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

Mar 1, 2023 · 28 min
UK vs European energy prices, falling excess deaths and is 5 grams of cocaine a lot?
We debunk a claim that the UK has by far the highest energy prices in Europe
Feb 25, 2023 · 10 min
Do 29,000 coffee pods really go to landfill every minute?
We explore the environmental consequences of our thirst for coffee
Feb 22, 2023 · 29 min
Reoffending rates, Welsh taxes and the menopause
Tim Harford and team fact check a government claim about falling reoffending rates
Feb 18, 2023 · 10 min
Florence Nightingale and how she visualised data
Tim Harford discusses the power of the nurse statistician’s groundbreaking diagrams
Feb 15, 2023 · 28 min
Nurses' pay, ambulance times and forgotten female economists
We look at how much nurses in the UK are paid compared with those in Europe.
Feb 11, 2023 · 10 min
Spreadsheet disasters
The long and costly history of spreadsheet mistakes
Feb 8, 2023 · 28 min
The IMF and the UK economy, NHS staff shortages and British vs English
How much should we trust the IMF’s forecasts for the UK?
Feb 4, 2023 · 9 min
Hannah Fry on using shopping data to detect ovarian cancer
The mathematician discusses a study that suggests loyalty card data could signal cancer.
Feb 1, 2023 · 28 min
Brexit and trade, pensioner millionaires and Hannah Fry on loyalty cards and cancer
We examine a claim that the UK’s trade with the EU has increased since Brexit
Jan 28, 2023 · 10 min
Are wild mammals only 4% of the mammal population?
Are wild mammals only 4% of the mammal population?
Jan 25, 2023 · 28 min
Coffee with the Chancellor, inflation measures, GP numbers and toilet paper
We fact check Jeremy Hunt’s pledge to halve inflation
Jan 21, 2023 · 8 min
Does toilet paper cause 15% of global deforestation?
We investigate the impact of our use of toilet paper on the world’s forests.
Jan 18, 2023 · 29 min
Ambulance response times, teacher pay and Irish pubs
How long are people really waiting when they call 999 for an ambulance?
Jan 14, 2023 · 8 min
How we shook the world of very large numbers
How an edition of More or Less influenced the naming of enormous numbers
Jan 11, 2023 · 28 min
A&E delays and deaths, religious identity in N Ireland and naming the monster numbers
How many people may be dying because of treatment delays in the NHS?
Jan 11, 2023 · 28 min
A&E delays and deaths, religious identity in N Ireland and naming the monster numbers
How many people may be dying because of treatment delays in the NHS?
Jan 7, 2023 · 9 min
Can China's data on covid deaths be trusted?
Is China under-reporting data on Covid related deaths?
Dec 31, 2022 · 10 min
Irish pubs - a global numbers game
Are there more Irish pubs in Ireland than in all other countries combined?
Dec 24, 2022 · 8 min
Numbers of the Year 2022
Tim Harford and guests on the numbers that help tell the big stories of the year.
Dec 17, 2022 · 8 min
Qatar World Cup: the pressure of penalties
We analyse World Cup penalty data to ask what boosts the chance of scoring from the spot