More or Less: behind the statistics
Tim Harford and the More or Less team try to make sense of the statistics which surround us. From BBC Radio 4
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Episodes
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Debunking the Liverpool FC Conspiracy Theory
Saturday, August 6th, 2022
We debunk spurious rumours that Liverpool FC use asthma medication to enhance performance
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How our world measures up
Saturday, July 30th, 2022
From ancient tally bones to a jar of peanut butter, a look at the history of measurement
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Does the World Athletics Championships have a false start problem?
Saturday, July 23rd, 2022
We examine the rules and tech of false starts after the disqualification of Devon Allen.
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Is Uganda about to become a middle income country?
Saturday, July 16th, 2022
We assess President Museveni’s claim that Uganda is nearing a higher economic status.
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Does it take 10,000 litres of water to make a pair of jeans?
Saturday, July 9th, 2022
The numbers behind water use and denim production
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How many American women will have an abortion in their lifetime?
Saturday, July 2nd, 2022
In the wake of the historic overturning of Roe vs Wade, we look at the statistics.
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Covid climb, childcare costs and why can’t the French count properly?
Wednesday, June 29th, 2022
How accurately are official figures picking up the new covid wave?
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Ed Sheeran and the mathematics of musical coincidences
Saturday, June 25th, 2022
Ed Sheeran thinks that musical coincidences will always happen… but do the numbers agree?
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Rail strikes, tyre pollution and sex statistics
Wednesday, June 22nd, 2022
Do rail workers really earn £13,000 a year more than nurses?
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How often do people have sex?
Saturday, June 18th, 2022
Looking at sex and statistics in Japan and America.
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Maternity litigation, stars, bees and windowless planes
Wednesday, June 15th, 2022
Are damages for maternity mistakes now more than wages for maternity nurses and doctors?
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Hannah Fry: Understanding the numbers of cancer
Saturday, June 11th, 2022
The maths professor on the choices she and others have faced after a cancer diagnosis
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Employment puzzle, pyramids and triplets
Wednesday, June 8th, 2022
The UK has a low unemployment rate but lots of people not working – how come?
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Are girls starting puberty earlier?
Saturday, June 4th, 2022
We look into a claim that the age of girls’ puberty is falling rapidly
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Jubilee costs, fuel poverty and imperial measures
Wednesday, June 1st, 2022
We debunk a claim the government is spending £38,000 per household on the Jubilee
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Noisy Decisions
Saturday, May 28th, 2022
The world’s most famous psychologist on how 'noise' impacts our decision making
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Germany’s excess deaths, Eurovision and teacher shortages
Wednesday, May 25th, 2022
Did Germany really fare worse than the UK in the pandemic?
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Are just 100 companies responsible for 71% of global emissions and how stressed are South Africans?
Saturday, May 21st, 2022
Looking at numbers on green house gas emissions and stress
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Did the WHO get some of its excess death estimates wrong?
Saturday, May 14th, 2022
We look at the World Health Organisation’s latest estimates of the pandemic’s death toll
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Have the oceans become 30% more acidic?
Saturday, May 7th, 2022
Tim Harford asks how we measure the health of our oceans
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Sweden’s polarising pandemic response
Saturday, April 30th, 2022
Has Sweden’s pandemic response been a triumph or a disaster…or something in-between?
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Understanding India through Data
Saturday, April 23rd, 2022
What can data tell us about a country of 1.4 billion people?
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Subitising and simplifying: how to better explain numbers
Friday, April 15th, 2022
How can we clearly explain complex numbers to the public without losing their meaning?
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Did tea-drinking cut deaths in the Industrial Revolution?
Saturday, April 9th, 2022
How tea became an accidental lifesaver in 18th Century England.
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Will the war in Ukraine cause a global wheat shortage?
Saturday, April 2nd, 2022
How much of the worlds wheat comes from Ukraine and Russia
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Pizza and Nuclear War
Sunday, March 20th, 2022
How good negotiation can help us split pizzas fairly and also avoid Nuclear War
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Does the UK take in more refugees than other European countries?
Sunday, March 13th, 2022
Fact checking Boris Johnson’s claim.
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Numbers in Ukraine and low seas in Chagos
Sunday, March 6th, 2022
Troop and casualty numbers in Ukraine
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Troop and Casualty Numbers in Ukraine
Wednesday, March 2nd, 2022
How reliable are the figures coming out of the conflict in Ukraine?
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Did lockdowns save any lives?
Sunday, February 27th, 2022
Did lockdowns actually save any lives?
Now and Next
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Non-Stop Night Shift2:00am - 6:00am
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Susan Vickers in the Morning10:00am - Noon
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Wolverhampton Today with Jason ForrestNoon - 3:00pm