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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WS More or Less: Australia Calling
Mon 28 May 2018
Do one in seven businessmen throw out their underwear after wearing them once?
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Forecasting rain, teabags and voter ID trials
Fri 25 May 2018
How to read the weather forecast, plus measuring the amount of tea we drink.
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WS More or Less: James Comey - Basketball Superstar?
Mon 21 May 2018
Does being very tall improve your chances of becoming a professional basketball player?
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Poverty, Progress 8 and how green is grass?
Fri 18 May 2018
Are more working families in poverty? Plus exploring the new school league tables.
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WS More or Less: Tulipmania mythology
Mon 14 May 2018
What is the truth behind the 17th Century Dutch craze for Tulips?
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Abortion, modern slavery, math versus maths
Fri 11 May 2018
The British abortion statistics gaining attention in Ireland's referendum debate
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WS More or Less: Exposing the biases we have of the world
Mon 7 May 2018
Statistician Hans Rosling鈥檚 family talk about the book they co-wrote about preconceptions
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Cancer screening, the Windrush Generation, Audiograms
Fri 4 May 2018
Calculating the benefits and risks of breast screening. Plus, patchy citizenship data.
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WS More or Less: Puerto Rico - statistics versus politics
Sun 29 Apr 2018
Why some fear the statistics authority is about to lose its independence
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Straws, women on boards, plus animals born each day
Fri 27 Apr 2018
Measuring plastic pollution, female FTSE directors and counting animal offspring.
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WS More or Less: How Should We Think About Spending?
Fri 20 Apr 2018
Tim Harford talks to economist Dan Ariely about the psychology of money.
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WS More More or Less: Are We Breathing Unsafe Air?
Fri 13 Apr 2018
The W.H.O. say 95% of people in cities breathe unsafe air, but what does 'unsafe' mean?
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WS More or Less: Why London鈥檚 Murder Rate is Being Compared to New York鈥檚
Sun 8 Apr 2018
Finding out if London is now more deadly than New York.
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WS More or Less: How Deadly Was 1920s Melbourne?
Thu 29 Mar 2018
We investigate the murder rate in popular crime series Miss Fisher鈥檚 Murder Mysteries.
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Were 鈥榚xtra鈥� votes counted in Russia鈥檚 presidential election?
Fri 23 Mar 2018
We look at voting data to investigate allegations of election fraud in Russia
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Factchecking Trump on Trade
Fri 16 Mar 2018
The US President regularly talks about America's trade deficit - do his figures stack up?
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WS More or Less: Sir Roger Bannister
Fri 9 Mar 2018
Did Sir Roger Bannister make the 鈥榠mpossible鈥� possible?
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WS More or Less: Women, the Oscars and the Bechdel Test
Mon 5 Mar 2018
Ninety years鈥� worth of Best Picture winning films under the spotlight
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Women, the Oscars and the Bechdel Test
Fri 2 Mar 2018
Ninety years鈥� worth of Best Picture winning films under the spotlight.
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WS More or Less: The Winter Olympics
Sun 25 Feb 2018
Which is the most successful country? Plus the chances of a dead heat.
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WS More or Less: Debunking guide 鈥� on a postcard
Sun 18 Feb 2018
How to question dubious statistics in just a few short steps.
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UN rape claims, Stalin and Mr Darcy
Fri 16 Feb 2018
Back of the envelope calculations on rape, and how many died under Stalin?
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WS More or Less: Has Russian Drinking Fallen by 80% in five years?
Sun 11 Feb 2018
Alcohol consumption has fallen sharply according to Russia鈥檚 health ministry
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The Dow, Tampons, Parkrun part II
Fri 9 Feb 2018
Why the biggest ever fall in the Dow wasn't, and how much do women spend on tampons?
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WS More or Less: Is China On Track to End Poverty by 2020?
Mon 5 Feb 2018
We investigate whether the Chinese government can really achieve its extraordinary pledge
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Transgender Numbers, Parkrun and Snooker
Fri 2 Feb 2018
How many transgender people are there in the UK? Plus a statistical take on parkruns.
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Is the US Census Under Threat?
Mon 29 Jan 2018
The survey question that could affect the accuracy of its results.
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A Girl's First Time, Shark's Stomachs, Prime numbers
Fri 26 Jan 2018
First sexual experience - checking the facts.
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WS More or Less: Real Lives Behind the Numbers
Mon 22 Jan 2018
How individuals manage their money - the personal stories behind economic data.
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Gender Pay Gaps and How to Learn a Language
Fri 19 Jan 2018
Why are women paid less than men in specific industries and occupations?
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?
麻豆社 Ideas discovers three easy ways to help make sense of statistics.
