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More or Less: Behind the Stats

Ukraine offensive, weak pound & how much do women really exercise

More or Less: Behind the Stats

BBC

Business, Mathematics, Science, News Commentary, News

4.63.5K Ratings

🗓️ 22 September 2022

⏱️ 29 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Ukraine has reportedly recaptured nearly 10,000 square kilometres of territory that had been occupied by Russia. We ask where the numbers come from, what they mean and why everyone is comparing them to the size of Greater London. We ask how much money Norway is making out of the current energy crisis. Also why is the pound so weak against the dollar, some odd claims about women and exercise and does it really take 20,000 uses for an organic cotton bag to become more environmentally friendly than a plastic bag? Presenter: Tim Harford Series producer: Jon Bithrey Reporters: Charlotte McDonald, Nathan Gower Production Coordinator: Jacqui Johnson Editor: Richard Vadon

Transcript

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0:00.0

BBC Sounds Music Radio Podcasts

0:04.4

Hello and welcome to More or Less. We are weekly guide to the numbers all around us

0:09.8

in the news and in life. This week I'm getting old, but even I can only remember one moment

0:16.2

when the pound was weaker against the dollar. We ask why and whether it matters. Our friends

0:22.4

in Norway sell gas to the world and gas is expensive, so how's that working out for them?

0:28.9

We take on the age old question of whether cotton or plastic bags are better for the planet,

0:34.7

and apparently 47% of women aren't exercising. Is that true? And what about the men?

0:42.6

But first, after months of little territorial progress for either side in the war in Ukraine,

0:48.7

advances by Ukrainian troops in the northeast region of Karkiv have been widely reported

0:53.6

in the last couple of weeks. After months of deadlock, Ukraine's counter-offensive against

1:00.1

Russia seems to be gathering momentum. Ukraine says it's taken about 20 villages from Russia

1:04.8

in the past 24 hours.

1:06.9

Ukraine's likely counter-offensive reclaimed in area in the northeast the size of greater

1:12.2

London. Ukraine has recaptured an area around four times the size of greater London. Many

1:19.3

commentators have said Ukraine's progress could be a turning point in the war. With Russia

1:24.4

on the back foot and facing growing criticism for its war effort, even among Vladimir Putin's

1:29.5

most ardent supporters back home. And that might be right. But we wanted to take a look at

1:35.2

the numbers behind this advance and the way those numbers are being reported. 9.5,000

1:41.3

square kilometres is the size of a square nearly 100 kilometres or 60 miles on each side.

1:47.3

It's the size of Devon and Cornwall put together, or 6 times the size of greater London.

1:53.4

And just listing those comparisons makes me realise, it's really hard to know what 9.5,000

1:58.7

square kilometres might mean in strategic terms. I mean, 6 greater London's is a lot of

...

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