944 episodes

Tim Harford and the More or Less team try to make sense of the statistics which surround us. From BBC Radio 4

More or Less: Behind the Stats BBC Podcasts

    • Business
    • 4.6 • 2.7K Ratings

Tim Harford and the More or Less team try to make sense of the statistics which surround us. From BBC Radio 4

    Data for India

    Data for India

    India’s election has been running since 19 April. With results imminent on 4th June, More or Less talks with Chennai based data communicator Rukmini S. She founded Data for India, a new website designed to make socioeconomic data on India easier to find and understand. She talks us through the changing trends to help give a better picture of the type of country the winning party will govern.
    Producers: Bethan Ashmead and Nathan Gower
    Sound Engineer: Nigel Appleton
    Production Coordinator: Brenda Brown
    Editor: Richard Vadon

    • 8 min
    UK growth, prisons and Swiftonomics

    UK growth, prisons and Swiftonomics

    Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said that the UK economy is growing faster than Germany, France and the US, while Labour says the typical household in the UK is worse off by £5,883 since 2019. Are these claims fair? We give some needed context.
    Net migration has fallen - we talk to someone who predicted it would - Dr Madeleine Sumption, director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford.
    Is Taylor Swift about to add £1 bn to the British economy as some media outlets have claimed? The answer is ‘No’.
    Why are our prisons full? We ask Cassia Rowland from the Institute for Government.
    Presenter: Tim Harford
    Producers: Charlotte McDonald, Nathan Gower, Bethan Ashmead Latham and Ellie House
    Series producer: Tom Colls
    Sound mix: Neil Churchill
    Production coordinator: Brenda Brown
    Editor: Richard Vadon

    • 28 min
    Is intermittent fasting going to kill you?

    Is intermittent fasting going to kill you?

    News stories earlier in the year appeared to suggest that time restricted eating – where you consume all your meals in an 8 hour time window – was associated with a 91% increase in the risk of death from cardiovascular disease.
    But is this true? Tim Harford looks into the claim with the help of Cardiologist Dr Donald Lloyd-Jones, chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine at Northwestern University in the US.
    Presenter: Tim Harford
    Producer: Debbie Richford
    Series producer: Tom Colls
    Production coordinator: Brenda Brown
    Sound mix: Nigel Appleton
    Editor: Richard Vadon

    • 10 min
    MP misconduct, NHS waiting lists and gold (gold)

    MP misconduct, NHS waiting lists and gold (gold)

    Is it going to take 685 years to clear NHS waiting lists in England?
    Are 10 per cent of MPs under investigation for sexual misconduct?
    How does gold effect the UKs export figures?
    What does it mean to say that a woman has 120% chance of getting pregnant?
    Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news.
    Presenter: Tim Harford
    Producers: Nathan Gower and Bethan Ashmead Latham
    Series producer: Tom Colls
    Sound mix: Neil Churchill
    Production coordinator: Brenda Brown
    Editor: Richard Vadon

    • 29 min
    Are falling marriage rates causing happiness to fall in the US?

    Are falling marriage rates causing happiness to fall in the US?

    It’s long been known that marriage is associated with happiness in survey data. But are falling marriage rates in the US dragging down the mood of the whole nation?
    We investigate the statistical relationships with Professor Sam Peltzman from the University of Chicago, and Professor John Helliwell, from the University of British Columbia.
    Presenter: Tom Colls
    Reporter: Natasha Fernandes
    Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
    Sound mix: Nigel Appleton
    Editor: Richard Vadon

    • 9 min
    Is reading for pleasure the single biggest factor in how well a child does in life?

    Is reading for pleasure the single biggest factor in how well a child does in life?

    If a child loves reading, how big a difference does that make to their future success?
    In a much-repeated claim, often sourced to a 2002 OECD report, it is suggested that it makes the biggest difference there is – that reading for pleasure is the biggest factor in future success.
    But is that true? We speak to Miyako Ikeda from the OECD and Professor Alice Sullivan from University College London.
    Presenter / series producer: Tom Colls
    Reporter / producer: Debbie Richford
    Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
    Sound mix: Graham Puddifoot
    Editor: Richard Vadon

    • 10 min

Customer Reviews

4.6 out of 5
2.7K Ratings

2.7K Ratings

Evil_Pumba ,

Informative

I often end up finding myself correcting friends and colleagues using knowledge from this podcast. Everyone should listen to something like this and read and watch news and other media through the same critical lens taken on this show. Thank you!

A Feral Pigeon ,

Jumping on the transphobia bandwagon.

I’m really disappointed that they chose to let Hilary Cass, a transphobic quack, speak without also featuring any trans people or people with expertise on trans medical care. I’m unsubscribing, as I can’t trust them to present a balanced view any more.

NewModelNo122 ,

Disgusting anti-trans propaganda

Shameful for the BBC to be platforming Dr Cass, who collaborated with anti-trans lobbyists in the U.K. and US to create a sham of a document that is now being used to deny trans people healthcare. No trans people were interviewed for the episode either. Reaching new low every day at the BBC.

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