Sean Illing speaks with Matthew Jones, historian of science and technology, and co-author (with data scientist Chris Wiggins) of the new book How Data Happened. They discuss the surprisingly long history of data from the 18th century to today, in service of explaining how we wound up in a world where our personal information is mined by giant corporations for profit. They talk about how the allure of measurement and precision spread from astronomy to the social sciences, why advertising became so bound to the operation of the internet, and how we can imagine a more democratic future for us and our data, given the unprecedented power of today's tech companies.
Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area
Guest: Matthew L. Jones (@nescioquid), author; James R. Barker Professor of Contemporary Civilization, Columbia University
References:
Enjoyed this episode? Rate The Gray Area ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.
Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of The Gray Area. Subscribe in your favorite podcast app.
Help keep this show and all of Vox's journalism free by making a gift to Vox today: bit.ly/givepodcasts
This episode was made by:
Editorial Director, Vox Talk: A.M. Hall
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Beijing, boycotts, and the enduring politics of the Olympics
Affirmative action could be doomed (again). What comes next?
It’s not about Ukraine. It’s about Putin.
Think of the children
Unions!
What happens to voting rights now?
Are corporations winning at inflation?
What BBB means for climate policy
How the 1918 flu pandemic ended
The case for more babies
The building blocks of radicalization
Why hasn’t student debt been canceled?
Best Of: The coming climate exodus
America’s Public Health Experiment: Federal failures
America's Public Health Experiment: More checks, less politics
Can school be normal again?
America’s Public Health Experiment: The agencies Covid broke
Learning to love rent control
America’s Public Health Experiment: The testing failure
Defund the police?
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Tiny Desk Concerts - Video
60 Minutes
Left, Right & Center
The Axe Files with David Axelrod
Kickass News