Am I Normal?

Everyone wants to know if we’re normal. Is my body normal, is my brain normal, are my feelings normal? Data artist Mona Chalabi will tell you. And she’ll explain why normal is BS.

In the right hands, data is more than statistics. It can expand our understanding of ourselves, and this strange planet that we call home.

Mona is the data editor at The Guardian, and host of the new podcast Strange Bird. She makes hand-drawn illustrations of data, from when people eat pizza to how many women remove facial hair to average testicle size (that one’s an interactive chart. For real). And what data can and can’t tell us about America.

Mona Chalabi, data editor at the Guardian, takes the numb out of numbers. She joins Manoush to talk about stats versus stories, how data defines normal, and average testicle size. That one’s an interactive iPhone chart. For real. 

Her hand-drawn illustrations are in her Instagram feed, if you want to check them out as you listen. Specifically, Manoush and Mona talk about the “iceberg of pervs,” women in Congress, the hairiness series, and male vocal change.

*all credit for the numb/numbers wordplay goes to Mona, via her Twitter bio.

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Listen to Mona's new podcast, Strange Bird.

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