More or Less Podcast
Tim Harford explains - and sometimes debunks - the numbers and statistics used in political debate, the news and everyday life.
Episodes to download
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Is the ‘loneliness epidemic’ real?
Sat 23 May 2026
We investigate if loneliness is increasing at epidemic rates
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Are refugees more likely to commit crime?
Wed 20 May 2026
Asylum seekers and crime, nuclear fish, the Quiet Revival and Sir David Attenborough.
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Erdos Problem 1196: Can AI now solve maths that no human can?
Sat 16 May 2026
How a 23-year-old mathematician used AI to crack an unsolved maths problem
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Why it’s wrong to say vaping is as bad for you as smoking
Sat 9 May 2026
Vaping vs smoking: how the evidence on cancer and other health risks compare
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Does it take 15,000 litres of water to produce a kilogram of beef?
Sat 2 May 2026
How a stat about cows and water is not all it seems
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Have RFK and MAHA really changed American views on vaccines?
Sat 25 Apr 2026
Why a Politico headline overstated vaccine scepticism in the US
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Is Trump right that wind turbines are killing millions of birds?
Sat 18 Apr 2026
Investigating the scale of bird deaths caused by wind turbines
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Is Trump right that wind turbines are killing millions of birds?
Sat 18 Apr 2026
Investigating the scale of bird deaths caused by wind turbines
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Dr Spock’s dangerous advice on baby sleep
Sat 11 Apr 2026
How evidence eventually showed front sleeping was linked to sudden infant deaths
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Dr Spock’s dangerous advice on baby sleep
Sat 11 Apr 2026
How evidence eventually showed front sleeping was linked to sudden infant deaths
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How likely is ‘likely’?
Sat 4 Apr 2026
Adam Kucharski explains what people really mean when they use probability language
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How likely is ‘likely’?
Sat 4 Apr 2026
Adam Kucharski explains what people really mean when they use probability language
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Paul Ehrlich: The man who bet England wouldn’t exist by the year 2000
Sat 21 Mar 2026
Why Paul Ehrlich’s dire predictions about a population collapse failed to materialise
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Paul Ehrlich: The man who bet England wouldn’t exist by the year 2000
Sat 21 Mar 2026
Why Paul Ehrlich’s dire predictions about a population collapse failed to materialise
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Transgender women in sport: Does ‘comparable’ mean ‘equal’?
Sat 14 Mar 2026
Investigating a scientific paper analysing the strength and fitness of transgender women
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Transgender women in sport: Does ‘comparable’ mean ‘equal’?
Sat 14 Mar 2026
Investigating a scientific paper analysing the strength and fitness of transgender women
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US-Israel war with Iran: Do the gulf states have enough interceptor missiles?
Sat 7 Mar 2026
What we know about missile stockpiles following the US-Israeli strikes on Iran
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US-Israel war with Iran: Do the gulf states have enough interceptor missiles?
Sat 7 Mar 2026
What we know about missile stockpiles following the US-Israeli strikes on Iran
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Has a company really discovered a million new species?
Sat 28 Feb 2026
Investigating whether Basecamp Research found hundreds of thousands of bacteria species
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Has a company really discovered a million new species?
Sat 28 Feb 2026
Investigating whether Basecamp Research found hundreds of thousands of bacteria species
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Did AI researchers let AI hallucinations into scientific papers?
Sat 21 Feb 2026
Investigating a claim that 100 made-up claims were found in AI papers
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Did AI researchers let AI hallucinations into scientific papers?
Sat 21 Feb 2026
Investigating a claim that 100 made-up claims were found in AI papers
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Is an ancient charioteer the best paid sportsperson of all time?
Tue 17 Feb 2026
Did a Roman charioteer really earn the equivalent of $15 billion dollars?
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Is an ancient charioteer the best paid sportsperson of all time?
Sat 14 Feb 2026
Did a Roman charioteer really earn the equivalent of $15 billion dollars?
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Is this Premier League striker a secret maths genius?
Sat 7 Feb 2026
Is Chelsea’s Liam Delap a maths genius? Or has he got a trick up his sleeve?
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Is this Premier League striker a secret maths genius?
Sat 7 Feb 2026
Tim Harford explains the numbers and statistics in the news and in life.
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Could Europe use its financial muscle to strong-arm the US?
Sat 31 Jan 2026
Europe holds trillions of dollars of US shares and bonds - but can they use them?
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Could Europe use its financial muscle to strong-arm the US?
Sat 31 Jan 2026
Europe holds trillions of dollars of US shares and bonds - but can they use them?
Unlock the history and truth behind the data with The OU
Explore how numbers shape, and sometimes mislead us, with The Open University.
When can you trust statistics?
BBC Ideas discovers three easy ways to help make sense of statistics.
