The Coming Storm

De: Michael Lewis

Narrado por: Michael Lewis

Tornadoes, cyclones, tsunamis…Weather can be deadly—especially when it strikes without warning. Millions of Americans could soon find themselves at the mercy of violent weather if the public data behind lifesaving storm alerts gets privatized for personal gain. In his first Audible Original, New York Times best-selling author and journalist Michael Lewis delivers hard-hitting research on not-so-random weather data—and how Washington plans to release it. He also digs deep into the lives of two scientists who revolutionized climate predictions, bringing warning systems to previously unimaginable levels of accuracy. One is Kathy Sullivan, a gifted scientist among the first women in space; the other, D.J. Patil, is a trickster-turned-mathematician and a political adviser. Most urgently, Lewis’s narrative reveals the potential cost of putting a price tag on information that could save lives. Please note The Fifth Risk includes the entirety of The Coming Storm.

©2018 Michael Lewis (P)2018 Audible Originals, LLC.

Badly Mixed Message

Mr. Lewis is a good storyteller. I very much enjoyed The Undoing Project but this one is not of the same quality. Perhaps that's why it's free. It seems to be an underhanded way of equating middle America's short-sighted attitude about tornados with their attitude about current politics. Is this about climate change? Not exactly. Is it a metaphor about Trump? Hard to tell. Is it interesting? Yes, but as Max Tegmark says in Our Mathematical Universe, "I find that when it comes to telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, it's the second part that accounts for most of the differences in how they portray reality: what they omit."

I had friends whose house was wiped out in Joplin and I went the next day to help clean up. A good part of everyone's days was spent wandering around in slack-jawed disbelief. It was simply beyond words, but Lewis makes a good attempt. He also does eventually assess the problem correctly - it's not that there isn't enough warning, it's that no one can imagine the monster will come for them. Far too many people in tornado alley have not even the most rudimentary form of storm shelter. That story could have been what this book was about. But it's not.

It's not even about any specific "storm" at all. It's not a clear case for anything in the future. It IS a place where lots of shots are lobbed at the Trump administration. That would be alright if the story was told in a complete fashion, but it's not.

He seems to disapprove of government collected data of all sorts recently being removed from public access, but he also seems to disapprove of the private sector actually DOING anything with that data. He conflates the collection of data with data analysis, as if because the Department of Commerce has the data it is also the ultimate expert on what that data means or how it can best be used. And nowhere does he even give a hint that any of that data might be inaccurate. For instance, crime data is reported to the FBI by local police. No one seems to be aware that because of personnel shortages on municipal departments, often only one-tenth of crime reports can be processed. Federal crime statistics are way off. And he wonders why they are no longer available? Are people the solution or the problem? Is government the solution or the problem? He can't lay any solid argument, but he sure can complain and blame Trump for the sky that soon will fall.

It's not a bad listen for free but there is a deep undercurrent of intellectual dishonesty that ultimately makes it a disappointment.

Politics aside it was interesting

I am a graduate student studying information systems and I was disappointed with this book. I am not close to being a Trump supporter but I just found the political side of this book distracting and detracting. I understand that Michael Lewis is a story teller and a very good one. This subject is a very complex one that effects everyone and no one really understands it. I wish Michael Lewis spent more time explaining why information matters and how it is used and spent less time on the political side.

Obviously Michael Lewis is a terrific writer. I am a fan of his other books including The Undoing Project, Money Ball and The Big Short but this one was only worth it because it was free.

There are complaints in this book he about how this subject is always attacked in politics and should just be left alone to help people. (I completely agree with this point of view). The problem I have is he continues the political battle with another attack.

Another thing that disappointed me about this book was that he didn't cover how information can be inherently biased because of the biases the people collecting it and analyzing it have. It's very easy to lie while telling the truth with information. You can give a fact that's true but extremely misleading. 2nd amendment debates are probably the best example of this.

Informative and interesting.

Lewis doesn't disappoint but this is a shorter work than his other pieces. Would love to see more content from him in originals.

The Positive Power of Data

Every American should give this a listen. It is interesting, informative, and gives a positive perspective on the power of data.

NOAA's weather data is getting privatized for profit

Weather data has immense economic value: from early storm warnings to farmers' crop insurance. However all this tax payer funded data is being privatized by AccuWeather. The CEO of AccuWeather is in charge of NOAA currently and he's working real hard to make sure the weather data is only accessible to private weather companies who will sell subscriptions to data that is tax payer funded. Also by law NOAA cannot advertise it's services, making it vulnerable to attack by private interest.

Good story, a little jumpy at times, but the narrative comes through.