More or Less

BBC Radio 4

Tim Harford explains - and sometimes debunks - the numbers and statistics used in political debate, the news and everyday life.

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1,133 episodes
Updated Saturday

Episodes1133

Newest first

Apr 6, 2024 · 8 min
Is loneliness as bad for you as smoking?
The connection between being alone and an early death
Mar 30, 2024 · 8 min
Remembering Daniel Kahneman
Tim Harford on the great social scientist, who has died at the age of 90
Mar 28, 2024 · 9 min
Bonus episode: Daniel Kahneman on Thinking, Fast and Slow
In an episode of More or Less from 2012, Daniel Kahneman explains his big ideas.
Mar 25, 2024 · 9 min
What's happening to Arctic ice?
Arctic ice has been in long decline. Do recent fluctuations change the story?
Mar 16, 2024 · 8 min
Does the Russian government really spend 40% of its budget on the military?
We investigate how much the Russian state is spending on the war in Ukraine.
Mar 9, 2024 · 8 min
Is public speaking really our biggest fear?
Tim Harford investigates the claim that public speaking is people’s number one fear.
Mar 2, 2024 · 8 min
Ultramarathons: Are women faster than men?
Is it really true that in extremely long races, women run faster than men?
Feb 28, 2024 · 28 min
School spending, excess deaths and billions of animals at Heathrow
Is school funding at record levels? Did 6.5bn creatures come to the UK by plane last year?
Feb 24, 2024 · 8 min
NBA basketball: Is height more important than skill?
How much does a man’s height affect his chances of becoming an NBA basketball player?
Feb 21, 2024 · 28 min
Per capita GDP, MP claims and the entire EU budget
What does per capita GDP tell us? How much did the EU spend on covid recovery?
Feb 17, 2024 · 9 min
The digital ‘robots’ unlocking medical data
Ben Goldacre on OpenSAFELY, protecting patient privacy while analysing health data
Feb 14, 2024 · 28 min
Debt, students, shark and chips
What is the government’s rule on debt? Do 90% of chip shops sell shark and chips?
Feb 10, 2024 · 8 min
The global gender split in young people’s politics
Tim Harford investigates the growing political divergence between young men and women.
Feb 7, 2024 · 28 min
Council tax weirdness: Hartlepool vs Westminster
Council tax comparisons, migration calculations and the carbon footprint of home-grown veg
Feb 3, 2024 · 9 min
A pocket-size history of the calculator
Tim Harford explores the history of calculators from clockwork to the Kashio brothers
Jan 31, 2024 · 28 min
Measles, Traitors and the cost of Brexit
Is measles spreading? How much is Brexit costing? How good are they at traitor guessing?
Jan 27, 2024 · 10 min
Is Oxfam right about the world’s richest and poorest people?
We investigate how Oxfam use wealth stats to illustrate global inequality
Jan 24, 2024 · 28 min
Shopping, shipping and wind chill-ing
We investigate the cost of a weekly shop and explore the workings of wind chill
Jan 20, 2024 · 8 min
Are there more possible games of chess than atoms in the universe?
We investigate how the vast possibilities in chess compare to the vastness of the universe
Jan 17, 2024 · 23 min
Life expectancy, inheritance tax and the NHS vs winter
How long will we live? Who pays inheritance tax? How did the NHS perform this winter?