About this episode
On the Gist, Alexei Navalny's sentence. In the Interview, it's part two of a conversation with historian Jill Lepore about her latest book: If Then: How the Simulmatics Corporation Invented the Future . Jill discusses that with data mining and analysis there is greater potential for the demeaning of democratic processes, and why in 2021, accepting social media and twitter as a proxy for public opinion and polling could be risky. Lepore is an author, a New Yorker writer, and historian. She is also host of a podcast called The Last Archive from Pushkin. In the spiel, looking for relief? Email us at thegist@slate.com Podcast production by Margaret Kelley and Cheyna Roth. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices