Weak Things · General Conference data · April 2000 to April 2026
Every General Conference talk since 2000, counted.
All 1,909 talks from April 2000 through April 2026, with every footnote, scripture link and outside source. Hover over any chart for details, and click a verse, topic, author or talk to go deeper.
October 2026 will be added after its talk text is posted. Sustainings, audit and statistical reports, and videos are left out.
01 · The words
New phrases rise quickly, and some fade just as fast.
How often each phrase appears per 10,000 words spoken, at each conference. Pick a phrase.
Saying the full name
“Jesus Christ” per 10,000 words. It more than doubled, from about 20 in the early 2000s to between 47 and 69 since 2022.
Shorter talks, more footnotes
Average words per talk (line) and footnotes per talk (bars). Footnotes went from 7.8 per talk in the 2000s to 19.4 in the 2020s.
02 · Scripture
Moses 1:39 is the most-cited verse. 96% of talks cite at least one scripture.
Number of talks that cite each verse, from footnotes and in-text scripture links. Color shows the volume.
The scripture web
Each dot is a chapter, laid out in scripture order. An arc means the two chapters were cited in the same talk at least 4 times. Hover over a dot or an arc to see the pair.
Most-paired: 2 Nephi 31 with Moroni 10 (49 talks), and D&C 84 with D&C 88 (49 talks).
Which volumes get cited, year by year
Share of chapter citations by volume of scripture.
Go deeper: every verse cited in 10 or more talks has its own page. Open the Scripture Web and search a verse →
03 · Sources
Speakers now quote each other twice as often, and outside sources less.
Every non-scripture source in the footnotes, grouped by type. Each bar is 100% of that decade's sources.
Most-quoted Church leaders
Talks whose footnotes cite the leader, not counting the leader's own talks. Split by decade.
Most-cited conference talks
Talks since 2000 most often cited by later talks, using direct footnote links.
Most-quoted hymns and Primary songs
Go deeper: See Who Quotes Whom, the full citation network → Each most-cited talk opens its sketch note.
04 · Outside voices
C. S. Lewis, Shakespeare and Lincoln lead the authors from outside the Church.
Number of talks that name or cite each figure in the text or footnotes. Dictionaries and reference books are counted separately below.
05 · Topics
Talks centered on Jesus Christ grew from 6% to 20% of all talks.
Share of talks by main topic, 2000s compared with the 2020s. Topics were assigned by a model from each talk's opening and closing and are estimates. Part of the drop in priesthood and women's topics is structural: those sessions were reorganized after 2018.
Go deeper: click any topic for its own page, or see all 33 topics →
06 · Speakers
A profile for each leader, from the same data.
Pick a speaker. Topics include main and secondary tags. Books are counted from footnote citations. These are prototypes for a series of posters.
Profiles describe each leader on their own terms. They are not a ranking or comparison between leaders.