Mansa Musa, the 14th century Mali king, has nothing on Jeff Bezos - read one recent news report. Musa set off on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia in the 1300s and it’s said he left with a caravan of 60,000 people. Among them were soldiers, entertainers, merchants and slaves. A train of camels followed, each carrying gold. In recent reports, he has been described as the richest person that ever lived. He has been compared to some of the wealthiest people alive today. But how can we know the value of the ‘golden king’s’ wealth and can we compare a monarch to the likes of Amazon founder Bezos? In this edition, historian Dr Emmanuel Ababio Ofosu-Mensah of the University of Ghana in Accra explains who Mansa Musa was and Kerry Dolan of Forbes talks to us about rich lists.  Producer: Darin Graham 
Editor: Richard Vadon  (Image: Painting of Mansa Musa, Credit: Getty Images)

Is Mansa Musa the richest person of all time?

Tim Harford and the More or Less team try to make sense of the statistics which surround us. From BBC Radio 4

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Libertarian popularist Javier Milei won the presidential election in Argentina on a promise austerity and economic “shock” measures for the ailing economy. 
Just a few months in, some are hailing the falling rate of inflation as showing those measures are working. 
Economist Monica de Bolle, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, explains whether that thinking is correct.  Presenter/producer: Tom Colls
Producer: Ajai Singh 
Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
Sound mix: Graham Puddifoot 
Editor: Richard Vadon.

Has Milei fixed Argentina’s inflation problem?

The Cass Review is an independent report on the state of gender identity services for under-18s  in England’s NHS. It found children had been let down by a lack of research and "remarkably weak" evidence on medical interventions in gender care. But before it was even released, claims were circulating online that it ignored 98% of the evidence in reaching its conclusion.  Is that claim true? We speak to Dr Hilary Cass, the author of the review, Professor Catherine Hewitt of York University, who analysed the scientific research, and Kamran Abbasi, editor in chief of the British Medical Journal. Presenter: Kate Lamble
Producer: Tom Colls
Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
Sound Mix: James Beard
Editor: Richard Vadon

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

Netflix has a big new show named after and inspired by a classic problem in astrophysics, 'The Three Body Problem', where predicting the course and orbits of three or more celestial bodies proves near impossible. But how faithful is the Netflix show - and original novel - to the actual physics?
Dr Anna Lisa Varri from the University of Edinburgh explains what we can and can't say about the complex and beautiful motions of planets, stars and moons, and brings a dose of scientific facts to science fiction. Presenter: Kate Lamble
Producer: Nathan Gower
Sound Engineer: Graham Puddifoot
Editor: Richard Vadon

Tackling The Three-Body Problem

Is loneliness as bad for you as smoking 15 cigarettes per day? That’s the claim circulating on social media. We trace this stat back to its source and speak the scientist behind the original research on which it is based, Professor Julianne Holt-Lunstad. Presenter / series producer: Tom Colls
Reporter: Perisha Kudhail 
Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
Sound Mix: Graham Puddifoot
Editor: Richard Vadon

Is loneliness as bad for you as smoking?

Daniel Kahneman, a Nobel prize-winning behavioural economist and More or Less hero, has died at the age of 90. 
Tim Harford explains his ideas and influence.  Presenter: Charlotte McDonald
Series producer: Tom Colls
Sound mix: Hal Haines
Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
Editor: Richard Vadon

Is Mansa Musa the richest person of all time?

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