If you are a member of Bachelor Nation, you might have seen Suzana Somers’ — better known as @bachelordata’s — charts floating around Instagram. After a season of avidly following her work, and watching her deftly crunch the data on everything from screen time to Instagram growth to overnight date order, we really wanted to talk to her.

So we did! For this newsletter! (Disclaimer: The audio was recorded last night, so we were a little bit tired and may have had a few minor audible Zoom glitches. Apologies!)

It’s always a joy to get to nerd out about this franchise, so this chat was, despite the hour and tech limitations, an absolute blast. In our conversation, Suzana shared some of the nitty-gritty details of how she tracks and visualizes the data, what this project has revealed to her about the franchise’s race and diversity problems, and how it has shaped the way she consumes the show.

We are also really excited that Suzana is letting us republish some of the ~exclusive~ data content that she reserves for her Patreon patrons right here on Rich Text. After Matt James’ season wrapped, she calculated the total screen time of each contestant, including Matt James and Chris Harrison. The results paint an illuminating picture. Like… Victoria Larson, who was eliminated about halfway through the season, got as much featured screen time as Bri Springs and Serena Pitt, two women of color who made it to the final four.

Take a look:

We hope you all enjoy listening to the conversation — and, of course, follow the @bachelordata Instagram account, and support all of Suzana’s incredible work on her Patreon.

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Call to action…

It’s a pretty heavy news week. We’re following both the Derek Chauvin trial and the horrifying spate of anti-trans bills (many of which target trans kids) in state legislatures across the nation.

The first thing we can all do is just… pay attention. Talk to your friends and family about what’s going on. Take breaks, especially because this sort of news can be really triggering, but don’t tune it out.

You can also contact the Arkansas governor and ask him to veto the bill that just passed which prohibits doctors from providing gender-affirming medical care for transgender children. You can send a message to Gov. Asa Hutchinson through the ACLU's website.

If you have some money to spare, donate to organizations like the Trans Youth Equality Foundation, Intransitive, Black Lives Matter, or directly to the GoFundMe for George Floyd’s daughter.

We’re reading…

Rosie Danan’s forthcoming rom-com novel, “The Intimacy Experiment,” which features a super sexy rabbi named Ethan.

Every article about Real Housewife of Salt Lake City Jen Shah being arrested for fraud while the second season was filming. (!!!)

“Play It As It Lays” and “Slouching Towards Bethlehem”! Joan Didion: turns out she’s pretty good.

“Trashberg,” our buddy Ashley Feinberg’s newsletter, which promises to fill the neglected “weirdly attentive blog about Newt and Callista Gingrich Instagram selfies” niche.

We’re listening to…

The first two episodes of “Even The Rich’s” Jackie O and JFK mini-series.

“Lost Hills,” a podcast based on the also excellent New Yorker piece about a spree of shootings in the Malibu wilderness, and the failure of the sheriff’s department to take it seriously.

We’re watching…

“Ted Lasso,” the show everyone told me (Emma) to watch but I resisted because like, a show about a man coaching sports ball? But fine fine, it’s absolutely delightful.

“The One,” a weirdly terrifying show about true love. Started it because of the love thing, now finishing it to find out who did a murder.

“Call My Agent!”: If you haven’t watched this stylish French comedy, set in a Parisian talent agency, it’s time to binge and decide whether you’re an Andréa, a Camille, a Sofia or a Noémie. Or a Mathias or a Gabriel or an Hervé or — look, the characters are all perfection, just watch it.

We’re buying…

Chunky Fila sneakers in a light beige color that feels oddly elegant for a so-ugly-they’re-cute kind of shoe. (The ones Emma bought are mostly sold out, but here are a very similar pair on Revolve.)

Summer lounge sets! Last summer I (Claire) did very little online shopping and mostly look like a frazzled wreck in bike shorts and stretched-out tees in photos. I got addicted to lounge sets over the winter, and I’m not ready to give up looking cute and comfy at home just because it’s too hot for sweats. My first choice: this Aerie pointelle duo.