More or Less Podcast
Tim Harford explains - and sometimes debunks - the numbers and statistics used in political debate, the news and everyday life.
Episodes to download
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UK vs European energy prices, falling excess deaths and is 5 grams of cocaine a lot?
Wed 1 Mar 2023
We debunk a claim that the UK has by far the highest energy prices in Europe
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Do 29,000 coffee pods really go to landfill every minute?
Sat 25 Feb 2023
We explore the environmental consequences of our thirst for coffee
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Do 29,000 coffee pods really go to landfill every minute?
Sat 25 Feb 2023
We explore the environmental consequences of our thirst for coffee
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Reoffending rates, Welsh taxes and the menopause
Wed 22 Feb 2023
Tim Harford and team fact check a government claim about falling reoffending rates
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Florence Nightingale and how she visualised data
Sat 18 Feb 2023
Tim Harford discusses the power of the nurse statistician’s groundbreaking diagrams
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Florence Nightingale and how she visualised data
Sat 18 Feb 2023
Tim Harford discusses the power of the nurse statistician’s groundbreaking diagrams
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Nurses' pay, ambulance times and forgotten female economists
Wed 15 Feb 2023
We look at how much nurses in the UK are paid compared with those in Europe.
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The IMF and the UK economy, NHS staff shortages and British vs English
Wed 8 Feb 2023
How much should we trust the IMF’s forecasts for the UK?
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Hannah Fry on using shopping data to detect ovarian cancer
Sat 4 Feb 2023
The mathematician discusses a study that suggests loyalty card data could signal cancer.
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Hannah Fry on using shopping data to detect ovarian cancer
Sat 4 Feb 2023
The mathematician discusses a study that suggests loyalty card data could signal cancer.
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Brexit and trade, pensioner millionaires and Hannah Fry on loyalty cards and cancer
Wed 1 Feb 2023
We examine a claim that the UK’s trade with the EU has increased since Brexit
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Are wild mammals only 4% of the mammal population?
Sat 28 Jan 2023
We examine a study that says humans and livestock dominate mammal life on Earth
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Are wild mammals only 4% of the mammal population?
Sat 28 Jan 2023
Are wild mammals only 4% of the mammal population?
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Coffee with the Chancellor, inflation measures, GP numbers and toilet paper
Wed 25 Jan 2023
We fact check Jeremy Hunt’s pledge to halve inflation
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Does toilet paper cause 15% of global deforestation?
Sat 21 Jan 2023
We investigate the impact of our use of toilet paper on the world’s forests.
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Does toilet paper cause 15% of global deforestation?
Sat 21 Jan 2023
We investigate the impact of our use of toilet paper on the world’s forests.
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Ambulance response times, teacher pay and Irish pubs
Wed 18 Jan 2023
How long are people really waiting when they call 999 for an ambulance?
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How we shook the world of very large numbers
Sat 14 Jan 2023
How an edition of More or Less influenced the naming of enormous numbers
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How we shook the world of very large numbers
Sat 14 Jan 2023
How an edition of More or Less influenced the naming of enormous numbers
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A&E delays and deaths, religious identity in N Ireland and naming the monster numbers
Wed 11 Jan 2023
How many people may be dying because of treatment delays in the NHS?
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A&E delays and deaths, religious identity in N Ireland and naming the monster numbers
Wed 11 Jan 2023
How many people may be dying because of treatment delays in the NHS?
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Can China's data on Covid deaths be trusted?
Sat 7 Jan 2023
Is China under-reporting data on Covid related deaths?
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Can China's data on covid deaths be trusted?
Sat 7 Jan 2023
Is China under-reporting data on Covid related deaths?
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Irish pubs - a global numbers game
Sat 31 Dec 2022
Are there more Irish pubs in Ireland than in all other countries combined?
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Irish pubs - a global numbers game
Sat 31 Dec 2022
Are there more Irish pubs in Ireland than in all other countries combined?
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What are the numbers of 2022?
Christmas Eve 2022
Tim Harford and guests on the numbers that help tell the big stories of the year.
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Numbers of the Year 2022
Christmas Eve 2022
Tim Harford and guests on the numbers that help tell the big stories of the year.
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Qatar World Cup: The pressure of penalties
Sat 17 Dec 2022
We analyse World Cup penalty data to ask what boosts the chance of scoring from the spot
Unlock the history and truth behind the data with The OU
Explore how numbers shape, and sometimes mislead us, with The Open University.
When can you trust statistics?
BBC Ideas discovers three easy ways to help make sense of statistics.
