In this episode of 1050 Bascom, we were delighted to talk to Jordan Ellenberg, Professor of Mathematics at UW-Madison to talk through some of the many varied and interesting topics he engages in his new book, Shape: The Hidden Geometry of Information, Biology, Strategy, Democracy and Everything Else. The book, published in May, has received rave reviews nationally and internationally. Prof. Ellenberg offered his insights into the strengths of the rank choice voting process used in the recent NYC mayoral race. He also talked us through his research on gerrymandering and why he thinks it confronts us with the fact that “who sits in the legislature” is not a great formal proxy for “what the people want.” Prof. Ellenberg also made a convincing case for why geometry (and high level math learning more generally) is important for people participating in a democratic society. We thoroughly enjoyed our fun and wide-ranging discussion with Prof. Ellenberg and hope you will too.