{"podcast":{"title":"More or Less","slug":"more-or-less-867746","podcast_index_feed_id":867746,"rss_url":"https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/b006qshd.rss","website_url":"http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qshd","image_url":"http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/3000x3000/p0lg9wkm.jpg","author":"BBC","episode_count":1135,"summary":"Tim Harford explains - and sometimes debunks - the numbers and statistics used in political debate, the news and everyday life.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-26T04:19:39.515984+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/more-or-less-867746"},"episode":{"title":"Does a fall in the UK's healthy life expectancy mean what you think it means?","slug":"does-a-fall-in-the-uk-s-healthy-life-expectancy-mean-what-you-think-it-means-2","published_at":"2026-05-27T07:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/more-or-less-867746/does-a-fall-in-the-uk-s-healthy-life-expectancy-mean-what-you-think-it-means-2","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/more-or-less-867746","url":"http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002wvdd","audio_url":"http://open.live.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/6/redir/version/2.0/mediaset/audio-nondrm-download-rss/proto/http/vpid/p0p05yz5.mp3","summary":"Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news. This week: Headlines have claimed that “healthy life expectancy” in the UK has fallen by two years. What does this actually mean? (00:32) A new government report estimates that HS2 will cost almost double its original estimate. We ask where the money’s gone. (10:26) Chancellor Rachel Reeves has reduced VAT on theme parks, aquariums and other summer fun. But will these savings get passed on to the consumer? (21:07) And Tim gives a much-anticipated update on his recent marathon. (09:10) Contributors: Stuart McDonald - actuary at LCP Health Analytics John Burn-Murdoch - Chief Data Reporter for the Financial Times Kate Lamble - journalist and presenter of ‘Derailed: The story of HS2’ Dan Neidle - founder of Tax Policy Associates Credits: Presenter: Tim Harford Reporter / Producer: Lizzy McNeill Producers: Tom Colls, Nathan Gower and Josh McMinn Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown Sound mix: Neil Churchill Editor: Richard Vadon","meta_description":"Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news. This week: Headlines have claimed that “healthy life expectancy” in the UK has fallen by two yea…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1719,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/more-or-less-867746/episodes/does-a-fall-in-the-uk-s-healthy-life-expectancy-mean-what-you-think-it-means-2/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/more-or-less-867746/does-a-fall-in-the-uk-s-healthy-life-expectancy-mean-what-you-think-it-means-2.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}