Podcast appearances and mentions of wesley stephenson

If the US is going to build a wall on its border with Mexico, it’s going to take a lot of concrete - millions of tonnes, in fact. But this is a tiny amount compared with China’s concrete use. It’s often said that China used more concrete between 2008-2011 than the US did in the whole of the 20th Century. It sounds astonishing - and is it true? Wesley Stephenson finds out. After comments by author Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche divided opinion over transgender women, we speak to members of some of Nigeria’s secret gay and transgender groups who rely on each other on social media for support. Also, Joey Daley from Ohio has documented his mother Molly’s dementia. One film in which she failed to recognise him for the first time was viewed nearly 2 million times. Joey speaks to BBC Trending about how it feels to care for someone with dementia. And Lee Kumutat examines why blindness comes to define the identity of people who have little or no sight. She talks to people in Jamaica, Ghana, Scotland and California about how they navigate a world which seems to see them as either inspirational or deserving pity. Or both. Image: Getty/Credit: David McNew / Stringer

How much water should you be drinking? There is some age-old advice that suggests you should be drinking eight ounces (230 ml) eight times a day. Some people even advise you should be drinking this on top of what you normally drink. There is lots of advice out there but how do you know when you?ve had enough or if you?re drinking too much. With help from Professor Stanley Goldfarb from the University of Pennsylvania, Wesley Stephenson finds out.

How much water should you be drinking? There’s some age-old advice that suggests you should be drinking eight ounces (230 ml) eight times a day. Some people even advise you should be drinking this on top of what you normally drink. There is lots of advice out there but how do you know when you’ve had enough or if you’re drinking too much. With help from Professor Stanley Goldfarb from the University of Pennsylvania, Wesley Stephenson finds out. (Image: Hand holding a glass of water. Credit: Charlotte Ball/PA Wire)

It’s now a year since the UN set its new Sustainable Development Goals to try to make the world a better place. They include 17 goals and a massive 169 targets on subjects like disease, education and governance. But some people like Bjorn Lomborg are saying that there’s just too many and they are too broad, and left like that will never achieve anything. Is he right – and is there a better way to make the world better and stop some countries lagging behind? Wesley Stephenson and Charlotte McDonald find out.

It's a life and death situation – the world is at its last line of defence against some pretty nasty bacteria and there are no new antibiotics. But it's not the science that's the big problem, it the economics. Despite the $40 billion market worldwide there's no money to be made in antibiotics so big pharma have all but stopped their research. Why is this and how do we entice them back in? Wesley Stephenson finds out. (Image: Computer artwork of bacteria - credit: Science Photo Library)

Do so-called ‘100 year floods' only happen once a century? Ruth Alexander and Wesley Stephenson investigate. Also, does the air in Beijing cause as much damage as smoking 40 cigarettes a day?

Are creative people more likely to suffer mental illness, and has Cuba wiped out child hunger? Wesley Stephenson investigates.

Managers and pundits often say “it's harder to play against ten men”, but is there any truth in it? Also, Tim Harford speaks to the author Siobhan Roberts about Professor John Conway, who has been described as a genius and one of the world's most charismatic mathematicians. Producers: Keith Moore and Wesley Stephenson

More than two million people in Britain are thought to have used electronic cigarettes. Whitehall civil servants think that e-cigarettes are one of the most significant public health success stories of our generation. Just last week Public Health England published an update on the best evidence available. It found that e-cigarettes have become the number one quitting aid used by smokers. The report said the health risks of using e-cigarettes are minimal when compared to the harm associated with smoking cigarettes. Yet nearly half of all adults perceive e-cigarettes to be at least as harmful as traditional tobacco. Why? In Wales, the principality's government plans to ban their use in public places and hopes that a new law will be passed within the next 12 months. Wesley Stephenson asks why the two governments have such different approaches, and who's right? Presenter: Wesley Stephenson Producer: Smita Patel A version of this programme was first broadcast on 3rd July, 2014.

It has been reported that as many as 20,000 foreign fighters have joined militants in the Middle East and that they make up around 10% of ISIS. Wesley Stephenson and Federica Cocco look at the numbers behind those claims and examine where those fighting in places like Syria and Iraq come from.

Its ten years since some of the world's richest nations met in Gleneagles, Scotland. It was there that the G8 agreed to improve trade with developing nations, increase aid, and to wipe the debt of some of the poorest countries. The agreement followed Live 8 where the likes of Bono and Bob Geldof demanded that they ‘Make Poverty History'. Wesley Stephenson and the More or Less team look at what has been achieved during the past decade.

Natalia Antelava asks if the creeping influence of the Orthodox Church in Georgia's schools is turning them into a breeding ground for radical Christianity. Georgia's liberal politicians say only alignment with Europe and US will allow Georgia to overcome its post-Soviet past and survive as an independent nation. But in the way of Georgia's pro-Western course stands its Orthodox neighbour Russia and, increasingly, the country's own Orthodox Church. Natalia Antelava visits her old school in Tbilisi to see how the country's most conservative, anti-Western institution is influencing the next generation. Wesley Stephenson producing.

Babies born in Rwanda are likely to live healthier lives than those in the most deprived 10% of England, according to recent reports. But does the data back this up? And how is "good health" measured across the world? Hannah Moore and Wesley Stephenson explore the numbers with Professor David Gordon from Bristol University's International Poverty Research Centre. This programme was first broadcast on the BBC World Service.

England captain Wayne Rooney made his 100th appearance last weekend but former England star Chris Waddle claims that it's easier to win caps now than it was in previous generations. Wesley Stephenson asks whether Waddle is right and how many caps would greats like Bobby Moore, Maradona and Pele have won if they'd played in today's era. Plus the programme hears from Professor Carlos Vilalta from the University of California San Diego and Steven Dudley from Insight Crime about claims that “98% of homicides in Mexico are unsolved.” An amazing statistic but is it true? This programme was first broadcast on the BBC World Service.

After three tragic airline incidents in eight days, is flying becoming more dangerous? Wesley Stephenson looks at the statistics behind air travel to find out? And which is the most successful nation in Commonwealth Games history? Australia, Canada, England – not even close. This programme was first broadcast on the BBC World Service.

The Pope was reported to have said that 2% of Catholic clergy were paedophiles. Is this a big number? Wesley Stephenson looks at the research on the prevalence of paedophilia and how the Catholic clergy compare to the world's population as a whole. This programme was first broadcast on the BBC World Service.

Wesley Stephenson hangs out in the Essex district of Thurrock and tries to find out why so many of its voters deserted Labour and the Tories for UKIP. In the European and local council elections the UKIP vote jumped 163 percent in Thurrock. The council area comprises one of the most marginal Westminster seats in the country, so what will this mean for the general election and can what's happening in Thurrock tell us anything about the rise of UKIP elsewhere in the UK?

More than two million people in Britain are thought to have used electronic cigarettes. Whitehall civil servants think that e-cigarettes are one of the most significant public health success stories of our generation. In Wales however, the principality's government wants to ban their use in public places. Wesley Stephenson asks why the two governments have such different approaches. Producer: Smita Patel.

Are there really be 300,000 French people in London and would they really want to leave France for the UK anyway? The Mayor of London, British journalists and commentators have trotted out this "fact" a number of times over the last few years to illustrate just how popular the UK's capital is with its neighbours across the Channel. It appears that Nicolas Sarkozy may have said it as far back as 2008. Wesley Stephenson and Charlotte McDonald brush off their best French to find out the truth. This programme was first broadcast on the BBC World Service.

Jeremy Hunt says he wants the NHS to expand so that more patients get the best care when they need it. But is the health secretary's goal of week-round provision realistic when the health service is already struggling to make an unprecedented £20bn in efficiency savings? And what is the evidence that more staff at weekends will make a difference? Wesley Stephenson investigates the case for weekend working in the NHS and asks what lessons we can take from hospitals in England already moving towards seven-day services.

It is claimed an average of 100,000 Christians have died because of their faith every year for the past decade: and that this is an 'unreported catastrophe'. The Vatican has called it a credible number. But is it? Ruth Alexander and Wesley Stephenson report.

There's a battle for influence taking place over fracking. Should companies in the UK be drilling for the trillions of cubic feet of shale gas lying thousands of metres below the surface of the earth, and hydraulically fracturing (fracking) the wells to get it out? Demonstrators have already voiced noisy opposition to the plans in the West Sussex village of Balcombe, citing fracking-induced earthquakes in Lancashire and leaks and contamination of water sources near fracking sites in the United States. The Prime Minister, David Cameron, and the Chancellor, George Osbourne, have both championed fracking saying it will lower energy prices and lead to better energy security for the UK as it has done in America. But is fracking dangerous, and will it be the silver bullet for energy prices? Wesley Stephenson looks at the evidence.

What if a super-villain took control of the world's gold a melted it in to a cube? How big would it be? Wesley Stephenson finds out.

A ‘new' BMI calculation has been proposed by Oxford Mathematician Professor Nick Trefethen but does it really address the problem with a calculation that is over a century old. Body Mass Index was first calculated over 150 years ago and in recent years has become controversial for its imprecise nature. Ruth Alexander and Wesley Stephenson look at how it has developed and what it really tells us, if anything, about our health.

The UK Border Agency recently revoked London Metropolitan University's licence to sponsor overseas students, meaning that it can no longer recruit or continue to teach current students. According to the Government, the UKBA found systemic failings in the way the university managed its records. It found that many students did not have permission to study in the UK, did not have the correct English language or academic qualifications, while in other cases there was not enough evidence students were attending their courses. London Met on the other hand does not recognise these problems, and is taking legal against the UKBA's decision. Wesley Stephenson asks why the licence was revoked. Has London Met been lax in its recruitment and monitoring of students, or has it fallen victim of a complicated visa system? Why did the UKBA act now? Was there overwhelming evidence of systemic failings, or was there political pressure to take tough action?

Current affairs series with Wesley Stephenson, combining insights into major news stories with topical investigations. Can lessons be learnt from the first NHS Trust to go bust?

Are there really more Porsche Cayenne owners in Greece than taxpayers earning over 50,000 euros? Can there really be 30,000 chauffeur driven cars for the exclusive use of Italian politicians? Would it really be cheaper to send everyone by taxi than train in Greece and is youth unemployment in Spain really 50%? Ruth Alexander and Wesley Stephenson take a very close look at some widely reported Eurostats to see whether they stand up to scrutiny for out this week's More or Less. This programme was first broadcast on the BBC World Service.

High Speed rail - Tim Harford speaks to railway consultant Chris Stokes and Alison Munro from HS2 Ltd. He investigates the different measures of the rise in executive pay with Steve Tatton from Income Data Services and Sarah Wilson from research group Manifest. And resolves a four year-old bet on climate change between climate scientist James Annan and astrophysicist David Whitehouse and Wesley Stephenson looks behind the figures for youth unemployment in Spain.

England has witnessed its worst rioting for a generation this month. The majority have been shocked by scenes of people, some as young as 11, looting high street shops with seemingly no fear of being caught by the police or of any punishment that could be handed out by the courts. The violence started in Tottenham, North London, where what started out as a peaceful protest over the shooting of 29 year old Mark Duggan, spiralled out of control. Two days after Mr Duggan had been killed by armed officers, his friends and family gathered outside Tottenham police station asking for more information on the circumstances surrounding his death. Five hours later, trouble ensued. Police cars were set on fire; shops were destroyed along the length and breadth of Tottenham High Road; and families were forced to flee their homes as the flames spread. Later that night, just a mile or so away in Tottenham Hale, the looting began. The Report investigates what happened on that fateful Saturday - August 6th 2011 - in Tottenham and asks why the situation grew so violent. Wesley Stephenson speaks with people who were on Tottenham High Road when the violence broke out. He reveals deep-seated anger at the police within some sections of the community and hears claims that the police response was not robust enough. Producer: Hannah Barnes.