THE COMING STORM

Michael Lewis continues to report on his study of the world through analytics. He narrates this latest audiobook with engaging authority. Here, Lewis discusses the data used to support U.S. infrastructure, particularly information collected by the U.S. Department of Commerce. The title refers specifically to the National Weather Service, where data gathering has led to lives saved through advanced predictive models that identify coming threats. Lewis describes how this government-collected information, long made public, shifted to a fee-for-access model under the Trump administration, a policy shift that can have potentially disastrous effects. Pointing to the 2011 devastation of Joplin, Missouri, where one of the most deadly tornadoes in recorded history touched down, Lewis delivers a compelling warning about the need for the free exchange of certain types of vital information. S.P.C. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2018]