logo
episode-header-image
Oct 2021
29m 22s

Painting By Numbers

NPR
About this episode
The 2020 census data is finally here! At first glance, it paints a surprising portrait of a changing United States: The number of people who identify as white and no other race is smaller; the share of multiracial people has shot up; and the country's second-largest racial group is... "some other race." But resident census-expert Hansi Lo Wang told us that when you start to unpack the data, you quickly find that those numbers don't tell the whole story.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy
Up next
Jul 17
Why the World Cup is race and class all the way down
All good (and complicated) things must come to an end, and the World Cup is no exception. To deal with the anticipatory grief ahead of the Spain v. Argentina final, NPR World Cup and Lionel Messi expert Jasmine Garsd hops on the mic to talk all things fútbol. Lace up your limited ... Show More
27m 11s
Jul 14
Trump's new legal weapon for prosecuting protestors
This summer, protesters connected to a demonstration outside the Prairieland ICE detention center in North Texas were sentenced to as much as 100 years in prison. It's the first case prosecuted under President Trump's National Security Presidential Memorandum 7, which targets "ex ... Show More
28m 44s
Jul 10
Whose rights just changed? Our SCOTUS debrief
A lot went down this term in the Supreme Court. So, we’re breaking down the landmark SCOTUS decisions that affect Black voters, trans athletes and immigrants. B.A. Parker and Code Switch producer Jess Kung go over the outcomes of the cases we’ve been watching, and NPR’s immigrati ... Show More
29 m
Recommended Episodes
Aug 2021
Who counts as white on the census?
Some recent analysis of America’s changing demographics is inaccurate and dangerous. NPR’s Hansi Lo Wang makes sense of the 2020 census. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Support Today, Explained by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts. Learn more about ... Show More
23m 13s
Apr 2021
New Census Numbers Mean A Political Power Shift For Some States
The first set of results from the 2020 census are in, and according to the count, the official population of the United States is 331,449,281. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship ... Show More
12m 9s
Feb 2019
One Drop
<p>Imagine living in one of the whitest enclaves in America, so white that just four people of color were recorded by the census bureau. Now imagine that your father "slipped over the color line" to be there. Bliss Broyard discusses her family secret and how it formed her life, p ... Show More
31m 21s
Aug 2016
2 | White Rabbits
We learn that everything isn't always what it seems in this case. New figures emerge, and the people of Ocilla are finally talking. 
26m 2s
Jul 2022
Differential Privacy for the 2020 U.S. Census: Can We Make Data Both Private and Useful? (Part 1)
<p>While most Americans have heard of the U.S. Census and understand that it is designed to count every resident in the United States every 10 years, many may not realize that the Census’s role goes far beyond the allocation of seats in Congress. </p> <p>For this episode, we invi ... Show More
30m 58s
Aug 2021
Making Sense of Census Data
The Census Bureau released its once-in-a-decade data today that will impact elections for years to come. CNN National Correspondent Kristen Holmes breaks down the toplines–what they’ll mean for both parties for 2022 and beyond. With the thin majority in the House, the stakes are ... Show More
6m 47s
Mar 2010
Counting the people
Census returns are among the most popular records used by family historians and other researchers, but many of us give little thought as to what went on behind the scenes every time a census was taken. This talk explores the creation of the census, with the mass organisation of e ... Show More
1h 4m
Nov 2021
Which box do I check?
We’re constantly checking boxes on forms, whether it’s for eye color or sexual orientation. Those categories can be empowering or, they can make you feel invisible, like when Mona painted a portrait of 100 New Yorkers based on the New York Census data, and realized she couldn’t s ... Show More
23m 15s