Polling is facing an existential crisis. People aren't picking up the phone. Nobody wants to talk to pollsters. Trust is on the line. We pluck a solution from the economics canon and convince a polling firm to let us test it.
Today on the show, we head to Marist College — home of the Marist Poll — to learn how to be pollsters ourselves. We learn the great moments in polling history, the latest science of polling, and find out all the tricks that pollsters use to get people to finish their surveys. Then we get on the phone and give it a try ourselves. And offer some of our own solutions.
This episode was
originally published before the 2022 midterm elections.
We have an update on our idea to save polling, which Marist is still testing, and we find out what it might be able to tell us about the 2026 midterms.
Music: "Partyline, "The Danzig Connection, and "Saku"Read: Our book:
Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life Our weekly longform
Planet Money newsletterOur weekly
Indicator round-up newsletterFollow: InstagramTikTokYouTubeFacebookThis update was produced by Emma Peaslee with help from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was mastered by Gilly Moon with help from Cena Loffredo. The original episode was edited by Jess Jiang. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s
executive producer. Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.See
pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy