Podcast Episodes

Are wild mammals only 4% of the mammal population?

A widely respected and cited study says humans and livestock account for 96% of all mammals on Earth. We ask how the study was carried out and what hope there might be for the future. Plus we answer …

Published on 2 years, 11 months ago

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

Jeremy Hunt has pledged in a new social media video to halve the UK’s high rate of inflation. Tim Harford and the team fact check the Chancellor’s claims. Also – CPI, CPIH, RPI – which measure of inf…

Published on 2 years, 11 months ago

Does toilet paper cause 15% of global deforestation?

A British company has claimed that the production and use of toilet paper is responsible for 15% of deforestation globally. We investigate the claim and ask what the true environmental cost of toilet…

Published on 2 years, 11 months ago

Ambulance response times, teacher pay and Irish pubs

How long are people really waiting when they call 999 for an ambulance? Tim Harford and the team examine in detail the sheer scale of delays in responding to emergency calls. We also ask why the NHS …

Published on 2 years, 11 months ago

How we shook the world of very large numbers

How did an edition of More or Less from 2017 end up influencing the choice of official names for extremely large numbers? We tell the tale of how an interview between presenter Tim Harford and maths …

Published on 2 years, 11 months ago

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

Tim Harford and the team return for a new series of the number crunching show. With the huge pressures facing the NHS we ask how many people may be dying because of treatment delays in A&E. We hear w…

Published on 2 years, 11 months ago

Can China's data on covid deaths be trusted?

When the pandemic took hold, the Chinese government imposed a zero-Covid policy that aimed to contain the virus through mass-testing and strict lockdowns.

But early in December, amidst widespread pub…

Published on 2 years, 11 months ago

Irish pubs - a global numbers game

It's possible that the question we focus on in this week's programme occurred to you as you were sipping on an Irish Coffee in Bubbles O'Leary's in Kampala, Uganda: Where can the most Irish pubs be f…

Published on 2 years, 11 months ago

Numbers of the Year 2022

Tim Harford discusses the numbers that help explain some of the biggest stories of the year, including the war in Ukraine, soaring inflation and a breakthrough for women’s football, with the help of …

Published on 3 years ago

Qatar World Cup: the pressure of penalties

The World Cup in Qatar is drawing to a close. Penalties and penalty shootouts have provided some of the biggest moments of the tournament. We analyse penalty data from the World Cup and ask what boos…

Published on 3 years ago