I’ve recommended their syllabus before, now Carl T. Bergstrom and Jevin D. West have turned it into a book and it couldn’t be more timely. In a cosmic twist of irony, the book was released on the very day we saw Donald Trump bullshit his way though an interview by using printed out graphics to somehow «explain» why America is going great in the fight against Covid-19. Calling Bullshit is an excellent guide to understanding how data — in studies, visualisations, communication and elsewhere — is being used to disinform. And it provides you with the tools to spot such bullshit and call it out. Buy it now.

From Weekly Filet #311, in August 2020.