Do 79% of Swedish asylum seekers go on holiday to the country they fled from?
The claim that 79% of asylum seekers in Sweden go on holiday in their home country has been repeated regularly on social media.
It’s used to argue that recent refugees are being disingenuous about the danger they face in the country they have fled from.
But when you look at the survey the claim is based on, you see the stat in a very different way.
We speak to Hjalmar Strid, who ran the survey for polling company Novus, and Tino Sanandaji from Bulletin, the online news site which published it.Presenter: Charlotte McDonald
Producer: Tom Colls
Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison
Sound Mix: Neil Churchill
Editor: Richard Vadon
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8:57
Numbers of the year part 2
We asked and you responded, this edition of ‘numbers of the year’ are from you. our loyal listeners. We scoured the inboxes to find three fascinating numbers that say something about the world we live in now and put them to our experts.
Tune if you want to hear about rising global temperatures, what Taylor Swift has in common with 65 years olds and facts about fax (machines). Contributors:
Amanda Maycock, University of Leeds
Jennifer Dowd, University of OxfordPresenter: Charlotte McDonald
Reporter: Lizzy McNeill
Producer: Vicky Baker and Lizzy McNeill
Series Producer: Tom Colls
Editor: Richard Vadon
Sound Engineer: Rod Farquhar.
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9:00
Numbers of the year 2024
It’s that time of year again, the time when we ask some of our favourite statistically-inclined people for their numbers of the year.
We present them to you - from falling birth rates in India to children saved by vaccines. Contributors:
RukminiS, Data for India
Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter, Cambridge University,
Hannah Ritchie, Our World in Data. Presenter: Charlotte McDonald
Producers: Lizzy McNeill and Vicky Baker
Series Producer: Tom Colls
Editor: Richard Vadon
Sound Engineer: Donald McDonald and Rod Farquhar
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8:58
Did Mussolini make the trains run on time?
“Say what you like about Mussolini but he did make the trains run on time.” This phrase is the political equivalent of “every cloud has a silver lining” – but does it have any factual basis?
Mussolini’s dictatorship in Italy was full of atrocities, brutal suppression and propaganda. Did it also create a more efficient railway network?
We speak to Professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat about the truth of the claim and why the Mussolini regime wanted us to believe it.
Presenter: Lizzy McNeill
Producer: Lizzy McNeill
Researcher: Esme Winterbotham
Series Producer: Tom Colls
Editor: Richard Vadon
Sound Master: James Beard
Production Co-ordinator: Katie Morrison.Image: Benito Mussolini in his train studying maps. (Photo by ullstein picture/ullstein picture via Getty Images)
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8:58
How many Americans live ‘paycheck to paycheck’?
Are most Americans barely holding their head above water when it comes to personal finances?
That’s what various US politicians and news outlets keep suggesting.
They can’t stop using a statistic about people living “paycheck to paycheck”.
But what does this really mean? We go behind the headlines to unpick the numbers.
Contributor:
Ben Krauss, journalist
Presenter: Charlotte McDonald
Producer: Vicky Baker and Lizzy McNeill
Series Producer: Tom Colls
Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison
Sound Engineer: Andrew Mills
Editor: Richard Vadon
New Zealand