Oceans of numbers come pouring out at us each day about the big tech companies -- whether it's spending on AI, iPhone sales, Tesla stocks ... or, lawsuits against SpaceX by Cards Against Humanity? -- senior tech correspondent Rani Molla is on the case. We talk with her about how to make sense of all the numbers coming our way, the power of zooming out and getting the (literal and figurative!) big picture, and why her comparative literature degree has been a surprisingly huge asset in her numbers-centric work. Also, we find out about what the heck Elon is up to (at least with respect to some of his goings on).

Rani's articles that use satellite images:

"Before and after: Aerial photos show what being Elon Musk's neighbor can do to your land," Sherwood News

"Tesla's massive pileup: Tesla's unsold inventory is creating stockpiles you can see from space," Sherwood News

Resources mentioned:

Tesla's Form 10-K for 2024

Flourish data visualization platform

Read more of Rani's great work on Sherwood News here and follow her on Bluesky here!

Read more about Andrea here and on Instagram. And check out our partner show, the Daily Tech News Show!

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Welcome to Season 2 of Behind the Data! We're going to explore brand new topics through the powerful lens of data, find common ground on some issues that are really dividing us, and even gaze into the night sky and the deep seas -- join us for an adventure, and then some, and walk away with a brand new way of looking at the world through the shared language of data. This season you can expect episodes on misinformation, political attitudes, happiness, ALS, tech, and more.

Behind the Data is hosted by Andrea Jones-Rooy, Roger Chang is our producer, and we are proudly part of the Daily Tech News Show network!

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Social media and misinformation are two topics that are everywhere these days -- whether we're interacting with it, blaming all our social ills on it, or worrying about its role in the future of humanity (and other upbeat questions!) -- we all have ideas about how its affecting us and our world. But, as our guest Prof. Joshua Tucker explains, received wisdom is not the same thing as scientific findings. Join us for a tour de force through how to break down "social media" and "misinformation" into researchable parts that can be theoretically and quantitatively studied -- as well as some seriously surprising findings about both.

Fun fact: This episode was originally going to come later in the season, but the topic is so important we decided to release it sooner.

Follow Josh and the NYU Center for Social Media and Politics at csmapnyu.org.

Josh references a lot of great research. Here are links to all the papers, reports, and books he mentions -- presented in the order of appearance!

1. Tucker et al. 2018. "Social Media, Political Polarization, and Political Disinformation: A Review of the Scientific Literature." Hewlett Foundation.
2. Persily & Tucker, ed. 2020. Social Media and Democracy. Cambridge University Press.
3. Diamond & Plattner, ed. 2012. Liberation Technology. Hopkins Press.
4. Persily, Nathan. 2017. "Can Democracy Survive the Internet?" Journal of Democracy.
5. Tucker et al. 2017. "From Liberation to Turmoil." Journal of Democracy.
6. Guess, Nagler, & Tucker. 2019. "Less Than You Think: Prevalence and Predictors of Fake News Dissemination on Facebook." Science Advances.
7. Aslett et al. 2024. "Online Searches to Evaluate Misinformation Can Increase Its Perceived Veracity." Nature.
8. Allen et al. 2020. "Evaluating the Fake News Problem at the Scale of the Information Ecosystem." Science Advances.
9. Sanderson, Messing, & Tucker. 2024. "Misunderstood Mechanics: How AI, TikTok, and the Liar's Dividend Might Affect the 2024 Elections." Brookings.
10. Allen, Watts, & Rand. 2024. "Quantifying the Impact of Misinformation and Vaccine-Skeptical Content on Facebook." Science.

You can find AJR at jonesrooy.com and @jonesrooy on IG.

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