More or Less: Behind the Stats

Which city has the longest canals?

After a listener emailed More or Less to ask whether world famous Venice or the slightly less...

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Social housing, NHS workforce and Liz Truss debt claims

Long: Housing minister Rachel Maclean claimed the government has built a record number of social...

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How to approach the world through numbers

How can we navigate our lives in a more efficient and satisfactory way? It’s a question Professor...

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Skin cancer, London rents and your great great great granddaughter

A BBC report quoted a study that said 1 in 4 men and 1 in 5 women in the UK will get skin cancer...

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Did 35,000 Americans die building the Panama Canal?

The construction of the Panama Canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through Central...

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

Covid related deaths are rising in England and Wales - but what do the figures really tell us?...

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What percentage of our brain do we actually use?

On this week’s episode of More or Less we interrogate a widely circulated myth relating to how...

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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? That claim was...

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How safe is the release of Fukushima nuclear plant water?

Water used to cool nuclear reactors at the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan is...

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How many butterflies are there in the world?

Butterflies are a much-loved feature of summer in many parts of the world. But how many of them...

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

Football competitions are kicking off all around Europe in the coming days and weeks, including...

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

Reports on heatwaves across the globe have dominated our newsfeeds over the last few weeks, with...

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Data, extreme weather and climate change

Recent global headlines have been dominated by record temperatures across Europe, North America...

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Ukraine war: A new way of calculating Russian deaths

Official information on the numbers of dead and injured in the Ukraine war has been in short...

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Are more adult nappies sold in Japan than baby ones?

Japan has one of the highest rates of life expectancy and one of the lowest birth rates. But does...

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

Various claims have been made about how much water is used in the production of a pair of jeans,...

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Immigration: A More or Less Special Programme

More than 1.2 million people came into the country to stay for more than 12 months in 2022. As...

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

An article on the UK’s Telegraph newspaper website claimed that there would be just 6...

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

One of Rishi Sunak's five priorities for 2023 is to halve inflation. Given prices are still...

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

The level of US government debt has just surpassed 32 trillion dollars. Negotiations over raising...

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