Jer Thorp's analysis of the word "data" in 10,325 New York Times
stories written between 1984 and 2018 shows a distinct trend: among the
words most closely associated with "data," we find not only its classic
companions "information" and "digital," but also a variety of new
neighbors--from "scandal" and "misinformation" to "ethics," "friends,"
and "play."
To live in data in the twenty-first century is to be incessantly
extracted from, classified and categorized, statisti-fied, sold, and
surveilled. Data--our data--is mined and processed for profit, power,
and political gain. In Living in Data, Thorp asks a crucial question
of our time: How do we stop passively inhabiting data, and instead
become active citizens of it?
Threading a data story through hippo attacks, glaciers, and school
gymnasiums, around colossal rice piles, and over active minefields,
Living in Data reminds us that the future of data is still wide open,
that there are ways to transcend facts and figures and to find more
visceral ways to engage with data, that there are always new stories to
be told about how data can be used.
Punctuated with Thorp's original and informative illustrations, Living
in Data not only redefines what data is, but reimagines who gets to
speak its language and how to use its power to create a more just and
democratic future. Timely and inspiring, Living in Data gives us a
much-needed path forward.
