When Numbers Lie: How Data Keeps Harmful Policy Alive episode artwork

EPISODE · May 29, 2026 · 4 MIN

When Numbers Lie: How Data Keeps Harmful Policy Alive

from SWOP Behind Bars Advocacy from the Margins · host Swopbehindbars

This episode exposes how easily activity-based metrics—arrests, rescues, and operations—are presented as proof of success while ignoring real outcomes for affected people. It traces the feedback loop where data, narrative, funding, and media reinforce one another, excluding the voices and harms that matter, and argues for measuring what actually improves people’s lives.

This episode exposes how easily activity-based metrics—arrests, rescues, and operations—are presented as proof of success while ignoring real outcomes for affected people. It traces the feedback loop where data, narrative, funding, and media reinforce one another, excluding the voices and harms that matter, and argues for measuring what actually improves people’s lives.

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When Numbers Lie: How Data Keeps Harmful Policy Alive

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How long is this episode of SWOP Behind Bars Advocacy from the Margins?

This episode is 4 minutes long.

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This episode was published on May 29, 2026.

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This episode exposes how easily activity-based metrics—arrests, rescues, and operations—are presented as proof of success while ignoring real outcomes for affected people. It traces the feedback loop where data, narrative, funding, and media...

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