I don't think there's anything particularly topical about death rates here in the UK right now. The author together with Michael Dilnot presented a radio show "More or Less" which covered lots of topics of this sort, showing how maths can aid an understanding of the world in general and current affairs in particular.
One thing that struck me from the article was how computers and Monte Carlo simulations have lowered the barrier to entry for statistical understanding. It seems much simpler to run this sort of simulation than to understand the intricacies of different probability distributions.
Their book "The Tiger That Isn't" (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tiger-That-Isnt-Through-Numbers/dp/1...) is excellent and includes some other examples around sample size and regression to mean.
One thing that struck me from the article was how computers and Monte Carlo simulations have lowered the barrier to entry for statistical understanding. It seems much simpler to run this sort of simulation than to understand the intricacies of different probability distributions.