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

Latest Episodes:

Economics of Overbooking Apr 14, 2017

Show notes

Why airlines bet that not everybody will turn up for a flight.

WS More or Less: Could North Korea Wipe out 90% of Americans? Apr 10, 2017

Show notes

A single nuclear weapon could destroy America’s entire electrical grid, claims a former head of the CIA. The explosion would send out an electromagnetic pulse – resulting in famine, societal collapse and what one newspaper has called a “Dark Apocalypse”.

But are hungry squirrels a greater threat to the electrical grid than North Korean weapons? We speak to senior security adviser Sharon Burke and Yoni Applebaum from The Atlantic.

Presenter: Charlotte McDonald Producer: Hannah Sander

WS More or Less: Will one in four people develop a mental health problem? Mar 31, 2017

Show notes

The claim that “one in four” of us will suffer from a mental health problem is popular amongst campaigners, politicians and the media. But this leads you to a simple question – where is this figure from and what’s the evidence? This was exactly what neuroscientist Jamie Horder asked, and far from being simple, it led him on quite a journey. So do we really know how many people are likely to develop mental health problems – Elizabeth Cassin and Charlotte McDonald find out.

Presenter: Charlotte McDonald Producer: Elizabeth Cassin

WS More Or Less: Baby Boxes – are they really saving infant’s lives? Mar 24, 2017

Show notes

Ever since a BBC article highlighted the use of baby boxes in Finland they have become a bit of a phenomenon. They’re not new though Finland has been doing this for 75 years. The simple cardboard boxes are given to families for their new born babies to sleep in. Since their introduction cot death and has fallen and child health improved. Governments and individuals across the world have adopted them and companies have sprung up selling them. But think about for minute – can a cardboard box on its own really have such a huge effect – Elizabeth Cassin and Charlotte McDonald have been looking at the truth behind the story.

Presenter: Charlotte McDonald

Producer: Elizabeth Cassin

(Photo:One of Scotland's first baby boxes is seen at Clackmannanshire Community Health Centre. Credit: Getty Images)

More or Less: The concrete facts about Trump’s wall and China Mar 17, 2017

Show notes

Did China use more concrete in three years than the US in the 20th Century?

WS More or Less: The Attention Span of a Goldfish Mar 10, 2017

Show notes

Are our attention spans now shorter than a goldfish's?

WS More or Less: Why are Hollywood actresses paid less than men? Mar 03, 2017

Show notes

Top Hollywood actresses have complained that they are paid less than their male co-stars

WS More or Less: What happened last night in Sweden? Feb 24, 2017

Show notes

What happened last night in Sweden?

Hidden Figures: The Real Story Feb 17, 2017

Show notes

Hidden Figures, the film, has been nominated for three awards at the Oscars and has been a box office hit in the US. It tells the little-known story of a group of African American women and their contribution to the space race in the 50s and 60s. We explore the history of how these women were recruited by Nasa and put to work on complex mathematical tasks – at a time when African Americans and women were far less likely to be employed in such jobs.

(Photo: Taraji P. Henson as Katherine Johnson,in a scene from Hidden Figures. Credit: Hopper Stone/Twentieth Century Fox/AP)

WS More or Less: Hans Rosling - the extraordinary life of a statistical guru Feb 13, 2017

Show notes

A huge hole was left in the world this week with the death of the Swedish statistician Han Rosling. He was a master communicator whose captivating presentations on global development were watched by millions. He had the ear of those with power and influence. His friend Bill Gates said Hans ‘brought data to life and helped the world see the human progress it often overlooked’. In a world that often looks at the bad news coming out of the developing world, Rosling was determined to spread the good news, extended life expectancy, falling rates of disease and infant mortality. He was fighting what he called the ‘post-fact era‘ of global health. He was passionate about global development and before he became famous he lived and worked in Mozambique, India and the Democratic Republic of Congo using data and his skills as a doctor to save lives. Despite ill health he also travelled to Liberia during the Ebola outbreak in 2014 to help gather and consolidate data to help fight the outbreak. On a personal level he was warm, funny and kind and will be greatly missed by a huge number of people.

Presenter: Tim Harford Producer: Wesley Stephenson

(Image: Hans Rosling, speaks at a conference in 2012. Credit: Matthew Lloyd/Getty Images for ReSource 2012)

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