More or Less

Latest Episodes:

The Freedom Day Gamble Jul 19, 2021

Show notes

On the day the Government plans to drop the remaining Covid restirictions, Tim Harford and the More or Less team try to work out how long cases will continue to rise and whether we can be sure the link with deaths and hospitalisations has been broken. Is this “freedom day" or an unnecessary gamble with people’s lives?

Are there 40 million Nigerians on Twitter? Jul 10, 2021

Show notes

In recent months, Twitter has rarely been out of the headlines in Nigeria. After it deleted a tweet by the country’s president, the Nigerian government responded by banning it altogether. In the media coverage of the story it has been commonly claimed that Nigeria has 40 million Twitter users – but could this really be true? We spoke to Allwell Okpi of the fact-checking organisation AfricaCheck.

Also, which places have the best full vaccination rates in the world? Turns out, its some of the smallest. We run through the top five.

Producer: Nathan Gower

Is Ivermectin a Covid ‘wonder drug’? Jul 03, 2021

Show notes

To some on the internet, the cheap anti-parasitic drug Ivermectin is a potential wonder drug that could dramatically change the global fight against Covid-19. It has passionate proponents, from a small group of scientists to the more conspiratorially-minded. But with a scattered evidence base of varying quality, what - if anything - do we know for sure about Ivermectin? And is uncovering the truth a more complex process than some appreciate?

With Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz from the University of Wollongong, Australia.

Producer: Nathan Gower

Scotland cases, flood risk and taxing the poor Jun 30, 2021

Show notes

The UK’s Covid cases are still rising and Scotland is being hit particularly hard - so are we speeding up our vaccination programme in response? Will many of the UK’s coastal towns, not to mention central London, be underwater in the next few years? Do the country’s poorest households really pay more than half their income in tax? What are the top five places with the best vaccination rates in the world? The answers may surprise you. We speak to Tom Chivers, a science journalist who has written a book called “How to Read numbers” with his cousin the economist David Chivers.

Maths and the Mayflower Jun 26, 2021

Show notes

This year sees the delayed 400th anniversary celebrations of the Mayflower voyage, an event seen as a crucial moment in the history of the United States. But how many people alive today can trace back their lineage to those first 102 passengers? Tim speaks to Rob Eastaway and Dr Misha Ewen about maths and the Mayflower.

Delta cases, blue tits and that one-in-two cancer claim Jun 23, 2021

Show notes

The Delta variant is behind the big increase in the number of new Covid 19 cases in the UK since April. We take a look at what impact vaccines have had on infections, hospitalisations and deaths.

Chris Packham told viewers on the BBC’s Springwatch that blue tits eat 35 billion caterpillars a year. We get him onto the programme to explain.

How much does Type 2 diabetes cost the NHS a year? While exploring a dubious claim we find out why its hard to work that out.

Is it true that on in two people will get cancer? We’ve looked at this statistic before but listeners keep spotting it on TV.

We also ask: if the SarsCov2 RNA is 96% similar to the RNA of a virus found in bats - is that similar, or not?

The origins of Covid Jun 19, 2021

Show notes

To find out where a virus comes from, researchers compare it to other viruses to try to trace its origin. This leads to claims like SARS-CoV-2 is 91 or even 96% similar to other known viruses. But what does that really mean? Tim Harford talks to the virus ecologist Marilyn J Roossinck.

Covid deaths, outdoor swimming and care homes Jun 16, 2021

Show notes

The official number of deaths attributed to Covid 19 around the world in the whole of 2020 is 1.88 million. The global toll this year surpassed this figure on 11th of June. We look at how things are worse worldwide, despite vaccines and lock downs.

Does the UK have the worst bathing sites in Europe? That’s certainly a claim made by a number of newspapers. We show why this is not the case.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has been in the news again with comments regarding care homes during the pandemic. Just how good was the government’s ‘ring of protection’ around care homes during the first wave - and the second?

We speak to Steven Johnson about his book ‘Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer.’

The doubling of life-expectancy Jun 12, 2021

Show notes

Steven Johnson, author of Extra Life, tells the fascinating history of life expectancy, and the extraordinary achievements of the last century, in which it has practically doubled.

It’s a story that has data at its heart, from the ground-breaking invention of the category itself in 17th century London to the pioneering social health surveys of W.E.B. Du Bois in 1890s Philadelphia.

Tim Harford spoke to Steven about the numbers beneath possibly the most important number of all.

Third wave fears, smart motorways and bra sizes Jun 09, 2021

Show notes

Covid-19 cases are rising again in the UK – should we be worried about a third wave? Tim Harford speaks to David Spiegelhalter, Winton professor of risk at the University of Cambridge.

How safe are smart motorways? Many listeners have concerns that they seem more dangerous than conventional motorways. We take a look at the numbers.

What proportion of adults in England have been vaccinated? Listeners have spotted a potential discrepancy in the public data online.

Are 80% of women wearing the wrong size bra? This frequently repeated statistic has been around for decades – could it possibly be true?

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