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Tim Harford explains the numbers and statistics in the news and in life.

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Episodes (787 available)

News imageMore or Less, The known unknowns of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The data race to find out how fast Ebola is spreading

30 May 2026

9 mins

News imageMore or Less, Does a fall in the UK's healthy life expectancy mean what you think it means?

Tim Harford explores healthy life expectancy, HS2 costs, VAT cuts and his marathon time

27 May 2026

29 mins

News imageMore or Less, Is the ‘loneliness epidemic’ real?

We investigate if loneliness is increasing at epidemic rates

23 May 2026

9 mins

News imageMore or Less, Are refugees more likely to commit crime?

Asylum seekers, nuclear power plants and fish, Sir David Attenborough and blue tit chicks

20 May 2026

28 mins

News imageMore or Less, Erdos Problem 1196: Can AI now solve maths that no human can?

How a 23-year-old mathematician used AI to crack an unsolved maths problem

16 May 2026

9 mins

News imageMore or Less, Why it’s wrong to say vaping is as bad for you as smoking

Vaping vs smoking: how the evidence on cancer and other health risks compare

9 May 2026

9 mins

News imageMore or Less, Does it take 15,000 litres of water to produce a kilogram of beef?

How a stat about cows and water is not all it seems

2 May 2026

9 mins

News imageMore or Less, Have RFK and MAHA really changed American views on vaccines?

Why a Politico headline overstated vaccine scepticism in the US

25 Apr 2026

9 mins

News imageMore or Less, Is Trump right that wind turbines are killing millions of birds?

Investigating the scale of bird deaths caused by wind turbines

18 Apr 2026

9 mins

News imageMore or Less, Dr Spock’s dangerous advice on baby sleep

How evidence eventually showed front sleeping was linked to sudden infant deaths

11 Apr 2026

9 mins

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