Exploring the Boundaries of Truth and Fiction

The skittish inflation number that flies across headlines might feel arbitrary; in fact, it’s anything but. To arrive at that number, it takes millions of calculations into granular details such as the chemical composition of turkey meat and the flavor notes of olive oil. In this episode, John Lanchester chats with Michael Lewis about what the government counts and how tracking these things tells us a lot about what a country values.

Read John Lanchester’s full article here: This number has shaped political debate and determined the fate of presidents 

Check out the rest of the “Who is Government” series. 

The Canary, by Michael Lewis

The Sentinel, by Casey Cep

The Searchers, by Dave Eggers