938 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
    • 4.7 • 736 Ratings

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

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher

    Do one in five young Americans think the holocaust is a myth?

    Do one in five young Americans think the holocaust is a myth?

    Polling by YouGov made headlines around the world when it suggested 20% of young adults in the US thought the holocaust was a myth.
    But polling experts at the Pew Research Centre thought the result might not be accurate, due to problems with the kind of opt-in polling it was based on. They tried to replicate the finding, and did not get the same answer.
    We speak to Andrew Mercer from the Pew Research Centre and YouGov chief scientist Douglas Rivers.
    Presenter /series producer: Tom Colls
    Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
    Sound Mix: Graham Puddifoot
    Editor: Richard Vadon

    • 9 min
    Has Milei fixed Argentina’s inflation problem?

    Has Milei fixed Argentina’s inflation problem?

    Libertarian populist Javier Milei won the presidential election in Argentina on a promise austerity and economic “shock” measures for the ailing economy.
    Just a few months in, some are hailing the falling rate of inflation as showing those measures are working.
    Economist Monica de Bolle, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, explains whether that thinking is correct.
    Presenter/producer: Tom Colls
    Producer: Ajai Singh
    Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
    Sound mix: Graham Puddifoot
    Editor: Richard Vadon.

    • 8 min
    98%: Is misinformation being spread about a review of trans youth medicine?

    98%: Is misinformation being spread about a review of trans youth medicine?

    The Cass Review is an independent report on the state of gender identity services for under-18s in England’s NHS.
    It found children had been let down by a lack of research and "remarkably weak" evidence on medical interventions in gender care.
    But before it was even released, claims were circulating online that it ignored 98% of the evidence in reaching its conclusion.
    Is that claim true?
    We speak to Dr Hilary Cass, the author of the review, Professor Catherine Hewitt of York University, who analysed the scientific research, and Kamran Abbasi, editor in chief of the British Medical Journal.
    Presenter: Kate Lamble
    Producer: Tom Colls
    Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
    Sound Mix: James Beard
    Editor: Richard Vadon

    • 11 min
    Tackling The Three-Body Problem

    Tackling The Three-Body Problem

    Netflix has a big new show named after and inspired by a classic problem in astrophysics, 'The Three Body Problem', where predicting the course and orbits of three or more celestial bodies proves near impossible.
    But how faithful is the Netflix show - and original novel - to the actual physics?
    Dr Anna Lisa Varri from the University of Edinburgh explains what we can and can't say about the complex and beautiful motions of planets, stars and moons, and brings a dose of scientific facts to science fiction.
    Presenter: Kate Lamble
    Producer: Nathan Gower
    Sound Engineer: Graham Puddifoot
    Editor: Richard Vadon

    • 8 min
    Is loneliness as bad for you as smoking?

    Is loneliness as bad for you as smoking?

    Is loneliness as bad for you as smoking 15 cigarettes per day? That’s the claim circulating on social media.
    We trace this stat back to its source and speak the scientist behind the original research on which it is based, Professor Julianne Holt-Lunstad.
    Presenter / series producer: Tom Colls
    Reporter: Perisha Kudhail
    Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
    Sound Mix: Graham Puddifoot
    Editor: Richard Vadon

    • 8 min
    Remembering Daniel Kahneman

    Remembering Daniel Kahneman

    Daniel Kahneman, a Nobel prize-winning behavioural economist and More or Less hero, has died at the age of 90.
    Tim Harford explains his ideas and influence.
    Presenter: Charlotte McDonald
    Series producer: Tom Colls
    Sound mix: Hal Haines
    Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
    Editor: Richard Vadon

    • 8 min

Customer Reviews

4.7 out of 5
736 Ratings

736 Ratings

PeterPottery ,

“Math is hard”- but More or Less I love this show -Barbie

They ask the experts and that is so refreshing.

moving on-missu ,

This is the good stuff!

You did miss out on the central question re natural gas- will there be a world where it is not part of the energy solution- not by 2030, I doubt by 2050 so the question is do we need the supply not if it is polluting. A side from this,

More or Less brings the research to the questions of the day! This is the good stuff and what you wish your politicians did.

takinite ,

Not Dismal

The way ‘economics’ should be taught.

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