Our obsession with true crime is everywhere – from news stories and podcasts to the big screen. However in recent decades, rates of almost all crime around the world have declined dramatically, with the notable exception of sexual assault. Meanwhile the number of people in prison has increased alarmingly. 

TV and film critic Wenlei Ma, journalist Kate McClymont, and former Executive Director of the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics Don Weatherburn investigate why the data on crime, the inmate numbers and our obsession with these stories doesn’t add up.