Hear how gerrymandering is like 'Moneyball applied to politics'

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.

Cracking and packing are the main tactics behind gerrymandering

Cracking and packing are gerrymandering techniques. Cracking splits opposing voters across districts, diluting their power. Packing concentrates their votes into a few districts, wasting them in overwhelming majorities for one party.

Test your gerrymandering skills with this interactive game

This simulation demonstrates how packing and cracking alter election outcomes. See how shifting district lines can change representation—regardless of the overall makeup of the electorate.

Can courts end partisan gerrymandering?

This podcast explored whether courts can rein in partisan map-drawing, focusing on North Carolina's 2023 redistricting battle, the Moore v. Harper case, and the controversial "independent state legislature" theory.

See the most oddly gerrymandered districts in the US

Based on input from redistricting experts and political scientists, this resource identifies and ranks the most extreme congressional gerrymanders of the 2020s, examining how map design, cracking, and packing reduce competition and distort representation across states.

How algorithmic redistricting works

Computational methods are convincing a number of judges that some state district maps are drawn illegally. Here's a simple overview of how it works.

This American Life explored Ohio's gerrymandering battle

In 2022, Ohio lawmakers repeatedly drew congressional districts that the state Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional. This defiance violated a voter-approved reform intended to prohibit partisan gerrymandering.

Researchers found that 2020 redistricting tactics created safer districts and reduced competition

Studies of the 2020 redistricting cycle show that map-drawing strategies locked in predictable outcomes. The result was fewer competitive races, more incumbents shielded from challengers, and representatives less responsive to broader voter preferences.

Thomas Hofeller was the GOP strategist known as the 'master of gerrymandering'

Republican consultant Thomas Hofeller quietly shaped US politics for decades by engineering partisan maps nationwide. His files, released after his death, revealed strategies to maximize GOP advantage and diminish Democratic influence.

Experts predict Republicans will gain seats from mid-decade redistricting in 2026

Analysts expect GOP-led states to net seats through mid-decade redistricting, while Democratic states face greater hurdles due to commissions and legal limits—tilting the likely outcome toward Republican gains in 2026.

The 2011 film 'Moneyball' shifted ideas about sports and statistics

Based on the Michael Lewis book of the same name, the film starring Brad Pitt depicts the attempts of the 2002 Oakland A's to leverage data analysis to overcome their low-budget woes ($41M) and compete with big-budget teams like the New York Yankees ($125M). Other sports and leagues, including the NBA and NFL, would adopt a similar logic: find what the market undervalues and exploit it.

How political campaigns use your data

What do campaigns know about US voters, and how do they use that information to shape their strategies during elections? US political campaigns base their strategies and tactics on data collected from more than 200 million voting-age Americans. This visualization by Reuters breaks down how data firms create national databases of voter files, collecting information from a variety of sources to create detailed voter profiles and how political campaigns use that data.

Visualize every time Congress has mentioned the word 'democracy' since 1880, and why

This Pudding interactive analyzes every mention of "democracy" in the Congressional Record over 145 years, charting how the word shifted from a partisan label to a concept, and tracking when lawmakers warned the system itself was under threat.

How George Gallup changed political polling forever

Straw polls had been used in the 19th century, but it wasn't until George Gallup's use of random sampling in 1936 that the art became a science.

Congress plays baseball together in a bipartisan charity game dating back to 1909

First organized in 1909 by Rep. John Tener, a former pro baseball player, the Congressional Baseball Game pits Democrats against Republicans to raise money for charity—and offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at lawmakers mixing rivalry with camaraderie.

Critics say that the Electoral College is outdated and favors small states

This article argues that the Electoral College no longer reflects modern democratic norms, disproportionately advantages smaller states, and warrants broader reform and national debate. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

Understanding why Republicans have challenged funding for the NSF

Lack of Congressional support in funding the National Science Foundation has often been justified by the party's interest in cutting federal deficits and reducing waste for seemingly frivolous research projects. However, an analysis of NSF grant data from 1992 to 2018 shows that awards were given to Democratic constituencies at disproportionately higher rates than to Republican ones, despite a lack of evidence of partisanship in proposal reviews. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

How America became a nation of gamblers

For thousands of years, humans have liked to gamble. What started as dice games and betting on chariot races became a way for states to generate revenue here in America. This article explores how states have been using gambling to pay for infrastructure and capital projects–and the cost it’s had on the citizens.

Inside a congressional office, the scheduler is more powerful than you think

A former congressional scheduler explains that a member's time is the scarcest resource in any Hill office, and controlling the calendar means understanding every competing claim on it, from the legislative team to the member's family. The interview demystifies how a typical House office actually functions, from staff hierarchies to outside resources like the Congressional Research Service.

Supporters say term limits prevent entrenched power

Advocates argue that term limits stop politicians from becoming career insiders, make government more accountable, and ensure fresh ideas circulate. They believe regular turnover keeps officials closer to the public and less beholden to special interests.

Examining golf's problems with race

In 1961, the PGA removed the "Caucasian-only" membership clause, marking the last major professional sports organization to desegregate. But unlike other sports, golf didn't see an influx of Black players following the change. This article from The Ringer's Lex Pryor examines golf's complicated history with race and gender, showing both the progress made and the challenges that remain.

A story of upward mobility

What role did the neighborhood you grew up in have in shaping your economic opportunities? Author Aaron Williams tells a data story about migration, community, and returning to your roots.

'Daily fantasy' is a high-stakes subset of fantasy sports

The form, pioneered by platforms like FanDuel and DraftKings, uses anonymous daily leagues and large payouts, looks more like typical betting than the season-long, community-minded setup of more traditional fantasy.

Behind the scenes on tariff politics

Economist Gene Grossman joined the Trade Talks Podcast to discuss why tariffs really happen. The episode digs into how voters, politicians, lobbyists, and even campaign cash can affect when protectionist trade policies are put forward. Produced in 2019, the podcast also discusses how populist trade policies and identity politics accounted for Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 Presidential election.

Political sloganeering is often downstream of memes

In 2018, #JobsNotMobs morphed from an internet meme into a conservative slogan. A video clip of angry protesters mixed with news anchors discouraging the use of the word "mob" posted on October 11, birthed the phrase. By October 19, it was adapted into a Republican party slogan.

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.

David Stern reimagined the NBA Draft to make it more competitive

When David Stern took over as commissioner in 1984, he watched multiple teams lose on purpose to get the top pick in a stellar draft class. The next season, Stern changed the process to a lottery, where every nonplayoff team has an equal chance at the first pick.

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

Exploring the Larry Bird punch that almost changed March Madness

The story of Dollree Mapp, whose legal challenge over her 1957 conviction for possessing "obscene material" led to a major strengthening of the Fourth Amendment

Explore an interactive map built from more than 100,000 survey responses on where people find joy in their lives

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

Calculate how much of your tax dollars go to each federal program based on your income, filing status, and number of children

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

Watch how algorithms can be designed to train themselves and self-improve without human input, to the point where the optimized code is too complex for programmers to understand.

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

According to the physics of black holes, our 4D reality may be a hologram—a projection of information coded on a 2D surface on the edge of the universe.

Mid-century modern graphic designers, known for their bright colors and bold lines in advertising, also found success with children's books.

The rivalry between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson centered on federalism—the question of how much power the federal government should hold relative to the states.

Listen to an in-depth conversation on the links between Parkinson's disease and herbicide exposure and the challenging pace of scientific investigation.

'Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone,' a work by American painter Thomas Moran, inspired Congress to establish Yellowstone National Park.

Browse a detailed visual analysis of over 200,000 similes—comparisons that often use 'like' or 'as'—from popular fiction to see how frequently writers the same idiomatic expressions.

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

Fish populations in the Great Barrier Reef have increased after installing waterproof speakers on the ocean floor that played recordings of sounds from healthy coral reefs.

Play the role of a student in a game where you try to navigate college and remain debt-free, selecting different income levels, high school experience, race, ethnicity, and more.

Before the current East Wing ballroom project, only two White House renovations in the past 100 years cost more than $10M.

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

Learn how monoclonal antibodies, which mimic the body's antibodies, can fight diseases like Ebola.

See how fireworks are made and learn how metals like magnesium and copper are responsible for different colors.

Discover the catastrophic consequences of a failure of the US electrical grid—something that is more likely than many Americans think.