A majority of Americans support replacing the Electoral College with a popular vote

Nate Silver argues the Electoral College can reduce the impact of excess votes

In this article, Silver weighs the Electoral College's flaws—especially popular-vote inversions—against its advantages, arguing it can limit the effect of surplus votes in heavily one-sided states and encourage broader competition.

A 1960s effort came close to abolishing the Electoral College

This podcast episode examines the closest attempts in US history to eliminate the Electoral College, focusing on a major 1960s reform push—and why, despite broad support, it ultimately failed.

The Electoral College emerged as a compromise at the 1787 Constitutional Convention

This explainer traces how the Founding Fathers designed the Electoral College as a middle ground—balancing fears of direct popular rule against concerns about giving Congress the power to choose the president.

A vast majority of Americans support term limits for Congress

In a 2023 poll, 87% of respondents said they supported imposing term limits on members of Congress. The overwhelming bipartisan backing makes term limits one of the most consistently popular political reforms in the United States.

A poll from May 2025 found that a majority of Americans oppose ending birthright citizenship

As legal challenges progressed, a May 2025 NPR/Ipsos poll showed fewer than one-third of Americans supported eliminating birthright citizenship, despite broader public backing for other immigration restrictions.

Faithless electors have never changed the outcome of a US presidential election

Occasionally, Electoral College members vote against their state's popular choice—known as "faithless electors." Though these rare defections have drawn attention and prompted new state laws, none have ever altered the final result of a presidential race.

Most Americans support the separation of church and state

A 2021 Pew survey found that 55% of Americans strongly or moderately support the separation of church and state, while 14% favor integrating religion more into government.

A majority of Americans think President Trump is using more power than previous presidents

An October 2025 Pew Research Center survey found that 69% of Americans believed President Trump was trying to exert more power than previous presidents. Most Democrats viewed it negatively, while about half of Republicans said it was good for the country.

Five US presidents won the election despite losing the popular vote

Because presidents are elected through the Electoral College rather than a national vote, candidates can win while receiving fewer votes nationwide. John Quincy Adams, Rutherford B. Hayes, Benjamin Harrison, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump (2016) each won the presidency while losing the nationwide popular vote.

Voting rights expanded from 6% of Americans in 1789 to nearly all adult citizens today

In the first US election, only white male property owners—about 6% of the population—could vote. Constitutional amendments culminating in the 26th Amendment gradually expanded voting rights to nearly all citizens aged 18 and older.

A majority in surveyed countries approve of the UN

A 2024 Pew Research Center survey found that a median of 58% across 35 countries viewed the UN favorably, while 31% held unfavorable views. Notably, younger adults tended to view the UN more positively than older generations. The report offers a detailed, country-by-country analysis of global perceptions of the UN.

Most Americans don’t want a new national anthem

Despite some citizens voicing distaste for the composition of the song or Key’s history as a slaveholder, the overwhelming majority of Americans want to keep “The Star-Spangled banner.” A 2020 YouGov poll of over 25,000 American adults found that 60% believe it should remain as the anthem.

Despite being favored by 87% of Americans, Congress does not have term limits.

Social Security is one of the most popular government programs

In a recent Pew Research Center survey of US adults, 79% said Social Security benefits shouldn’t be reduced in any way. This view is broadly shared across ages, races, political affiliations, and income brackets.

30% of Americans make New Year's resolutions

The practice is more popular among younger people: In a Pew Research Center study, nearly half of people under 30 reported making at least one resolution. The majority of Americans (of all ages) who didn’t make resolutions said they simply don’t like the tradition.

As of 2024, approximately 44% of Americans support fracking

This makes the method less popular than carbon-free forms of energy production, such as solar, wind, and nuclear power, but more popular than coal mining. Support for fracking increased 7% from 2020 to 2024, primarily due to increased support from Republicans and older Americans.

Ranked-choice voting redistributes ballots until a candidate wins a majority

In ranked-choice voting, voters rank candidates in order of preference. If no one wins a majority, the lowest-ranked candidate is eliminated, and their votes are reassigned until a candidate surpasses 50%, avoiding separate runoff elections.

The firms running America's voting systems

Three companies make up over 90% of the US market share around voting systems, and like any company, they're priorities aren't always aligned with the public's. Dive into the industry of voting machines in this investigation piece from the Guardian.

Voter turnout in local elections is significantly lower than for national elections

While 64% of eligible voters cast ballots in the 2024 presidential election, turnout in municipal elections is usually below 15%. For school board elections—where members oversee more than 50 million students and $600B in spending—turnout is often around 5%-10%.

72% of Americans say tipping is now expected in more places than it was 5 years ago

This change has been driven by multiple factors, including point-of-sale systems from fintech companies such as Square that prompt customers for tips directly. Americans also increased tipping during the pandemic in an effort to support local businesses struggling financially due to a lack of physical foot traffic.

Americans think being informed is a priority for voting, but don't prioritize reading the news

Many Americans report feeling "news fatigue," finding much of the news they encounter irrelevant. Still, being informed is recognized as a major civic duty. Many Americans have stopped seeking out the news or are far more selective about where they receive it, and an increasing sense that its up to individuals to confirm the facts they're being told.

How popular are America's billionaires?

The US has more billionaires than any other country, and they are a mix of media moguls, entrepreneurs, and entertainers. This list ranks the 10 richest Americans by their popularity. The oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett, ranks highest in favorability at 52%, while Google cofounder Sergey Brin ranks lowest—likely because 72% of respondents didn't recognize his name.

If the estate tax is repealed, more expensive alternatives might come in its place

The federal estate tax has been up for political debate for decades. Many want to get rid of it altogether. If repealed other tax options, like capital gains taxes, could have people paying more in taxes than before.

The United States is one of only around two dozen countries with a fully federal system of government, in which power is divided between national and state governments.

97% of Americans polled say they like or love ice cream

The poll—conducted by the International Dairy Foods Association and Morning Consult—asked over 2,200 American adults. The top flavor for Americans? Vanilla.

Nearly 40% of American cars were electric in 1899

They were most common in cities, where battery swap stations allowed drivers to "refuel" their vehicles reliably. Innovations in combustion engines caused electric cars to lose ground until environmental policies and advances in battery technology revitalized interest.

Cremations are America's top choice for postmortem body treatment

Though this process is the most popular one, more Americans are becoming interested in "green" burials that don't involve slowly degrading coffin materials, toxic embalming fluids or emissions from crematoria.

44% of Americans say they pray at least once a day—discover how your state's religiosity stacks up against the rest of the country.

The power and influence of the American presidency have expanded significantly over time—far beyond what the founders envisioned.

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

Long before Major League Baseball began allowing instant replay for balls and strikes, an umpire reluctantly used the technology to determine whether a hit was a home run, a move that inadvertently ushered in a new era for the sport.

The American Society of Civil Engineers' infrastructure report card gave the US a C in 2025, its highest grade since the project launched in 1998.

The USPS spent $3.97B in 2024, accounting for .058% of the federal budget.

After the Boston Tea Party, colonists switched to coffee, which became the main morning drink for revolutionaries.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

11 people died from firework injuries in the US in 2024.

The price of gas is a composite made up of several different factors, with the federal gas tax making up less than 20% of what drivers pay at the pump.

US consumers collectively owe more than $1T to credit card companies—almost as much as they owe in auto loans.

Electrical grids worldwide must double their power delivery capacity by 2050 to meet surging demand from AI and electric vehicles.

The United States has had a tumultuous relationship with Cuba since its 1959 revolution, highlighted by a nuclear crisis and a decades-long trade embargo.

The hormonal disorder PCOS was renamed PMOS in 2026, a move designed to improve care and research by shifting the focus to the hormonal causes of this condition that affects 1 in 8 women.

Some coin denominations have ridges etched on their sides, partly to prevent counterfeiting, in a practice called 'reeding.'

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

After 25 people used virtual reality headsets to practice flying with virtual wings—flapping their arms—their visual cortex responded to the wings almost as if they were real arms, treating them as body parts.

Pure water does not conduct electricity because this flow of energy requires the movement of charged particles, and water is a neutral molecule.

The American cockroach is actually from Africa, an apparent hitchhiker aboard ships carrying enslaved people, with evidence suggesting the bug may have arrived in the New World as early as the 1600s.

An Ebola vaccine was developed during the 2018 west African Ebola outbreak, but the 2026 Ebola outbreak is with a different species of the virus, not the one that the vaccine is approved to treat.

A century of Billboard issues documenting the evolution of popular music.

A pickleball's loud 'pop' sound can reach 120 decibels, which is equivalent to a hammer hitting a nail

The 19th-century painters of the Hudson River School were among the first American romantics, with portraits that displayed the natural beauty of the young country.