links to climate ch...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0g3k4c1

Official information on the numbers of dead and injured in the Ukraine war has been in short supply. Little has come from either the Ukrainian or Russian sides, with estimates from western govern...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0g26yfx

Japan has one of the highest rates of life expectancy and one of the lowest birth rates. But does that mean that a widely circulated claim – that more nappies aimed at adults are sold in Japan ...

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Various claims have been made about how much water is used in the production of a pair of jeans, that cornerstone of casual clothing. With growing worries over the environmental impact of denim p...

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More than 1.2 million people came into the country to stay for more than 12 months in 2022. As only 560,000 left the country, this means net migration is at an all-time high. Both the Prime Minis...

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An article on the UK’s Telegraph newspaper website claimed that there would be just 6 grandchildren for every 100 South Koreans today. We ask whether that figure is correct and look at why Sout...

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One of Rishi Sunak's five priorities for 2023 is to halve inflation. Given prices are still rising, we discuss whether it's going be possible. Also does Scotland have more tidal power capacity th...

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‘This episode was updated on 26th June to remove an error in how we quantified 32 trillion dollars’ The level of US government debt has just surpassed 32 trillion dollars. Negotiations over r...

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Mortgage rates have risen to 6%. But are things as bad as when rates were much higher in the 1970s and 80s? We look at just how much pain today's rises mean. Also will there be just 6 grandchildr...

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A new study by researchers at Oxford University has linked better exam results at school with being breastfed as a baby. But how much faith can we put in the findings? Tim Harford speaks to Emily...

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There's been a lot of coverage about the risks electric cars may pose to infrastructure like bridges and car parks. We look at how much heavier EVs are. Plus we look at a new study that suggests ...

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How prevalent is hunger and malnutrition in India? With Indian data journalist Rukmini S, we interrogate recent claims that hunger has worsened dramatically in recent years, and explore how malnu...

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The Liberal Democrats say 120 people a day in England died last year whilst waiting for an ambulance. We investigate whether the claim stands up to scrutiny. Also Rishi Sunak's pandemic-era schem...

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We live in a world where data is everywhere – informing if not governing our lives. But this wealth of data didn’t just turn up overnight. Tim Harford talks to academics Chris Wiggins and Mat...

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Does Britain really have the most affordable food in Europe? That's a recent claim of the President of the National Farmers' Union. We ask if it's true and look in detail at what is driving risin...

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What’s the definition of being single – and how easy is it to measure? There’s a perception that young people today are more single – in a relationship sense - than ever, and dating apps ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0fqq1l6

The government has trumpeted a big fall in those waiting over 18 months for hospital treatment in England. But total numbers on waiting lists have hit a new high. Also we look at how much impact ...

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For more than a decade there’ve been longstanding concerns about the credibility and reliability of science research. This “bad science” has often stemmed from poor data practice or worse. ...

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Portugal has a divorce rate of 94% and India just 1%, according to a social media post about divorce in 33 countries that has gone viral. But how are these figures calculated and what do they rea...

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The average life expectancy of Americans is shrinking at an alarming rate. Between 2019 and 2021, a staggering 2.7 years has been shaved off, leaving the revised figure at 76.1 years - the lowe...

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Consisting of 2 kilograms of gold and 444 gemstones, the iconic St Edward’s Crown will play a central role in the coronation of King Charles III, as it has for many of his predecessors. There h...

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The leaking of US intelligence documents and the arrest of a 21 year old airman who authorities believe to be responsible has caused a media and diplomatic storm. We look at how the leaks were re...

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Paul Connolly is expecting his second child, and the due date is just under two weeks away. In hopes of easing his anxiety every time the phone rings , he is joined by Professor Asma Khalil, Prof...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0fgs1py

The covid-19 pandemic has brought the use of statistics into everyday life in a way never seen before. Tim Harford talks to Professor Oliver Johnson, author of Numbercrunch: A Mathematician’s T...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0ff14xc

Pythagoras’ Theorem, explaining the relationship between the three sides of a right angled triangle, is one of the most famous in maths. It’s been studied and put to use for thousands of year...

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Misinformation around covid-19 and vaccines is rife and as the data available increases, so do often misleading and even wild claims. This week More or Less examines multiple viral claims that th...

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After the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank sent jitters through the financial system, Duncan Weldon explains how it’s just the latest in the long history of bank runs. He talks to financial an...

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The smash hit TV show and video game ‘The Last of Us’ has spawned lots of curiosity about how worried we should be about the relatively unknown world of fungi. A figure in a recent BBC online...

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The Brink’s-Mat robbery remains to this day one of Britain’s biggest and most audacious heists. Six armed men stole diamonds, cash and three tonnes of gold bullion from a warehouse close to L...

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Does the UK really have by far the highest domestic energy bills in Europe? We debunk a viral social media claim suggesting just that. Also the number of excess deaths has been falling in the UK ...

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How environmentally destructive is our thirst for coffee? Tim and the team investigate a claim that 29,000 coffee pods end up in landfill globally every minute with the help of Dr Ying Jiang, a s...

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The Justice Secretary Dominic Raab says crime reoffending rates in England and Wales have fallen significantly since the Conservatives came to power. We ask whether he’s right and look more bro...

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Florence Nightingale became one of the icons of Victorian Britain for her work as a nurse during the Crimean War and the public health improvements she successfully campaigned for later on. Tim H...

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How much do nurses in the UK earn compared with those elsewhere in Europe? Tim Harford and the team investigate. Also we have an update on ambulance response times, which were the worst on record...

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The UK’s Office for National Statistics recently published some dramatically incorrect data - all because of a spreadsheet slip-up. But that’s just the most recent in a long list of times whe...

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The International Monetary Fund says the UK will be the only major economy to shrink in size this year. We ask how much faith we should put in the IMF’s forecasts and look at some of the big ec...

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A new study led by Imperial College in London suggests that data from loyalty card spending in supermarkets and pharmacies could be used as a way of detecting ovarian cancer much earlier. Tim Har...

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Has trade with the EU increased since Britain left the European Union? Tim Harford and the team look at a claim suggesting just that. There’s a row over the renaming of a street in North London...

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A widely respected and cited study says humans and livestock account for 96% of all mammals on Earth. We ask how the study was carried out and what hope there might be for the future. Plus we ans...

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Jeremy Hunt has pledged in a new social media video to halve the UK’s high rate of inflation. Tim Harford and the team fact check the Chancellor’s claims. Also – CPI, CPIH, RPI – which me...

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A British company has claimed that the production and use of toilet paper is responsible for 15% of deforestation globally. We investigate the claim and ask what the true environmental cost of to...

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How long are people really waiting when they call 999 for an ambulance? Tim Harford and the team examine in detail the sheer scale of delays in responding to emergency calls. We also ask why the ...

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How did an edition of More or Less from 2017 end up influencing the choice of official names for extremely large numbers? We tell the tale of how an interview between presenter Tim Harford and ma...

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Tim Harford and the team return for a new series of the number crunching show. With the huge pressures facing the NHS we ask how many people may be dying because of treatment delays in A&E. We he...

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When the pandemic took hold, the Chinese government imposed a zero-Covid policy that aimed to contain the virus through mass-testing and strict lockdowns. But early in December, amidst widespre...

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It's possible that the question we focus on in this week's programme occurred to you as you were sipping on an Irish Coffee in Bubbles O'Leary's in Kampala, Uganda: Where can the most Irish pubs ...

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Tim Harford discusses the numbers that help explain some of the biggest stories of the year, including the war in Ukraine, soaring inflation and a breakthrough for women’s football, with the he...

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The World Cup in Qatar is drawing to a close. Penalties and penalty shootouts have provided some of the biggest moments of the tournament. We analyse penalty data from the World Cup and ask what ...

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Why are good data so important to policymakers – whether they know it or not – and what happens when good data is missing? Presenter Tim Harford speaks to Georgina Sturge, a statistician at t...

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Qatar has been fiercely criticised over its treatment of migrant workers, many of whom have been employed to build stadiums and other infrastructure in preparation for the 2022 World Cup. We look...

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Somalia is experiencing its worst drought for 40 years and there are warnings that millions of people need food assistance urgently. The UN body tasked with classifying levels of food security ha...

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As the FIFA World Cup in Qatar gets underway, and the newly built stadia, lavish hotels and transport networks come to life, More or Less investigates just how much the Gulf nation has spent in t...

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Tim Harford brings you the first episode of his new podcast, Understand the Economy. If you’ve been missing his dulcet tones, here’s a chance for you to have a preview of Tim Harford’s late...

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How can journalists improve their use of statistics in their reporting of the world around us? It’s a question US academics John Bailer and Rosemary Pennington tackle in their new book Statisti...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0df8p97

Lula Da Silva has pledged “zero deforestation” in the Amazon as he prepares to become Brazil’s next president, in contrast to the policies of outgoing leader Jair Bolsonaro under whom the d...

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This week, China released its third quarter GDP figure. At 3.9%, its rate of economic growth is better than many analysts expected, but still significantly short of the 5.5% target the Chinese go...

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A US government lawyer recently caused a stir in the publishing world when he said during a high profile legal trial that half of all new trade titles – books aimed at a general audience - sell...

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The former head of the US Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke is named as one of three winners of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his work on how banking collapses were a major factor in t...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0d70v56

A cheating scandal is currently rocking the world of chess, as World Champion Magnus Carlsen accuses the young American Hans Niemann of cheating. A bombshell new report has said that Niemann is l...

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A survey from a mental health charity suggested that more than a third of British teenagers had been prescribed antidepressants. We debunk the figure. Also we investigate a tweet from the UK Trea...

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This week NASA slammed a spacecraft into an asteroid in the hope of diverting its course. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test or DART mission will help scientists understand how easy it would be...

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The value of the pound against other currencies has been incredibly volatile ever since the Chancellor’s ‘mini-budget’. We ask how much we should worry and look at how much taxes will reall...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0d30fzj

Ukraine has reportedly recaptured nearly 10,000 square kilometres of territory that had been occupied by Russia. We ask where the numbers come from and what they mean. Plus with Norway supplantin...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0d27z6m

Ukraine has reportedly recaptured nearly 10,000 square kilometres of territory that had been occupied by Russia. We ask where the numbers come from, what they mean and why everyone is comparing t...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0d21rl8

Is fashion really the second most polluting industry after oil and does it account for 10% of greenhouse gas emissions? Sustainable fashion journalist Alden Wicker does some fashion fact checking...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0d0vmvk

One of Liz Truss's first acts as Prime Minister was to announce a giant plan to protect domestic energy users from huge rises in wholesale gas and electricity costs, meaning a typical household w...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0d05rlv

Pakistan is battling a huge natural disaster as a result of heavy monsoon rains. It’s been widely reported that a third of the country is under water. But can that really be the case? Featuring...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0czg85z

Devastating floods have wreaked havoc across Pakistan after the heaviest monsoon rains in at least a decade. But is a third of the country really under water, as has been claimed? Also why do ele...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0cysfdh

Daily advances in the technology of artificial intelligence may leave humans playing catch-up – but in at least one area we can still retain an edge, mathematics. However it’ll require change...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0cy2fnr

With energy prices in the UK spiralling, Tim Harford asks whether there is an easy and realistic way for bills to be cut. Also the number of excess deaths in the UK is rising – we’ll hear how...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0cx9mwb

When the official figures were announced in Kenya’s presidential election, it looked like the total percentage share of the vote for each candidate came to more than 100%. As this should not be...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0cwpwv0

Videos on TikTok have been claiming that so-called “natural” birth control methods can be 99% effective. We examine what we really know, and how we know it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0cv3hsh

The opinion polling industry’s reputation has taken a battering in recent years, as high profile slip-ups in the US presidential election exposed frailties. So should we write them off? Not acc...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0cshnr1

Ahead of the opening of the new season of the English Premier League, baseless rumours and dodgy statistics circulating online have implied that Liverpool FC use asthma medication to enhance thei...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0crdjjv

Why do we measure the world around us in the way we do? There is a rich history to be explored - from measuring the depth of the Nile in Ancient Egypt to the central role the French played in dev...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0cpy1p3

US athlete Devon Allen has made global headlines this week after being disqualified from the 110m hurdles final at the World Athletics Championship in Eugene, Oregon. He was judged to have left t...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0cnjn16

In his State of the Nation address in early June 2022, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni said that Uganda was on the cusp of becoming a middle income country. That’s been contradicted by Wor...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0cm54cq

Various claims have been made about how much water is used in the production of a pair of jeans, that cornerstone of casual clothing. With growing worries over the environmental impact of denim p...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0ckr93c

Earlier this month, the US Supreme Court overturned its 1973 ruling on Roe vs Wade - the case which guaranteed a constitutional right to a legal abortion across the US, sparking heated protests a...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0cjck5x

Covid cases are rising once again – how accurately are official figures picking up the new wave and how worried we should be? We discuss inflationary spirals and how much wage and pension incre...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0chnmwv

After beating a plagiarism claim in court, musician Ed Sheeran said that musical coincidences were inevitable with only 12 notes to choose from… but what do the numbers say? Mathematician and c...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0cgzk0q

Do rail workers really earn £13,000 a year more than nurses? As rail strikes severely hit services we look at some of the claims being made around pay – and explain how you can measure average...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0cgc38p

Magazine articles and advice columns are commonly littered with spurious statistics about how much sex we’re having. So how much do we really know – and what are the difficulties of collectin...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0cfn7pv

The former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt says that the cost of maternity litigation claims in England is now more than the cost of salaries for maternity nurses and doctors. We crunch the numbers ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0cdwvp7

British mathematics professor and broadcaster Hannah Fry has spent many years trying to explain the world through numbers. But when she was diagnosed with cervical cancer she embarked on a new mi...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0cd7h81

The UK has a low unemployment rate, and a large number of people who are not working right now – we look at how both of these are true with the help of Chris Giles from the FT and Louise Murphy...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0cchnzh

In the 1980s, Dr Marcia Herman-Giddens was one of the first people to notice that girls were starting puberty earlier than expected. We talk to Dr Marcia Herman-Giddens and Dr Louise Greenspan ab...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0cbk9kq

Is the government really spending a billion pounds on the Jubilee, as some have claimed? We investigate some of the facts and figures around this week’s commemorations. We also ask why energy b...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0cbb52s

Nobel memorial prize winner Daniel Kahneman is one of the world’s most famous psychologists, known particularly for his work identifying the role of cognitive bias in everyday decision making. ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0c9jkgw

Some recent, and surprising, estimates from the World Health Organisation suggested that the UK fared better than Germany in the pandemic. But did they get it right? At Eurovision this year an ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0c8sm2z

In the fight against global warming we’re constantly told to do our bit to reduce green house gas emissions. However, a claim circulating that just ‘100 companies are responsible for 71% of g...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0c82wcp

The World Health Organisation recently released some new estimates of the global death toll of the pandemic. But the figures for a few countries have caused controversy. Tim Harford speaks to Pro...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0c6nxh6

Although the climate-changing effects of Carbon Dioxide emissions are well known, they are changing our oceans too, making them more acidic. But how much? Tim Harford explores the statistical q...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0c5bs31

When much of Europe went into lockdown at the start of pandemic, Sweden’s lighter touch strategy got lots of attention. Fans of the approach say it was a huge success that showed lockdowns were...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0c41q17

How do you go about understanding a country with a population as diverse as it is vast? Data journalist Rukmini S is the author of Whole Numbers and Half Truths: What Data Can and Cannot Tell U...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0c2qqvc

Have you ever looked at a numerical claim and thought ‘what on earth does that mean?’ Complex numbers are often badly communicated, making it difficult for the public to appreciate what they ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0c1bhd7

Could an explosion in tea-drinking explain a decline in deaths in England during the industrial revolution? Professor Francisca Antman, an economist at the University of Colorado Boulder believes...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0c07vm9

As the Russian Invasion of Ukraine continues, the effects ripple around the rest of the world. One concern involves the wheat harvest. There have been claims that Ukraine and Russia supply 25% of...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0bywvrw

The War in Ukraine has reminded the world how easily conflict might escalate into a Nuclear War. But according to Professor Barry Nalebuff of Yale University, good strategy and negotiating can he...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0bw7817

As the war in Ukraine continues, Reuters has reported that some 2.3 million people have been displaced. So far many of those have sought refuge in neighbouring countries. The UN estimates that as...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0btx0dc

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we take a look at some of the numbers coming out of the conflict and ask how to know which information you can trust during a war. We also investigate th...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0bsk11h

How reliable are the figures coming out of the conflict in Ukraine? Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we consider claims about the numbers of troops involved, people killed, and planes ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0brwkcl

Lockdown. A word we’ve all become overly familiar with over the past two years. Lockdowns were intended to protect people, especially societies most vulnerable, from the risks associated with c...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0br6v3j

Jabs for five to 11-year-olds, lockdown effectiveness, and being green on two wheels. Governments across the UK have decided to offer Covid vaccinations to primary school-aged children. What wa...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0bql9vh

Covid vaccines will be offered to all children across the UK between the ages of 5 and 12 - some months after the same decision in countries such as Italy and Germany. It is a topic that has caus...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0bpr9yl

How likely are children to end up in hospital because of Covid? And how many have died? We scrutinise some scary stats that have been circulating on social and examine what excess deaths figure...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0bp9c2m

In early December 2021 a member of Penn University Women’s Swim Team caused a stir. Lia Thomas not only won three events but she had the fastest time in elite college swimming in the country in...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0bnmpld

Boris Johnson has been ticked off for misleading Parliament on jobs and on crime. He claimed that the number of people in employment has been rising - when it’s been falling. And he made a cl...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0bmz69n

Have you given up on your New Year’s resolution yet? Every year many of us make the promise to become better, shinier, more accomplished versions of ourselves by the same time next year. It’s...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0bm79m2

Conservative politicians have taken to the airwaves to tell us to forget the parties, and just look at the economic growth - but is the UK really growing faster than other leading economies? Th...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0bll75j

Under lockdown, couples were destined to find themselves closer than ever before, but despite what you’d think – this didn’t result in a higher birth rate. In fact in developed countries ac...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0bkz4vp

Food writer Jack Monroe sparked national debate this week when she tweeted about food price hikes on the cheapest goods in supermarkets - but does inflation really hit low income households harde...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0bk8lmz

In early January several newspapers ran article claiming that ‘women are 32% more likely to die after operation by male surgeon. If true, this is a terrifying figure but is all as it seems? We ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0bjmnh8

Are women 32% more likely to die after operation by a male surgeon? Headlines asserting this were shared across social media recently - but the truth is a bit more complicated. We compare the p...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0bhzbyj

In December, Republican politician Lauren Boebert tweeted the claim that ‘365,348 children went missing in 2020’. This is a shocking statistic but is it true and does it mean what we think it...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0bhbvmv

The pandemic seems to be entering a new phase as Omicron has taken hold. Is it milder? And how might we make decisions based on the latest data? Predictions that lockdowns might lead to a baby ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0bgn2rw

In October of last year popular Youtubers Mark Rober and the enigmatically named Mr Beast pledged to remove 30 million pounds of plastic from the Ocean – if they could raise $30 million dollars...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0bfy1l7

In recent years population growth has slowed rapidly. Experts believe that the global population will stabilise somewhere around 11 billion people. But just because global population is stabilisi...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0bck1pn

A guide to the most concerning, striking and downright extraordinary numbers of 2021. Tim Harford asks three More or Less interviewees about their most significant and memorable figure over the p...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0bcjt8x

Christmas, the most wonderful time of the year – if you have something to sell that is. Every year we waste hundreds of dollars on gifts that aren’t appreciated, but how can you ensure that t...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0bbprh9

Immunity to Covid-19. We've all been hoping to develop it ever since the virus emerged two years ago. Since then, a race to vaccinate the world has begun in earnest, with many countries rolling o...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0b98hzl

Masks, you may not have worn them before 2020 but now we’re all at it. With the rise of the Omicron variant countries have scrambled to reintroduce public health policies, among them mask weari...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0b7zzdr

Vaccines are the best way to stop deaths and serious cases related to covid19, this is an irrefutable fact. However, recent ONS data seems to show that vaccinated people had a higher all cause de...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0b6j20n

Nowadays if you are an academic and who needs some participants for a study you go online, but over the summer academic studies were inundated with participants who all happened to be teenage gir...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0b55wc2

A French minister told people to eat fewer croissants at this year’s COP26 summit, after the menu said the carbon cost of the pastry was higher than that of a bacon roll, even if it was made wi...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0b3yd9y

When Professor Martin Schweinsberg found that he was consistently reaching different conclusions to his peers, even with the same data, he wondered if he was incompetent. So he set up an experime...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0b2hfhh

Who is counting, why are they counting, and what are they are counting? These three questions are important to ask when trying to understand numbers, according to Deborah Stone, author of Countin...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0b14prk

Netflix has announced that South Korean survival drama Squid Game is its most popular series ever. We scrutinise the statistics behind the claim, and look at the odds of surviving one of the show...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09zsls9

Do immigrants drive down wages, do minimum wage increases reduce job opportunities, and do people who did well in school earn more money? These are questions that the winners of the 2021 Nobel Me...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09ytg3s

A chat with More or Less's founding producer and presenter plus the first episode in full. Tim talks to Michael Blastland and Sir Andrew Dilnot about how More or Less came into being (after sever...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09xwwtr

A look back at our origins, plus the usual mix of numerical nous and statistical savvy. It’s two decades since More or Less first beamed arithmetic into the unsuspecting ears of Radio 4 liste...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09xthjw

Tim Harford talks to Planet Money’s Stacey Vanek Smith about the gender pay gap in the US and the UK – and how Renaissance writer, Machiavelli might be an unlikely source of inspiration for w...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09xjm8m

Is our electricity extra expensive and our insulation inadequate? And a tale of tumbling trees. Internet infographics suggest we’re paying way more for our energy than countries in the EU. Ar...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09x66st

A coronavirus check-in, our daily mask use measured, and a minister's claim on the universal credit cut questioned. There was a time when the latest Covid statistics were headline news daily, b...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09wl3rz

Tim Harford talks to Jordan Ellenberg, professor of mathematics at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, about the pandemic, geometry and drinking straws. (multi-coloured straws/Getty images)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09w8sr2

New data appears to show that double vaxxed people between 40 and 79 are getting Covid at higher rates than people who are unvaccinated, but that's not the case. It's all down to how Public Healt...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09vyy6h

Should we be worried that the protection against Covid-19 provided by the vaccines is going down? Could it really be the case that eating a hot dog takes 36 minutes from your life? The Bank of En...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09v9z48

American President Joe Biden has said the war in Afghanistan cost more than $2 trillion. Todd Harrison, a senior fellow at the Centre for Strategic International Studies helps us unpick what’s ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09v01z0

English Covid restrictions were lifted in July. Back then, some predicted that there could be as many as 6,000 hospital admissions a day by the following month. So, what happened? The Metropoli...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09tpk7c

Writer Julia Galef talks to Tim Harford about the role of numbers in helping us think more rationally, and what Star Trek’s Mr Spock can teach us about making predictions. Julia is author of Th...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09tcx2d

Dr Robert Moses, a pioneer in African-American civil rights and mathematics education has died at the age of 86. Charmaine Cozier looks at an extraordinary life, from the courthouses of 1960s Mis...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09srn2l

A year later than planned, The Tokyo Olympics, have now finished. Thousands of athletes have competed in events that few thought might go ahead and there’s been record success. This week we t...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09sbtzz

As some countries rapidly roll out vaccination programmes, there have been concerns that increases in infection rates amongst vaccinated groups mean vaccines are less effective than we hoped, esp...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09rkn2z

June saw a brutal heatwave shatter a number of all-time temperature records in Canada and the Northwest of the USA. But when can we attribute new records to man-made climate change, rather than n...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09qvxd4

The Delta Variant was first identified in India, fuelling a huge wave of cases and deaths. It is now spreading around the world, becoming the most dominant variant in many countries. This week we...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09q88tl

On the day the Government plans to drop the remaining Covid restirictions, Tim Harford and the More or Less team try to work out how long cases will continue to rise and whether we can be sure th...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09pnw4q

In recent months, Twitter has rarely been out of the headlines in Nigeria. After it deleted a tweet by the country’s president, the Nigerian government responded by banning it altogether. In th...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09nxx4w

To some on the internet, the cheap anti-parasitic drug Ivermectin is a potential wonder drug that could dramatically change the global fight against Covid-19. It has passionate proponents, from a...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09n6yrd

The UK’s Covid cases are still rising and Scotland is being hit particularly hard - so are we speeding up our vaccination programme in response? Will many of the UK’s coastal towns, not to ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09mx1lw

This year sees the delayed 400th anniversary celebrations of the Mayflower voyage, an event seen as a crucial moment in the history of the United States. But how many people alive today can trace...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09mkcl4

The Delta variant is behind the big increase in the number of new Covid 19 cases in the UK since April. We take a look at what impact vaccines have had on infections, hospitalisations and deaths....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09m8lxv

To find out where a virus comes from, researchers compare it to other viruses to try to trace its origin. This leads to claims like SARS-CoV-2 is 91 or even 96% similar to other known viruses. Bu...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09lxjcc

The official number of deaths attributed to Covid 19 around the world in the whole of 2020 is 1.88 million. The global toll this year surpassed this figure on 11th of June. We look at how things ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09lkz5p

Steven Johnson, author of Extra Life, tells the fascinating history of life expectancy, and the extraordinary achievements of the last century, in which it has practically doubled. It’s a sto...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09l7ld7

Covid cases are rising again in the UK – should we be worried about a third wave? Tim Harford speaks to David Spiegelhalter, Winton Professor of Risk at the University of Cambridge. How safe ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09kxjnc

Health Minister Matt Hancock recently told the House of Commons that: “The number of vaccinations happening in Bolton right now is phenomenal - tens of thousands every single day.” We explain...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09k80jj

Popular Netflix documentary Seaspiracy has sparked a lot of debate recently, including some controversy over some of the claims the documentary makes and the numbers behind them. One of the most ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09jytpx

Wales has given one vaccination dose against Covid 19 to a larger proportion of their population than any other country except a couple of super tiny ones. They’ve given one vaccine dose to ove...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09jlfpl

The Recovery Trial, a nation-wide clinical study in the UK, helped identify treatments for Covid 19 in the early months of the pandemic. Tim Harford speaks to Professor Martin Landray of Oxford U...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09j8lvj

Tim Harford interviews Milo Beckman - a young mathematician, still in his twenties, who has written a book called ‘Math without Numbers’. Milo explains why he wanted to strip out digits to ma...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09hlzz3

Mexico City’s official Covid 19 death toll did not seem to reflect the full extent of the crisis that hit the country in the spring of 2020 - this is according to Laurianne Despeghel and Mario ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09gyy63

Bayes’ Rule has been used in AI, genetic studies, translating foreign languages and even cracking the Enigma Code in the Second World War. We find out about Thomas Bayes - the 18th century Engl...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09g10xn

In 2020 there were 1.8 million reported Covid deaths. So far this year, we’ve had 1.2 million. We’re currently seeing around 12,000 deaths a day across the world. But while some areas are see...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09fltcq

If we brought together all the Covid 19 vaccine needed for the whole world, how much space would it fill up? An Olympic size swimming pool? We do some back of the envelope sums. Plus - we look ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09dwvsh

The Astra Zeneca Covid 19 jab remains in the headlines because some regulators have concluded that it may raise the risk of a very rare type of blood clot, albeit to a risk that is still very low...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09d7jvk

The impressive speed records of a well-known gamer called Dream for the video game Minecraft have come under scrutiny. Many say that Dream has completed speed runs in such a fast time that it doe...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09ch7qv

On this week’s programme we talk to Clare Griffiths from the UK’s coronavirus dashboard and Alexis Madrigal from the Atlantic Magazine’s Covid Tracking Project in the US.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09byq4v

Many countries recently decided to suspend the use of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine over fears it was increasing the risk of blood clots. The European Medicines Agency and the WHO called on...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09b8ng3

A widely reported study claims that 90% of Covid 19 deaths across the world happened in countries with high obesity rates. While an individual’s risk of death is increased by having a high Body...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p099k5fx

Tim Harford explores the chances of becoming a saint, inspired by a throw away comment by the detective on the TV drama ‘Death in Paradise.’ Plus, a listener has a question about the recent...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p098tt2y

Cases of Covid 19 began to soar in the US in the autumn. By early January there were around 300,000 new cases a day. But since then the numbers have fallen steeply. What caused this dramatic drop...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p098579l

Are different countries counting deaths from Covid 19 in the same way? Tim Harford finds out if we can trust international comparisons with the data available. We discover Peru currently has th...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p097j30n

The UK was the first European country to surpass 100,000 deaths from Covid 19. The UK has one of the worst death rates. But can we trust the numbers? Many of our listeners have asked us to invest...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p097618m

If we brought all the virus particles of the Sars-CoV-2 virus from every human currently infected, how much would there be? This was a question posed by one of our listeners. We lined up two expe...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p096v4k2

Are exports to the EU from the UK down 68% since Brexit? This apocalyptic statistic is being widely reported, but does it really tell us what’s happening at Dover and Folkstone? Ministers are...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p096htls

Tim explores a shocking claim that life expectancy in some parts of Glasgow is less than it is in Rwanda. But is that fair on Glasgow and for that matter is it fair on Rwanda? And a listener asks...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09665pj

Prominent Labour politicians have claimed teachers are more likely to catch Covid-19, is that true? England’s Test and Trace programme has been widely criticised, has it raised its game in re...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0962k5t

A ferocious row has broken out among scientists about new coronavirus tests. Lateral flow tests provide results within minutes and some scientists believe they are offer accurate enough results a...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p095jclg

Since the start of the pandemic there have been many warnings that people might die not just from the coronavirus itself, but also if they didn’t seek medical help out of fear that hospitals mi...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0964g04

Since the start of the pandemic there have been many warnings that people might die not just from the coronavirus itself, but also if they didn’t seek medical help out of fear that hospitals mi...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09565hd

GDP figures for the period covering lockdown appear to show that the UK suffered a catastrophic decline, worse than almost any other country. But as Tim Harford finds out, things aren’t quite a...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p094vd4x

The vaccine rollout continues: how long will it take before we see the benefits, and what benefits will we see? Figures suggest the UK’s economy performed worse than almost anywhere else in the...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p094h4kl

A lot has changed since More or Less was last on air. We give you a statistical picture of the second wave: how bad is it, and is there hope? The new vaccine regime is to delay the booster shot o...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p093zrmb

What can ants tells us about whether something deserves to be popular? This is a question tackled in David Sumpter’s book – ‘The Ten Equations that Rule the World: And How You Can Use Them ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p093hcr3

From the economic impact of Covid 19 to the number of people who have access to soap and water, we showcase figures that tell us something about 2020. Tim Harford asks a group of numbers-minded p...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p093gc62

Tim Harford asks a group of numbers-minded people to take a look back on the year and think of one statistic that really stands out for them. From the spread of Covid-19 to the number of songs ad...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p093g9vk

Tim Harford asks economist Joel Waldfogel how Covid 19 could affect spending at Christmas this year. They discuss the usual bump in sales and gift giving. The author of ‘Scroogenomics’ usuall...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p091wxht

Tim Harford looks at false statistical claims online about missing and trafficked children in the US. These numbers have resurfaced online in part due to conspiracy theorists following QAnon. In ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09166w4

The UK has become the first country in the world to approve the use of a vaccine for Covid 19. But some people are worried that the decision was taken too quickly - can we really know it’s safe...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p090hlp7

This year has shown us the importance of good robust data - as Covid-19 spread around the world it was vital to track where it was, how many people it was infecting and where it might go next. On...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08zt262

If you go to a gathering of 25 or more people, what are the chances one of you has coronavirus? Imagine that you’re planning to hold some sort of gathering or dinner at your home. Take your p...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08z3srq

A vaccine which has shown in a clinical trial to be 90% effective against Covid 19 has been widely welcomed. But what does it mean and how was it worked out? Although experts and politicians urge...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08ydyvx

Tim Harford explores what we know about mortality rates in the current pandemic. We discuss the differences between the risks to different age groups, and why that has an effect on a country’s ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08xmw3c

A headline in a British tabloid newspaper claimed that ‘Staggering 86% who tested Covid positive in lockdown had NONE of the official symptoms’ but what does this mean and is it true?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08wy93c

Tim Harford hears about the sheer volume of false claims made during the campaign. President Trump is well known for making wild statements, but has his behaviour changed? And what about Joe Bide...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08wqd9b

Paul Milgrom and his former tutor Robert Wilson worked together for years developing ways to run complicated auctions for large resources. This month the two Stanford University professors were a...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08vhzkl

Tim Harford speaks to Jacob Goldstein about the unholy marriage of mathematicians, gamblers, and actuaries at the dawn of modern finance.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08tw9pl

After nearly 16,000 cases disappeared off coronaviruses spreadsheets, we ask what went wrong. How common are lasting symptoms from Covid-19? If you survey people about the death toll from Covid, ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08tjykx

Case counts in perspective, a suspect stat from the US, and life lessons from insects.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08swk4g

A scary government graph this week showed what would happen if coronavirus cases doubled every seven days. But is that what’s happening? There’s much confusion about how many Covid test resul...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08s7b5d

Tim Harford speaks to Israeli researcher, Tomer Hertz, about how the mathematical magic of pool testing could help countries to ramp up their Covid-19 testing capacity.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08rwy4n

Amid reports of problems with coronavirus testing across the UK, we interrogate the numbers on laboratory capacity. Does the government’s Operation Moonshot plan for mass testing make statistic...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08rlmn8

A jump in the number of UK Covid-19 cases reported by the government has led to fears coronavirus is now spreading quickly again. What do the numbers tell us about how worried we should be? Plus ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08qwygd

As children return to school in England and Wales, we hear about what we know and what we don’t when it comes to Covid-19 risks in school settings. What do the numbers tell us about how well te...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08q807b

Donald Trump says allowing the emergency use of blood plasma therapy for coronavirus patients will save “countless lives” and is “proven to reduce mortality by 35%”. We look at the eviden...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08pm9nt

We unpick the A-level algoshambles, discover why 1.3 million Covid tests disappeared from the government's statistics last week, and for reasons that may become clear, we examine the chance of be...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08nznp9

Autocratic leader Alexander Lukashenko claims to have won a landslide in the country’s presidential elections. But how can we know what really happened? Tim Harford delves into the numbers behi...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08nnvbp

Covid-19 cases are rising in the UK - is it a sign of a second wave of the virus? We’re picking apart the data and asking how concerned we should be both now and as autumn approaches. Scotland ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08ncr88

One More or Less listener has heard that if all the ice in Antarctica melted, global sea levels would rise by 70 metres. But it would take 361 billion tonnes of ice to raise the world's sea level...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08n0mqb

Do we have enough data to know what’s happening on the continent? We talk to Dr Justin Maeda from the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Ghanaian public health researcher Nana Kofi Quakyi ab...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08mdyt5

Tim Harford speaks to Steven Johnson about William Farr and the birth of epidemiology in the 1800s.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08lrjw2

Tim Harford talks to statistician Ola Rosling about his research into misconceptions about Covid-19. And an update on the epidemic in the US.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08l47d6

Unlike its Nordic neighbours, Sweden never imposed a lockdown to stem the spread of coronavirus. Tim Harford speaks to statistician Ola Rosling to find out what the results have been. Presenter...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08kdnbp

Are cases really rising in the US or are they just testing more? Tim digs into the data.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08jsp8f

The UK has suffered one of the worst outbreaks of coronavirus anywhere in the world. We’ve been tracking and analysing the numbers for the last 14 weeks, and in the last programme of this More ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08jh9j7

The steroid Dexamethasone has been hailed a “major breakthrough” in the treatment of Covid-19. But what does the data say? Plus, why haven’t mass protests led to a second wave?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08j4g7z

As lockdown eases, why hasn't there been a spike in infections? We get a first look at the evidence for the much-trumpeted Covid-19 treatment, Dexamethasone. Stephanie Flanders tells us what’s ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08ht86t

Some countries are requiring new arrivals to self-isolate, a policy designed to stop infection spreading from areas of high prevalence to low prevalence. Tim Harford and Ruth Alexander find out w...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08hhl7d

The UK has introduced new rules requiring all people arriving in the country to self-isolate for 14 days. But given the severity of the UK’s outbreak can there be many places more infectious? I...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08h4x0b

At the start of March the government's Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said that the UK’s coronavirus outbreak was four weeks behind the epidemic in Italy. This ability to watch o...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08ghqmm

What difference does a metre make? The World Health Organisation recommends that people keep at least 1 metre apart from each other to stop the spread of Covid-19, but different countries have ad...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08g6mt3

As lockdowns begin to lift the government is relying on testing and contact tracing programmes to prevent a second wave of Covid-19 infections. But how accurate are the swab tests used to diagnos...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08fvs16

More than 35,000 people in the UK have now officially died from Covid-19, but what does the data show about whether this wave of the epidemic is waning? We ask who respects lockdown, who breaks i...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08f761q

A listener asks if there can really only be 60 harvests left in Earth's soil. Are we heading for an agricultural Armageddon? Plus we meet the parrots who are the first animals, outside humans and...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08dx986

Risk expert David Spiegelhalter discusses whether re-opening some schools could be dangerous for children or their teachers. We ask what’s behind Germany’s success in containing the number of...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08dnd81

As lockdowns start to lift, many countries are relying on social distancing to continue to slow the spread of coronavirus. The UK says we should stay 2 metres apart, the World Health Organisation...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08d8xgd

R is one of the most important numbers of the pandemic. But what is it? And how is it estimated? We return to the topic of testing and ask again whether the governments numbers add up. As the gov...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08czkk7

The question of just how dangerous Covid-19 really is, is absolutely crucial. If a large number of those who are infected go on to die, there could be dreadful consequences if we relaxed the lock...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08cl0lb

The Health Minister Matt Hancock promised the UK would carry out 100,000 coronavirus tests a day by the end of April. He claims he succeeded. Did he? The question of just how dangerous the new co...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08ccb4g

With much of the world’s population staying indoors, there are fewer cars on the roads, planes in the skies and workplaces and factories open. Will this have an impact on climate change? Plus...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08c07xr

We continue our mission to use numbers to make sense of the world - pandemic or no pandemic. Are doctors from ethnic minority backgrounds disproportionately affected by Covid-19? Was the lockdown...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08bqjmt

Many articles in the media compare countries with one another - who’s faring better or worse in the fight against coronavirus? But is this helpful - or, in fact, fair? Tim Harford and Ruth Al...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08bf1kd

John Horton Conway died in April this year at the age of 82 from Covid-19 related complications. An influential figure in mathematics, Conway’s ideas inspired generations of students around the...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08b9bcq

We compare Covid-19 rates around the world. Headlines say NHS staff are dying in large numbers, how bad is it? And is it just us, or have the birds started singing really loudly?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08b3jyp

Scientific models disagree wildly as to what the course of the coronavirus pandemic might be. With epidemiologists at odds, Tim Harford asks if professional predictors, the superforecasters, can ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p089t3yk

Do face masks stop you getting coronavirus? You might instinctively think that covering your mouth and nose with cloth must offer protection from Covid-19. And some health authorities around the ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0894jhh

Is the coronavirus related death count misleading because of delays in reporting? Do face masks help prevent the spread of the virus? Was a London park experiencing Glastonbury levels of overcrow...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p088xyms

Tim Harford and Ruth Alexander examine the statistics around the world to see if more men are dying as a result of Covid-19, and why different sexes would have different risks. Plus is it true th...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p088lhjq

This week, we examine criticisms of Imperial College’s epidemiologists. We ask how A-Level and GCSE grades will be allocated, given that the exams have vanished in a puff of social distancing. ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0886bhr

Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter, Chair of the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication, puts the risks of Covid-19 into perspective. He found that the proportion of people who get infe...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p087x9sf

We’ve dedicated this special episode to the numbers surrounding the Coronavirus pandemic. Statistical national treasure Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter put the risks of Covid-19 into perspect...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p087n42r

Last week, while schools and businesses across Europe closed in an attempt to halt the spread of Coronavirus the UK stood alone in a more relaxed approach to the pandemic; letting people choose w...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08766m3

Does Iran have a lot more covid-19 cases that its figures suggest?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p086krm0

Every winter its the same, someone will tell you to put a hat on to save your body from losing all of its heat. But how much heat do you actually lose from your head? We take you on a journey fro...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0863kjs

Does watching 30 minutes of Netflix have the same carbon footprint as driving four miles?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p085487s

Dipping into the archive for stories on the art of prediction and wood burner pollution

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p085478q

Artificial Intelligence – or AI for short – is often depicted in films in the shape of helpful droids, all-knowing computers or even malevolent ‘death bots’. In real life, we’re making ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0847dp4

A lot has changed since our last episode covering the numbers behind the coronavirus - for a start it now has a name, Covid-19. This week news has broken that deaths are 20 per cent higher than t...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p083d5yv

Covid-19 stats, spreading jam far and wide, cooking with AI, and James Wong on vegetables

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p083d393

We all know that you should never smile at a crocodile, but rumour has it that alligators are great perambulators – at least that’s what a booklet about Florida’s wildlife claimed. Tim Harf...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p082mnv5

Costing counter-terrorism, interrogating tomatoes, the UK's reading age, politics and GDP

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p082mj4l

The WHO have declared a ‘Global Health Emergency’ as health officials are urgently trying to contain the spread of a new coronavirus in China and beyond; but not all the information you read ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p081yn19

Fact checking claims about coronavirus and whether more guns equal fewer homicides.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p081yl6c

Anxiety around sleep is widespread. Many of us feel we don’t get enough. An army of experts has sprung up to help, and this week we test some of the claims from one of the most prominent among ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0819trp

The list of ways campaigners say we need to change our behaviour in response to climate change seems to grow every week. Now, streaming video is in the frame. We test the claim that watching 30 m...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0819sc4

The fugitive former Nissan boss, Carlos Ghosn, has raised questions about justice in Japan. The government in Tokyo has defended its system, where 99% of prosecutions lead to conviction. Prof Col...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p080pgdy

Is it possible to calculate the cost of Brexit? Gemma Tetlow from the Institute for Government helps us weigh the arguments. How much does luck play into Liverpool FC's amazing season? And, cruci...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p080ps1t

Have a billion animals died in Australia’s fires? And which ones are likely to survive?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08027c1

Tim Harford on animal deaths in Australia's fires, how many Labour voters went Conservative and are UK carbon emissions really down 40%. Plus: have we really entered a new decade?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0802553

How many women in China give birth in hospitals, and whether it was true that 50% of births there are delivered by caesarean section. Oh, and we also mention guts and bacteria… Sharks kill 12...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07yrxpv

We talk about the age of some of the frontrunners in the Democrat nomination race and President Donald Trump and the health risks they face. Also, More or Less listeners were surprised by a cla...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07yrqh0

We explore the maths secrets of The Simpsons on their 30th anniversary.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07yjw8t

As bushfires rage in Australia, the plight of the koala made front-page news around the world. There were warnings that fires wiped out 80% of the marsupial's habitat and that koalas are facing e...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07xszk9

Labour's spending plans, Conservatives claims on homelessness, the SNP's education record

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07xg74w

The UK General Election is fast approaching, top of the agenda are the political parties green ambitions and one particular initiative is garnering a lot of attention, tree planting. The Labour P...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07x4q52

50,000 nurses? 40 new hospitals? Big corporate tax rises? Childcare promises? Election pledges might sound good, but do they stand up to scrutiny? In the run up to the General Election on 12th De...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07wrgd6

Have these saucy fruits become less healthy over time?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07wgrrp

A listener wrote in asking which is the busiest shipping lane in the world. Ruth Alexander tries to find out with sea traffic analyst and former captain, Amrit Singh and Jean Tournadre, a researc...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07vtj5w

Evo Morales, Bolivia’s longest-serving leader and first indigenous president, stepped down last week amid weeks of protests sparked by a dispute over a recent presidential election in the count...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07v3pdx

Two statistics about reducing your risk of an early death made headlines around the world recently. The first seems to be a great reason to add a four-legged friend to your life. It suggests that...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07tdc37

In the United States, some police jurisdictions didn’t send off DNA evidence from people who were raped for testing in a crime lab and for uploading into a national criminal database. Instead, ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07sr770

Social worker and economist Edith Abbott and her contribution to crime statistics.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07s22lh

Discussing Esther Duflo, Abhijit Banerjee and Michael Kremer’s economics Nobel Prize.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07rfd10

We explore the numbers behind the new minimum wage announcements, whether drinking is going up or down in Scotland, the truth about squeezing people onto the Isle of Wight and how long one identi...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07qt9kp

Are the shocking statistics true? and how do you count people who don't wish to be found?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07q4ngz

Dissecting the government’s hospitals announcement and President Trump’s Ukraine claims.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07q4f0w

Were a third of those that fought for Britain in WW1 black or Asian?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07ppw22

Has Austerity caused 120 thousand deaths in the UK and does God hate men?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07pjdw6

Using statistics to compare world records in athletics and swimming.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07nxf3m

Health risks for Presidential hopefuls, falling inflation, shark deaths and salary claims

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07nxcc9

Are eight people a day murdered in Cape Town and is that number unusually high?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07n8xpr

Are black women five times more likely to die in childbirth? Plus making pop music.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07n8x0c

Has it increased significantly since President Bolsonaro took office in January?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07mp3ct

Challenging the idea of six billion deaths due to climate change; plus what pets eat.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07mnsmh

Are they really 85 percent worse than last year?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07m7sxm

Are forest fires in Brazil the worst in recent times? What is the state pension worth?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07m295n

Were millions of trees planted in just one day in Ethiopia?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07lh06y

Was your A Level grade correct? Plus were 350m trees planted in one day in Ethiopia?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07lh1kk

Re-inserting a caveat and discussing a really cool numbers trick.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07kv9ns

Do immigrants commit more crime than native-born Americans in the United States?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07k7648

With misinformation so easy to spread, how can it be stopped or challenged?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07jm2zy

Taking a statistical look at what expectant mothers should avoid.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07hyqb1

How medical testing on just men causes problems.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07hb833

We look at politicians’ claims that sanctions are to blame for Zimbabwe’s difficulties.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07hbh31

On this week’s More or Less, Ruth Alexander looks at the numbers involved with the two world cups that are going on at the moment. Are more men than women watching the Women’s World Cup and...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07g4d38

We questioned the death count of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in last week’s More or Less podcast. In the end, Professor Jim Smith of Portsmouth University came up with an estimate of 15,000 ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07fgpgy

The recent TV miniseries ‘Chernobyl’ has stirred up debate online about the accuracy of its portrayal of the explosion at a nuclear power plant in the former Soviet state of Ukraine. We fact-...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07dtfxp

How one woman used statistics to help cope with cancer.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07d5ltx

The hidden influences that a make a big difference to the way the world works.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07ckm0x

Measuring happiness, university access in Scotland, plus will one in two get cancer?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07ckl40

Does Mount Etna produce more carbon emissions than humans? We check the numbers.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07bx8mb

What does it mean to say that the UK is the fifth largest economy in the world?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07bx6xb

How collecting data about the dead led the famous nurse to promote better sanitation.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07b8c95

The stats behind making a successful song, plus misunderstanding Victorian court records.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07b8b2c

Data visualisation is all the rage, but where does that leave the old-fashioned values of audio? Some data visualisation experts are starting to explore the benefits of turning pictures into soun...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p079km1v

Are deaths from heart disease on the rise? This week the British Heart Foundation had us all stopping mid-biscuit with the news that the number of under 75s dying from cardiovascular disease is...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p079khwg

We revisit some classic topics from past years. We hear which statistics about sex you should trust, and which are less robust. Do men think about sex every seven seconds? Plus, did the arrival o...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p078w9hr

Sex Recession This week it was reported that British people are having less sex than they used to. Similar statistics are cropping up elsewhere in the world too. But one US stat seemed particular...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p078w9zt

*Spoiler-free for Avengers: Endgame* At the end of Avengers: Infinity War film the villain, Thanos, snapped his fingers in the magical infinity gauntlet and disintegrated half of all life across ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0788fyl

Nurse suicide rates There were some worrying figures in the news this week about the number of nurses in England and Wales who died by suicide over the last seven years. We try to work out what...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07887n2

Bernie Sanders, a Senator in the United States and one of the front-runners in the campaign to be the Democratic presidential candidate, said on Twitter that it costs $12,000 to have a baby in hi...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p077rqh9

Was it a surprise that Easter Monday was so hot? A heatwave struck the UK over Easter – and in fact Easter Monday was declared the hottest on record in the UK. But listeners asked - is it tha...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p077l6rn

The Olympic Games and the football World Cup, two of the biggest events in the world which are each hosted every four years, are big business. And it costs a lot of money to host them, and a lot ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p076wyn9

A battle is brewing in the Southern Scottish uplands between two rival villages. How can statistics help determine which village should take the crown? Wanlockhead and Leadhills both lay claim to...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p076bnyx

A recent scientific review claims the weed killer glyphosate raises the risk of developing the cancer non-Hodgkin lymphoma by 41 percent. But deciding what causes cancer can be complicated and th...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p075mwd3

Who is the greatest chess player in history? And what does the answer have to do with a story of a chess cheating school from Texas? In this week’s More or Less, the BBC’s numbers programme, ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p074yx4h

Mansa Musa, the 14th century Mali king, has nothing on Jeff Bezos - read one recent news report. Musa set off on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia in the 1300s and it’s said he left with a caravan o...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p074jvrl

Does the sudden loss of an hour of sleep raise the risk of having a heart attack?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p073pcdb

Are women really less likely than men to be hired for jobs in tech just because of their sex? A study claims that sexism in the recruitment process is holding women back from entering the tech se...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07302z6

Insects live all around us and if a recent scientific review is anything to go by, then they are on the path to extinction. The analysis found that more than 40 percent of insect species are decr...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p072c44x

Die, sell on a sunny day, place your work a third of the way through the auction….There are some surprising factors that can affect the price of an art work. Here are six top tips on how to get...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p071ppn9

Tim Harford talks to Matt Parker on how simple maths mistakes can cause big problems.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07113q3

Tim Harford on climate change, Victorian diseases, maths mistakes and alcohol consumption

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p071135n

Who can better forecast the weather – meteorologists or a rodent? What percentage of the English public are related to King Edward the III, and is malnutrition really on the rise in the UK? Sit...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p070jz14

Tim Harford finds untrue a recent report that there is a 'suicidal generation' of teens.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p070d4xz

A listener doubts her popularity on the dating app Tinder. We investigate the numbers.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06zr1dw

Tim Harford on Holocaust deniers; food prices in Venezuela, and dating app statistics

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06zqz7d

Tim Harford asks which times of the year are riskiest for suicide.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06z40hl

Tim Harford on domestic violence, employment numbers, and the chance of a white Easter.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06z40wb

Which planet is closest to Earth?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06yhfbq

Tim Harford asks whether 1.7% of people are intersex, and examines false claims about MPs

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06yhhjj

We look at the numbers behind body temperature – what is normal?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06xq55v

Tim Harford on sugar, train fares, children's outdoors play and Earth's closest neighbour

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06xvkjc

Helena Merriman with numbers about water shortage, plastic recycling and American jobs.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06x6m23

The numbers that made 2018.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06w33ll

What to look out for on Christmas Eve.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06w32vy

Are mega-dams really sustainable?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06vv10f

Are women more likely to die from a heart attack than men?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06t9hft

Xavier Zapata examines what the data tells us about the deadly impact of war on civilians

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06snhyc

Updating the kilogram.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06s0shc

How likely are assassination attempts on heads of state to succeed?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06qmfpp

What proportion of a population needs to be vaccinated to stop a disease spreading?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06pzl37

In foreign aid terms what’s the best way of measuring how generous a country is?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06pbppg

The economists tackling climate change and growth.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06nq0gm

New figures reveal that same-sex divorce rates are much higher among women than among men. The pattern is the same in Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK. Everywhere where there a...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06ncndp

New figures reveal that same-sex divorce rates are much higher among women than among men. The pattern is the same in Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK. Everywhere where there a...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06n2nfl

This week BBC Radio 4’s All in the Mind programme announced the results of The Loneliness Experiment. It was a large survey conducted by the programme in collaboration with the Wellcome Collect...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06n2lmp

Were Spitfire pilots killed after an average of four weeks in the World War Two battle?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06mfnd2

Tim Harford on Spitfire pilots, and whether football triggers violence in the home.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06mfmq2

How can we calculate excess mortality after a natural disaster?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06ltlw4

Tim Harford on child carers, shareholder income, football vs museums and dangerous sports

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06ltl7b

What is the difference between 96% similarity or sharing 20% of our DNA?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06l6bb2

Tim Harford with statistics on suicide, good schools and sexism in tennis. Plus goats

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06l680k

A listener asks whether his Volvo is the safest car on the road?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06klpzt

Tim Harford questions the usefulness of a popular heart age calculator.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06kll7d

Tim Harford talks to Bobby Duffy about why we are often wrong about a lot of basic facts

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06jzfvx

Tim Harford fact checks EU trade deals with Africa, and whether one drink is one too many

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06jz6tl

BONUS PODCAST: For the rest of August, in addition to More or Less you’ll get a brand new podcast, Economics with Subtitles. It’s your everyday guide to economics and why you should care. In ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06ghbh0

Computer programmes are being developed to combat fake news.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06jcsgr

What would have been the most efficient way to get to Mordor?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06jcqp2

BONUS PODCAST: For the rest of August, in addition to More or Less you’ll get a brand new podcast, Economics with Subtitles. It’s your everyday guide to economics and why you should care. In ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06gh9m4

Are Wildfires in the United States and Southern Europe burning more land than before?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06hzs5c

BONUS PODCAST: For the rest of August, in addition to More or Less you’ll get a brand new podcast, Economics with Subtitles. It’s your everyday guide to economics and why you should care. In ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06gcjym

How do you get a hashtag to trend around the world?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06h3ttk

BONUS PODCAST: For the rest of August, in addition to More or Less, you’ll get four bonus editions of Economics with Subtitles. It’s a brand new podcast that will bring you an everyday guide ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06gch89

Does a baked potato contain the equivalent of 19 cubes of sugar?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06ghjwn

How big are your testicles and what does that mean?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06fwrp9

Having one fewer child could be the biggest thing you do to reduce your carbon footprint

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06f8v8q

How much better are the pros than the rest of us and how effective is slipstreaming?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06f8xmb

The astronomer, Carl Sagan, famously said that there were more stars in our Universe than grains of sand on the Earth’s beaches. But was it actually true? More or Less tries to count the nearly...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06d1xw0

This week we take a look at some of the statistics which have caught our attention at the World Cup. There has been much debate in both the press and social media about the large distances which ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06cfz4h

Ein Bier bitte? Loyal listener David made a new year's resolution to learn German. Three years later, that's about as far as he's got. Keen to have something to aim for, he asked More or Less how...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06bv4lt

The World Cup starts this week and the More or Less team is marking the event by looking at the data behind all the World Cups since 1966 (our data shows that this was the best world cup because ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06b64sx

From penguins to nematodes, is it possible to count how many animals are born around the world every day? That’s the question one 10-year-old listener wants answered, and so reporter Kate Lam...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p069jlny

(0.24) Infant mortality is on the rise in England and Wales – but is this change down to social issues such as obesity and deprivation, as claimed, or the way doctors count very premature babie...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p069jd0p

How do you count the number of people sleeping rough? According to the latest official figures around 4700 people were sleeping in the streets in the autumn of 2017. And that got us thinking. The...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0691r44

Is WH Smith really the worst shop on the High Street? Harry Potter fans want to know how many wizards there are – we try to work it out. Is giving birth at home as safe as giving birth in hospi...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p068w7c8

This week we tackle some of our listeners’ questions from Australia: do one in seven businessmen throw out their pants after wearing them once? This is a claim made by an expert talking about c...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p068805q

(00.28) Reading the BBC weather app – we explain the numbers on the forecast (06:55) University of Oxford Admissions: how diverse is its intake? (11:37) Voter idea trial at the local elections ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0688221

Former FBI Director James Comey is very, very tall – over two metres tall, or 6’8” - and many media outlets commented on his height during his recent run-in with President Trump. But to w...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p067kzyl

(0.22) Are more children from working families in poverty? (6.50) Progress 8 – explaining the new school league tables for England (12.51) Can a garden product really make your grass 6 times gr...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p067kzbn

The story goes that Amsterdam in the 1630’s was gripped by a mania for Tulip flowers. But then there was a crash in the market. People ended up bankrupt and threw themselves into canals. This s...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p066xbxr

(00:26) The UK abortion statistics gaining attention in Ireland’s referendum debate (03:49) Superforecasting author Phillip Tetlock talks to Tim Harford (09:51) Modern Slavery figures in the UK...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p066x9fh

The great statistician, Hans Rosling, died in February last year. Throughout his life Hans used data to explain how the world was changing – and often improving – and he would challenge peopl...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0668k2q

(0:32) Breast screening – the Numbers: 450,000 women have accidentally not been invited for breast cancer screening (07:26) Counting the Windrush Generation: What do we know about those who m...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0668l1y

The government of Puerto Rico has developed a plan to strip the island’s statistical agency of its independent board as part of a money saving enterprise. But as the Caribbean island recovers f...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p065jzd9

Does the UK throw away 8.5 billion straws a year? (0’33’’) Women on FTSE 100 boards (4’35”) We explore whether the proportion of female directors has changed over time, and what it te...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p065k2v9

Tim Harford talks to economist Dan Ariely about the psychology of money. They discuss how understanding the way we think about our finances can help us to spend more carefully and save more effic...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p064xy9k

The World Health Organisation say that 95% of people who live in cities breathe unsafe air. But what do they mean by ‘unsafe’? And how do they calculate the levels or air pollution for every ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06478pz

London’s murder rate is on the rise – and for the first time ever it has just overtaken New York’s, according to a number of media outlets. But is it true? And is it appropriate for journal...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p063jr97

Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries is one of Australia’s most popular television series and has been broadcast in 172 territories worldwide. Set in 1920’s Melbourne the series’ protagonist, M...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p062q5q0

Last week Vladimir Putin won a second consecutive and fourth overall term as the Russian President. Official polling results from the election show he received over 76 percent of the vote, with a...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0623rb8

Whenever Donald Trump talks about trade he brings up one statistic again and again, the US trade balance. This is the relationship between the goods and services the US imports from other countri...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p061cv86

After Sir Roger Bannister ran a mile in under four minutes, did positive thinking propel dozens to do the same?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p060nfys

Are Hollywood films ignoring women? As this is the 90th year of the Academy Awards - we find out how many ‘Best Picture’ winners pass the Bechdel Test. This is a light-hearted way of challeng...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06049q8

What’s the most successful nation? (0’40”) We look at population, GDP per capita and ski areas of the countries with the most medals. How do you judge a country’s ‘best’ performance...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05z57wr

How to question dubious statistics in just a few short steps.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05yfqph

How many people have UN staff raped? – (0’40’’) It was reported in a number of the newspapers this week that UN staff are responsible for 60,000 rapes in a decade. The wealth of Mr Darc...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05yffxb

Alcohol consumption has fallen sharply according to Russia’s health ministry

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05xny3m

Why the biggest ever fall in the Dow wasn't, and how much do women spend on tampons?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05xnw72

A key pledge of the Chinese President Xi Jinping is that China will have eradicated poverty by 2020. It’s an extraordinary claim, but the country does have a good track record in improving the ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05wy4dm

How many transgender people are there in the UK? The UK produces official statistics about all sorts of things – from economic indicators to demographic data. But it turns out there are no of...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05wy529

The survey question that could affect the accuracy of its results. The United States are due to run their next nationwide census in 2020, but already critics are warning that underfunding and p...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05wg0bf

First sexual experience - checking the facts A short film for the Draw A Line campaign has made the claim that one in three girls first sexual experience is rape. This seems shockingly high, but ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05w71qw

If you ask an economist to explain what is happening in a country’s economy. They rely on economic data points to describe what is happening – they might talk about the unemployment rate, ave...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05vpwyp

Gender Pay Gap This week the Office for National Statistics has published analysis trying to find out why it is that on average women are paid less than men in specific industries and occupations...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05vgzm0

A forgotten French mathematician is the focus of our programme. He anticipated both Einstein's theories and the application of maths to the stock market. Born in the 1870s, his work was unusual a...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05ty60w

Did missed appointments cost the NHS £1 billion last year? New figures published recently suggest that the financial cost to the NHS for missed appointments was £1 billion last year. But our li...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05tpn4b

Why it isn’t as simple to work out as you think.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05ssc8k

Phones, lawn mowers and how Kim Kardashian helped the public understanding of risk.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05rv4lw

Measuring the energy used to keep the cryptocurrency secure.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05rv0r8

Could the US President’s Diet Coke habit affect his health? and 'contained' wildfires

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05rfb3h

Headlines claim that eating chocolate can protect you from developing Alzheimer’s disease. The theory is that bioactives within chocolate called flavanols can help reduce the risk of heart atta...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05qqzgb

Are some people just very lucky? The maths suggest that is unlikely.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05q0tfv

What the Pride and Prejudice character would have earned in today’s money.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05p3th7

The Italians are calling it the apocalypse. Their team has failed to make it to the World Cup for the first time in 60 years. But it is about more than just national pride - there is a financial ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05nd5cf

Chris Brown’s latest album is stuffed with so many songs it runs at a sprawling two hours and twenty minutes. It’s only the latest in a string of lengthy album releases that includes artists ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05mpr59

Finding out if Nigerian politicians really get paid more than the American President.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05lz990

Counting the favourite words of well-known authors: Stephen King, Hemingway and others

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05lftnw

Did the 2016 US election galvanise young people to become more engaged in politics?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05k9q1b

The behavioural economist who has inspired governments around the world.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05jvyp8

Naming the monster numbers - how the names of digital storage files evolved.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05jgh5y

Do the largest ships emit as much pollution as all the cars in the world?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05hm7ws

Is Uber safe? The post Brexit dual nationality surge and measuring partner abuse.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05hm6fr

How much of a problem is falling sperm count?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05gzc4f

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is accused of mis-using official statistics.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05gz9hc

What’s the best way to measure a hurricane?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05g7072

Has the number of natural disasters really quadrupled in the last forty years?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05g6s69

Is the UK the only country with more horses than tanks in its army?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05fjlf1

Will we need more power stations? Plus, are children in Manchester ready for school?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05fjj19

Experts are saying that Houston just suffered a one in 500 year storm but what does that mean?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05f4qp9

The difficulties of finding the true number of people who died in the fire.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05dxdtb

Figuring out the best strategy as a wannabe team manager.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05dbblb

Are boys getting more top A Level grades than girls? Plus why are dress sizes so weird?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05db9hm

During a recent press conference President Trump said: “I’ve created over a million jobs since I’m president. The country is booming. The stock market is setting records. We’ve got the hi...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05cqj8m

President Trump says transgender individuals cannot serve, but how many do already?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05c4nmm

On Tuesday Kenyans go to the polls to elect members of parliament and the next president. A report in Quartz Africa has estimated that the cost of putting on the election by the Government works ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05bk398

Exploring if an influx of teenage boys claiming asylum skewed the population’s sex ratio

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p059y73y

Celebrating the only woman to win the biggest prize in mathematics.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p059b1jw

Using statistics to prove or disprove the wisdom of tennis is the theme this week. In this digital age we are used to information at our fingertips. This week More or Less finds out how every ral...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p058py5v

Are top basketball players underpaid? The American basketballer Stephen Curry has just signed the biggest contract in NBA history. The new deal will pay him $200 million over 5 years but amazin...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05827jm

It’s the 100 year centenary of an obscure type of prime number – the Woodall Primes. To celebrate, stand-up mathematician Matt Parker is calling on listeners to search for a new one. Ordinary...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p057f68c

How statistics can help us understand the tragic fire at London’s Grenfell Tower.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p056zv0b

The Voice of 1960s British children’s TV series ‘Trumpton’, Brian Cant, died this week. The More or Less team has visited the town of Trumpton on a number of occasions so we have brought to...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p056klfk

The results of the general election are in - but what do they mean? Did more young people vote than expected? Have we now got a more diverse parliament? How many extra votes would Jeremy Corbyn h...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p056b7l1

Cheick Tiote, the much loved former Newcastle United player collapsed and died while training with Chinese side Beijing Enterprises earlier this month. His death and that of other black footballe...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p055fmbv

This podcast is a compilation of interviews by the More or Less team with Eddie Mair from Radio 4’s PM programme. Each interview features a different claim or hotly discussed topic from the UK ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0557rk7

Trumpets are blasting in this week’s musical episode. But can medical statistics be transformed into a jazzy night out? That was the challenge which epidemiologist Elizabeth Pisani set for comp...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p054rms5

On this final programme of the series we try to give some context to some of the issues that are being discussed during the current election campaign. Who pays tax? What proportion of adults ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p054rnbr

Our entire education system is faulty, claim experts. They worry that schools don’t prepare kids for the world outside. But how could anyone prove what the future will be like? We set off on ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05436k2

Can security services follow everyone known to them? The attack on Manchester Arena took place exactly four years since the killing of Drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich. Back in 2013 we broadcast a...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05436sf

Has Uganda been accepting more refugees on a daily basis than some European countries manage in an entire year? That is the claim from the Norwegian Refugee Council – and it is a claim we put t...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p053fjz8

Exploring the Labour manifesto's tax plans for high earners.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p053fj93

What is happening to nurses pay? Amid reports of nurses using food banks, Jeremy Hunt said he doesn’t recognise claims their wages are worth less now than in 2010. He says nurses are actually...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p052rqxb

All over the world mothers are given numbers as their baby grows. The numbers are from ‘growth charts’ showing how a baby is developing in comparison to others. Seven month old Baby Arlo has ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p052rtpr

Why some parts of town are hard to navigate.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0522skt

It looks like homicides are on the rise - but better check the footnotes

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0522q1b

How to use mathematics to find your partner. And, how reliable are pregnancy due dates?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p051f6yn

Giant bombs, a war hero and the foreign secretary's stats.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p051f7rv

Are middle-aged white Americans dying younger than other groups?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p050rsx2

Are people's incomes falling? Plus singing Pi like Kate Bush

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p050rsl1

How much do you know about the world?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0500z8p

Why airlines bet that not everybody will turn up for a flight.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0500yjw

A single nuclear weapon could destroy America’s entire electrical grid, claims a former head of the CIA. The explosion would send out an electromagnetic pulse – resulting in famine, societal ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04zd388

The claim that “one in four” of us will suffer from a mental health problem is popular amongst campaigners, politicians and the media. But this leads you to a simple question – where is thi...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04ymqbk

Ever since a BBC article highlighted the use of baby boxes in Finland they have become a bit of a phenomenon. They’re not new though Finland has been doing this for 75 years. The simple cardboa...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04xxp6x

Did China use more concrete in three years than the US in the 20th Century?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04x5kvx

Are our attention spans now shorter than a goldfish's?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04w2wqz

Top Hollywood actresses have complained that they are paid less than their male co-stars

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04vkrgl

What happened last night in Sweden?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04txtsm

Hidden Figures, the film, has been nominated for three awards at the Oscars and has been a box office hit in the US. It tells the little-known story of a group of African American women and their...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04t7hcx

A huge hole was left in the world this week with the death of the Swedish statistician Han Rosling. He was a master communicator whose captivating presentations on global development were watched...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04slydb

Does North Carolina really rank alongside North Korea if you measure electoral integrity

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04rthtp

How many went to celebrate – and how many to protest – the Trump inauguration?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04r0zry

Blue Monday and Oxfam’s comparison wealth of billionaires and the poor –the stories that come around every year.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04q68z3

Were 90,000 Christians killed because of their faith in 2016?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04pcymj

How much water should you be drinking? There’s some age-old advice that suggests you should be drinking eight ounces (230 ml) eight times a day. Some people even advise you should be drinking t...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04nlkqj

There have been reports that those radical Swedes have decided to reduce the working day to just six hours because, it has been claimed, productivity does not suffer. Before you all rush to the S...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04n7vlg

Saving lives with thin air - by taking nitrogen from the air to make fertiliser

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04mbxpx

Improving data to target help to the poorest people

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04m9v26

Tim Harford poses a tough statistical challenge

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04mbwq8

Are footballers trying to get suspended for Christmas?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04lpkgp

Notable deaths, Rule Britannia and creating your own Christmas speech

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04lpg9f

We look at the numbers behind the scary headlines about birth control.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04l2nkv

The economic doom that never was; childhood cancer figures and Ed Balls

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04kv749

The survey by the Indian PM that broke all the polling rules and started a mass protest

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04jz6sr

What are the odds of being related to a medieval king? and how many cows for a fiver?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04jzfx7

Renewable capacity has surpassed that of coal–is this good news? Plus an asteroid update.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04j6y0d

High-rolling pensioners? predicting Norovirus, air pollution deaths and lost or found?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04hxmrg

A new NASA warning system means we’re getting better at spotting Earth-bound space rocks. But how safe are we?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04h66ct

Is dementia on the rise? Plus immigration, incomplete contacts and chocolate muffins

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04gxhhm

Sexual violence was widespread in Liberia’s brutal and bloody year civil war. But were three quarters of women in the country raped? We tell the story behind the number and reveal how well-mean...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04g9tt2

Who voted in the US elections? Plus are there nine million stray cats in the UK?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04g0n78

Does the world really spend three times as much on ice cream than on humanitarian aid?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04fgxhq

The fact-checkers have been working overtime looking into the numbers used by Donald Trump during his campaign to become President of the USA. In the wake of the election next week, we take a loo...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04f69dy

Is a girl under 15 married every seven seconds? And beware dangerous algorithms

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04dfpwf

How many people die for every kilo of cocaine? More Or Less investigates.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04d13wv

When maths can get you locked up.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04c18fz

It’s now a year since the UN set its new Sustainable Development Goals to try to make the world a better place. They include 17 goals and a massive 169 targets on subjects like disease, educati...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04b9qsv

Polling on the first TV debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump appears to be divided over who won it. But not all polls are equal. If the people being polled aren’t representative of t...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p049k2dj

This week Donald Trump claimed that there are some inner city areas in the US which are suffering from the worst crime rates ever. They are so dangerous, he says, that Afghanistan is safer than m...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p048ty4j

Can economics help us work out the perfect amount to spend on a wedding gift? Our reporter Jordan Dunbar is in a tricky situation-he’s heading to an old friend’s wedding and needs to figure o...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0483ryr

Over the last two months the Government in the Philippines has been encouraging the police to clampdown on the illegal drug trade. The new President, Rodrigo Duterte, went as far as saying that c...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p047cbfk

It is a commonly held belief that if women spend enough time together, their bodies start to communicate through chemical signals, known as pheromones. Eventually the women’s bodies will start ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p046wgx1

Britons entitled to Irish passports After the Brexit vote in June, so many Britons applied for Irish passports that Ireland’s foreign minister had to ask them to stop – pointing out that the ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p046n56n

Statistics suggest that officially about half of the countries in the world have abolished Capital Punishment, and a further 52 have stopped its use in practice. But we tell the story behind the ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04694np

The “gender pay gap” This topic has been in the news this week after the Institute for Fiscal Studies published research showing women end up 33% worse off than their male counterparts after ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p045z45d

With high profile attacks in Brussels, Nice and Munich, you might think that 2016 has been a particularly bad year for terrorism in Europe. But what happens when you put the numbers in historical...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p045hj6k

Is 2016 an unusually deadly year for terrorism? In a joint investigation with BBC Newsbeat and BBC Monitoring, we’ve analysed nearly 25,000 news articles to assess whether 2016 so far has bee...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04578fq

World Records are being set at a much faster rate in swimming than in other sports. At the Rio Olympics, British swimmer Adam Peaty managed to break the men's 100m breaststroke world record twice...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p044rdkj

It has been reported that Prime Minister Theresa May is planning on lifting the ban on creating new grammar schools. Chris Cook, Policy Editor for Newsnight, has been looking at the evidence for ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p044hc0d

How can we use statistics to predict how many medals each nation will win? We speak to Dr Julia Bredtmann, an economist at the RWI Leibniz Institute for Economic Research. She has come up with a ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p043zqlf

The Government says that since the introduction of the 5p fee for single use plastic bags their use has plummeted. We take a look at the numbers. Olympic Medals at Rio 2016 The Olympic Games ar...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p043r13y

How can the techniques of computer science help us in everyday life? We speak to Brian Christian co-author of ‘Algorithms to Live by: The Computer Science of Human Decisions’. He argues that ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p042z3gz

Many news outlets have reported this week that a Waitrose supermarket pushes up house prices in the surrounding area. It’s based on research that also suggests that other supermarkets have a si...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p042yzhk

The Irish Central Statistics Office has released figures showing that Ireland’s economy grew by 26% in 2015. That would make it the fastest growing economy in the world. But American economist ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0428q1t

Protests have spread across the United States over the last few weeks. The protestors have been registering their feelings about incidents where police have shot and killed black men. High profil...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p041ldjz

It’s often said that we should all be aiming to get eight hours of sleep a night. But could it actually lead you to an early grave? Research shows that sleeping for longer, or shorter, than ave...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p040vyhs

Is Iceland the best football team in the world per capita? England suffered a 2-1 defeat to Iceland in the European Football Championship in France. This was embarrassing for England when you con...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0404brj

Following a referendum, the UK has voted to leave the European Union. Tim Harford and the team explore what that might mean for the UK’s economy. Most notably - what might be the impact on trad...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03zc6lc

How are companies using our personal data? It’s a familiar concern. Online retailers are tracking us so they can sell things to us. Bricks and mortar retailers have loyalty card schemes. Our ba...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03ymsh3

If it seems the EU referendum debate just involves two politicians shouting contradictory statistics at each other - then we are here to help. In this series, we're giving you a break from the po...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03ymhgx

If it seems the EU referendum debate just involves two politicians shouting contradictory statistics at each other - then we are here to help. In this series, we're giving you a break from the po...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03yjd1w

If it seems the EU referendum debate just involves two politicians shouting contradictory statistics at each other - then we are here to help. In this series, we're giving you a break from the po...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03yfstm

If it seems the EU referendum debate just involves two politicians shouting contradictory statistics at each other - then we are here to help. In this series, we're giving you a break from the po...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03y9qyc

If the EU referendum debate just involves two politicians shouting contradictory statistics at each other - then we are here to help. In this series, we're giving you a break from the politicians...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03y68jn

There is a black hole in our knowledge of women and girls around the world. Campaigners say that they are often missing from official statistics and areas of their lives are ignored completely - ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03xxgsz

The news aggregation website Zimbabwe Today recently ran a headline stating that 74% of African girls aged 15-24 are HIV positive. Although the statistic is not true, Mary Mahy from UNAIDS reveal...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03x6cr6

What is the average length of stay in a refugee camp? It is regularly reported that it is 17 years but is this true? Floppy Disks This week’s shocking revelation of the computer world was t...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03wgr2n

Recently one of our listeners contacted us to say he heard a BBC correspondent describe the iPhone as the most profitable product in history. It was just an off-the-cuff comment but it got us thi...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03vrkyw

Is London the most diverse city in the world? The new London mayor Sadiq Khan has claimed that it is, but is he right? How is diversity measured? This month, British mathematician Sir Andrew Wi...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03v1r1p

At the beginning of the season of the English football Premier League, few people would have been brave enough to predict that Leicester City would finish top. But was it that surprising? Tim H...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03tlnzl

Recently one of our listeners contacted us to say he heard a BBC correspondent describe the iPhone as the most profitable product in history. It was just an off-the-cuff comment but it got us thi...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03t9h3k

A Dutch statistician recently became suspicious by headlines in the Dutch news that women were being discriminated against when it came to getting science research funding. Professor Casper Alber...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03sm8vw

How many people have come from the EU to live in the UK? And what impact do they have on the economy? This week it was reported there had been an increase in fire deaths – we aren’t so sure. ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03slxlx

What is the most expensive “object” ever built? There are plans in the UK to build a brand new nuclear power station called Hinckley Point. The environmental charity Greenpeace have claimed i...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03s4577

EU Treasury report This week there was much debate over the Treasury report which modelled how leaving the EU would affect the economy. Tim Harford speaks to the Spectator’s Fraser Nelson abo...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03rw8kw

Life expectancy of a Pope In 2014 Pope Francis alluded to the fact he didn’t expect to live more than another two or three years. A group of statisticians have taken a look at the life expect...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03rdkkl

Celebrity deaths A number of people have asked the team if more famous people have died this year compared to other years. It’s a hard one to measure – but we have had a go at some back of ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03r5d29

In the 1600s astronomers were coming up with measurements to help sailors read their maps with a compass. But with all the observations of the skies they were making, how do they choose the best ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03qprk7

Paternity Leave This week it was claimed that only 1 percent of men are taking up the option of shared parental leave – a new provision that came into force a year ago. A number of media outlet...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03qfs8c

Could there really be 26,911 words of European Union regulation dedicated to the sale of cabbage? This figure is often used by those arguing there is too much bureaucracy in the EU. But we trace ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03q39mf

Could there really be 26,911 words of European Union regulation dedicated to the sale of cabbage? This figure is often used by those arguing there is too much bureaucracy in the EU. But we trace ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03pzcck

New alcohol guidelines were issued recently in the UK which lowered the number of units recommended for safe drinking. But are the benefits and harms of alcohol being judged correctly? We speak t...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03nxgj2

Mobile technology is spreading fast in Africa, and one lawyer Gerald Abila has done the maths and worked out that there are more mobile phones than lightbulbs in Uganda. We look at his figures an...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03n6ttt

Stories about what foods are good and bad for you, which foods are linked to cancer and which have beneficial qualities are always popular online and in the news. But how do experts know what peo...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03m9tck

"Every one percent unemployment goes up, 40,000 people die, did you know that?" says Brad Pitt playing a former investment banker Ben Rickert, in the recent Oscar-winning film The Big Short. Alth...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03lj18n

It’s a life and death situation – the world is at its last line of defence against some pretty nasty bacteria and there are no new antibiotics. But it’s not the science that’s the big pro...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03ksfb1

Could no prize have been a better way to motivate snooker player Ronnie O’Sullivan?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03k2stg

There were reports recently that there will more plastic in the ocean than fish by 2050. The report comes from The Ellen MacArthur Foundation. But as we discover there's something fishy about the...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03jcvym

Adverstising dressed up as research has inspired us this week. Firstly recent reports that said that young women aged between 16 and 25 spend five and a half hours taking selfies on average. It d...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03jcttd

Research last month claimed to show that e-cigarettes harm your chances of quitting smoking. The paper got coverage world-wide but it also came in for unusually fierce criticism from academics wh...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03hx3tq

Do e-cigarettes make quitting smoking more difficult? Research last month claimed to show that e-cigarettes harm your chances of quitting smoking. The paper got coverage world-wide but it also ca...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03hnfb6

Have refugees caused a gender imbalance in Sweden? It has been reported that there are 123 boys for every 100 girls aged between 16 and 17 in Sweden. In China, the ratio is 117 boys to 100 girls....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03gzh7x

New alcohol guidelines were issued recently which lowered the number of units recommended for safe drinking. But are the benefits and harms of alcohol being jusged correctly? We speak to Professo...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03gz8sy

You may have seen the claim that ‘62 people now own as much wealth as half of the world’s population’. You may also have seen headlines that suggest that 1% of the world’s population now ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03gj7h9

Oxfam says that 62 people now own as much wealth as half of the world’s population. But is this really telling us anything meaningful? And how is it that this study shows that some of the world...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03g88vw

One of our 2015 ‘Numbers of the Year’ predictions might have come to pass. There is great excitement over rumours that one of the predictions Einstein made in his theory of General Relativity...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03fm6b8

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said this week that if you have a stroke at the weekends, you're 20% more likely to die. But is that true? We look at the evidence. Are you more likely to win prize...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03flxkc

What is preventing some Americans from being creative? And, how much money does the English Premier League contribute in tax? Tim Harford looks back over some of the numbers that made the news in...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03dslkl

Tim Harford and the team take a look at some of the numbers in the news about flooding. What is a one hundred year flood? And is there really a north-south divide in the amount of money spent on ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03dy2sd

How healthy is the Nigerian economy and how many possible tweets are there? Tim Harford looks back over some of the numbers that made the news in 2015. Guests include: Peter Cunliffe-Jones from A...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03dcw3m

Tim Harford looks back at some of the most interesting numbers behind the news in 2015, from the migrant crisis to social media messages. Contributors include: Professor Jane Green, Helen Arney, ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03dcxpv

How has the European migrant crisis affected the number of people seeking asylum? In this special programme Tim Harford looks back at some of the numbers making the news in 2015. Guests include: ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03crt5z

Are Star Wars’ Stormtroopers the biggest secret army on Earth? Ruth Alexander investigates, and looks at some of the other numbers behind one of the most successful movie franchises in history.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03chxn5

Do so-called ‘100 year floods’ only happen once a century? Ruth Alexander and Wesley Stephenson investigate. Also, does the air in Beijing cause as much damage as smoking 40 cigarettes a day?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03bvgsc

Ruth Alexander investigates claims climate change has contributed to the war in Syria, and with the climate change summit COP21 underway in Paris, we answer listener’s climate change number que...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03bgr3z

A front page article in a British tabloid claimed that one in five British Muslims have sympathy for jihadis. Ruth Alexander investigates whether this is correct, and asks which countries have th...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p039cqvx

Has so-called Islamic State been losing territory? Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron has claimed IS have lost about 25-30% of their territory in Iraq. Is this true? Plus, is Premier League f...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p038w4ct

Are creative people more likely to suffer mental illness, and has Cuba wiped out child hunger? Wesley Stephenson investigates.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p037zqwm

As China ends its one child rule what has been its impact on the country’s population? The More or Less team take a look at whether the policy on its own has slowed the rate at which China’s ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p037bh6v

Are processed meats as cancer-causing as cigarettes, and has the Rugby world cup been the most brutal? Ruth Alexander investigates.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p036nt3g

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari said a million barrels of the country’s oil were stolen per day. Is he right? Ruth Alexander asks Peter Cunliffe-Jones of Africa Check. And, does 13% of t...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03619gk

Tim Harford interviews Nobel Prize winning economist professor Angus Deaton about a lifetime measuring inequality

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p035fg0x

Are tall people really more likely to get cancer? Ruth Alexander looks at a new Swedish study that’s caused headlines around the world, and asks how worried tall people like her should be about...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p034sp4t

Managers and pundits often say “it’s harder to play against ten men”, but is there any truth in it? Also, Tim Harford speaks to the author Siobhan Roberts about Professor John Conway, who h...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0345g46

How reliable is psychology science? The Reproducibility of Psychological Science project reported recently and it made grim reading. Having replicated 100 psychological studies published in three...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p033j20k

Alzheimers What's behind the claim that 1 in 3 people born in the UK this year could get Alzheimers? How reliable is the science in psychology? The Reproducibility of Psychological Science projec...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p033rt24

The average rugby pack is much bigger than it was 20 years ago but has the growth finally plateaued? Living Blue Planet Index Populations of marine mammals, birds, fish and reptiles have declined...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p032vsqv

Striking numbers? Are the unions really on the rise again and holding the country to ransom? The rise of the giants Are rugby players really getting biger and bigger? Living Blue Planet Index...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p032vj7t

Too dense Is population density the right measure to be looking at when working out how many refugees countries should take- and if not what is? How many bananas will kill you? There’s a belief...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0328448

Can you rely on non-voters During the election for the leadership of the Labour Party in the UK Jeremy Corbyn has whipped up unprecedented support among grass roots activists pushing him into a s...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p032804x

Queuing backwards Britons love to queue, but have we been getting it wrong? Lars Peter Osterdal from the University of Southern Denmark discusses his theory of how to make queuing more efficient....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p031llxt

Deaths of people 'fit for work' Thousands of people are dying after being declared 'fit for work' by the government according to the Guardian. The figures are from a long awaited freedom of infor...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p031llhq

The Chinese Market Crash in context. How big is the market, how many investors does it have and does it tell us anything about the wider Chinese economy? Sprinters legs It may seem strange, but w...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p030zr0y

The Chinese Market Crash in context. How big is the market, how many investors does it have and does it tell us anything about the wider Chinese economy? Eight Million Foreigners Are there real...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p030zqt7

Loop The ancient Greeks saw magic in the geometry of an ellipse and now mathematical writer Alex Bellos has put this to use in a specially designed table for a specially designed game of pool. Pr...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p030bg1n

Diabetes We heard earlier this week that there had been a 60% rise in the number of cases of diabetes in the last ten years. But is there actually some good news in these figures? Odd (attempted)...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p030bct8

A debate has been raging over the last month about the benefits of mass deworming projects. Hugely popular with the UN and charities, the evidence behind the practice has come under attack. Are t...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02znr77

Migrant Crisis There is a "swarm" of migrants coming into Europe according to the Prime Minister. Where are they coming from and how many are coming to Calais to try to get into Britain? Are 70 p...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02znhjh

Following the recent death of wrestler "Rowdy" Roddy Piper we ask if wrestlers are more likely to die young. We explore why that might be and how they compare to athletes from other sports. Plus ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02z13cw

It has been reported that as many as 20,000 foreign fighters have joined militants in the Middle East and that they make up around 10% of ISIS. Wesley Stephenson and Federica Cocco look at the nu...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02yh0lx

Ruth Alexander and the team return to the question of how long you might live. Those born today are expected to live six and a half years longer than those born in 1990 but can this trend continu...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02xyd00

Its ten years since some of the world’s richest nations met in Gleneagles, Scotland. It was there that the G8 agreed to improve trade with developing nations, increase aid, and to wipe the debt...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02xbqbh

Is it true that Greece failed to collect 89% of taxes in 2010? Tim Harford and the More or Less team look at the numbers behind the tax system and the other statistics used to tell the story of t...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02wrj9c

The film Jurassic World broke the record for the biggest opening weekend taking $511m. It’s a record that has been broken once already this year and most of the top ten films with the biggest o...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02vnp2q

Can your horoscope predict which diseases you’ll develop? And does cricket’s Duckworth-Lewis method need to evolve?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02v3hhk

Global Footprint We’re often told that we consume so much that we need one and a half planets. It comes from the Global Footprint Network a think-tank that has pioneered ecological foot-printin...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02tkqf5

It's the last in the series so we're packing in the statistical goodies so that you can go into numerical hibernation until August. We're looking at the street value of drugs: when police claim t...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02tkhcs

Tim Harford asks if the World Cup is to blame for migrant deaths in Qatar. And we solve the fiendish maths exam question that baffled students so much it became a trend on Twitter.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02t0m81

Tim Harford asks if the World Cup is really responsible for migrant deaths in Qatar.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02t0fjf

On 23 May, the mathematician John Nash was killed in a car crash, alongside his wife Alicia. The couple were in their 80s. Professor Nash was on his way home from Norway after receiving the prest...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02sgvqw

This week: Seven Day NHS. As a commitment appears in the Queen's Speech to introduce a 'truly seven day-a-week NHS' we look at David Cameron's assertion that mortality rates are 16% higher for pe...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02sgwkb

Death Row exoneration statistics. Recently it’s been claimed that for every nine people executed in the US, one person has been exonerated. Is this true – and do the statistics vary state to ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02s3m8f

The Police Federation says female drivers aren’t heeding the drink drive warnings. Tim Harford attempts to find out the numbers behind this. Plus: the Rotterdam Effect; Death Row exonerations; ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02s3m7s

How computers are fooled by big numbers. Chris Baraniuk, technology journalist, talks about the simple software bug that has led to explosions, missing space probes, and more. Plus, an update on ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzvn9

Are stroke numbers on the rise? This was according to recent headlines. We spoke to Tony Rudd, National Clinical Director for Stroke NHS England. Plus: teachers leaving their jobs; computers bein...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzl4x

The birth of Princess Charlotte could contribute £1 billion to the British economy, according to some newspapers. True? Plus, the statistics of sex. This programme was first broadcast on the BBC...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz96g

Tim Harford and a panel of experts discuss pre-election polls and election fact checking. Plus, is Beeston in Nottinghamshire really the most adulterous town in the country?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzvxs

Why don’t all the opinion polls give the same results? Plus, would Labour’s plan to introduce a rent cap work, and how boring has this election been? The podcast features a collection of inte...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzv6d

It was recently reported that the number of women training to become Catholic nuns in Great Britain has reached a 25-year high. What's the long-term trend – are more women becoming nuns? Tim Ha...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzs47

On the eve of the UK's general election, Tim Harford takes a look at what polling data can tell us about predicting elections. Is the number of Catholic nuns on the up? What's the long-term trend...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzl2j

Are migrants ‘stealing’ jobs; does South Africa have more asylum seekers than any other country in the world? These are some of the claims we explore this week in the midst of some of the wor...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzbbd

Are we witnessing a jobs ‘miracle’? Also under scrutiny - Scotland’s deficit; a mansion tax; and what would a Miliband-SNP pact cost us? The podcast features a collection of interviews from...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz5ry

A young listener who needs a liver transplant has received an offer from his brother to act as a living donor. What are the statistics on survival? Plus, is it true that a child goes missing ever...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzg62

Fact-checking the politicians during the election campaign on NHS funding; rail fares and the railways; public spending; debt and the deficit; the Right-to-Buy; and education. The podcast feature...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzgrc

Can you trust the figures given to you by the political parties during the UK's General Election campaign period? We examine and unpick the statistics so you can decide how useful they are. The p...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz582

Professor Hans Rosling - perhaps best-described as a kind of international development myth buster - delivers his Ignorance Test. Hans asked presenter Ruth Alexander three questions from the test...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzjy0

Is it really true that ability in mathematics and chess are somehow linked? Tim Harford pits his wits against a math-professor-turned-professional-chess-player, John Nunn. This programme was firs...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzfrt

The Germanwings A320 tragedy, in which 150 people died, is the latest in a series of fatal crashes over the past year. Are more planes crashing, or does it just seem that way? Plus: is the number...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz9dg

A major 30-year study claims to show breastfed babies become more intelligent, higher earning adults. It's not the first time we've heard that breastfeeding raises IQ levels; but is this evidence...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzdl8

Babies born in Rwanda are likely to live healthier lives than those in the most deprived 10% of England, according to recent reports. But does the data back this up? And how is "good health" meas...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzssh

"In the next 40 years, humans will need to produce more food that they did in the previous 10,000," claimed a recent edition of The Economist. Ruth Alexander and Hannah Moore look at whether this...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzlb7

Oscar-winner John Legend said that there are more black men "under correctional control" in the United States today than were in slavery in 1850. Is he right? Plus, how many Lego bricks, stacked ...

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It’s often said that we should all be aiming to get eight hours of sleep a night but could it actually lead you to an early grave? Ruth Alexander reports. This programme was first broadcast on ...

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How maths can help you find love, and hold on to it. Plus, we hear a collection of our listeners’ favourite statistics. This programme was first broadcast on the BBC World Service.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz64t

Tim Harford asks whether claims that keen runners might be damaging their health are really true? And is infidelity among cruise ship passengers rife? This programme was first broadcast on the BB...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzh7y

Tim Harford on claims that keen runners might be damaging their health. Plus, tuition fees; affairs among cruise passengers; UK election safe seats; loyal listeners' favourite statistics.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzb7h

How to use mathematics to find your life partner. Plus: what are the chances that two friends, given the same due date for their babies' birth, actually do give birth on the same day? This progra...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rztk3

Fact-checking the Conservatives' employment claims; the price of milk; unhappy teachers; how to use maths to find your life partner; baby due dates; teen pregnancies.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzvk1

Who is in the world's wealthiest elite, and where do they live? Which are the world's best and worst board-games? Oliver Roeder, a senior writer for FiveThirtyEight, says a statistical analysis c...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzflg

Are the majority of hate crimes in the UK directed against Jewish people? Plus: who are the wealthiest 1% and politicians' healthcare connections examined.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzgp5

In the wake of the Paris killings, an imam in Paris told the BBC that most terrorism victims around the world are Muslim. Is that true? Plus: The death toll of the Boko Haram attack in Baga, Nige...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz9ty

The Conservatives' plans to achieve a budget surplus by 2019-20 have led to near universal acknowledgment that big reductions in spending would be required. However, David Cameron said this week ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz8z6

Most cancers are caused by "bad luck" according to reports of a new study. But, actually, the study doesn't say that. Tim Harford finds out what the research really tells us. This programme was f...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzszl

The NHS in England has missed its four-hour A&E waiting time target with performance dropping to its lowest level for a decade, it's reported. Tim Harford takes a closer look at the numbers. Plus...

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What is the most important number in the world? Robert Peston tells us and Helen Joyce and Dr Hannah Fry choose their most memorable numbers from 2014. This programme was first broadcast on the B...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzs7p

Tim Harford and guests look back at some of the weird and wonderful numbers of 2014. Featuring contributions from Simon Singh, Sir David Spiegelhalter, Helen Joyce, Nick Robinson, Helen Arney, Pi...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzgmg

How optimistic are people about the future? The BBC's Evan Davis tells More or Less as the programme looks back at the most interesting and important numbers of 2014. This programme was first bro...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzd3z

What is so special about 39,222 Mexican teachers? In the first of three episodes looking back at 2014, Mexico specialist Professor Carlos Vilalta tells Tim Harford. This programme was first broad...

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Did almost 80% of the males born in the Soviet Union in 1923 not survive World War Two, as has been claimed online? Plus: the problem with China’s economic figures. This programme was first bro...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz54d

Zimbabwe’s budget provided a fascinating insight into the country’s economy last week. Ben Carter looks at what the numbers mean for the future prosperity of Zimbabwe and the challenges the n...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzcg1

"About one-third of American girls become pregnant as teenagers” a recent article claimed. More or Less asks if this is true and looks at the long-term pregnancy trends in developed countries. ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzsjf

England captain Wayne Rooney made his 100th appearance last weekend but former England star Chris Waddle claims that it’s easier to win caps now than it was in previous generations. Wesley Step...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzck5

The movie Gone Girl claims homicide is a leading cause of death for pregnant women. Ruth Alexander asks Dr Katherine Gold from the University of Michigan if this is true. And can we trust country...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz4mp

Hans Rosling, global health expert and data visionary, has just arrived in Liberia. He is working as an independent professor at the Health ministry there, as part of the team tracking and tackli...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzh33

The chance of a successful kidney match between two unrelated people has increased significantly in the past 10 years - why? Ruth Alexander speaks to Professor Anthony Warrens, president of the B...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02s02h6

Are airport screenings for Ebola really an effective way of stopping transmission of the disease? And as the United Nations asks for another $1bn (£625m) in aid we take a look at which governmen...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02s01vt

Big data has been enjoying a lot of hype, with promises it will help deliver everything from increased corporate profits to better healthcare. While the potential is certainly there, Tim Harford ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzx81

The coverage of the Living Planet Index and its claim that species populations have dropped 50% in the last 40 years aroused much suspicion among More Or Less listeners. The team looks at what th...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzgtk

Why is Berlin the place to break the marathon world record and how long will it be before we witness someone run it in less than two hours?

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Two young listeners emailed the programme to ask how we calculate the distance to the sun. We decided to invite them and their parents to More or Less towers where Andrew Pontzen, an astrophysici...

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This week Tim explains the Barnett Formula with a bit of help from Money Box's Paul Lewis. He looks at Ed Balls sleight of hand in his speech to the Labour Party Conference. Is Ed Miliband's prom...

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Is Britain poorer than every US state, except for Mississippi? Journalist Fraser Nelson calculates that’s the case. Tim Harford speaks to economist Chris Dillow about why he’s right. Late las...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzqzh

The chance of a successful kidney match between two unrelated people has increased significantly in the past ten years - why? Tim Harford speaks to Professor Anthony Warrens, president of the Bri...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzrqv

It's a 'fact' beloved of English teachers around the world: that Shakespeare, the greatest playwright in English, also had the greatest vocabulary. But research published earlier this year sugges...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzk1t

Tim Harford talks to pollsters about how they are trying to gauge the political mood in Scotland, and he analyses Nigel Farage's claim that more than half of Scotland is on benefits. Plus: celebr...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz62s

The ALS ice bucket challenge has become a viral phenomenon. People around the world have been dousing themselves in ice-cold water and in the process have raised over $100m for charity. But a tru...

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The ALS ice bucket challenge viral phenomenon has raised over $100m. Is this good for charitable giving overall, and should we be more choosy about the charities we give to? Plus: is there a 'ris...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzcmt

Is it true that humans use just 10% of their brains? It’s the premise of the new film Lucy, in which the brain capacity of Scarlett Johansson’s character increases to dangerous leve...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02s02ym

Media reports are suggesting that as many as 12,000 people may have Ebola in West Africa, but experts tell More or Less that's not the case. It's also said that Ebola kills up to 90% of victims, ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz929

As the Gaza conflict continues, the fact that there are estimated to be nearly three times as many men as women among the Palestinian civilian casualties has been an issue in the spotlight. Tim H...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz4lb

"Revealed: half a million problem families" reported The Sunday Times. The government's expanding its Troubled Families programme - two years after More or Less found it statistically wanting. Ti...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz9sx

Is anti-semitism on the rise? Ruth Alexander and James Fletcher look at the numbers, as media reports in the wake of the Gaza conflict suggest anti-semitism is a growing problem. Does the evidenc...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzrts

The cost of the government's new student loan system is rising according to a recent report. Tim Harford investigates whether the rising costs should have been foreseen, and whether the new syste...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzs9h

What do we know about how deadly the Ebola virus is, and how likely is it that there might be an outbreak of the virus in the United States or Europe?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzc1z

After three tragic airline incidents in eight days, is flying becoming more dangerous? Wesley Stephenson looks at the statistics behind air travel to find out? And which is the most successful na...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz5l2

The Pope was reported to have said that 2% of Catholic clergy were paedophiles. Is this a big number? Wesley Stephenson looks at the research on the prevalence of paedophilia and how the Catholic...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz90p

The Tour de France has reached the mountains, but what does it take to be a good climber and why are the cyclists thin and bony, while sprinters are bigger with bulging muscles? And what is the b...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02s0148

In Roald Dahl’s novel "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", Charlie Bucket wins a golden ticket to visit Willy Wonka’s factory. But one of our younger More or Less listeners in England wanted ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzwjk

Obesity may mean children have a shorter lifespan than their parents, it has been claimed, but is this true? Ruth Alexander looks at the data and explores the 'Obesity Paradox' – the idea that ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzlrw

As we reach the end of the group stage are we really witnessing the greatest world cup ever? Ruth Alexander casts a sceptical eye over the statistics. She also takes a look at the possession stat...

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When it comes to aid, what works best – giving people food, shelter, medicine, or just handing over cash and letting them spend it how they like? One group of researchers went to a Kenyan villa...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzq1l

Freakonomics guru Steven Levitt joins us to talk about an unusual experiment – getting people to agree to make major life decisions based on the toss of a coin. Is this really good social scien...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzv0z

"Religion Makes People More Generous"- according to The Daily Telegraph's interpretation of a new BBC poll on charitable giving. Tim Harford investigates whether there is a link between practisin...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz3w1

Is the divorce rate in the US state of Maine linked to margarine consumption? It's one of many pairs of statistics featured on the 'Spurious Correlations' website started recently by Tyler Vigen....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzrbn

Scottish independence - yes or no? Which will line your pocket more? The Scottish government says a Yes vote will leave Scots £1,000 each better off; the UK treasury says a No vote means a £1,4...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzm5c

Did 'rock-star' French economist Thomas Piketty get his numbers wrong? His theories about rising inequality and the increasing importance of capital have been the talk of the economic and politic...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzl7q

Did 'rock-star' French economist Thomas Piketty get his numbers wrong? His theories about rising inequality and the increasing importance of capital have been the talk of the economic and politic...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz3tn

A famous probability puzzle is discussed involving goats and game shows with German psychologist Gerd Gigerenzer. Is he right to suggest in his new book 'Risk Savvy' that we really don't understa...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz9g9

Are the statistics put forward by UKIP accurate, and are Romanians responsible for more crime than other nationalities? Plus: Gerd Gigerenzer on the famous probability puzzle involving goats and ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz67g

Did the number of people around the world living in extreme poverty fall by half a few weeks ago? That's one interpretation of newly released figures for purchasing power parity around the world....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzrvx

Does the government have lots of people chasing the relatively small amounts lost to benefits cheats, while massive amounts of tax evasion are barely investigated? Plus: did global poverty fall b...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzl60

The Man Who Counted, a book of 'Arabic' mathematical tales written by Middle Eastern scholar Malba Tahan was published in Brazil in the 1930s. It became a huge success. Malba Tahan's birthday, Ma...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzcqt

Food banks are being used by a million people in Britain according to recent newspaper reports. But what do we really know about how many people are using food banks, and does this tell us anythi...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzcn7

Sir Roger Bannister became the first man to run a mile in under four minutes 60 ago. It's one of the most famous records of the 20th Century, one that the passage of time has shrouded in legend. ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzbf0

How much British law is made in Brussels - 75% as UKIP say, or 7% as Nick Clegg says? And how might the ideas of an 18th century minister help find the missing flight MH370?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzb40

Are 100 million women missing from the world? A listener asks More or Less to explore this powerful statement - "More girls were killed in the last 50 years, precisely because they were girls, th...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzcwn

Do you have a favourite number - one you love, one you think stands out from all the others? Author Alex Bellos joins us to talk about his quest to find the world's favourite number and discuss w...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzk7d

Nigeria's bureau of statistics has overhauled the way it calculates the country's GDP figures. With GDP now estimated at around $510 billion, it has surpassed South Africa as the continent's larg...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzcyk

How many people in the world live in freedom? The BBC's Freedom 2014 season got Tim Harford and the More or Less team wondering about this. It's actually pretty hard to put a number on freedom, s...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rztvl

Are there really be 300,000 French people in London and would they really want to leave France for the UK anyway? The Mayor of London, British journalists and commentators have trotted out this "...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz6j7

Could Bayesian statistics find Flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing? This niche form of statistical modelling has been used to find everything from submarines to missing people. More or Less...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzcnk

Your questions answered - Do the Maasai in Africa number one million? Is it true that a quarter of Americans do not know the Earth goes round the sun? Are half of Tasmanians innumerate and illite...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzj38

Are there 21 million slaves in the world today? Director of 12 Years a Slave, Steve McQueen, made this claim at both the Oscars and the BAFTAs while accepting awards. More or Less looks into the ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzrcn

Becoming a pro on practice alone – is that possible? Or do you need innate talent? After reading books promoting the idea, a photographer with no natural talent explains how he is practising fo...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzhzq

The rise and fall of an online epidemic: How studying the spread of infectious diseases suggests the global drinking craze Neknomination will fizzle out. Drinkers post videos of their exploits an...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz9k3

Can economics help you find love? Tim Harford and the team look at the maths behind modern match-making. Economist Michele Belot from the University of Edinburgh explains why women are pickier th...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzqtr

In the US, more people are dying from drug overdoses than from road traffic accidents and firearms. As headlines are filled with the news that actor Philip Seymour Hoffman died from an overdose r...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzcxy

How much do migrants cost or benefit a nation? Plus, planning a wedding - when you have friends and family all around the world and a finite number of places at the venue, how do you work out how...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzqmr

Chancellor George Osborne says a 50p tax rate does not bring in much revenue; Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls says it does. Tim Harford takes a look at why it is so hard to pin down how much tax is ow...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz9ns

Do two large glasses of wine triple your risk of mouth cancer, as claimed on a health leaflet spotted by a sceptical listener? Tim Harford examines the difficulties of extracting smoking from the...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzqyh

What does a detailed look at immigration statistics tell us about the benefits, or otherwise, of welcoming overseas citizens? Plus, is it true that by the age of 60, more than twice as many women...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzl35

An apple-a-day will actually keep the doctors away, according to a study in the Christmas edition of the British Medical Journal. It generated headlines around the world. But were the media right...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz4yx

Tim Harford discovers that health statistics contradict a report which says obesity is worsening. Plus, he fact-checks: armed police shooting statistics; reports that the UK's had the worst winte...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz6h4

In Iraq, estimates of the death count since the war started 2003 range from 100,000 to about one million. Tim Harford explores why such a range exists and what methods are used to count those kil...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzskj

Most deaths occur in this week of the year - Tim Harford asks why. He also asks: are there really two million millionaire pensioners in the UK, and how many people have died in Iraq since 2003? P...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz44g

A guide to 2013 in numbers - the most informative, interesting and idiosyncratic statistics of the year discussed by More or Less interviewees. Contributors: Dr Pippa Malmgren, President and foun...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzd3j

When the government announced that fees charged by pension providers could be capped, some listeners were sceptical that the benefits could be as great as was being claimed. Tim Harford and Money...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzs27

A guide to 2013 in numbers - the most informative, interesting and idiosyncratic statistics of the year discussed by More or Less interviewees. Contributors: David Spiegelhalter, Professor for th...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzsgn

A guide to 2013 in numbers - the most informative, interesting and idiosyncratic statistics of the year discussed by More or Less interviewees. Contributors: David Spiegelhalter, Winton professor...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzk0v

It has been reported that global wine supplies are running low. But shops still seem to be well-stocked. So, what is going on? Tim Harford fact-checks the claim. Plus, are the four festive footba...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rztqz

About 80,000 children will wake up homeless on Christmas Day, according to the charity Shelter. What exactly does that mean? Tim Harford explores the statistic. Plus, he fact-checks the news repo...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzqj7

It is claimed white South Africans are being systematically killed because of the colour of their skin, but do the crime statistics back this up? No, explains Julian Rademeyer from Africa Check a...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzcxc

The publication of the latest international education league table has created waves around the world. From Shanghai at the top of the table to Peru at the bottom, the PISA rankings create a lot ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzv1v

Ahead of the 2014 World Cup draw next Friday, we look at world football rankings. How are Switzerland seeded when the Netherlands, Italy and England are not? The answer lies in the playing of fri...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz4s4

Ruth Alexander speaks to a statistician at the forefront of cancer research, Professor Terry Speed. He has just been awarded the Prime Minister’s Prize for Science in Australia. This programme ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzlmf

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar has amassed 15,847 test runs, which is 2,500 more runs than any other batsman. But other ways have been devised to calculate cricketing greatness and the Little Master, as...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzc3d

To what degree do our personal opinions cloud our judgement? Yale University researchers have attempted to detect and measure how our political beliefs affect our ability to make rational decisio...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzh15

It is claimed an average of 100,000 Christians have died because of their faith every year for the past decade: and that this is an 'unreported catastrophe'. The Vatican has called it a credible ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzw47

Women in their late thirties shouldn’t be as anxious about their prospects of having a baby as is commonly assumed, psychologist Jean Twenge argues. Tim Harford finds fertility experts agree. T...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzkpg

Tim Harford tells the story of how two economists who disagree with each other have been jointly awarded the Nobel Prize. Eugene Fama has shown that stock markets are efficient, while Robert Shil...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzhv6

Tim Harford tells the story of the Hawthorne Experiments, one of the most famous social studies of the Twentieth Century. The finding – that workers are more productive if they are given attent...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz5r8

Has the mosquito killed half the people who have ever lived? Tim Harford assesses the claim. Are 96 elephants a day being killed in Africa? Plus, a return to the subject of left-handers – could...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzg5b

Are hundreds of young children visiting A&E because of alcohol? Plus, an update on the Trumptonshire economy. And has the mosquito killed half the people who have ever lived? Tim Harford presents...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzwfh

"We just shut our eyes to the fact that the world's population is increasing out of control." Is broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough right about global population projections? And T...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzb29

Tim Harford examines the claim that NHS hospital patients are 45% more likely to die than US ones. Is Sir David Attenborough right that the world's population is increasingly out of control? And ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzhsj

'I accept every time I get in my car, there's a 20% chance I could die'. It's a line from the Formula 1 hit film, Rush. Spoken by racing driver Niki Lauda's character. Formula 1 was certainly a d...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzc17

All pupils at infant schools in England are to get free school lunches from next September, but does the evidence prove free dinners improve results? 'I accept every time I get in my car, there's...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rztwl

Almost a quarter of men in some Asian countries admit rape, it has been reported. The headlines have been sparked by a UN report, which looks at violence against women in parts of Asia. Are the n...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz402

Psychologist Jean Twenge argues that women in their late thirties shouldn’t be as anxious about their prospects of having a baby as is commonly assumed. Tim Harford finds fertility experts agre...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzv9r

As global leaders remain divided on whether to carry out a military strike against Syria in response to the apparent use of chemical weapons against its people, Tim Harford looks at the different...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzjx6

Tim Harford looks at the different claims made about how many people have been killed in the apparent chemical attack in Syria. The cost of care has forced a million families to sell their homes ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz418

Is it true that environmental problems will create 200 million migrants? Some politicians and environmentalists warn that this is the case. But migration experts say that the numbers are exaggera...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz8mp

Has the government taken into account the worth of a badger's life in any cost-benefit analysis of the badger cull? It aims to kill 70% of badgers in the two cull zones, but Tim Harford discovers...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzx57

People who drink more than 4 cups of coffee increase their chances of dying by 50%, it was reported recently. Given everyone’s chance of dying is already 100%, this seems a puzzle. What does th...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzpwx

Tim Harford speaks to Persi Diaconis, top professor of maths and statistics and legendary magician. The Stanford University professor and co-author of the book "Magical Mathematics" has an enthra...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzsn6

If all the world’s population crowded together, where could we all fit? London? Texas? More or Less figures it out, and separates fact from fiction. And, as the soccer season returns, is it pos...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzwsv

This week we find out what the most visited country in the world is and ask why aren’t they capitalising financially as well as their rivals. Plus we also investigate the complex - and often co...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzj3x

The winner of this year's Tour de France, British rider Chris Froome, faced numerous questions about doping during the course of his victory. More or Less assesses his performance stats, and asks...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzfmd

It’s claimed that Egyptians have taken part in the biggest uprising the world has ever seen. The nationwide demonstrations, which were followed by the removal of the president by the army, were...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz98k

The world of porn is often exaggerated but does it really make up 37% of the web? And after some high profile cases we ask whether the American football league has a crime problem? This edition w...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzlnc

Life expectancy at birth around the world has increased by six years in the past two decades. But can this striking trend continue? Ruth Alexander looks at the data. This edition was first broadc...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzcwb

Ruth Alexander examines US Secretary of State, John Kerry’s claim that 40% of the world’s workforce will be in Africa by 2050 and talks to the chief of the United Nations’ population divisi...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzlr8

Ruth Alexander examines the claim that every 15 seconds a child dies of hunger. It’s a popular statistic used by celebrities and charity campaigners in support of the Enough Food for Everyone I...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz912

Parents take note – what can numbers reveal about bringing up children? Plus, Tim Harford explore if men really do think about sex every seven seconds. This urban myth will not go away and yet ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzd1k

A&E waiting times have been making the headlines - Tim Harford takes a look at some of the numbers and puts them into context. Today presenter Evan Davis explains his frustration with finding off...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzd8g

In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing and the killing of a British soldier on the streets of Woolwich in London, it emerged that the suspects were known to the security services. But how fea...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz9zl

After the killing of a British soldier on the streets of Woolwich in London, it emerged that the suspects were known to the security services. But how feasible is it for the authorities to keep t...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzhtk

Tim Harford examines Ryanair’s claim that more than 90% of its flights land on time; and discovers that millions of scientific papers may be incorrect. Producer: Ruth Alexander

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02s04kz

Tim Harford inspects the claims the UK Treasury and the Scottish government make about the economics of an independent Scotland; tests Ryanair’s claim that more than 90% of its flights land on ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzk42

As Angelina Jolie announces that an 87% cancer risk has prompted her to have a double mastectomy, Tim Harford assesses the probabilities associated with the disease. Plus, has the UK been hit by ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzbdg

As Angelina Jolie announces that an 87% cancer risk has prompted her to have a double mastectomy, Tim Harford assesses the probabilities associated with the disease. Plus, has the UK been hit by ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzfts

It's often said that one dog year equals seven human years. But is it true? Tim Harford and Ben Carter unveil the More or Less Dogulator. Plus, 15 distant relatives of England’s King Richard II...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzhgb

Tim Harford makes sense of the numbers being used in the political battle about the UK and its membership of the EU. And, he looks at whether it’s true that more war veterans kill themselves th...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzw7k

Birds + windows =? The BBC Quiz show The Unbelievable Truth reckons that more than 2 million birds die crashing into window panes every day in the US. Tim Harford finds this, well, unbelievable. ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzg2t

Birds + windows =? The BBC Quiz show The Unbelievable Truth reckons that more than 2 million birds die crashing into window panes every day in the US. Tim Harford finds this, well, unbelievable. ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz971

More or Less creates the Alternative Premier League, with lead scorer goals chalked off to work out whether it’s true that Van Persie’s really single-handedly won Manchester United’s the Le...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzcv9

Tim Harford tells the story of the student who uncovered a mistake in a famous economic paper that has been used to make the case for austerity cuts. In 2010, two Harvard economists published an ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzgnf

Baroness Margaret Thatcher, who has died aged 87, was Britain’s first female prime minister and one of the most influential political figures of the 20th Century. She was a pioneer of free mark...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzchb

It’s the fourth anniversary of the earthquake which devastated the city of L’Aquila in Italy and which led to the conviction of six scientists and an official who failed to predict the disast...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz5nh

What if a super-villain took control of the world's gold a melted it in to a cube? How big would it be? Wesley Stephenson finds out.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzm12

With an avalanche of 2.5 quintillion bytes of data generated daily, could this be used to change our lives and does it have a darker side?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzckr

Only last week Ivory Toldson heard the speaker say there are more black men in prison in America than in college. ‘Here we go again’ he thought. Only the week before he had written his second...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzkdj

With the news that a baby has been ‘cured’ of HIV what do the numbers tell us about the epidemic. Ruth Alexander looks at the changes in the way that the disease has been measured. Also the D...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzsm4

Kenya votes for its next President on 4th March. The opinion polls show that it is neck-and-neck between the two main candidates but an influential Kenyan political scientists has warned that the...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz5fq

This week Tim Harford asks how the figure of 1.2 billion Catholics world-wide is calculated. He also tests the claims of the controversial video, 'Muslim Demographics' shown at the Vatican by the...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzk3g

This week Ruth Alexander looks at Manchester United versus Real Madrid in the last 16 of the Champions League. Real Manager Jose Mourinho says this was the match the "world has been waiting to se...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzx07

Canada has stopped distributing its smallest coin –the one cent or the penny. This week Ruth Alexander looks at why some countries get rid of their smallest coins and some just cannot part with...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz91t

This week Ruth Alexander looks at the extraordinary case of Andreas Georgiou the head of the Greek statistics agency, Elstat. He is facing criminal charges for what amounts to statistical treason...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02s01l9

A ‘new’ BMI calculation has been proposed by Oxford Mathematician Professor Nick Trefethen but does it really address the problem with a calculation that is over a century old. Body Mass Inde...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzm8k

This week Ruth Alexander is looking at farmer suicides in India. But is it any more prevalent than in any other area of Indian society? Also what is the history behind the Lakh and the Crore in S...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzcyz

Episode 1 of Tim Harford's new series, Pop Up Economics, in which he tells a live audience short stories about fascinating people and ideas in economics.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02s010k

Reports this week suggest that we are wasting 50 per cent of our food globally. It comes from a study by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers in the UK. Ruth Alexander discovers why this number ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzgwq

What does a 'guess the weight of the ox' competition tells us about a bloated and dysfunctional financial system? We find out in the Parable of the Ox written by John Kay of the Financial Times. ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzqfp

What does a 'guess the weight of the ox' competition tells us about a bloated and dysfunctional financial system? We find out in the Parable of the Ox written by John Kay of the Financial Times. ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzw5k

A special review of the year through the interesting, informative and idiosyncratic numbers of 2012.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzk5s

A guide to 2012 in numbers - the most informative, interesting and idiosyncratic statistics of the year discussed by More or Less interviewees.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzcfp

Tim Harford investigates the numbers in the debate on firearms deaths, and discovers the mathematics of juggling. This programme was first broadcast on the BBC World Service.

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Tim Harford investigates gun crime statistics in the US. Plus, why death is not always the one hard fact that’s hard to fudge; the average age of first-time buyers; whether chocolate makes you ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzsql

This week: What is ‘rare’? When we say something is rare what do we mean? Lightning strikes which typically kill three people a year in the UK are often described as rare but how do we square...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzlsj

Why was the estimate, in 2003, for Eastern Europeans coming to the UK so wrong? Which is better when communicating information words or numbers? Nassim Taleb explains anti-fragility And we'll deb...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz3ht

Where does Nigeria’s plan to revise its GDP leave our understanding of growth in Sub-saharan Africa? And what is the chance of the Duchess of Cambridge having twins given she has severe morning...

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In light of the Royal pregnancy Tim Harford asks what severe morning sickness tells us about the chances of having twins. Yan Wong helps him look at the figures. We disentangle the Chancellor' Au...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02s043n

Kevin Pietersen has been widely praised as one of the best England batsmen of the current era and possibly of all time. But in the first test match he only scored 19. So can England really not do...

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On More or Less this week Tim Harford looks at three polls carried out to gauge the public’s opinion on press regulation gave vastly different answers despite being carried out by the same poll...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz4r0

This is the first in the new series of the programme. There’s a well-established idea that Manchester United get more added time than every other Premier League team. More or Less looks at the ...

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This is the first in the new series of the programme. Tim Harford has been busy felling some ash tree statistics. He asks whether the UK could lose 30% of our woodland trees and did the ash die b...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzmfx

There's not an obvious link between chocolate and Nobel prizes, but this did not stop news outlets around the world reporting the amount of chocolate a country consumes influences the number of N...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz9fc

This week Ruth Alexander looks at the other winner the US elections. Blogger and pioneer of aggregated polling, Nate Silver, predicted the outcome of the vote in every state one better than 2008....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzkmt

Conrad Black has claimed that 99.5% of prosecution cases in America end up in convictions. Is it really this high? We try to estimate how this compares to the number of convictions in other parts...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz8yd

This week six scientists and one ex-government official were sentenced to prison for multiple manslaughter following the L’Aquila earthquake in Italy. Part of the case against them was the fals...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz5zt

Professor Al Roth tells Tim Harford about the work for which he has just been awarded the 2012 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzbyp

Predicting the global population: does anyone really know what’s going to happen?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzt1r

Nate Silver tells us who will win the 2012 US election - and how he knows.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzd55

Only 100 cod are left in the North Sea according to newspapers. Is this the most wrong headline in More or Less history?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzkg9

US Presidential Election factchecked. Is Mitt Romney right to say that 47% of Americans pay no tax? And how many jobs has President Obama really created?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02s01yg

Ruth Alexander investigates Sweden's high rape rate, and finds out which countries are the surprise leaders of the world kidnap league. Plus, who went home from the London 2012 Games with more me...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzrrn

Why did the USA top the gold medals league in the Olympics, but not the Paralympics? Ruth Alexander examines the performance numbers of the London 2012 Paralympic Games and discovers which countr...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzgdd

‘What’s the number before infinity?’ asks Claudia, aged 4. We challenge Johnny Ball, legendary British TV presenter, to explain. And in celebration of the voice of Sesame Street’s Count v...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz5t1

The Prime Minister of Ethiopia is the fourth African premier to die this year alone. Are African leaders more likely to die in office, than their counterparts elsewhere? Also: does marriage make ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz6n4

Given that some countries are richer than others, and some have larger populations, what should the Olympic medal tally really have looked like? Also: numbers help us understand the world. But fo...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz958

Given that some countries are richer than others, and some have larger populations, what should the Olympic medal tally really have looked like? Also: numbers help us understand the world. But fo...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzwrl

Last week Knight Capital lost a lot of money very quickly. It was the latest chapter in the story of something called ‘high frequency trading’. Investors have always valued being the first wi...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz6p4

Last week Knight Capital lost a lot of money very quickly. It was the latest chapter in the story of something called ‘high frequency trading’. Investors have always valued being the first wi...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzfkg

There was controversy this week after Ye Shiwen, a young Chinese swimmer, won the 400 metre individual medley in fine style. A US swimming coach called the performance "disturbing", implying that...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz48z

There was controversy this week after Ye Shiwen, a young Chinese swimmer, won the 400 metre individual medley in fine style. A US swimming coach called the performance "disturbing", implying that...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz5bg

Last week's mass-shooting at a cinema in Colorado has - not surprisingly - intensified America's bitter and long-running argument with itself about gun control. The argument is political and high...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzd7m

Last week's mass-shooting at a cinema in Colorado has - not suprisingly - intensified America's bitter and long-running argument with itself about gun control. The argument is political and highl...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rz9wf

The Tour de France, we are told, has finally cleaned up its act and clamped down on the use of performance-enhancing drugs. But if it has, should we expect today’s drug-free riders to be slower...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzh0g

The Tour de France, we are told, has finally cleaned up its act and clamped down on the use of performance-enhancing drugs. But if it has, should we expect today’s drug-free riders to be slower...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzx61

How much damage did messing with Libor really do to the financial system? And we investigate the claim made by a leading charity that a million British children are "starving".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzwm2

How much damage did messing with Libor really do to the financial system? After all, most financial trades are two way bets – and for every winner, there is a loser.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzb97

Do residents of the tiny micronesian island of Palau really smoke more cannabis, and drink more beer, than anyone else?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzm05

What is the highest-earning film ever if you adjust for inflation? And are birthdays killing us?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzgkk

How fat could the global population become? Plus, Angela Saini considers whether statistics could settle the disputed result of the world title fight between boxers Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bra...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzclx

Is the likelihood of bumping into your boss on holiday greater than you think? Angela Saini and the More or Less team assess the probabilities of some of life's great coincidences. This edition o...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzm73