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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

8:57

Transgender women in sport: Does ‘comparable’ mean...

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2026/03/14

In most sports, men compete against men and women compete against women. That is generally considered fair, because men are faster, more powerful and have greater endurance.But there is an ongoing controversy about transgender women - people who were born male and now identify as women. Is it fair for them to compete in the women’s sport category or do they have an advantage?A study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine recently added to the debate with an analysis that found the strength and

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8:58

US-Israel war with Iran: Do the gulf states have...

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2026/03/07

On Saturday 28th February, the US and Israel launched a military attack on Iran, targeting the country's missile infrastructure, military sites and leadership.In response, Iran launched a wave of strikes across the region, including on Israel and the Gulf states.Iran has a stockpile of ballistic missiles, which it’s firing at neighbouring countries. These countries in turn are using interceptor missiles to try and shoot them down.But is it clear who will run out of missiles first?Contributor:Kelly

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8:58

Has a company really discovered a million new species?

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2026/02/28

Have a million new species just been discovered?That’s the claim made by Dr Oliver Vince, co-founder of a company called Basecamp Research, who are collecting genetic data to train AI systems. The hope is that they’ll be able to use this to discover new medicines.But is this number a good one? Rob Finn, from the European Bioinformatics Institute, explains what is being counted and how you go about counting them.Credits:Presenter and producer: Tom Colls Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown Sound

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8:58

Did AI researchers let AI hallucinations into...

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2026/02/21

AI can make mistakes – and AI chatbots like ChatGPT warn you about that whenever you ask them anything.These mistakes sometimes involve making up entirely fictitious, factually false statements known as “hallucinations”.Whether these hallucinations matter depends on what you’re using AI for, and whether they are spotted and corrected.The team on More or Less were slightly surprised to read a headline in Fortune magazine, claiming that a top academic AI conference accepted research papers which

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8:58

Is an ancient charioteer the best paid sportsperson...

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2026/02/17

Modern sport can seem awash with money, but it’s been claimed that the richest sportsperson of all is an ancient Roman Charioteer from the second century AD called Gaius Appuleius Diocles, with career winnings that stood at 35 million sesterces. One calculation has translated that into an astonishing $15 billion dollars today, and it’s a figure that’s stuck. But should we believe it?Duncan Weldon talks to ancient historian Professor Mary Beard from the University of Cambridge to learn more about

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8:58

Is this Premier League striker a secret maths genius?

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2026/02/07

Chelsea striker Liam Delap has recently stunned fans on Instagram by apparently doing incredibly complicated calculations in his head, finding what’s known as the cube root of some very large numbers.But is he really a human calculator? Or is there something else going on? Tim Harford speaks to Rob Eastaway, mathematician and author of ‘Maths on the Back of an Envelope’ to learn about the trick you can use to pull this off - and while he’s here we also ask him about the trend of more goals being

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8:58

Could Europe use its financial muscle to strong-arm...

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2026/01/31

Could European Nato members use their large holdings of US shares and bonds to put pressure on America? It’s a question that some in Europe found themselves asking as the geopolitical crisis over Greenland escalated and leaders desperately tried to think of ways to dissuade Donald Trump. It is true that trillions of dollars of American financial assets are held in Europe. But the devil, as ever, is in the detail. Tim Harford talks to Toby Nangle, a journalist with the Financial Times, to

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28:57

Can you get £71,000 on benefits?

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2026/01/28

Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news. This week:Is it true that someone needs to earn £71,000 before they receive more money than a family on benefits?Did Canadian prime minister Mark Carney get the GDP of Canada and the Nordic countries wrong?Are 1990s pop icons Right Said Fred right about what they said about church attacks?Is a sauna really ten times as hot as Wales in the winter?And Tim hits the science lab treadmill to find out if he can run a four-hour marathon.If you’ve

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8:58

Is Greenland as big as Africa?

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2026/01/24

The vast island of Greenland has found itself at the centre of a geopolitical crisis. But a little bit of geography can help us see the situation in a new light.YouTuber and map expert Jay Foreman explains how Mercator maps - the maps that the vast majority of us use to understand the world - contain necessary but massive distortions and hugely exaggerate the size of the Arctic island. So, why is making a flat map of a round globe so difficult? Why did we end up with a problematic map in the first

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29:05

How close is Greenland to the United States?

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2026/01/21

Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news. This week: How far away is Greenland from the United States? We check a number From Our Own Correspondent. Does converting our entire energy system to be carbon neutral come with a £7.6 trillion price tag?Is the inevitable rise of house prices in the UK not so inevitable after all? Can the great mathematicians of history answer the question of the hour: how to play The Traitors? If you’ve seen a number in the news you want the team on More or

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8:58

No, a study has not shown that the covid jab causes...

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2026/01/17

In Autumn 2025 a paper in South Korea was published that excited many a vaccine sceptic online. The paper claimed that receiving a vaccination against Covid19 was linked to a 27% increase in cancer risk. However, when you dig into the data there is no evidence that the vaccine caused the cancer. We spoke to Professor Justin Fendos to explain why we cannot take this type of statistical analysis at face value. Presenter: Tim HarfordProducer: Lizzy McNeill Series Producer: Tom Colls Editor: Richard

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28:18

Have more than 100 private schools been forced to...

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2026/01/14

Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news. This week: A headline in the Mail says more than 100 private schools have closed since Labour came to power and ended the VAT exemption for private schools. Is that number right? Is it true that when Covid hit the UK, a one-week delay in imposing lockdown led to 23,000 deaths? Do 10 million families rely on X as their main source of news? That’s what government spokesperson Baroness Ruth Anderson said in the House of Lords, but is it correct

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8:59

Does Venezuela really have the biggest oil reserves...

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2026/01/10

When people think of oil rich nations their mind generally goes to Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the US. But according to international statistics, the country with the largest oil reserves is Venezuela, with 300 billion barrels worth. At their peak they produced over 3.5 million barrels of the stuff per day. However, due to lack of investment, sanctions and mismanagement that peak is long gone. Following their military intervention, the US administration claims they can get Venezuela's oil production up

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28:40

The Stats of the Nation: Immigration, benefits and...

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2026/01/09

What kind of state does the UK find itself in as we start 2026? That’s the question Tim Harford and the More or Less team is trying to answer in a series of five special programmes.In the final episode, we’re looking at the numbers behind some of the UK’s most potent political debates:Has 98% of the UK’s population growth come from immigration?Do we spend more on benefits in the UK than in other high-income countries?Is the gap between rich and poor growing?Get in touch if you’ve seen a number in

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28:53

The Stats of the Nation: Older people, education,...

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2026/01/08

What kind of state does the UK find itself in as we start 2026? That’s the question Tim Harford and the More or Less team is trying to answer in a series of five special programmes.In the fourth episode, we’re searching for answers to these questions:Are one in four pensioners millionaires?Is England’s education system performing better than Finland’s? And how does it compare to Scotland, Wales and Northern IrelandAre our prisons going to run out of space?Is the weather getting weirder?Get in touch

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29:13

The Stats of the Nation: Sex, drugs and empty homes

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2026/01/07

What kind of state does the UK find itself in as we start 2026? That’s the question Tim Harford and the More or Less team is trying to answer in a series of five special programmes.In the third episode, we’re searching for answers to these questions:Are there really 700,000 empty homes that could be used to solve the housing crisis?Does the NHS pay less for drugs than health services in other countries?Is violent crime going up or down?Is the UK in the midst of a fertility crisis?Get in touch if

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28:45

The Stats of the Nation: Health

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2026/01/06

What kind of state does the UK find itself in as we start 2026? That’s the question Tim Harford and the More or Less team is trying to answer in a series of five special programmes.In the second episode, we’re asking some interesting questions about health and the NHS:Has life expectancy in the UK starting to go up again at last?What statistics tell you about the health of the NHS?After years of promises, are there actually any more GPs?What’s happening to cancer rates in the UK?What’s gone wrong

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28:41

The Stats of the Nation: The Economy

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2026/01/05

What kind of state does the UK find itself in as we start 2026? That’s the question Tim Harford and the More or Less team is trying to answer in a series of five special programmes.In the first episode, we’re starting the week by asking some interesting questions about the economy:Is the cost-of-living crisis over?The economy is expected to have grown by 1.5% in 2025. Is that a big number?When taxes are at record highs, why does it feel as if everything is such hard work for public services?Do the

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8:57

Numbers of the year 2026

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2026/01/03

From record-breaking passenger numbers, to some more record-breaking numbers - courtesy of the Men’s football World Cup. We look forward to what 2026 might have in store for us - numerically of course.Presenter: Tim Harford Producers: Charlotte McDonald and Katie Solleveld Production Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele Sound Mix: Rod Farquhar Editor: Richard Vadon

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27:57

Numbers of the year 2025

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2025/12/31

From the number of women in space and transistors on a chip to social media usage -we’re taking a look back the key numerical moments of 2025. We explore the woes of a big infrastructure projects. Plus, just how can you make sure your New Year’s Resolutions are successful? We’ve got statistics to help. Presenter: Tim HarfordReporter: Lizzy McNeil Producers: Charlotte McDonald and Katie Solleveld Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele Sound Mix: Neil Churchill Editor: Richard Vadon

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