On Monday, Oct. 19, at 6 p.m., Cornell communication professor danah boyd, a prominent scholar in technology and society research, will be at Town Hall Seattle to discuss her new book, Data Are Made, Not Found: A Story of Politics, Power, and the Civil Servants Who Saved the US Census.
She’ll be in conversation with Ron Jarmin, former Acting Director of the U.S. Census Bureau.
The census is a data-intensive civic tech project at the heart of American democracy. Census data help determine the allocation of federal resources and political representation. But, as boyd’s book argues, data are not simply “found” — they are produced through institutions, infrastructures, judgment, labor, and political struggle.
The book tells the story of what it took for Census Bureau civil servants to carry out the 2020 census—a busy year, to say the least!—amid a pandemic, natural disasters, and intense political pressure. In doing so, it offers a window into the often-invisible work required to produce the data on which democratic institutions depend—and what it may take to protect that work in the future.
Join boyd and Jarmin for a conversation about technology, data, public institutions, power, and democracy.
When: Monday, Oct. 19, 2026, at 6 p.m.
Where: The Wyncote NW Forum at Town Hall Seattle, 1119 8th Ave., Seattle
Register: Town Hall Seattle
The book will be available through Elliott Bay Book Company at the event, including for signing. It is also available in print, ebook, and audiobook editions.
Learn more about the book and boyd’s tour: danah.org/data-are-made-not-found