More or Less

Latest Episodes:

Straws, women on boards, plus animals born each day Apr 27, 2018

Show notes

Does the UK throw away 8.5 billion straws a year? (0’33’’)

Women on FTSE 100 boards (4’35”) We explore whether the proportion of female directors has changed over time, and what it tells us about women in business.

Using personal data for the public good (11’28”) Hetan Shah, the Executive Director of the Royal Statistical Society, talks about storing people’s data.

How many animals are born every day? (15’39”)

WS More or Less: How Should We Think About Spending? Apr 20, 2018

Show notes

Tim Harford talks to economist Dan Ariely about the psychology of money. They discuss how understanding the way we think about our finances can help us to spend more carefully and save more efficiently. Plus Dan explains how to never have an argument over sharing a restaurant bill again.

(Photo: Mannequins in a shop window wearing sale t-shirts. Credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

WS More More or Less: Are We Breathing Unsafe Air? Apr 13, 2018

Show notes

The World Health Organisation say that 95% of people who live in cities breathe unsafe air. But what do they mean by ‘unsafe’? And how do they calculate the levels or air pollution for every city in the world? Plus Mt Etna in Italy has reportedly moved by 14mm, but who is calculating this? And how do they know the answer with such accuracy? (Photo: People wear masks as smoke billows from a coal fired power plant, Shanxi, China. Credit: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

WS More or Less: Why London’s Murder Rate is Being Compared to New York’s Apr 08, 2018

Show notes

London’s murder rate is on the rise – and for the first time ever it has just overtaken New York’s, according to a number of media outlets. But is it true? And is it appropriate for journalists to compare between the two cities? South Africa’s missing children statistics A viral Facebook post has suggested that one child is kidnapped every thirty seconds in South Africa. We examine the evidence which shows that a child is reported missing every nine hours to the police, and this includes more than just kidnappings.

(Photo: Police officers inspect the scene of a knife attack in London. Credit: Jack Taylor/Getty Images)

WS More or Less: How Deadly Was 1920s Melbourne? Mar 29, 2018

Show notes

Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries is one of Australia’s most popular television series and has been broadcast in 172 territories worldwide. Set in 1920’s Melbourne the series’ protagonist, Miss Phryne Fisher, seems to have a lot of dead bodies on her metaphorical plate. So how does the series compare with the real life murder rate at that time? Join the More Or Less team as we step back in time for some statistical sleuthing.

Were ‘extra’ votes counted in Russia’s presidential election? Mar 23, 2018

Show notes

Last week Vladimir Putin won a second consecutive and fourth overall term as the Russian President. Official polling results from the election show he received over 76 percent of the vote, with a total turnout of 67 percent, but there were also widespread allegations of irregularities including inflated turnout figures. More or Less takes a closer look at the election data from Russia to see if these complaints have merit.

Factchecking Trump on Trade Mar 16, 2018

Show notes

Whenever Donald Trump talks about trade he brings up one statistic again and again, the US trade balance. This is the relationship between the goods and services the US imports from other countries and what it exports – if America buys more from a country than that country buys from America there’s a deficit, and Trump claims America has a trade deficit with almost every country in the world.

Is he right?

We unpick whether President Trump is quoting the correct numbers on trade, hear how trade figures can vary widely between countries and ask if it’s the right approach to focus trade deal negotiations on reducing the US deficit.

(Photo: President Donald Trump participates in a meeting with leaders of the steel industry at the White House, Washington, DC. Credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

WS More or Less: Sir Roger Bannister Mar 09, 2018

Show notes

After Sir Roger Bannister ran a mile in under four minutes, did positive thinking propel dozens to do the same?

WS More or Less: Women, the Oscars and the Bechdel Test Mar 05, 2018

Show notes

Are Hollywood films ignoring women? As this is the 90th year of the Academy Awards - we find out how many ‘Best Picture’ winners pass the Bechdel Test. This is a light-hearted way of challenging whether a film meets a low standard of female representation. They have to fulfil three criteria: are there at least two named female characters in the cast? Do those two women speak to each other? And do they have a conversation about something other than a man? In collaboration with the BBC’s 100 Women team, we reveal the answer but also look at what other ways we could be assessing representation in film.

Women, the Oscars and the Bechdel Test Mar 02, 2018

Show notes

Presenter and Producer: Charlotte McDonald Producers: Charlotte McDonald and the BBC’s 100 Women team

(L-R) Actors Mahershala Ali, Best Supporting Actor for 'Moonlight,' Emma Stone, Best Actress for 'La La Land,' Viola Davis, Best Supporting Actress for 'Fences,' Casey Affleck, Best Actor for 'Manchester by the Sea,' at the 2017 Academy Awards. Photo Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

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