Podcast Episodes

Factchecking Trump on Trade

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 a…

Published on 7 years, 9 months ago

WS More or Less: Sir Roger Bannister

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

Published on 7 years, 9 months ago

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

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 whet…

Published on 7 years, 9 months ago

WS More or Less: The Winter Olympics

What’s the most successful nation? (0’40”) We look at population, GDP per capita and ski areas of the countries with the most medals.

How do you judge a country’s ‘best’ performance? (3.45”)

What are t…

Published on 7 years, 10 months ago

WS More or Less: Debunking guide – on a postcard

How to question dubious statistics in just a few short steps.

Published on 7 years, 10 months ago

UN rape claims, Stalin and Mr Darcy

How many people have UN staff raped? – (0’40’’) It was reported in a number of the newspapers this week that UN staff are responsible for 60,000 rapes in a decade.

The wealth of Mr Darcy – (5’10”) Th…

Published on 7 years, 10 months ago

WS More or Less: Has Russian Drinking Fallen by 80% in five years?

Alcohol consumption has fallen sharply according to Russia’s health ministry

Published on 7 years, 10 months ago

The Dow, Tampons, Parkrun part II

Why the biggest ever fall in the Dow wasn't, and how much do women spend on tampons?

Published on 7 years, 10 months ago

WS More or Less: Is China On Track to End Poverty by 2020?

A key pledge of the Chinese President Xi Jinping is that China will have eradicated poverty by 2020. It’s an extraordinary claim, but the country does have a good track record in improving the wealth…

Published on 7 years, 10 months ago

Transgender Numbers, Parkrun and Snooker

How many transgender people are there in the UK?

The UK produces official statistics about all sorts of things – from economic indicators to demographic data. But it turns out there are no official fi…

Published on 7 years, 10 months ago