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Brings together in a single hour The Why Factor; More or Less and Trending.

The Thought Show: “Caps Off to Rooney”

Factual: Life Stories

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27/11/2014

“Caps Off to Rooney”

BBC World Service - The Thought Show, “Caps Off to Rooney”

In More or Less Wesley Stephenson asks if it's easier now for footballers to win caps

In More or Less Wesley Stephenson looks at winning caps in football, in Trending Mukul Devichand examines a suspected suicide and in the Why Factor Mike Williams misses letters.

Following England football captain Wayne Rooney's 100th appearance, Wesley Stephenson asks in More or Less whether former England star Chris Waddle was right to claim that it is easier to win caps now than it was in previous generations. How many caps would football legends like Bobby Moore, Maradona and Pele have won if they had 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'. Is this shocking statistic true? 

Mukul Devichand and the Trending team find out how a nursing student who may have taken her own life in Kerala, south India, has become a symbol against corporate India, the "ruling class" and the mainstream media. Thousands have united behind the 'Justice for Roji Roy' campaign on Facebook, with over 50 pages now dedicated to her. We find out how Roji's death has provoked debate in the state. 

The makers of a hoax video of a boy in Syria rescuing a little girl, which gained millions of views, try to explain themselves. A Syrian blogger talks about his concerns over someone putting up such a video. 

And which songs are raising awareness and money to fight Ebola - it's not just Bob Geldorf's re-recording of Band Aid. Trending takes a look at other songs by West African artists. 

The Why Factor looks at the disappearing world of the handwritten letter – a letter of advice on love from a father to a son, letters to a man who spent decades on death row in America, and letters between lovers. Mike Williams asks how we will understand our family history now that there is no box of fading letters in the attic. How will we remember old loves and times gone by?  

(Photo: England's striker Wayne Rooney celebrates. Credit: Ian MacNicol/AFP/Getty Images)

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