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PODCAST

More or Less

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

science mathematics

All Episodes

8:58

Do we eat a credit card's worth of microplastic each...

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2024/08/24

The claim we all swallow 5.5 grams of microplastic each week – the same as the weight of a credit card – has been repeated by charities, newspapers and the World Economic Forum. But when you understand how this number was calculated, and the range of possible answers for the amount of plastic you eat, you might not want to repeat it yourself. Professor Jamie Woodward from the University of Manchester explains what’s what. Presenter: Kate LambleProducer: Beth Ashmead Latham Researcher: Ajai Singh

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8:57

Are companies making more money from their customers?

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2024/08/17

Recent reports claimed the average global mark-up, the difference between the price of production and the price that product is sold for, rose from 7% in 1980 to 59% by 2020.So is this true? Are some companies choosing to charge us more than ever for their products?We investigate the accuracy of these claims, and which companies are responsible with the help of Jan Eeckhout a Professor of Economics at Pompeu Fabra University in BarcelonaPresenter: Kate LambleProducer: Beth Ashmead Latham

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10:42

Is planet Earth getting greener?

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2024/08/10

Canadian psychologist and culture war commentator Jordan Peterson says planet Earth has got 20% greener in the last 20 years. But satellite data tells a different story. We investigate the correct number, with the help of Dr Chi Chen, from Rutgers University in the US.Presenter: Kate LambleSeries producer: Tom Colls Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown Sound mix: Giles Aspen Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith

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9:49

Does a language die every two weeks?

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2024/08/03

Researchers have catalogued 7,164 languages spoken around the world - some are used daily by billions. Half are spoken by less than 8000 people. The death of a language, when it’s no longer spoken as a first language by anyone living is a deeply significant moment in the cultural life of communities. Multiple sources including the UN and National Geographic magazine have claimed this happens every two weeks. But we have reasons to be suspicious about that statistic.Gary Simons, executive editor

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12:59

Are women 14 times more likely to die in natural...

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2024/07/27

The idea that women outnumber men by 14 to 1 as casualties of natural disasters has been repeated in newspapers and online for years - the UN have even used this statistic.But when you track down the source, the research behind this claim leaves much to be desired.Presenter: Kate LambleSeries producer: Tom Colls Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown Sound mix: Nigel Appleton Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith

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10:04

Is increasing turbulence making flying more dangerous?

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2024/07/20

Is climate change making turbulence more dangerous for people taking flights around the world? That’s what one listener asked, following a terrifying turbulence incident which left one person dead and more than 20 injured on a flight to Singapore.We speak to turbulence expert Paul Williams, Professor of Atmospheric Science at the University of Reading, to understand what is going on.Presenter: Kate LambleProducer: Nathan Gower Series producer: Tom Colls Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown Sound

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8:59

Federer’s 54%: Tennis stats explained

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2024/07/13

How can tennis star Roger Federer have won only 54% of the points he played, but been the best player in the world?Jeff Sackmann, the tennis stats brain behind tennisabstract.com, explains to Tim Harford how probability works in the sport.Presenter: Tim Harford Producer: Debbie Richford Series producer: Tom Colls Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown Sound Mix: Nigel Appleton Editor: Richard Vadon

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9:35

The magic of trigonometry

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2024/07/06

You might have found it boring in school maths classes, but Matt Parker thinks we should all learn to love trigonometry. The ‘Love Triangle’ author talks to Tim Harford about the maths used in GPS, architecture and special effects. Presenter: Tim HarfordProducer: Debbie Richford Series Producer: Tom Colls Production Co-ordinator: Brenda Brown Sound Mix: Nigel Appleton Editor: Richard Vadon

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37:24

Election endings, tennis and meeting men in finance

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2024/07/03

Are Labour right about employment? Are the Conservatives right about cutting NHS managers? Are the Lib Dems right about share buyback? Are Reform UK right about their tax plans? How do they make the exit poll so accurate? What are the odds of meeting a very tall man in finance (with a trust fund)? What does it mean that Roger Federer only won 54% of the points he played? Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news. Presenter: Tim Harford Reporter: Kate Lamble Producers: Nathan Gower,

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9:03

How a tick box doubled the US maternal mortality rates.

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2024/06/29

he US has been portrayed as in the grip of a maternal mortality crisis. In contrast to most other developed nations, the rate of maternal deaths in the US has been going up since the early 2000s. But why? With the help of Saloni Dattani, a researcher at Our World in Data, Tim Harford explores how a gradual change in the way the data was gathered lies at the heart of the problem. Presenter: Tim HarfordProducer: Debbie Richford Production Co-ordinator: Brenda Brown Series Producer: Tom

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28:29

Election claims and erection claims

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2024/06/26

Are Labour right about the Liz Truss effect on mortgages? Are the Conservatives right about pensioners? Are Plaid Cymru right about spending? Are the Lib Dems right about care funding? Is Count Binface right about croissants?Why are MRP polls coming up with such different numbers?Do erections require a litre of blood?Tim Harford investigates the numbers in the news.Presenter: Tim HarfordReporter: Kate Lamble Producers: Simon Tulett, Nathan Gower, Beth Ashmead Latham and Debbie Richford Series

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9:31

Do ‘pig butchering’ cyber scams make as much as half...

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2024/06/22

So-called “pig butchering” scams take billions of dollars from people around the globe.But do the cyber scams run from compounds in Cambodia really take an amount of money equivalent to half that country’s GDP? We investigate how the scale of these criminal operations has been calculated. Presenter: Tim Harford Reporter: Tom Colls Production coordinator: Brenda Brown Sound mix: Andrew Garratt Editor: Richard Vadon

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31:52

Worse mortgages, better readers, and potholes on the...

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2024/06/19

Will Conservative policies raise mortgages by £4800, as Labour claim? Are primary school kids in England the best readers in the (western) world, as the Conservatives claim? Are there more potholes in the UK than craters on the moon? Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news. Presenter: Tim Harford Reporter: Kate Lamble Producers: Nathan Gower, Simon Tullet Beth Ashmead-Latham and Debbie Richford Production coordinator: Brenda Brown Sound mix: James Beard Editor: Richard

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9:53

Shakespeare’s maths

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2024/06/15

AWilliam Shakespeare might well rank as the most influential writer in the English language. But it seems he also had a knack for numbers. Rob Eastaway, author of Much Ado about Numbers, tells Tim Harford about the simple maths that brings Shakespeare’s work to life. Presenter: Tim HarfordReadings: Stella Harford and Jordan Dunbar Producer: Beth Ashmead-Latham Series producer: Tom Colls Production coordinator: Brenda Brown Sound mix: James Beard Editor: Richard Vadon

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28:31

Leaflets, taxes, oil workers and classrooms

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2024/06/12

What’s going on with the dodgy bar charts that political parties put on constituency campaign leaflets?What’s the truth about tax promises?Are 100,000 oil workers going to lose their jobs in Scotland?Will class sizes increase in state schools if private schools increase their fees?Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news.Presenter: Tim HarfordReporter: Kate Lamble Producers: Nathan Gower, Beth Ashmead-Latham, Debbie Richford Production coordinator: Brenda Brown Sound mix: Neil

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9:13

Why medical error is not the third leading cause of...

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2024/06/08

The claim that medical error is the third leading cause of death in the US has been zooming around the internet for years. This would mean that only heart disease and cancer killed more people than the very people trying to treat these diseases. But there are good reasons to be suspicious about the claim.Professor Mary Dixon-Woods, director of The Healthcare Improvement Studies Institute, or THIS Institute, at Cambridge University, explains what’s going on.Presenter: Tim HarfordSeries producer: Tom

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30:05

Debate, Reform, tax evasion and ants

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2024/06/05

Were there any suspicious claims in the election debate between Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer?Do the claims in Reform UK’s policy documents on excess deaths and climate change make sense?Can the Conservatives and Labour raise £6bn a year by cracking down on tax avoidance and evasion?And do all the humans on earth weigh more than all of the ants?Presenter: Tim HarfordReporters: Kate Lamble and Nathan Gower Producer: Beth Ashmead-Latham Series producer: Tom Colls Production coordinator: Brenda

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8:58

Data for India

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2024/06/01

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 designed to make socioeconomic data on India easier to find and understand. She talks us through the changing trends to help give a better picture of the type of country the winning party will govern.Producers: Bethan Ashmead and Nathan GowerSound Engineer: Nigel Appleton Production Coordinator: Brenda

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28:41

UK growth, prisons and Swiftonomics

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2024/05/29

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. Are these claims fair? We give some needed context. Net migration has fallen - we talk to someone who predicted it would - Dr Madeleine Sumption, director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford. Is Taylor Swift about to add £1 bn to the British economy as some media outlets have claimed? The

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10:16

Is intermittent fasting going to kill you?

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2024/05/25

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 of death from cardiovascular disease. But is this true? Tim Harford looks into the claim with the help of Cardiologist Dr Donald Lloyd-Jones, chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine at Northwestern University in the US.Presenter: Tim HarfordProducer: Debbie Richford Series producer: Tom Colls Production

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1,059 results

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