300 episodes
More or Less: Behind the Stats BBC Radio 4
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- News
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4.7 • 697 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
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Covid vaccines and false claims about miscarriage
Misinformation around covid-19 and vaccines is rife and as the data available increases, so do often misleading and even wild claims. This week More or Less examines multiple viral claims that the Covid 19 mRNA vaccines increase the risk of miscarriage. To explain where these incorrect figures come from and what the science actually tells us, we are joined by Dr Viki Male, senior lecturer in reproductive immunology at Imperial College London.
Presenter: Charlotte McDonald,
Producers: Octavia Woodward and Jon Bithrey
Editor: Richard Vadon
Sound Engineer: John Scott
Production Co-ordinator: Helena Warwick-Cross
(Photo by Matthew Horwood/Getty Images) -
Silicon Valley Bank: a very modern bank run
After the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank sent jitters through the financial system, Duncan Weldon explains how it’s just the latest in the long history of bank runs.
He talks to financial analyst and former banking regulator Dan Davies - author of ‘Lying for Money’ - to understand how bank runs happen, and what the repercussions of this very modern bank run might be for the global financial system.
Presenter: Duncan Weldon
Producer: Nathan Gower
Editor: Richard Vadon
Programme Coordinators: Helena Warwick-Cross
Sound Engineer: Neva Missirian
(Photo credit: Reuters) -
Do fungi kill three times as many people as malaria?
The smash hit TV show and video game ‘The Last of Us’ has spawned lots of curiosity about how worried we should be about the relatively unknown world of fungi. A figure in a recent BBC online article stated that fungal infections kill around 1.7 million people a year, about three times as many as malaria. In this episode we look at the both the global fight against malaria and David Denning, Professor of Infectious Diseases and Global Health at the University of Manchester explains the risks posed by fungal infections globally.
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Does your jewellery contain stolen Brink’s-Mat gold?
The Brink’s-Mat robbery remains to this day one of Britain’s biggest and most audacious heists. Six armed men stole diamonds, cash and three tonnes of gold bullion from a warehouse close to London’s Heathrow Airport in November 1983. It’s now the subject of a BBC television drama, The Gold, which includes the claim that most gold jewellery bought in the UK from 1984 onwards will contain traces of that stolen gold. But how true is that? Tim Harford and team investigate, with the help of Zoe Lyons from Hatton Garden Metals and Rob Eastaway, author of Maths on the Back of an Envelope.
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UK vs European energy prices, falling excess deaths and is 5 grams of cocaine a lot?
Does the UK really have by far the highest domestic energy bills in Europe? We debunk a viral social media claim suggesting just that. Also the number of excess deaths has been falling in the UK - how positive should we be that we’re through the worst? Plus do we really have access to only 3% of rivers and 8% of the countryside in England – and after the conviction of former MP Jared O’Mara we ask whether 5 grams of cocaine is a lot.
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Do 29,000 coffee pods really go to landfill every minute?
How environmentally destructive is our thirst for coffee? Tim and the team investigate a claim that 29,000 coffee pods end up in landfill globally every minute with the help of Dr Ying Jiang, a senior lecturer in bioenergy from Cranfield University in the UK.
Customer Reviews
This is what the world needs.
As they say they look at the numbers all around us. One often asked question is “is this a big number?” It’s always when a number sounds big but on large scales sometimes it’s actually not a big number. Many people don’t have have a good grasp of scale, as numbers get big they are hard to visualize if your not used to thinking this way. Another question often asked is where did this number come from? They do an exceptional job of fact checking, sometimes the numbers sound unbelievable but are in fact true but other times the trail leads to a single questionable source. With so much false or at least ambiguous information that no one can take the time to check every source we really need More or Less or similar coverage for everything at least until we pass through this beginning of the Information Age and get a firmer grasp of what we are doing with the internet. It’s like the Victorian age for industry, lots of good things came out of it eventually but they had so many things wrong at the time.
Think any? If so, this podcast is worth your time.
Think any? If so, this podcast is worth your time.
Just listen
This is one podcast that I almost never miss. Give a listen;you will be almost be guaranteed to learn something…. More importantly it will be something worth knowing!
If you don’t care about the data or analysis, then just listen to hear Tim’s velveteen vocal tone and British accent. 🤣