The US's bombing of Caracas reiterates three key foundations of American foreign policy: the Constitution is dead, democracy is irrelevant, and the "rule of law" doesn't matter.
What kind of state does the UK find itself in as we start 2026? That’s the question Tim Harford and the More or Less team is trying to answer in a series of five special programmes.
In the second episode, we’re asking some interesting questions about health and the NHS:
Has life expectancy in the UK starting to go up again at last?
What statistics tell you about the health of the NHS?
After years of promises, are there actually any more GPs?
What’s happening to cancer rates in the UK?
What’s gone wrong with productivity in the health service?
Get in touch if you’ve seen a number in the news you think we should take a look at: moreorless@bbc.co.uk
Contributors:
Stuart McDonald, Head of Longevity and Demographic Insights at the consultancy Lane Clark & Peacock (LCP)
Jon Shelton, Head of Cancer Intelligence at Cancer Research UK
Ben Zaranko, Associate Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies
Credits:
Presenter: Tim Harford
Reporter: Nathan Gower
Producers: Lizzy McNeill, Katie Solleveld and Charlotte McDonald
Series producer: Tom Colls
Production co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound mix: Sarah Hockley and Neil Churchill
Editor: Richard Vadon
Former Venezuelan leader, Nicolás Maduro, appeared in a New York court yesterday. He’s facing drug-trafficking and weapons charges after the U.S. abducted him and his wife in an explosive operation over the weekend. But is there any credibility to the drug-trafficking accusations? And what does the cocaine supply chain look like in 2026?
Today on the show, tracing cocaine’s journey from the Andes to the streets of U.S. cities.
Zohran Mamdani held his mayoral swearing in ceremony at the now-abandoned City Hall Station that was a feature of the first New York Subway built in 1904. Unfortunately, city officials deliberately drove the subway company into insolvency and then took over.
Among the many rationalizations that the Trump administration is using to initiate massive force and violence against the Venezuelan people is that the Venezuelan government nationalized American oil interests many years ago.
President Trump’s latest national security initiative is unlikely to make the US secure from outside danger. For that matter, Trump’s own internal policies are making this country less secure.
From war to tariffs to inflation, it is clear Donald Trump is a devoted disciple of the ideology of statism and interventionism. The fact he's better than the atrocious Kamala Harris doesn't change this.
What kind of state does the UK find itself in as we start 2026? That’s the question Tim Harford and the More or Less team is trying to answer in a series of five special programmes.
In the first episode, we’re starting the week by asking some interesting questions about the economy:
Is the cost-of-living crisis over?
The economy is expected to have grown by 1.5% in 2025. Is that a big number?
When taxes are at record highs, why does it feel as if everything is such hard work for public services?
Do the majority of people in Scotland pay less tax than they would in the rest of the UK?
Does the UK have a more progressive tax system than Scandinavian countries?
Get in touch if you’ve seen a number in the news you think we should take a look at: moreorless@bbc.co.uk
Contributors:
Ruth Curtice, Chief Executive of the Resolution Foundation
Helen Miller, Director of Institute for Fiscal Studies
Mairi Spowage, Professor and Director of the Fraser of Allander Institute at the University of Strathclyde
John Burn-Murdoch, chief data reporter for the Financial Times
Credits:
Presenter: Tim Harford
Quiz contestant: Lizzy McNeill
Producers: Nathan Gower, Katie Solleveld and Charlotte McDonald
Series producer: Tom Colls
Production co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound mix: Sarah Hockley and James Beard
Editor: Richard Vadon