The Boston Tea Party was an opening act in what came to be a violent culture war and war of national liberation. And it helps us understand how America in 2020 could become as bitterly divided as America during the revolution.
Another president, another “strike for peace.” Trump’s assault on Iran wasn’t about safety. It was another step in the long tradition of unchecked executive power and endless war waged without consent.
Our media, higher education, and, of course, governments tell us that our social and economic problems are due to capitalism. Yet, what we see are governments bringing us inflation, chaos, and the horror of war. It's time we abandon the fiction that governments "serve the people."
Tim Harford looks at some of the numbers in the news and in life. This week:
Is church-going making a comeback in the UK?
Is it true that every day, 1000 people begin claiming personal independence payments, or PIP?
When the government talks about how it “returns” illegal immigrants, what does it mean?
Can a new telescope really see golf balls on the moon?
If you’ve seen a number you think looks suspicious, email the More or Less team: moreorless@bbc.co.uk
More or Less is produced in partnership with the Open University.
Presenter: Tim Harford
Producers: Lizzy McNeill, Nicholas Barrett, David Verry
Series producer: Tom Colls
Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
Sound mix: Gareth Jones
Editor: Richard Vadon
The Senate passed President Donald Trump's spending bill on Tuesday after Vice President JD Vance arrived to break a 50-50 tie. The bill is now headed back to the House where Republican Speaker Mike Johnson can only afford to lose three members and still pass the bill by a party line vote. To learn more about what this means for Republicans' big beautiful bill and the looming July Fourth deadline, we spoke with Nicholas Wu, a congressional reporter for Politico.
And in headlines: President Trump tours "Alligator Alcatraz," Florida's new migrant detention center, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell says Trump's tariff wars pretty much stopped it from cutting interest rates, and the Trump-Musk feud is reignited.
We are back with another edition of listener questions! In this round, we tackle recession pop, why the job market feels so crummy for IT grads, and whether President Trump saying that Walmart "eat the tariffs" is a form of price control.
The Trump administration’s plans to strip funding from PBS and NPR is the latest in a long line of Republican fights against public broadcasting. The House has already voted to take back over a billion dollars it had previously agreed to pay. Will the Senate sign off on it next?
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Podcast production by Ethan Oberman, Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.
To better understand history, we must understand how people thought and acted in the context of their times and the prevailing worldviews of that era. Unfortunately, modern historians insist on looking at US History from modern collectivists viewpoints.
Socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has emerged as a serious challenger to Andrew Cuomo in the race for mayor of New York City. If Mamdani wins, he promises to vastly expand government control of housing and businesses there.