The Data Journalism Podcast14 Okt 2025

Charts as Political Theater

Not since Ross Perot’s famous TV presentations using cardboard charts have we had a national figure who uses data visualization props quite like Donald Trump. This week, Philip Bump joins Scott and Simon to talk about Trump’s use of data, and how politicians more generally approach information visuals. Plus, they discuss Philip’s background, how he measures success as a solo blogger, and the future of AI in data journalism.

Philip Bump was a columnist at the Washington Post for more than a decade, where he wrote the newsletter “How To Read This Chart.” Since leaving the Post, he’s continued to cover data in all kinds of interesting ways on his blog, pbump.net. His 2023 book, The Aftermath, covered the future of power as the baby boom generation recedes.

Work mentioned in the episode:

9/12 rallies visualization
Monty Hall problem simulator (more info on the Monty Hall problem here)
“How Trumpworld inflates the perceived danger of the left”
Ross Perot using charts on C-SPAN
Philip’s coverage of Trump’s Hurricane Dorian chart
Philip’s coverage of Trump’s immigration chart from May 2024 and October 2024
Trump and Stephen Moore presentation on BLS data
Axios interview with Trump on Covid numbers

⁠⁠⁠The⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠music this episode⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠ made with⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠TwoTone⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, represents votership in US presidential elections since 1856. The Data Journalism Podcast is produced by Ozzy Llinas Goodman.

Do you have a new data-driven story or project coming up? Tell us about it at datajournalismpodcast@gmail.com, and we might feature it on the show. Subscribe to make sure you never miss an episode!

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