More or Less

Two World Cups: Football and Cricket

05 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

On this week’s More or Less, Ruth Alexander looks at the numbers involved with the two world cups that are going on at the moment. Are more men than...

Is nuclear power actually safer than you think?

28 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We questioned the death count of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in last week’s More or Less podcast. In the end, Professor Jim Smith of Portsmouth U...

Questioning the Chernobyl disaster death count

21 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The recent TV miniseries ‘Chernobyl’ has stirred up debate online about the accuracy of its portrayal of the explosion at a nuclear power plant in...

WS More or Less: Dealing with the Numbers of Cancer

14 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

How one woman used statistics to help cope with cancer.

WS More or Less: The things we fail to see

10 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The hidden influences that a make a big difference to the way the world works.

Are married women flipping miserable?

07 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Measuring happiness, university access in Scotland, plus will one in two get cancer?

WS More or Less: Volcanoes versus humans

03 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Does Mount Etna produce more carbon emissions than humans? We check the numbers.

Hay Festival Special

31 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

What does it mean to say that the UK is the fifth largest economy in the world?

WS More or Less: Florence Nightingale – recognising the nurse statistician

27 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

How collecting data about the dead led the famous nurse to promote better sanitation.

Eurovision and fact-checking Naomi Wolf

24 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The stats behind making a successful song, plus misunderstanding Victorian court records.

Making music out of Money

20 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Data visualisation is all the rage, but where does that leave the old-fashioned values of audio? Some data visualisation experts are starting to explo...

Heart deaths, Organised crime and Gender data gaps

17 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Are deaths from heart disease on the rise?This week the British Heart Foundation had us all stopping mid-biscuit with the news that the number of unde...

Sex Every Seven Seconds

13 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We revisit some classic topics from past years. We hear which statistics about sex you should trust, and which are less robust. Do men think about sex...

Sex, coal, missing people and mice

10 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Sex Recession This week it was reported that British people are having less sex than they used to. Similar statistics are cropping up elsewhere in the...

Avengers - Should we reverse the snap?

06 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

*Spoiler-free for Avengers: Endgame* At the end of Avengers: Infinity War film the villain, Thanos, snapped his fingers in the magical infinity gauntl...

Nurses, flatmates and cats

03 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Nurse suicide ratesThere were some worrying figures in the news this week about the number of nurses in England and Wales who died by suicide over the...

Bernie Sanders and the cost of having a baby

29 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Bernie Sanders, a Senator in the United States and one of the front-runners in the campaign to be the Democratic presidential candidate, said on Twitt...

Hottest Easter, Insects, Scottish villages

26 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Was it a surprise that Easter Monday was so hot?A heatwave struck the UK over Easter – and in fact Easter Monday was declared the hottest on record ...

The economic impact of mega sporting events

19 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The Olympic Games and the football World Cup, two of the biggest events in the world which are each hosted every four years, are big business. And it ...

Where is Scotland’s highest village?

15 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

A battle is brewing in the Southern Scottish uplands between two rival villages. How can statistics help determine which village should take the crown...

Rounding up the weed killer cancer conundrum

08 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

A recent scientific review claims the weed killer glyphosate raises the risk of developing the cancer non-Hodgkin lymphoma by 41 percent. But deciding...

Chess cheats and the GOAT

02 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Who is the greatest chess player in history? And what does the answer have to do with a story of a chess cheating school from Texas? In this week’...

Is Mansa Musa the richest person of all time?

25 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Mansa Musa, the 14th century Mali king, has nothing on Jeff Bezos - read one recent news report. Musa set off on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia in the 1...

Day light saving time and heart attacks

18 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Does the sudden loss of an hour of sleep raise the risk of having a heart attack?

The gender gap in tech

09 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Are women really less likely than men to be hired for jobs in tech just because of their sex? A study claims that sexism in the recruitment process is...

Insectageddon

04 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Insects live all around us and if a recent scientific review is anything to go by, then they are on the path to extinction. The analysis found that mo...

How To Make Your Art Work More Valuable

22 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Die, sell on a sunny day, place your work a third of the way through the auction….There are some surprising factors that can affect the price of an ...

WS More or Less: When maths mistakes really matter

18 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Tim Harford talks to Matt Parker on how simple maths mistakes can cause big problems.

Climate Change, Victorian Diseases, Alcohol

15 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Tim Harford on climate change, Victorian diseases, maths mistakes and alcohol consumption

WS More or Less: From the archives: Groundhogs and Kings

12 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Who can better forecast the weather – meteorologists or a rodent? What percentage of the English public are related to King Edward the III, and is m...

Teen Suicide; Brexit Business Moves; Wood-Burner Pollution

08 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Tim Harford finds untrue a recent report that there is a 'suicidal generation' of teens.

WS More or Less: You have 15,000 likes!

04 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

A listener doubts her popularity on the dating app Tinder. We investigate the numbers.

Holocaust Deniers; Venezuelan Hyperinflation; Tinder Likes

01 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Tim Harford on Holocaust deniers; food prices in Venezuela, and dating app statistics

WS More or Less: Is Suicide Seasonal?

26 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Tim Harford asks which times of the year are riskiest for suicide.

Domestic Violence, Jobs, Easter Snowfall

25 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Tim Harford on domestic violence, employment numbers, and the chance of a white Easter.

WS More or Less: Close Encounters of a Planetary Kind

19 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Which planet is closest to Earth?

Intersex Numbers, Fact-Checking Facebook, Jack Bogle

18 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Tim Harford asks whether 1.7% of people are intersex, and examines false claims about MPs

WS More or Less: The Mathematics of Fever

12 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We look at the numbers behind body temperature – what is normal?

Sugar, Outdoors Play and Planets

11 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Tim Harford on sugar, train fares, children's outdoors play and Earth's closest neighbour

WS More or Less: Numbers of the Year Part 2

04 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Helena Merriman with numbers about water shortage, plastic recycling and American jobs.

WS More or Less: Numbers of the Year Part 1

29 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The numbers that made 2018.

WS More or Less: Mission Impossible - Quantifiying Santa

22 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

What to look out for on Christmas Eve.

WS More or Less: Dam Lies and Statistics

17 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Are mega-dams really sustainable?

WS More or Less: Sex and Heart Attacks

30 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Are women more likely to die from a heart attack than men?

WS More or Less: Are 90% of War Fatalities Civilians?

23 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Xavier Zapata examines what the data tells us about the deadly impact of war on civilians

WS More or Less: When’s a Kilogram Not a Kilogram?

16 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Updating the kilogram.

WS More or Less: Do Assassinations Work?

09 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

How likely are assassination attempts on heads of state to succeed?

WS More or Less: Vaccines - The importance of the herd and social media

28 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

What proportion of a population needs to be vaccinated to stop a disease spreading?

WS More or Less: Foreign Aid: Who’s the most generous?

19 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In foreign aid terms what’s the best way of measuring how generous a country is?

WS More or Less: Paul Romer and William Nordhaus’ Big Ideas

12 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The economists tackling climate change and growth.

Loneliness, School Funding, Same-Sex Divorce

09 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

New figures reveal that same-sex divorce rates are much higher among women than among men. The pattern is the same in Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway...

WS More or Less: Why are Lesbians More Likely to Divorce than Gay Men?

07 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

New figures reveal that same-sex divorce rates are much higher among women than among men. The pattern is the same in Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway...

Loneliness; School Funding; Same-Sex Divorce.

05 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

This week BBC Radio 4’s All in the Mind programme announced the results of The Loneliness Experiment. It was a large survey conducted by the program...

WS More of Less: Surviving the Battle of Britain

01 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Were Spitfire pilots killed after an average of four weeks in the World War Two battle?

Surviving the Battle of Britain; the World Cup and Domestic Violence; Buckfast and Arrests in Scotland

28 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Tim Harford on Spitfire pilots, and whether football triggers violence in the home.

WS More or Less: Trump and the Puerto Rico Death Toll

24 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

How can we calculate excess mortality after a natural disaster?

How Many Schoolchildren are Carers? Shareholder Income, and Museum Visitors Vs Football Fans

21 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Tim Harford on child carers, shareholder income, football vs museums and dangerous sports

WS More or Less: DNA - Are You More Chimp or Neanderthal?

17 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

What is the difference between 96% similarity or sharing 20% of our DNA?

Male suicide, school ratings, are female tennis players treated unfairly by umpires?

14 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Tim Harford with statistics on suicide, good schools and sexism in tennis. Plus goats

WS More or Less: The Safest Car in the World?

10 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

A listener asks whether his Volvo is the safest car on the road?

Heart Age Calculator; Danish Sperm Imports; Counting Goats

07 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Tim Harford questions the usefulness of a popular heart age calculator.

WS: More or Less - How well do you understand your world?

03 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Tim Harford talks to Bobby Duffy about why we are often wrong about a lot of basic facts

African Trade Tariffs; Alcohol Safe Limits; President Trump's Popularity

31 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Tim Harford fact checks EU trade deals with Africa, and whether one drink is one too many

BONUS PODCAST: Economics with Subtitles - Coffins Full of Car Keys

29 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

BONUS PODCAST: For the rest of August, in addition to More or Less you’ll get a brand new podcast, Economics with Subtitles. It’s your everyday gu...

WS: More or Less - Automated fact-checking

27 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Computer programmes are being developed to combat fake news.

A no-frills life, automated fact-checking and Lord-of-the-Rings maths

24 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

What would have been the most efficient way to get to Mordor?

BONUS PODCAST: Economics with Subtitles - How Condoms Can Cost a Week’s Wages

22 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

BONUS PODCAST: For the rest of August, in addition to More or Less you’ll get a brand new podcast, Economics with Subtitles. It’s your everyday gu...

WS More or Less: Are Wildfires Really Burning More Land?

20 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Are Wildfires in the United States and Southern Europe burning more land than before?

BONUS PODCAST: Economics with Subtitles - Bracelets for Bullets

15 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

BONUS PODCAST: For the rest of August, in addition to More or Less you’ll get a brand new podcast, Economics with Subtitles. It’s your everyday gu...

Numbers Behind a Tweetstorm

10 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

How do you get a hashtag to trend around the world?

BONUS PODCAST: Economics with Subtitles - How Buying Cocaine Helps the Government

08 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

BONUS PODCAST: For the rest of August, in addition to More or Less, you’ll get four bonus editions of Economics with Subtitles. It’s a brand new p...

Carbs, Sugar and the Truth

03 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Does a baked potato contain the equivalent of 19 cubes of sugar?

Getting Creative with Statistics

27 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

How big are your testicles and what does that mean?

Should we have smaller families to save the planet?

23 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Having one fewer child could be the biggest thing you do to reduce your carbon footprint

How to Cycle Really Fast

20 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

How much better are the pros than the rest of us and how effective is slipstreaming?

Are there more stars than grains of beach sand?

06 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The astronomer, Carl Sagan, famously said that there were more stars in our Universe than grains of sand on the Earth’s beaches. But was it actually...

Running at the World Cup

29 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

This week we take a look at some of the statistics which have caught our attention at the World Cup. There has been much debate in both the press and ...

How many words do you need to speak a language?

22 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Ein Bier bitte? Loyal listener David made a new year's resolution to learn German. Three years later, that's about as far as he's got. Keen to have so...

FIFA World Cup Extravaganza

15 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The World Cup starts this week and the More or Less team is marking the event by looking at the data behind all the World Cups since 1966 (our data sh...

WS More or Less: How Many Animals are Born Every Day?

10 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

From penguins to nematodes, is it possible to count how many animals are born around the world every day?That’s the question one 10-year-old listene...

Infant Mortality, How to Reduce Exam Revision With Maths, London’s Murder Rate

08 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

(0.24) Infant mortality is on the rise in England and Wales – but is this change down to social issues such as obesity and deprivation, as claimed, ...

Counting Rough Sleepers

04 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

How do you count the number of people sleeping rough? According to the latest official figures around 4700 people were sleeping in the streets in the ...

The High Street, Home Births and Harry Potter Wizardry

01 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Is WH Smith really the worst shop on the High Street? Harry Potter fans want to know how many wizards there are – we try to work it out. Is giving b...

WS More or Less: Australia Calling

28 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

This week we tackle some of our listeners’ questions from Australia: do one in seven businessmen throw out their pants after wearing them once? This...

Forecasting rain, teabags and voter ID trials

25 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

(00.28) Reading the BBC weather app – we explain the numbers on the forecast (06:55) University of Oxford Admissions: how diverse is its intake? (1...

WS More or Less: James Comey - Basketball Superstar?

21 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Former FBI Director James Comey is very, very tall – over two metres tall, or 6’8” - and many media outlets commented on his height during his r...

Poverty, Progress 8 and how green is grass?

18 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

(0.22) Are more children from working families in poverty? (6.50) Progress 8 – explaining the new school league tables for England (12.51) Can a gar...

WS More or Less: Tulipmania mythology

14 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The story goes that Amsterdam in the 1630’s was gripped by a mania for Tulip flowers. But then there was a crash in the market. People ended up bank...

Abortion, modern slavery, math versus maths

11 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

(00:26) The UK abortion statistics gaining attention in Ireland’s referendum debate (03:49) Superforecasting author Phillip Tetlock talks to Tim Har...

WS More or Less: Exposing the biases we have of the world

07 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The great statistician, Hans Rosling, died in February last year. Throughout his life Hans used data to explain how the world was changing – and oft...

Cancer screening, the Windrush Generation, Audiograms

04 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

(0:32) Breast screening – the Numbers: 450,000 women have accidentally not been invited for breast cancer screening(07:26) Counting the Windrush Gen...

WS More or Less: Puerto Rico - statistics versus politics

29 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The government of Puerto Rico has developed a plan to strip the island’s statistical agency of its independent board as part of a money saving enter...

Straws, women on boards, plus animals born each day

27 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Does the UK throw away 8.5 billion straws a year? (0’33’’) Women on FTSE 100 boards (4’35”) We explore whether the proportion of female dire...

WS More or Less: How Should We Think About Spending?

20 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Tim Harford talks to economist Dan Ariely about the psychology of money. They discuss how understanding the way we think about our finances can help u...

WS More More or Less: Are We Breathing Unsafe Air?

13 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The World Health Organisation say that 95% of people who live in cities breathe unsafe air. But what do they mean by ‘unsafe’? And how do they cal...

WS More or Less: Why London’s Murder Rate is Being Compared to New York’s

08 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

London’s murder rate is on the rise – and for the first time ever it has just overtaken New York’s, according to a number of media outlets. But ...

WS More or Less: How Deadly Was 1920s Melbourne?

29 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries is one of Australia’s most popular television series and has been broadcast in 172 territories worldwide. Set in 19...

Were ‘extra’ votes counted in Russia’s presidential election?

23 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Last week Vladimir Putin won a second consecutive and fourth overall term as the Russian President. Official polling results from the election show he...

Factchecking Trump on Trade

16 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Whenever Donald Trump talks about trade he brings up one statistic again and again, the US trade balance. This is the relationship between the goods a...

WS More or Less: Sir Roger Bannister

09 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

After Sir Roger Bannister ran a mile in under four minutes, did positive thinking propel dozens to do the same?