What's in a number? Statistics and data help us understand the world we live in - but they can also reduce serious issues to simple figures.
To help make sense of the statistics, there’s a new podcast coming from our Data Unit to put numbers and people at the heart of the story.
The North in Numbers podcast tells the human stories behind the various statistics for the North of England.
Join local journalists, experts and those most affected as they get to the heart of the figures that particularly impact the North - whether that’s looking at the huge rise in knife crime, the problems caused by the introduction of Universal Credit, or the boom in restaurants seen across the region.
Every episode we will look at the situation across the North as a whole, but will also highlight the towns and cities that have been hardest hit, or seen the most significant rises - good or bad.
The first episode takes an in-depth look at the massive surge in homelessness seen in the North over the last decade. Listen here:
Host Annie Gouk, senior data journalist, talks to some of the people sleeping rough on the streets, to a young mum being housed in temporary accommodation, to two of the many local charities striving to make a difference, and also gets insights from Jen Williams, the politics and investigations editor with the Manchester Evening News.
You’ll hear, in their own words, what it’s really like to be homeless, why the problem is getting worse across the North, and what needs to be done to tackle the issue.
The North in Numbers is a Laudable production, featuring titles including the Manchester Evening News, the Liverpool Echo, the Chronicle and the Yorkshire Post.
You can find it on all major podcast platforms, and if you download the Entale podcast app on iOS you can access exclusive immersive content to accompany each episode, including pictures, maps and graphics.
