More or Less: Behind the Stats Podcast
Tim Harford and the More or Less team try to make sense of the statistics which surround us. From BBC Radio 4
Episodes to download
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Is opinion polling broken?
Saturday
Following some high profile slip-ups in recent US elections, is opinion polling broken?
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Debunking the Liverpool FC Conspiracy Theory
Sat 6 Aug 2022
We debunk spurious rumours that Liverpool FC use asthma medication to enhance performance
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How our world measures up
Sat 30 Jul 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?
Sat 23 Jul 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?
Sat 16 Jul 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?
Sat 9 Jul 2022
The numbers behind water use and denim production
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How many American women will have an abortion in their lifetime?
Sat 2 Jul 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?
Wed 29 Jun 2022
How accurately are official figures picking up the new covid wave?
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Ed Sheeran and the mathematics of musical coincidences
Sat 25 Jun 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
Wed 22 Jun 2022
Do rail workers really earn £13,000 a year more than nurses?
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Maternity litigation, stars, bees and windowless planes
Wed 15 Jun 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
Sat 11 Jun 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
Wed 8 Jun 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?
Sat 4 Jun 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
Wed 1 Jun 2022
We debunk a claim the government is spending £38,000 per household on the Jubilee
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Noisy Decisions
Sat 28 May 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
Wed 25 May 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?
Sat 21 May 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?
Sat 14 May 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?
Sat 7 May 2022
Tim Harford asks how we measure the health of our oceans
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Sweden’s polarising pandemic response
Sat 30 Apr 2022
Has Sweden’s pandemic response been a triumph or a disaster…or something in-between?
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Understanding India through Data
Sat 23 Apr 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
Fri 15 Apr 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?
Sat 9 Apr 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?
Sat 2 Apr 2022
How much of the worlds wheat comes from Ukraine and Russia
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Pizza and Nuclear War
Sun 20 Mar 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?
Sun 13 Mar 2022
Fact checking Boris Johnson’s claim.
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Troop and Casualty Numbers in Ukraine
Wed 2 Mar 2022
How reliable are the figures coming out of the conflict in Ukraine?
