What does the government mean when it commits to developing a “10-times more lethal” army?
Why was the much-missed Sycamore Gap tree said to be worth a strikingly exact £622,191?
Are there really twice as many people teaching Yoga as there are in the fishing industry?
Is the number of workers per pensioner really falling from 4 to 3 to 2? And what did Donald Trump mean when he said the price of eggs had fallen by 400%?
Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news. If you want us to look at a number you think looks a bit suspicious, email the team - moreorless@bbc.co.uk
More or Less is produced in partnership with the Open University.
Presenter: Tim Harford
Reporter: Lizzy McNeill
Producer: Nicholas Barrett
Series producer: Tom Colls
Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
Sound mix: Neil Churchill
Editor: Richard Vadon
Moonlit seaweeds. Dreamy underwater forests. Mounds of beach debris. Not plants. Let’s talk about where seaweed grows and whether or not it will save us all. Macrophycology means “big-ass algae” so let’s join five dazzling seaweed enthusiasts: guest-in-chief Dr. Patrick Martone of the University of British Columbia, UConn Professor Emeritus and “grandfather of seaweed farming” Dr. Charlie Yarish, seagrass scientist Becky Swerida, and marine science PhD students Danielle McHaskell and Angela Jones. We’ll chat about what’s hidden in its cells, the best ones to eat, how fast it grows, how deep it gets, cold vs. tropical seaweeds, what to do if your vacation pictures feature mounds of sargassum, and whether or not kelp can kill a chicken.
In next week’s episode, you’ll hear all about the aquaculture of cultivating and eating things from the seaweed to shellfish to shrimp farmed in a basement doughboy. Not really a two parter but two episodes that are friends and hang out in the same circles.
You know how people are always saying, "What happens in California often doesn't stay here"? They're so right! Case in point: home insurance. When natural disasters happen, home insurance is how folks are able to rebuild. But when natural disasters happen over and over again, like the wildfires in California, home insurance companies become overwhelmed. And it's not just a California issue. In Iowa and Oklahoma, residents are currently recovering from tornadoes. In North Carolina, families are still reeling from Hurricane Helene. And natural disasters across the country are likely to get more common—and more powerful—because of climate change. So, we spoke to Crooked Climate Correspondent Anya Zoledziowski about how climate change is going to make your home insurance more expensive.
And in headlines: California Democrat Rep. Pete Aguilar goes toe to toe with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over federal forces in LA; President Trump threatens potential protesters of his upcoming military parade; Republican Sen. John Thune is feeling good about a certain big, beautiful bill; and Greta Thunberg is among activists deported by Israel after attempting to bring aid to Gaza.
We're talking about what both President Trump and California's governor are saying about the unrest in Los Angeles as immigration raids and backlash spread around the country.
Also, we'll tell you why army bases are being renamed again and how the nation's capital is preparing for a massive military parade this weekend.
Plus, which states are dealing with record-breaking heat? Why is an NFL team owner donating millions of dollars to an off-the-field cause? And is "happy hour" out of style? We'll explain.
Those stories and even more news to know in about 10 minutes!
Join us every Mon-Fri for more daily news roundups!
In this episode of The BlueHat Podcast, host Nic Fillingham and Wendy Zenone share Ram Shankar Siva Kumar’s dynamic keynote from BlueHat India 2025, where he explores the evolving threat landscape of AI through the lens of the Microsoft AI Red Team. From adversarial machine learning to psychosocial harms and persuasive AI, Ram highlights real-world case studies, including prompt injection, content safety violations, and memory poisoning in AI agents. Ram underscores the urgent need for robust red teaming practices to secure AI systems against traditional security flaws and emerging threats across images, text, audio, and autonomous agents.
In This Episode You Will Learn:
Why old-school security flaws still break modern AI systems
Real-world AI red teaming in action, from scams to memory hacks
How small input tweaks can fool AI across images, audio, and text
Some Questions We Ask:
Can attackers fool AI using just slight image changes?
Are generative AI systems vulnerable to prompt manipulation?
According to a Fidelity Investments analysis, the average American retirement savings rate in the first three months of the year was 14.3% – just shy of the recommended 15%. Host Ariana Aspuru speaks with Wall Street Journal reporter Anne Tergesen about why savers are putting away a record amount of their income for retirement.
About Us: The daily pop-biz news show making today’s top stories your business. Formerly known as Robinhood Snacks, TBOY Lite is hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell.
Criminals are exploiting the trust that young iPhone users have in the device’s built-in message platform to make relentless demands for money. WSJ family and tech columnist Julie Jargon reports on the tragic results of those scams, and what parents need to know. Plus: Artificial intelligence companies have been the leading backers of technologies like solar energy and battery storage. Now, WSJ tech and crypto reporter Amrith Ramkumar reports those firms are trying to convince Congress to leave their clean-energy tax credits alone.
Homeowners' insurance isn't just getting more expensive ... it's also getting harder to secure in the first place. Across the country, an increase in climate-related disasters like heat waves, wildfires and hurricanes is creating challenges for both insurers and their customers. One successful strategy taking hold in Alabama and other states: Climate-proofing houses — and incentivizing it with insurance discounts.
Still, not all states or homeowners face similar risks. And insurers aren't legally required to take climate-proofing into account when assessing the insurability of a home. That's why states are experimenting with different programs — and insurance legislation — to find a solution.
This episode is part of NPR's Climate Solutions Week: a series of stories covering real world solutions for building, and living, on a hotter planet.
There's something interesting happening at the Port of Baltimore. On today's show, we explore the hidden world of bonded warehouses, where you can stash your imported Latvian vodka or Dutch beer free from tariffs (for a while).
Related episodes: Tariffied! We check in on businesses (Apple / Spotify)
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
