Science

More or Less

by BBC Radio 4

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

102 episodes

EN language

All Episodes

1

How much water does AI consume?

8:59 Mar 28, 2026

2

Paul Ehrlich: The man who bet England wouldn’t exist by the year 2000

8:58 Mar 21, 2026

3

Transgender women in sport: Does ‘comparable’ mean ‘equal’?

8:57 Mar 14, 2026

4

US-Israel war with Iran: Do the gulf states have enough interceptor missiles?

8:58 Mar 7, 2026

5

Has a company really discovered a million new species?

8:58 Feb 28, 2026

6

Did AI researchers let AI hallucinations into scientific papers?

8:58 Feb 21, 2026

7

Is an ancient charioteer the best paid sportsperson of all time?

8:58 Feb 17, 2026

8

Is this Premier League striker a secret maths genius?

8:58 Feb 7, 2026

9

Could Europe use its financial muscle to strong-arm the US?

8:58 Jan 31, 2026

10

Can you get £71,000 on benefits?

28:57 Jan 28, 2026

11

Is Greenland as big as Africa?

8:58 Jan 24, 2026

12

How close is Greenland to the United States?

29:05 Jan 21, 2026

13

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

8:58 Jan 17, 2026

14

Have more than 100 private schools been forced to close because of VAT?

28:18 Jan 14, 2026

15

Does Venezuela really have the biggest oil reserves in the world?

8:59 Jan 10, 2026

16

The Stats of the Nation: Immigration, benefits and inequality

28:40 Jan 9, 2026

17

The Stats of the Nation: Older people, education, prisons and the weather

28:53 Jan 8, 2026

18

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

29:13 Jan 7, 2026

19

The Stats of the Nation: Health

28:45 Jan 6, 2026

20

The Stats of the Nation: The Economy

28:41 Jan 5, 2026

21

Numbers of the year 2026

8:57 Jan 3, 2026

22

Numbers of the year 2025

27:57 Dec 31, 2025

23

Numbers of the year 2025

8:58 Dec 27, 2025

24

Were there really Three Wise Men?

28:04 Dec 24, 2025

25

The shocking world of US health costs

8:59 Dec 20, 2025

26

Do we really have ‘superflu’?

28:38 Dec 17, 2025

27

RCP 8.5: Why did the climate change model get it wrong?

8:57 Dec 13, 2025

28

Is RFK right about US sperm counts?

8:58 Dec 6, 2025

29

Richard Thaler and The Winner’s Curse

8:57 Nov 29, 2025

30

Is there a stock market crash coming?

8:58 Nov 22, 2025

31

Has there been a $50 trillion wealth transfer to the richest Americans?

8:58 Nov 15, 2025

32

Is RFK Jr right about China's diabetes rate?

8:56 Nov 8, 2025

33

Halloween special: How many people did the real Dracula impale?

8:57 Oct 31, 2025

34

Is your housework split sexist?

8:58 Oct 25, 2025

35

Nobel economics prize 2025: What's the big idea?

8:56 Oct 18, 2025

36

Are millions of people getting Motability cars for anxiety and ADHD?

28:38 Oct 15, 2025

37

Are 72% of prison inmates in Switzerland foreign?

8:58 Oct 11, 2025

38

Does half the UK get more in benefits than they pay in tax?

26:40 Oct 8, 2025

39

Is the world getting less miserable?

8:58 Oct 4, 2025

40

Has Donald Trump ended seven 'unendable' wars?

28:24 Oct 1, 2025

41

The Case of the Missing US Data

8:58 Sep 27, 2025

42

Was it easier to deport migrants to France before Brexit?

28:48 Sep 24, 2025

43

Is JD Vance right about left-wing violence?

8:58 Sep 20, 2025

44

Is it true that out-of-work benefits have almost doubled?

29:09 Sep 17, 2025

45

Will the world really be 50 million workers short by 2030?

8:58 Sep 13, 2025

46

Are Afghan nationals more likely to be convicted of sexual offences?

28:26 Sep 10, 2025

47

Do 11,000 sharks die every hour?

8:57 Sep 6, 2025

48

Are self-driving cars safer than cars with drivers?

8:58 Aug 30, 2025

49

Do women feel the cold more than men?

8:57 Aug 23, 2025

50

How weird was the Med Sea heatwave?

8:58 Aug 16, 2025

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