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

The Thought Show: The Life Expectancy of a Pope; How Anonymous Are You; Radio Requests

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Factual: Life Stories

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21/04/2016 GMT

The Life Expectancy of a Pope; How Anonymous Are You; Radio Requests

BBC World Service - The Thought Show, The Life Expectancy of a Pope; How Anonymous Are You; Radio Requests

Was Pope Francis being too pessimistic when he predicted how much longer he would live?

Was Pope Francis being too pessimistic when he predicted how much longer he would live; how anonymous do you think you are; and why do people love radio record requests?

In 2014 Pope Francis alluded to the fact he did not expect to live more than another two or three years. A group of statisticians have taken a look at the life expectancy of popes over the centuries and decided that he may have been rather pessimistic. And is there an unusually high death count among athletes who took part in the London Olympics in 2012? The French press seem to think there is. But was it to be expected, statistically speaking, that the current total of 18 people would have died over the last four years since taking part in the sports event? More Or Less finds out.
 
A Russian photographer has carried out an experiment to show how easy it is to identify complete strangers. Egor Tsvetkov took photos of people in public places and then tracked them down on the Russian social media site VKontakte using a facial recognition app.
The experiment 'Your Face Is Big Data' was published online and has been viewed more than 70,000 times. BBC Trending also reports on an investigation into police officers in New South Wales over the alleged trolling of an Australian politician. 
 
When there are so many ways in the world we can listen to music, why does getting your request played on a radio station feel universally so special and exciting? Gemma Cairney speaks to music fans and radio stations from Mexico to Myanmar for the Why Factor.

(Photo: Pope Francis. Credit: European Photo press Agency)

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