George Gallup

As George Gallup pioneered new methods of surveying the public, The Nation opined on their dangers—and democratic possibilities.

In 1956, The New York Times, dismayed by wayward polls in the prior presidential race, sent teams of reporters across the nation to better gauge public opinion.

Political polling’s greatest achievement is its complete co-opting of our understanding of public opinion, which we can no longer imagine without it.

Presidential polls are no more reliable than they were a century ago. So why do they consume our political lives?

Failures inspire distrust of pollsters and calls for more shoe-leather reporting. But by the next election, we always come running back.

On how Europe’s interwar period informs the present.

The answer can change over time.

How audience measurement became central to the creative and commercial development of television.

The terms meaning has shifted throughout Christianity’s long history, making it difficult to define.