Maybe stories are just data with a soul.

The line contrasts two ways of knowing: “data” as abstract, decontextualized information and “stories” as information made meaningful through human experience. Calling a story “data with a soul” suggests that narrative doesn’t oppose evidence; it animates it—adding emotion, motive, consequence, and moral weight. In Brown’s broader themes (vulnerability, empathy, and connection), the quote implies that people are moved to understanding and action less by statistics alone than by lived, particularized accounts. It also hints at an ethical dimension: stories can honor the dignity of those represented, whereas data can flatten or depersonalize them.