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**More or Less**

Tim Harford explains – and sometimes debunks – the numbers and statistics used in political debate, the news and everyday life.

Latest Episodes:

The spread of fact-checking in Africa Aug 02, 2019

Show notes

With misinformation so easy to spread, how can it be stopped or challenged?

Pregnancy prohibitions – the evidence Jul 26, 2019

Show notes

Taking a statistical look at what expectant mothers should avoid.

Missing women from drug trials Jul 19, 2019

Show notes

How medical testing on just men causes problems.

Zimbabwe’s economy: Are sanctions to blame? Jul 19, 2019

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We look at politicians’ claims that sanctions are to blame for Zimbabwe’s difficulties.

Two World Cups: Football and Cricket Jul 05, 2019

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On this week’s More or Less, Ruth Alexander looks at the numbers involved with the two world cups that are going on at the moment.

Are more men than women watching the Women’s World Cup and how accurate is the Cricket World Cup rule of thumb that suggests if you double the score after 30 overs you get a good estimate of the final innings total?

Producer: Richard Vadon

Image: Cricket World Cup Trophy 2019 Credit: Getty Images/ Gareth Copley-IDI

Is nuclear power actually safer than you think? Jun 28, 2019

Show notes

We questioned the death count of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in last week’s More or Less podcast. In the end, Professor Jim Smith of Portsmouth University came up with an estimate of 15,000 deaths.

But we wondered how deadly nuclear power is overall when compared to other energy sources? Dr Hannah Ritchie of the University of Oxford joins Charlotte McDonald to explore.

Image:Chernobyl nuclear plant, October 1st 1986 Credit: Getty Images

Questioning the Chernobyl disaster death count Jun 21, 2019

Show notes

The recent TV miniseries ‘Chernobyl’ has stirred up debate online about the accuracy of its portrayal of the explosion at a nuclear power plant in the former Soviet state of Ukraine. We fact-check the programme and try and explain why it so hard to say how many people will die because of the Chernobyl disaster.

Image: Chernobyl nuclear power plant a few weeks after the disaster. Credit: Getty Images

WS More or Less: Dealing with the Numbers of Cancer Jun 14, 2019

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How one woman used statistics to help cope with cancer.

WS More or Less: The things we fail to see Jun 10, 2019

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The hidden influences that a make a big difference to the way the world works.

Are married women flipping miserable? Jun 07, 2019

Show notes

Measuring happiness, university access in Scotland, plus will one in two get cancer?