In early January several newspapers ran article claiming that ?women are 32% more likely to die after operation by male surgeon. If true, this is a terrifying figure but is all as it seems? We dig into the data to find out whether women should really be worried about having a male surgeon.
More or Less: Behind the Stats - Are women 32% more likely to die after operation by a male surgeon?
Are women 32% more likely to die after operation by a male surgeon? Headlines asserting this were shared across social media recently - but the truth is a bit more complicated.
We compare the price and the quality of the UK?s Test and Trace system with that of Germany and check on what?s happening to the Covid death toll during the Omicron wave.
And we investigate the worrying statistic that one in ten people are planning to start a podcast in the coming year.
Start the Week - Old battles, new warfare
Are we heading into an era of unending low-level conflict, of foreign interference and buying of influence? In The Weaponisation of Everything, the security expert Mark Galeotti argues that traditional warfare is on the wane, replaced by hybrid wars, disinformation, espionage and subversion. He tells Adam Rutherford that this 21st century way of war often goes unnoticed and can be dangerously destabilising, but it also offers opportunities for those who are able to take full advantage of this new armoury.
The political philosopher Cécile Fabre explores the ethics of espionage and counterintelligence. In Spying Through a Glass Darkly she looks to answer a fundamental question: when is spying justified? In the context of war and foreign policy what actions are morally justified, and when? Fabre brings together philosophical arguments and historical examples to study the moral justification of state blackmail, mass surveillance, treason and bribery.
How far are the subversive techniques discussed uniquely human? It’s a question the primatologist Kirsty Graham considers as she studies the way bonobos and chimpanzees communicate in the field. Her research has shown that both groups share not only the physical form of the gestures but many of the same meanings.
Producer: Katy Hickman
More or Less: Behind the Stats - QAnon: Did 365,348 children go missing in the US in 2020?
In December, Republican politician Lauren Boebert tweeted the claim that ?365,348 children went missing in 2020?. This is a shocking statistic but is it true and does it mean what we think it means? We speak to Gabriel Gatehouse, international editor of Newsnight, who has been investigating conspiracy theories including the Qanon conspiracy theory for a new podcast, The Coming Storm.
More or Less: Behind the Stats - Omicron, pandemic birth rates and boosters
The pandemic seems to be entering a new phase as Omicron has taken hold. Is it milder? And how might we make decisions based on the latest data?
Predictions that lockdowns might lead to a baby boom have proven wrong - in fact fertility is falling.
We re-examine a baffling claim about the number of children being abducted every year in the US after claims by a Republican politician on social media, and we run our statistical measuring tape up the inside leg of the government?s promise to give everyone a booster jab before New Year?s Day.
Start the Week - Finding consolation and community in reading
The historian, writer and former politician Michael Ignatieff talks to Tom Sutcliffe about how consolation offers a way to survive the anguish and uncertainties of the 21st century. In his new book, On Consolation: Finding Solace in Dark Times, he looks at how works of literature – from the Psalms to Albert Camus and Anna Akhmatova – help increase hope and resilience. On Consolation will be Radio 4's Book of the Week from February 7th.
Christopher Prendergast’s Living and Dying with Marcel Proust is the result of a lifetime’s reading of Proust’s masterpiece A la Récherche du Temps Perdu. It serves as a guide to readers embarking on Proust’s colossal work, highlighting the author’s many obsessions, from insomnia and food to memory, humour and colour.
The London Literary Salon is a community built around the study of literature and ideas, with its mantra: ‘opening books, meeting minds, creating community’. During the pandemic its founder and director Toby Brothers broadened its reach, welcoming people into the salon from all over the world.
Producer: Katy Hickman
More or Less: Behind the Stats - How much plastic is in the Ocean and can Mr Beast make a difference?
In October of last year popular Youtubers Mark Rober and the enigmatically named Mr Beast pledged to remove 30 million pounds of plastic from the Ocean ? if they could raise $30 million dollars. A dollar per pound of plastic sounds like a fairly good deal, but how much plastic is out there and will they actually be removing anything from the Ocean at all?
(Image: Sahika Encumen dives amid plastic waste in Ortakoy coastline: photo by Sebnem Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
More or Less: Behind the Stats - Will the population of Nigeria be larger than Europe?s?
In recent years population growth has slowed rapidly. Experts believe that the global population will stabilise somewhere around 11 billion people. But just because global population is stabilising doesn?t mean each country is following the global trend. Some projections estimate that the population of Nigeria will increase rapidly to the point that there will be more people living in Nigeria than the whole of Europe combined. We look at the methods behind this claim.
Start the Week - Vaccinate, ventilate and breathe
Andrew Marr talks to two of the leading scientists who were at the forefront of research into fighting the spread of Covid-19. Professor Teresa Lambe was one of the Principal Investigators overseeing the Oxford/ AstraZeneca vaccine programme. She co-designed the vaccine and led the pre-clinical studies, as well overseeing the impact on immunity. She will be taking part in this year’s Royal Institution Christmas Lectures (to be aired on BBC 4 at 8pm on 28th, 29th and 30th December), alongside Professor Catherine Noakes. As an engineer Noakes is one of a tiny number of specialists worldwide who study ventilation and the spread of airborne diseases. From the beginning of the pandemic she has been instrumental in providing advice on how the virus transmits and the best strategies to control its spread.
Covid-19 is a respiratory disease and one of the books on this year’s Royal Society prize shortlist is at the centre of revived interest in how we breathe. James Nestor argues, in his book Breath, that humans have lost the ability to breathe correctly, with damaging consequences that reach beyond snoring, asthma and allergies. Drawing on ancient wisdom and the latest scientific studies Nestor highlights the huge benefits from breathing through your nose, rather than your mouth.
Producer: Katy Hickman
Photo: Professor Catherine Noakes doing a demonstration at the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures 2021
More or Less: Behind the Stats - Numbers of 2021
A guide to the most concerning, striking and downright extraordinary numbers of 2021. Tim Harford asks three More or Less interviewees about their most significant and memorable figure over the past year. From the excess death toll of Covid-19; to declining total fertility rates, and a spike in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, we showcase the numbers that tell us something about the year gone by. During this programme, we speak to Hannah Ritchie, head of research at Our World in Data and senior researcher at the University of Oxford; Marina Adshade, Economics Professor at the University of British Columbia; and Heleen De Coninck, professor at Eindhoven University of Technology, and a lead author on several reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.