More or Less

Are they really 85 percent worse than last year?

Amazon forest fires

This year’s fires in Brazil have been the worst in 10 years, but are they really 85 percent worse than last year? Many media reports also mention that the Amazon is the lungs of the planet – producing 20 percent of the Earth’s oxygen. Tim Harford speaks to Daniel Nepstad, President of Earth Innovation Institute, to analyse what we know about the fires.

The state pension and pensioner poverty

Earlier this month The Guardian website ran an article that claimed that British basic pensions are 16% of average earnings. Our initial thoughts were that the number seemed low so we explored its origins and discovered that things weren’t quite as they seemed.

Are Americans really eating more than two burgers a day?

Listeners spotted a report that Americans are eating around 800 burgers a year. It seemed a fantastically high number – surely it couldn’t be true. We looked into it, and it isn’t. We work out what a better figure would be.

Prehistoric pets

What data should the government collect?

Were millions of trees planted in just one day in Ethiopia?

Was your A Level grade correct? Plus were 350m trees planted in one day in Ethiopia?

Re-inserting a caveat and discussing a really cool numbers trick.

Do immigrants commit more crime than native-born Americans in the United States?

With misinformation so easy to spread, how can it be stopped or challenged?

Taking a statistical look at what expectant mothers should avoid.

How medical testing on just men causes problems.

We look at politicians’ claims that sanctions are to blame for Zimbabwe’s difficulties.