Numbers checked before they become beliefs.
More or Less examines the figures that shape headlines, political debate, science stories, and everyday beliefs. It takes claims that sound simple, alarming, or impressive, then slows down enough to ask what the numbers actually measure.
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More or Less is a statistics show with a reporter’s instinct and a fact-checker’s patience. It starts from claims people actually hear: a politician’s attack on wind turbines, a book’s estimate of AI water use, a company’s claim about a million new species, or a familiar word like “likely” in a news report. Then it asks the less glamorous question. What is being counted? That small move changes the whole shape of the story. In one episode, bird deaths from wind turbines are not waved away, but measured against the wording and scale of the claim. In another, fresh water use by data centers is examined through the technical meaning of “consumed,” not just the shock value of a large figure. The show is especially good at turning a big number around in the light until its edges show. It also has a historical reach. Benjamin Spock’s baby sleep advice becomes a case study in how authority can outrun evidence. Paul Ehrlich’s population warnings become a way to revisit how apocalyptic predictions age. Probability language gets the same treatment, with “possible,” “probable,” and “highly likely” treated as words that need numbers behind them. The format is conversational but disciplined. A listener question or public claim sets the frame, a guest or contributor does the close work, and the conclusion returns to what can honestly be said. The tone stays accessible. It avoids turning statistics into either magic or scolding. Recent topics range across science, politics, sport, health, technology, war, ecology, and public communication, but the governing interest is always evidence. That gives the show unusual range without making it feel scattered. Its best moments come when a claim is not simply false, but less precise than it first appeared. That distinction matters. More or Less is for listeners who enjoy the quiet satisfaction of having a number properly checked.
Made for: For listeners who follow news, science, politics, and public debate but want the figures slowed down and explained. It suits people who enjoy clear reasoning more than hot takes.
What sets it apart: More or Less does not just accept or reject a statistic; it examines the definition, comparison, source, and wording behind it. That makes its debunking feel less like a verdict and more like calibration.
Tim Harford explains - and sometimes debunks - the numbers and statistics used in political debate, the news and everyday life
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Tim Harford turns contested public figures into clear judgments about scale, evidence and uncertainty.
More or Less takes public claims built around numbers and asks what the underlying data can actually support. Tim Harford guides conversations through sources, definitions and methodological limits, keeping statistical reasoning clear without sanding away uncertainty.
A headline statistic walks in; Tim Harford checks its methodology before you repeat it.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A final pass that pulls apart a headline benefits figure and keeps the episode's numbers-first method intact.
The final More or Less opens on a headline figure that sounds tidy at first glance: a workless household with three children would need around 71,000 pre-tax income to match what it can receive in support.
A Greenland claim gets a map, a report, and a careful correction.
More or Less uses the Greenland story the way it works best: it takes a claim that sounds plausible and measures it against a map, a correspondent report, and Tim Harford's calm pressure.
A calm, numbers-first fact check of a headline claim about private-school closures.
More or Less treats a politically charged claim with a steady hand: did more than 100 private schools really close because Labour removed the VAT exemption on fees? It lays out the 105-school figure plainly and keeps the argument anchored in what the numbers can support.
A careful tour of contested UK numbers that keeps the context in view.
Tim Harford uses a special series to move through three politically charged questions about the UK: immigration, benefits spending, and inequality.
A brisk look at public-statistics claims, from millionaire pensioners to England's PISA results, with a light caveat about the jumpy special-series format.
More or Less starts with a familiar dispute over public statistics, then moves into England's education data and the limits of comparing countries that do not line up neatly.
A brisk look at housing and medicine statistics that prefers careful reading over easy conclusions.
More or Less uses its Stats of the Nation segment to do what the show does best: take a headline-ready number and ask what it really shows. The housing section gets into why there still seem to be too few houses and whether the stock already in place deserves more attention,…
A sharp, useful audit of the health numbers behind Britain's headlines.
More or Less treats health as a check on what numbers can really prove. It opens with life expectancy and the work of actuaries, then moves through age standardised mortality rates, GP staffing, and the gap between government promises and what actually happened.
A clear look at the UK's spending pressures, from welfare to the NHS.
More or Less looks at the UK's finances with a practical eye, asking how much the state spends on social security and the NHS, and what those numbers mean side by side. Tim Harford starts with a jokey setup, then mostly steps back and lets the figures carry the point.
Physicist Brian Cox and comedian Robin Ince put scientists on a panel with comedians.
This episode fact-checks Donald Trump's claim that wind turbines kill millions of birds annually, examining the numbers and environmental impact.
This episode explores the dangerous advice on baby sleep from Dr.
This episode explores how ambiguous probability terms like 'likely' are used in news and communication, and what numerical probabilities they might actually represent.
This episode examines the potential water consumption of AI systems, questioning the accuracy of claims that AI could use trillions of gallons of fresh water annually by 2027.
This episode examines the legacy of biologist Paul Ehrlich, author of 'The Population Bomb', who famously predicted catastrophic famines and population collapse in the late 20th century.
This episode examines a controversial study claiming transgender and cisgender women have 'comparable' physical fitness for sports.
This episode of More or Less examines and clarifies statistics used in political debate and news, debunking misinformation.
This episode investigates a claim that over a million new species have been discovered, focusing on microbes and the statistics behind the claim.
This episode investigates the claim that top AI conferences accepted papers with over 100 AI-hallucinated citations, exploring the phenomenon of AI hallucinations and their impact on research.
The episode investigates whether a Roman charioteer named Diocles earned more prize money than modern sports stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, debunking a viral claim.
Tim Harford explains a math trick for calculating cube roots, using a Premier League footballer as an example.
Tim Harford examines the numbers behind Europe's potential financial retaliation against Trump's threat to take over Greenland.
£71,000 is the hook.
How close is Greenland, really?
A VAT raid is not a heist.
This episode examines Venezuela's claim to have the world's largest oil reserves of 300 billion barrels, debunking it by explaining how economic factors like oil prices and extraction costs affect proven reserves.
Friday reaches the desert island, and Tim Harford uses the special-series setup to sort through immigration, benefits spending, and inequality.
Millionaire pensioners come first.
"Radio 4 has gone full Inception." Tim Harford turns a self-referential special into a quick tour of housing, fertility, pharmaceuticals, rock and roll, and violent crime statistics.
Health gets the actuarial treatment.
Monday, somehow, has made it through the time vortex.
Tim Harford and Simon Calder discuss the prediction that Dubai International Airport will be the first to handle 100 million international passengers in a year, reflecting shifts in global aviation.
More or Less uses 2025 numbers to move from NVIDIA's 208 billion transistors in Blackwell GPUs to the claim that Moore's law is under strain.
Tim Harford explains and debunks numbers and statistics used in political debate, news, and everyday life.
A seasonal setup quickly wanders past the season.
Tim Harford investigates a claim about a pill costing 250 times more in a US hospital than a pharmacy, diving into the complexities of US hospital billing.
Superflu gets a question mark.
Tim Harford interviews climate scientist Zeke Hausfather about the misuse of the RCP 8.5 scenario as a business-as-usual projection, explaining how it led to overestimated temperature increases.
This episode of More or Less examines RFK Jr.'s claim that US teenagers have 50% lower sperm counts and testosterone than 65-year-old men, debunking it by analyzing flawed studies and methodological issues in fertility research.
Tim Harford debunks misleading statistics about inheritance tax for farmers and other political claims.
Tim Harford debunks statistics used in political debate and news, examining claims about elderly intelligence, job interviews, billionaire earnings, and benefit scroungers.
Tim Harford fact-checks Donald Trump's claim of ending seven wars and examines other statistical claims in the news.
Tim Harford examines the numbers behind UK migration policy, including deportation figures and the Dublin Convention.
Tim Harford fact-checks a claim about the number of people on out-of-work benefits in the UK.