More or Less

The list of ways campaigners say we need to change our behaviour in response to climate change seems to grow every week. Now, streaming video is in the frame. We test the claim that watching 30 minutes of Netflix has the same carbon footprint as driving four miles. We hear scepticism about a report that sepsis is responsible for one in five deaths worldwide. Author Bill Bryson stops by with a question about guns – and gets quizzed about a number in his new book. And, how much sleep do we really need? Find out if we need more or less.

Presenter: Tim Harford

The fugitive former Nissan boss, Carlos Ghosn, has raised questions about justice in Japan. The government in Tokyo has defended its system, where 99% of prosecutions lead to conviction. Prof Colin Jones, from Doshisha Law School in Kyoto, explains what's behind this seemingly shocking statistic. And a listener asks if it’s true Canada’s is roughly the same. Toronto lawyer Kim Schofield sets them straight.

The fugitive former Nissan boss, Carlos Ghosn, has raised questions about justice in Japan. The government in Tokyo has defended its system, where 99% of prosecutions lead to conviction. Prof Colin Jones, from Doshisha Law School in Kyoto, explains what's behind this seemingly shocking statistic. Also, is it possible to calculate the cost of Brexit? Gemma Tetlow from the Institute for Government helps us weigh the arguments. How much does luck play into Liverpool FC's amazing season? And, crucially, how fast is an alligator?

Have a billion animals died in Australia’s fires? And which ones are likely to survive?

Animal suffering has been a painful part of the story of Australia's bush fires. Headlines have claimed that more than a billion animals have perished. But some experts aren’t convinced. Tim Harford speaks to Professor Kate Parr of Liverpool University to see how these figures were calculated, how accurate they are and whether some animals are more likely suffer fatalities than others.

The UK’s CO2 emissions peaked in the year 1973 and have declined by around 38% since 1990 - faster than any other major developed country. Zeke Hausfather from the Carbon Brief explains how we have achieved this, and whether there's a catch.

There's been much talk of Labour voters switching to the Conservatives in the December election. But the vote share of the Conservatives increased by just over one percentage point. The BBC's election guru, Sir John Curtice, professor of politics at Strathclyde University, explains what's going on.

The Resolution Foundation, a think tank, has released a report that said more than 8% of people aged 16-64 – some 3.4m people in total - have never had a paid job. That is a large increase since 1998 when, about 5.5% of the working age population, or 2 million people, had never worked. Tim Harford asks the report’s author, Laura Gardiner, to tell us who these nearly 3.5 million people are who’ve never worked.

And...have we really entered a new decade?

Producer: Ruth Alexander

How many women in China give birth in hospitals, and whether it was true that 50% of births there are delivered by caesarean section. Oh, and we also mention guts and bacteria…

Sharks kill 12 humans a year but humans kill 11,417 sharks an hour. That’s the statistic used in a Facebook meme that’s doing the rounds. Is it true?

We talk about the age of some of the frontrunners in the Democrat nomination race and President Donald Trump and the health risks they face.

Also, More or Less listeners were surprised by a claim they read on the BBC website recently: “Pets are estimated to be consuming up to 20 percent of all meat globally.” So we – of course – investigated and will explain all.

We explore the maths secrets of The Simpsons on their 30th anniversary.

As bushfires rage in Australia, the plight of the koala made front-page news around the world. There were warnings that fires wiped out 80% of the marsupial's habitat and that koalas are facing extinction.

We check the claims with the help of National Geographic's Natasha Daly and Dr Christine Hosking of the University of Queensland.

(A Koala receives treatment at the Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie after its rescue from a bushfire. Credit: Safeed Khan/Getty Images)

Labour's spending plans, Conservatives claims on homelessness, the SNP's education record