Numbers of the year 2023

Hand-picked stats that tell you something interesting about the world

• 13 mins

How much money do the ‘Ndrangheta mafia make?

We investigate whether one criminal group could have a turnover of billions of dollars

• 8 mins

Deaths, taxes and missing cats

We investigate claims about gun crime, the UK tax burden, and the number of missing cats

• 28 mins

Do we see 10,000 adverts per day?

We investigate the claim that each of us sees thousands of adverts every single day

• 8 mins

Life expectancy, inheritance tax and the NHS vs winter

How long will we live? Who pays inheritance tax? How did the NHS perform this winter?

• 23 mins

Are there more possible games of chess than atoms in the universe?

We investigate how the vast possibilities in chess compare to the vastness of the universe

• 8 mins

Shopping, shipping and wind chill-ing

We investigate the cost of a weekly shop and explore the workings of wind chill

• 28 mins

Is Oxfam right about the world’s richest and poorest people?

We investigate how Oxfam use wealth stats to illustrate global inequality

• 10 mins

Measles, Traitors and the cost of Brexit

Is measles spreading? How much is Brexit costing? How good are they at traitor guessing?

• 28 mins

A pocket-size history of the calculator

Tim Harford explores the history of calculators from clockwork to the Kashio brothers

• 9 mins

Council tax weirdness: Hartlepool vs Westminster

Council tax comparisons, migration calculations and the carbon footprint of home-grown veg

• 28 mins

The global gender split in young people’s politics

Tim Harford investigates the growing political divergence between young men and women.

• 8 mins

Debt, students, shark and chips

What is the government’s rule on debt? Do 90% of chip shops sell shark and chips?

• 28 mins

The digital ‘robots’ unlocking medical data

Ben Goldacre on OpenSAFELY, protecting patient privacy while analysing health data

• 9 mins

Per capita GDP, MP claims and the entire EU budget

What does per capita GDP tell us? How much did the EU spend on covid recovery?

• 28 mins

NBA basketball: Is height more important than skill?

How much does a man’s height affect his chances of becoming an NBA basketball player?

• 8 mins

School spending, excess deaths and billions of animals at Heathrow

Is school funding at record levels? Did 6.5bn creatures come to the UK by plane last year?

• 28 mins

Ultramarathons: Are women faster than men?

Is it really true that in extremely long races, women run faster than men?

• 8 mins

Is public speaking really our biggest fear?

Tim Harford investigates the claim that public speaking is people’s number one fear.

• 8 mins

Does the Russian government really spend 40% of its budget on the military?

We investigate how much the Russian state is spending on the war in Ukraine.

• 8 mins

What's happening to Arctic ice?

Arctic ice has been in long decline. Do recent fluctuations change the story?

• 9 mins

Bonus episode: Daniel Kahneman on Thinking, Fast and Slow

In an episode of More or Less from 2012, Daniel Kahneman explains his big ideas.

• 9 mins

Remembering Daniel Kahneman

Tim Harford on the great social scientist, who has died at the age of 90

• 8 mins

Is loneliness as bad for you as smoking?

The connection between being alone and an early death

• 8 mins

Tackling The Three-Body Problem

Is the physics in Netflix's new show accurate?

• 8 mins

98%: Is misinformation being spread about a review of trans youth medicine?

Investigating claims that the Cass Review ignored valuable evidence

• 11 mins

Has Milei fixed Argentina’s inflation problem?

What falling inflation means for Milei’s austerity plan and economic “shock” measures

• 8 mins

Do one in five young Americans think the holocaust is a myth?

How problems with opt-in polling can lead to controversial headlines

• 9 mins