Reports this week suggest that we are wasting 50 per cent of our food globally. It comes from a study by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers in the UK. Ruth Alexander discovers why this number is out of date and is likely to be much lower than half. Also are the values on Scrabble tiles correct? They were first assigned in the 1930s. With our changing language do we need to reassess the values. We speak to Joshua Lewis, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of California, San Diego about his new value system ?Valetta? and ask John Chew, Co-President of the North American SCRABBLE Players Association, what he thinks.
Start the Week - Natural Capital: Tony Juniper
On Start the Week Anne McElvoy talks to the environmental campaigner Tony Juniper about putting a price on nature, and reframing the importance of the natural world in terms of finance. But the writer William Fiennes believes it's the imagination and not discussion of dividends and capital that will inspire the next generation, and Ngaire Woods argues that governments and business should be run by goals and values, and not the balance sheet. The Tory MP, John Penrose, looks at whether we should be doing more to protect city skylines and townscapes. Producer: Katy Hickman.
Start the Week - Family Secrets: Sarah Dunant and Deborah Cohen
On Start the Week Andrew Marr begins the new year talking about lies and secrets, and the increasing blurring of public and private. Deborah Cohen charts family secrets and shame from the Victorian times to the present day, while Sarah Dunant and TV producer Alex Graham discuss how confession became entertainment, and the psychoanalyst Stephen Grosz listens to the hidden feelings of his patients. Producer: Katy Hickman.
More or Less: Behind the Stats - The Parable of the Ox
What does a 'guess the weight of the ox' competition tells us about a bloated and dysfunctional financial system? We find out in the Parable of the Ox written by John Kay of the Financial Times. The tale is told with the help of economics writer James Surowiecki as well as John Kay himself. It also features a brand new composition from the New Radiophonic Workshop.
More or Less: Behind the Stats - The Parable of the Ox
What does a 'guess the weight of the ox' competition tells us about a bloated and dysfunctional financial system? We find out in the Parable of the Ox written by John Kay of the Financial Times. The tale is told with the help of economics writer James Surowiecki as well as John Kay himself. It also features a brand new composition from the New Radiophonic Workshop.
More or Less: Behind the Stats - Numbers of 2012
A special review of the year through the interesting, informative and idiosyncratic numbers of 2012.
More or Less: Behind the Stats - Numbers of 2012
A guide to 2012 in numbers - the most informative, interesting and idiosyncratic statistics of the year discussed by More or Less interviewees.
More or Less: Behind the Stats - Gun Statistics
Tim Harford investigates the numbers in the debate on firearms deaths, and discovers the mathematics of juggling. This programme was first broadcast on the BBC World Service.
Start the Week - The Human Voice: Rolando Villazon and Mark-Anthony Turnage
In a special recording of Start the Week, Andrew Marr explores the power of the human voice. From the emotional intensity of the tenor Rolando Villazón, singing Rodolfo in La Boheme, to the art of writing for the voice with the composer Mark-Anthony Turnage. Mary King trains the voice, and the neuro-psychiatrist Michael Trimble examines our reactions to it.
More or Less: Behind the Stats - Fact-checking US gun crime statistics
Tim Harford investigates gun crime statistics in the US. Plus, why death is not always the one hard fact that?s hard to fudge; the average age of first-time buyers; whether chocolate makes you clever; the statistical paradox of road collisions caused by deer; and the maths of juggling. Producer Ruth Alexander