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

Nov 16, 2018 · 9 min
WS More or Less: When’s a Kilogram Not a Kilogram?
Updating the kilogram.
Nov 9, 2018 · 8 min
WS More or Less: Do Assassinations Work?
How likely are assassination attempts on heads of state to succeed?
Oct 28, 2018 · 11 min
WS More or Less: Vaccines - The importance of the herd and social media
What proportion of a population needs to be vaccinated to stop a disease spreading?
Oct 19, 2018 · 8 min
WS More or Less: Foreign Aid: Who’s the most generous?
In foreign aid terms what’s the best way of measuring how generous a country is?
Oct 12, 2018 · 9 min
WS More or Less: Paul Romer and William Nordhaus’ Big Ideas
The economists tackling climate change and growth.
Oct 9, 2018 · 9 min
Loneliness, School Funding, Same-Sex Divorce
A BBC loneliness survey, school funding, same-sex divorce and the loyalty of listeners.
Oct 7, 2018 · 9 min
WS More or Less: Why are Lesbians More Likely to Divorce than Gay Men?
Tim Harford talks to economist Marina Ashdade about same-sex divorce statistics.
Oct 5, 2018 · 20 min
Loneliness; School Funding; Same-Sex Divorce.
Tim Harford on a BBC loneliness survey; school funding; same-sex divorce; loyal listeners
Oct 1, 2018 · 9 min
WS More of Less: Surviving the Battle of Britain
Were Spitfire pilots killed after an average of four weeks in the World War Two battle?
Sep 28, 2018 · 22 min
Surviving the Battle of Britain; the World Cup and Domestic Violence; Buckfast and Arrests in Scotland
Tim Harford on Spitfire pilots, and whether football triggers violence in the home.
Sep 24, 2018 · 8 min
WS More or Less: Trump and the Puerto Rico Death Toll
How can we calculate excess mortality after a natural disaster?
Sep 21, 2018 · 25 min
How Many Schoolchildren are Carers? Shareholder Income, and Museum Visitors Vs Football Fans
Tim Harford on child carers, shareholder income, football vs museums and dangerous sports
Sep 17, 2018 · 9 min
WS More or Less: DNA - Are You More Chimp or Neanderthal?
What is the difference between 96% similarity or sharing 20% of our DNA?
Sep 14, 2018 · 24 min
Male suicide, school ratings, are female tennis players treated unfairly by umpires?
Tim Harford with statistics on suicide, good schools and sexism in tennis. Plus goats
Sep 10, 2018 · 9 min
WS More or Less: The Safest Car in the World?
A listener asks whether his Volvo is the safest car on the road?
Sep 7, 2018 · 23 min
Heart Age Calculator; Danish Sperm Imports; Counting Goats
Tim Harford questions the usefulness of a popular heart age calculator.
Sep 3, 2018 · 8 min
WS: More or Less - How well do you understand your world?
Tim Harford talks to Bobby Duffy about why we are often wrong about a lot of basic facts
Aug 31, 2018 · 23 min
African Trade Tariffs; Alcohol Safe Limits; President Trump's Popularity
Tim Harford fact checks EU trade deals with Africa, and whether one drink is one too many
Aug 29, 2018 · 28 min
BONUS PODCAST: Economics with Subtitles - Coffins Full of Car Keys
Why we have interest rates, how we misunderstand them - and a curious coffin connection.
Aug 27, 2018 · 8 min
WS: More or Less - Automated fact-checking
Computer programmes are being developed to combat fake news.