More or Less: Behind the Stats - WS More or Less: Most Expensive Building

What is the most expensive ?object? ever built? There are plans in the UK to build a brand new nuclear power station called Hinckley Point. The environmental charity Greenpeace have claimed it is set to be the most expensive object on Earth. But could it really cost more to build than the Great Pyramid of Giza? We take a look at some of the most costly building projects on the planet.

Start the Week - Anish Kapoor on Light and Dark

On Start the Week the sculptor Anish Kapoor talks to Andrew Marr about his fascination with voids and black holes, and his excitement at the latest technological advances in deepest black: vantablack. The astrophysicist Martin Ward explains his research into supermassive black holes and why we're finding more of them, while the solar physicist Lucie Green journeys to the centre of the sun where each photon takes hundreds of thousands of years to reach the surface, but just eight minutes to shine as light on the Earth. Writer Ann Wroe walks on the Downs to experience how light affects Nature, and she turns to the artists to meditate on the nature of light. Producer: Katy Hickman

Picture credit: Anish Kapoor.

the memory palace - Episode 87 (Victory)

The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX.

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SPOILERS BELOW

Music * We hear Portrait Gallery from Luke Howard. * A smidgen of Julia Kent's lovely Dorval. * The incomparable Moondog's Gloving It pops up a couple times (as it tends to do around these parts). * Denmark by the Portland Cello Project rolls out for quite awhile. * John Lewis and Sacha Distel play the title track from their Afternoon in Paris album. * We hear To, from Zach Cooper's Styles Upon Styles. * There's a bit of Eine Kleine Gamelan Music from The Gamelan Son of Lion (seriously). * Ends on P, by Labradford.

NOTES * The classic text on Charlie Faust is Lawrence Ritter's The Glory of Their Times:the Story of the Early Days of Baseball as Told by the Men Who Played It, one of the key texts of early baseball history, first published in 1966. * The definitive resource on Faust is Gabriel Schecter, who's written his biography for SABR, the Society for American Baseball Research, and a monograph called Victory Faust: The Rube Who Saved McGraw's Giants. * I also want to point you to Rob Neyer's lovely piece on visiting Faust's grave.

The Gist - Purpleness

On The Gist, music writer Chris Molanphy guides us through the purple rain. We’ll remember Prince’s impact on the Billboard chats over the course of his career. Chris writes Slate’s Why Is That Song No. 1 column. He recently wrote about Prince for Slate: “How Prince Ruled the Charts in the ’80s—Even When His Name Wasn’t on the Songs.” For the Spiel, where should we draw the line when it comes to how we treat our prisoners?

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More or Less: Behind the Stats - Brexit numbers

EU Treasury report

This week there was much debate over the Treasury report which modelled how leaving the EU would affect the economy. Tim Harford speaks to the Spectator?s Fraser Nelson about how the document was presented to the public, and how it was reported. Chris Giles of the Financial Times explains that there are useful points to take from the Treasury?s analysis.

Hinckley Point nuclear power station

What is the most expensive ?object? ever built? The environmental charity Greenpeace has claimed it is set to be the most expensive object on Earth. But could it really cost more to build than the Great Pyramids? We take a look at some of the most costly building projects on the planet.

Chances of serving on a jury

A listener in Scotland is curious to know what the chances are of being selected for jury service. Several of his family members have received summons, but he has not. We look at who is eligible to serve, and what your odds are of receiving a summons.

European Girls Maths Olympiad

Last week we told the story of how the European Girls Maths Olympiad (EGMO) came into being. We followed the UK team on their recent journey to Romania to compete against 38 other teams from Europe and around the world.

Life expectancy of a Pope

In 2014 Pope Francis alluded to the fact he didn?t expect to live more than another two or three years. A group of statisticians have taken a look at the life expectancy of popes over the centuries and decided that he may have been rather pessimistic.

Presenter: Tim Harford Producer: Charlotte McDonald