The census isn't just a data-collection process; it's a ritual, and a tool, of American democracy. Behind every neat grid of numbers is a collage of messy, human stories—if you know how to read them. Examining the 1940 U.S. census, Dan Bouk discovers a controversial dataset that enabled the creation of New Deal era social programs, but that also, with the advent of World War II, would be weaponized against many of the citizens—including African Americans and homosexuals—whom it was supposed to serve.