The Pollsters

Watch this space! We have interviews, announcements, & travels. Pollsters out in the wild!   Poll of the week. It’s Chevy Chase & you’re not The snobbiest small town is Chevy Chase & Chevy Chase accessories. Chevy Chase & Chevy Chase Accessories: snobbiest cities   2016: New York: Big wins! Not big changes. People said the gloves were off, it was testy & harmful. But the polls say otherwise. Meanwhile, Nice Trump didn’t last very long. Huffington Post average New York exit polls Refinery29 poll of Millennial women Gallup on the contest hurting the party POS & Purple team up on Walmart Moms project   Encryption People are worried about security, and feel security threats are getting worse. Not surprisingly, few trust the government. Purple poll for ACT: App Assoc   The fairest juror in America YouGov on jury duty Politico on jury duty   Organic Valley: You Get Us! Watch this ad. No seriously, watch it. Adweek story on Organic Valley   Key findings: Thank you Organic Valley, for turning our lives into an ad. Using research. If you hit any closer to home you’d be in my linen closet. New York New York! It’s a heckuva Town. Trump is up & Sanders is down. When it comes to encryption, you’re going to have to pry people’s iPhones out of their sweaty, anxious hands. If Kristen is on a jury, it’s just going to give her some time to catch up on the People vs. OJ. If this podcast was an animal or car, what would it be? A chromed-out vintage vespa? A baby penguin? A wild Chincoteague pony? Pizza Rat?

We talk to Steve Shepard, who covers polling for Politico. We learn how polling journalism has evolved, discuss what's next for 2016, and talk NY political food moments. Follow him on Twitter here. 

Go to the AAPOR conference, folks, and listen to our interview with David Dutwin, an AAPOR methodologist.   Poll of the week: You tax show offs. Almost everyone says they’ve done their taxes already Well, not Margie. Retailmenot survey on taxpaying   Democratic contest “heating up” (well, kinda) Is the Democratic contest: rigged, heated, none of these. Margie’s CNBC piece HP average   GOP side Now this is what we call testy! Trump is still in the lead. So what’s he complaining about? NBC/Marist NY poll HP average   All the married ladies… A new Bloomberg Politics/Purple Slice poll of married women shows Trump in some major trouble. This is a group that went for Romney in 2012. Bloomberg Politics/Purple Slice poll   Meet the contest-ants, again. So, what happens at the convention? And how will voters react? Even some Kasich/Cruz voters think Trump should get the nod. And even some Trump voters would be open to a non-candidate getting selected. Marist-McLatchy poll on convention NBC/Survey monkey Quinnipiac national poll on desired traits for candidates   Religious folks: happier, but not necessarily healthier. Pew compared very religious to less religious folks. Some similarities, some differences. But everyone likes research (hooray!). Pew study on religion   What is the tracking on zombies? Millicent the magnificent! YouGov on zombies PPP on zombies   Key findings: Who are you calling rigged? The Dem contest looks absolutely civilized next to the Republican throwdown. When married women think of Donald trump, it gives them a headache. In case of zombie attack, i’d prefer Millicent or any of her brothers to some of the candidates in the current field. Politics aside, religion seems like a source of happiness for many. With all this free time you have from doing your taxes, should free up some time to write a review of The Pollsters.

David Dutwin talks about response rates, online vs landline vs. cells vs IVR, and pleads with us all to answer when the pollsters call.

Thanks everyone who came to our live show at Harvard! Yes, that means you!   Poll of the week: Are we creepy? Slate story on creepiness   2016: Dem side Is it an upset? A reset? Does it matter? Check the slide-y thing: NYTimes "slidey thing" HP trendlines   2016: GOP Remember Margie’s CNBC post? Well there was no gender gap for Trump in WI Exit polls Margie’s CNBC piece   Meet the contest-ants! Will the parties unite? Divide? Come to literal or figurative blows? Despite some heated rhetoric around the word “qualified” the Dem side may be in better shape than the GOP side. Big Pew study Marist/McLatchy poll   Senate battlegrounds Margie has not one but two races to figure out. WP/UofMD poll on MD senate Quinnipiac on Pennsylvania   Ask a millennial: Which of the following things do only Millennials like? --free wifi --clean, non-smoking rooms --their cellies. --buzzfeed --wait, I like all those things too? NYT confirms Millennials like wifi. Mediapost on netflix streaming   When all else fails, ask The Onion We’re experimenting with a new segment called” reading Onion headlines aloud. What do you think? The Onion goes behind the scenes   Key findings: The race is headed toward New York. That should calm things down. I feel qualified to say Democrats feel more unified than Republicans. But i only have a few more weeks to call myself an undecided primary voter. This is just another thing on my to-do list stressing me out. We asked Millennials if they like free stuff & clean stuff. They said yes. And when we run out of things to say, which is never, we turn to the Onion.  

The Pollsters to go Harvard's Institute of Politics for their 50th anniversary. Kristen was a fellow, and Margie, uh, once went to camp there. We interview Harvard's resident Millennial expert John Della Volpe. And we take audience questions. 

Hey insiders! We are reviving the micro-assignments & resurrecting one just for you: submit the show to NPR’s Earbud.FM. It’s easy, just go here!   Poll of the week: Change your profile pic if you love The Pollsters A fifth of people have changed their online photo Pew study   2016: #NeverTrump or #AlwaysTrump? We’re overwhelmed with Trump news. Most of it horrible. Today we dig a little deeper on Trump & women, but also delegate math. Kristen's Examiner column FiveThirtyEight on Trump & women Huffington Post on Trump & women Margie’s CNBC piece on Trump & women   2016: Dem contest maybe not as straightforward as you think Sanders back in it? Clinton voters more enthusiastic? Gender gap not so prevalent? What’s going on here? Reuters polling on Dem primary Gallup on enthusiasm Dan Cassino from FDU on sexism in the general election Sanders up in Wisconsin Gallup on enthusiasm & interest in election.   Safety, Security & the Trump Effect With security in the news post-Brussels, there have been some new polls out about concerns about safety. One’s point of view may depend on Reuters/Ipsos on torture Quinnipiac "Trump effect"   Kidney donation Would you donate your kidney to us? How about for 50 large? Newsweek piece   Key Findings: Ladies--and men--time to get into formation & get this bully out of the presidential race. Check your assumptions at the door about what’s going on in the Democratic contest. And the Trump Effect--it’s real. Go see a doctor & make sure you don’t leave the house without protection. For 50K, Margie would gladly donate you a kidney. You don’t even need to write us an iTunes review.  

We talk to Scott Tranter with 0ptimus about Big Data, the Rubio campaign, and how Republicans have advanced their data skills. Find them at 0ptimus.com (that's with a zero, not an O), or Scott on Twitter @stranter.

Don’t forget to listen to our recent interview with Nate Cohn from the NYT/Upshot--he dishes on the headlines to one of his stories recently, talks about great graphics, and more.     Poll of the week! Boaty McBoatface beating David Attenborough for the name of a new ship. At least it’s also beating “I love big boats & I cannot lie.” NERC Name Our Ship   Exit polls or it didn’t happen! How did the polls do this past Tuesday? And what’s next for the sleepy-town portion of the primary? AZ GOP poll Wisconsin GOP poll California poll Margie & Patrick (Kristen's biz partner) & others in fivethirtyeight   A poll you may want to punch in the face Wallet Hub/Survey Monkey YouGov/HP on Trump rally violence Quinnipiac on Trump rally violence Gallup on Trump favs Trump vs. Clinton general election Bloomberg/Selzer   You scratch my SCOTUS & I’ll scratch yours Merrick Garland polling shows he’s on track with past successful nominees. But there’s probably more to it than that. NYT/CBS on SCOTUS Gallup on Garland vs other past nominees   From the department of obvious Women want a job that pays more. Just like men. Go figure. HBR on Millennials leaving their jobs The Upshot/NYT on careers losing value   Thank you Easter bunny Does your family have a plan? National confectioners assoc poll   Key findings: Boaty McBoatface might have a better chance of stopping Trump at this point. Is Trump inciting violence? Responsible for violence? Or making people poll about violence? Sadly, even these questions divide us. In the coming weeks, we’ll turn to something surprisingly less controversial--the Supreme Court vacancy. What do women want? Same thing as men. What do all parents want this Easter? A plan to keep the candy under control. Good luck with that!

Kristen & Margie are both traveling, but we take time out to talk to Nate Cohn from The New York Times/The Upshot. He tells us about data journalism, data visualization, headline writing, and what's next in his 2016 coverage. 

The Pollsters: We’re everywhere! Check out Kristen in Elle, check us out in The Onion’s A/V Club, and check us out in-person at the Newseum.   Poll of The Week: The Robots. They’re Coming. The robots are coming for you. Just maybe not for us. Pew on robots   The Superest of Tuesdays A great night for Trump, a great night for Clinton, a great night for polling, and a bad day for all of us. CNN results and exit polls Huffington Post primary polling Trump delegates in Chicago Trump delegates in Chicago, pt2 Trump delegates in Chicago, pt3 Huffington Post general election matchups Monmouth poll on Trump violence   Welcome Spring! People have attributed this warmer winter to climate change. Gallup on climate change   What the data say, or says, about the Oxford comma FiveThirtyEight uses math to explain English.   Key findings When it comes to polling, and The Pollsters, the hits just keep on coming. We may not welcome our new Trump overlord, but we do welcome our new robot overlords. And robots do anything about climate change? b/c that’s what people think is behind this warm weather. The data *are* clear--the Oxford comma is the winner.  

Christy Quirk left political polling behind to travel the world doing research in conflict zones. We track her down in Nice. Check her out on Twitter.

Do you need an excuse to watch the new F/X OJ Simpson series? And do you need more yoga, more podcasts, or more women commentary? On all fronts, we got you covered.   Michi-can or Michi-can’t trust the polls? The Sanders Michigan upset had a lot of folks doing their usual polling handwringing. But don’t panic! FiveThirtyEight on MI Politico on MI WP on Michigan HP/Pollster on Michigan FiveThirtyEight on Sanders vs. Clinton voters   NeverTrump? What can we say about Trump and his supporters? Does he do well because of his hateful language, or despite it? Morning Consult YouGov/HP Trump question at the Democratic debate WP study on Trump voters Gallup on each GOP candidate's voters WP study on authoritarianism   We are the 14-49%! C’mon producers/hosts, you can do better! Studies show between 14-49% of 2016 prime-time AM/PM talkers are women. VOX/CAWP study of women talkers   You are the 21%! Hey, podcasts are totally a thing now. Forget the Serial effect, more like The Pollsters effect. Edison Research infinite dial   Just breathe Margie went to Tulum for relaxation, and she found...polling. Yoga Journal poll   Key Findings The moral of the Michigan michigoss: 1) we need more polling! and 2) we’re going to get more polling! Is Trump doing well because people are responding to racist language? or because they’re responding to his clarity of message? Or because they hate the establishment? No matter the answer, isn’t it time for all hands on deck? Remember you are already on the cutting edge of two trends: listening to women commentators and podcasting. If primary season is still getting you down, try some yoga, where women rule, and actual hand size is sometimes relevant, not some childish insult.

We talk to historian Peter Shulman, who regularly travels in the polling hot tub time machine to find public opinion artifacts. Check out his twitter handle @histopinion.

The Pollsters is now twice a week! You may not be able to stop Donald Trump, but you are able to encourage us to change our format. We’ve gone from Super Tuesday to Walking Dead Wednesday--we’re running on fumes, folks. Sorry!   Super Tuesday, Wacky Wednesday NYT has the best way to look at the exit poll data. Pay attention, data viz folks! Dems & GOP. From the Way Back Machine of last week: Bloomberg/Purple primary GOP poll that asked about pope vs. trump. Margie was wrong!! Meanwhile, Melania. And meanwhile, Michigan.   Cosmo: Ask A Millennial! Cosmo/Millennial women poll. How about next time they Ask a Millennial?   Ask a Reddit Bro: Not many people use Reddit, but those who do get their news there. Pew on Reddit & news consumption   Oscars so...underpolled? Oscars seem to beat the Grammys as far as relevance, but maybe not as far as diversity? YouGov on oscars   Key findings: Lots of voting, lots of exit polls, but maybe the race is exactly in the same spot as it was Monday. If the Pope can’t defeat Trump, then only the entire country workign together can do it. Cosmo: Some polling tips to make your audience go wild! Next time: ask a Millennial! Meanwhile, if you want to know where the bernie dudes are, check Reddit. Oscars so...Important? White? Over? Long? E, all of the above, please!