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

May 2, 2016 · 9 min
WS More or Less: Simpson’s Paradox
We explore how statistics can support two seemingly contradictory results.
Apr 29, 2016 · 28 min
EU Migration
What will happen to migration if the UK leaves the EU?
Apr 25, 2016 · 9 min
WS More or Less: Most Expensive Building
How much to build The Great Pyramid, a nuclear power station, or an airport?
Apr 22, 2016 · 27 min
Brexit numbers
Do the Treasury's Brexit numbers add up?
Apr 18, 2016 · 9 min
WS More or Less: The life expectancy of a Pope
Statistics show that the Head of the Catholic Church can expect to live to an old age
Apr 15, 2016 · 28 min
Celebrity deaths
Have more famous people died this year than usual?
Apr 11, 2016 · 9 min
WS More or Less: The story of average
How astronomers introduced the world to the average.
Apr 8, 2016 · 27 min
Fathers and babies
Have only 1% of men taken the option of shared parental leave?
Apr 5, 2016 · 9 min
WS More or Less: The Great EU Cabbage Myth
Does the European Union dedicate 26,911 words to cabbage regulation?
Apr 4, 2016 · 27 min
The Great EU Cabbage Myth
Does the European Union dedicate 26,911 words to cabbage regulation?
Mar 24, 2016 · 9 min
WSMoreOrLess: Safe drinking
UK Alcohol guidelines recommend drinking less – but do the numbers support them?
Mar 18, 2016 · 9 min
WSMoreOrLess: Mobiles or lightbulbs
Are there more mobile phones than lightbulbs in Uganda? And thyroid cancer in Fukushima.
Mar 11, 2016 · 9 min
WSMoreOrLess: Can we trust food surveys?
The pitfalls of nutrition science - how do really know what people are eating?
Mar 4, 2016 · 9 min
WSMoreOrLess: Fact checking The Big Short
Is it true that “every one percent unemployment goes up, 40,000 people die"?
Feb 26, 2016 · 9 min
WSMoreOrLess: Antibiotics and the problem of the broken market
The world needs new antibiotics so how do we entice big pharma back in to the market?
Feb 19, 2016 · 9 min
WSMoreOrLess: When £10,000 isn’t a good incentive
Could no prize have been a better way to motivate snooker player Ronnie O’Sullivan?
Feb 15, 2016 · 9 min
WSMoreOrLess: Fishy numbers?
Will there be more plastic than fish in the sea by 2050?
Feb 12, 2016 · 27 min
Selfies, sugar daddies and dodgy surveys
Women taking selfies for more than five hours a day and other junk adverstising surveys.
Feb 8, 2016 · 9 min
WSMoreOrLess: Do e-cigarettes really harm your chances of quitting smoking?
Should research described as "misleading" and "not scientific" have been published?
Feb 5, 2016 · 27 min
E-cigarettes: Can They Help People Quit?
Do e-cigarettes harm your chances of quitting smoking? Tim Harford looks at the evidence.