Main content

More alive than dead?

Tim Harford asks if there are now more people alive than dead and asks if Michelle Obama really could have bought $50,000 of underwear.

Tim Harford investigates one of the most popular questions from More or Less listeners: "Are there more people alive today than have ever lived?". It is a zombie statistic that every time it is laid to rest it rises again. He also looks at whether science fiction writer Arthur C Clarke was right when he suggested that behind every living person are 30 ghosts.

He also investigates the strange story of Michelle Obama's shopping trip to a lingerie store in New York. Can she really have spent $50,000 on underwear?

(Picture: People walk along a crowded Oxford Street in London. Crtedit: Getty Images)

Available now

9 minutes

Last on

Sat 4 Feb 2012 23:50GMT
91福利社 World Service Online

More episodes

Previous

Which is the world's biggest city?

Next

Measuring Famine and Slaying a Sporting Myth

See all episodes from More or Less

Broadcasts

  • Sat 4 Feb 2012 11:50GMT
    91福利社 World Service Online
  • Sat 4 Feb 2012 18:50GMT
    91福利社 World Service Online
  • Sat 4 Feb 2012 23:50GMT
    91福利社 World Service Online

Unlock the history and truth behind the data with The OU

Explore how numbers shape, and sometimes mislead us, with The Open University.

When can you trust statistics?

When can you trust statistics?

91福利社 Ideas discovers three easy ways to help make sense of statistics.

Podcast

  • More or Less

    Tim Harford explains the numbers and statistics used in everyday life