Qatar World Cup: the pressure of penalties

We analyse World Cup penalty data to ask what boosts the chance of scoring from the spot

• 8 mins

Numbers of the Year 2022

Tim Harford and guests on the numbers that help tell the big stories of the year.

• 8 mins

Irish pubs - a global numbers game

Are there more Irish pubs in Ireland than in all other countries combined?

• 10 mins

Can China's data on covid deaths be trusted?

Is China under-reporting data on Covid related deaths?

• 9 mins

A&E delays and deaths, religious identity in N Ireland and naming the monster numbers

How many people may be dying because of treatment delays in the NHS?

• 28 mins

How we shook the world of very large numbers

How an edition of More or Less influenced the naming of enormous numbers

• 8 mins

Ambulance response times, teacher pay and Irish pubs

How long are people really waiting when they call 999 for an ambulance?

• 29 mins

Does toilet paper cause 15% of global deforestation?

We investigate the impact of our use of toilet paper on the world’s forests.

• 8 mins

Coffee with the Chancellor, inflation measures, GP numbers and toilet paper

We fact check Jeremy Hunt’s pledge to halve inflation

• 28 mins

Are wild mammals only 4% of the mammal population?

Are wild mammals only 4% of the mammal population?

• 10 mins

Brexit and trade, pensioner millionaires and Hannah Fry on loyalty cards and cancer

We examine a claim that the UK’s trade with the EU has increased since Brexit

• 28 mins

Hannah Fry on using shopping data to detect ovarian cancer

The mathematician discusses a study that suggests loyalty card data could signal cancer.

• 9 mins

The IMF and the UK economy, NHS staff shortages and British vs English

How much should we trust the IMF’s forecasts for the UK?

• 28 mins

Spreadsheet disasters

The long and costly history of spreadsheet mistakes

• 10 mins

Nurses' pay, ambulance times and forgotten female economists

We look at how much nurses in the UK are paid compared with those in Europe.

• 28 mins

Florence Nightingale and how she visualised data

Tim Harford discusses the power of the nurse statistician’s groundbreaking diagrams

• 10 mins

Reoffending rates, Welsh taxes and the menopause

Tim Harford and team fact check a government claim about falling reoffending rates

• 29 mins

Do 29,000 coffee pods really go to landfill every minute?

We explore the environmental consequences of our thirst for coffee

• 10 mins

UK vs European energy prices, falling excess deaths and is 5 grams of cocaine a lot?

We debunk a claim that the UK has by far the highest energy prices in Europe

• 28 mins

Does your jewellery contain stolen Brink’s-Mat gold?

We ask what happened to the 3 tonnes of pure gold after the infamous robbery of 1983

• 10 mins

Do fungi kill three times as many people as malaria?

We investigate the claim that fungal infections are a much bigger killer than malaria.

• 8 mins

Silicon Valley Bank: a very modern bank run

How do bank runs happen?

• 9 mins

Covid vaccines and false claims about miscarriage

We debunk viral claims that incorrectly link covid-19 vaccines with a risk of miscarriage

• 9 mins

A groundbreaking new proof for Pythagoras’ Theorem?

Two high school students say they’ve discovered a new trigonometric proof for the theorem

• 10 mins

How to better understand and explain numbers

Professor Oliver Johnson discusses the use of statistics in the pandemic and in life.

• 10 mins

How accurate is baby's due date?

This week we investigate how a baby's due date is calculated

• 10 mins

The Pentagon Leaks and Fox News

Why did Tucker Carlson say far more Ukrainian troops than Russian are dying in the war?

• 9 mins

How much is the Coronation crown worth?

King Charles will be anointed with St Edward’s Crown – but what’s its true value?

• 10 mins

Why is life expectancy falling in the USA?

We ask why average life expectancy in America is falling so quickly.

• 10 mins

Do 94% of marriages in Portugal really end in divorce?

We examine a social media post that claims to outline rates of divorce across the world.

• 10 mins

Detecting Bad Science with Data

Uncovering fraud, malpractice and incompetence in science

• 10 mins

NHS waiting lists, Voter ID and measuring divorce

Why a fall in those waiting longest for treatment in England isn't telling the whole story

• 28 mins

Food prices, net migration and beef about beef

Does Britain really have the most affordable food in Europe?

• 30 mins

A short history of data

How the evolution of data over centuries has shaped today’s world

• 9 mins

Lib Dem ambulance claims, affordable rent and goat meat

Did 120 people a day in England die last year whilst waiting for an ambulance?

• 28 mins

Counting Hunger in India

Is it true that hunger has worsened in India?

• 9 mins

Electric vehicles, 600 million bottles and does oral sex cause cancer?

Is the weight of electric vehicles a risk to infrastructure?

• 32 mins

Is breastfeeding the key to exam success?

We look at a new UK study that links being breastfed as a baby with academic achievement.

• 9 mins

Mortgages, birth rates and does space contribute 18% to UK GDP?

Who will be most affected by mortgage rate increases?

• 28 mins

US National Debt: is $32 trillion a big number?

How concerned should we be about how much the US government borrows?

• 8 mins

Halving inflation, Scottish tidal power and have 1 in 3 women had an abortion?

Will Rishi Sunak’s pledge to halve inflation happen?

• 31 mins

Will there be just 6 grandchildren for every 100 South Koreans?

We look at the numbers around South Korea’s birth rate and the reasons why it’s so low.

• 9 mins

Immigration: A More or Less Special Programme

Who is coming to the UK - and how do we count them?

• 28 mins

Does it take 10,000 litres of water to make a pair of jeans?

The numbers behind water use and denim production.

• 9 mins

Are more adult nappies sold in Japan than baby ones?

We examine a claim related to the perception of Japan as an ageing society.

• 9 mins

Ukraine war: A new way of calculating Russian deaths

How Russian journalists are using probate records to estimate fatalities

• 9 mins

Data, extreme weather and climate change

The role data plays in climate attribution - and why we don’t always have it

• 8 mins

Are the media exaggerating how hot it is in the Mediterranean?

A look at how accurately media report on the weather – especially recent heatwaves.

• 8 mins

Why is it so hard to predict the outcome of competitions like the Premier League?

What variables do we look at when we try to predict the outcome of a sports competition?

• 9 mins

How many butterflies are there in the world?

The world’s butterfly population doesn’t seem to be online – so what is it?

• 8 mins

How safe is the release of Fukushima nuclear plant water?

We ask whether there are any risks posed by the release into the Pacific Ocean.

• 9 mins

HS2 and electric cars, UK vs China emissions & massive maths errors

Can you really buy an electric car for everybody in the UK for the cost of HS2?

• 28 mins

What percentage of our brain do we actually use?

Do we have access to some or all of our brain-power?

• 8 mins

Covid deaths, North Sea gas and Chloe Kelly's World Cup penalty

Covid related deaths are rising in England and Wales - we investigate the figures

• 28 mins

Did 35,000 Americans die building the Panama Canal?

We fact check a claim made by Donald Trump about the world famous canal

• 14 mins

Skin cancer, London rents and your great great great granddaughter

Is it true that 1 in 4 men and 1 in 5 women in the UK will get skin cancer?

• 28 mins

How to approach the world through numbers

Professor David Sumpter talks to Tim Harford about his new book

• 9 mins

Social housing, NHS workforce and Liz Truss debt claims

Have the Tories really built a record number of social rent homes since 2010?

• 27 mins

Which city has the longest canals?

We dive into the world of waterways after a listener asked who has the longest canals.

• 9 mins

NHS consultant pay, Net Zero claims and Scotland's ferry woes

Are consultants in England really paid an average of £120,000 a year?

• 30 mins

Is the UK really ahead in cutting carbon emissions?

As the UK changes course in its path to net zero, how does it compare with other nations?

• 8 mins

Vaccine claims, Alzheimer's treatment and Tim's Parkrun times

We debunk claims about excess deaths and the covid vaccine made by YouTuber John Campbell

• 28 mins

Are half the words in English from French?

We ask whether almost half the words in the English language are of French origin.

• 9 mins

Greedy jobs and the gender pay gap

Tim Harford discusses the work of Nobel Economics prize winner Claudia Goldin

• 12 mins

What do windscreen splats tell us about insect decline?

We ask whether the ‘windscreen phenomenon’ suggests falling numbers of insects

• 8 mins

The Overlooked Mathematicians of History

Exploring the global history of mathematics

• 9 mins

Do Indian women own 11% of the world’s gold?

The cultural importance of gold is well known – but how much do Indians actually own?

• 8 mins

Can maths prove the existence of aliens?

We look a famous equation which tries to explain whether life exists in outer space

• 10 mins

Are women in the UK the biggest binge drinkers in the world?

Checking out stats on boozing Brits and fishing fleets in the South China Sea

• 8 mins

A boy meets girl meets stats story

A data scientist takes on rom com films to see how women in STEM are represented.

• 8 mins

Will there be a billion climate refugees?

We investigate if floods, droughts and storms will cause mass international migration

• 9 mins

Does endurance sport harm your heart?

We investigate the connection between high levels of exercise and arrhythmia

• 8 mins

China’s missing numbers

How the Chinese state make inconvenient statistics disappear

• 8 mins

Can chocolate be better than salad?

We investigate a nutritional conundrum – can chocolate ever be better for you than salad?

• 8 mins

Numbers of the year 2023

Hand-picked stats that tell you something interesting about the world

• 13 mins

How much money do the ‘Ndrangheta mafia make?

We investigate whether one criminal group could have a turnover of billions of dollars

• 8 mins

Deaths, taxes and missing cats

We investigate claims about gun crime, the UK tax burden, and the number of missing cats

• 28 mins

Do we see 10,000 adverts per day?

We investigate the claim that each of us sees thousands of adverts every single day

• 8 mins

Life expectancy, inheritance tax and the NHS vs winter

How long will we live? Who pays inheritance tax? How did the NHS perform this winter?

• 23 mins

Are there more possible games of chess than atoms in the universe?

We investigate how the vast possibilities in chess compare to the vastness of the universe

• 8 mins

Shopping, shipping and wind chill-ing

We investigate the cost of a weekly shop and explore the workings of wind chill

• 28 mins

Is Oxfam right about the world’s richest and poorest people?

We investigate how Oxfam use wealth stats to illustrate global inequality

• 10 mins

Measles, Traitors and the cost of Brexit

Is measles spreading? How much is Brexit costing? How good are they at traitor guessing?

• 28 mins

A pocket-size history of the calculator

Tim Harford explores the history of calculators from clockwork to the Kashio brothers

• 9 mins

Council tax weirdness: Hartlepool vs Westminster

Council tax comparisons, migration calculations and the carbon footprint of home-grown veg

• 28 mins

The global gender split in young people’s politics

Tim Harford investigates the growing political divergence between young men and women.

• 8 mins

Debt, students, shark and chips

What is the government’s rule on debt? Do 90% of chip shops sell shark and chips?

• 28 mins

The digital ‘robots’ unlocking medical data

Ben Goldacre on OpenSAFELY, protecting patient privacy while analysing health data

• 9 mins

Per capita GDP, MP claims and the entire EU budget

What does per capita GDP tell us? How much did the EU spend on covid recovery?

• 28 mins

NBA basketball: Is height more important than skill?

How much does a man’s height affect his chances of becoming an NBA basketball player?

• 8 mins

School spending, excess deaths and billions of animals at Heathrow

Is school funding at record levels? Did 6.5bn creatures come to the UK by plane last year?

• 28 mins

Ultramarathons: Are women faster than men?

Is it really true that in extremely long races, women run faster than men?

• 8 mins

Is public speaking really our biggest fear?

Tim Harford investigates the claim that public speaking is people’s number one fear.

• 8 mins

Does the Russian government really spend 40% of its budget on the military?

We investigate how much the Russian state is spending on the war in Ukraine.

• 8 mins

What's happening to Arctic ice?

Arctic ice has been in long decline. Do recent fluctuations change the story?

• 9 mins

Bonus episode: Daniel Kahneman on Thinking, Fast and Slow

In an episode of More or Less from 2012, Daniel Kahneman explains his big ideas.

• 9 mins

Remembering Daniel Kahneman

Tim Harford on the great social scientist, who has died at the age of 90

• 8 mins

Is loneliness as bad for you as smoking?

The connection between being alone and an early death

• 8 mins

Tackling The Three-Body Problem

Is the physics in Netflix's new show accurate?

• 8 mins

98%: Is misinformation being spread about a review of trans youth medicine?

Investigating claims that the Cass Review ignored valuable evidence

• 11 mins