i see we're arguing about whether air travel has gotten better or worse over the past 40 years, and as somebody who has been flying for decades, let me tell you that boy are my arms tired
Ariel Edwards-Levy
@aedwardslevy.bsky.social
Polling editor at CNN, keeping (cross)tabs on public opinion and the news. I like puns.
i am a descriptivist except for people who use the word "diabolical" to mean "somewhat bad"
the strait of hormel, also known as the spam filter
the fact that they have changed their name to "Capital Weather" has not, unfortunately, cured me of this in any way
Ariel Edwards-Levy@aedwardslevy.bsky.social · 7mo agoremain incapable of not saying "weather gang weather gang weather gang weather gang" to the cadence of gucci gang
the music of the spice girls is for children of less intellectual depth than me, a tiny snob -> wait, no, this is actually all very fun
Dave Moore@otherdavemoore.com · 5d agoHot takes are annoying, tell me a strong opinion you had about music at some point in your life that changed
i see we're arguing about whether air travel has gotten better or worse over the past 40 years, and as somebody who has been flying for decades, let me tell you that boy are my arms tired
13 out of 50, although, thanks to my occasional hobby of trying to figure out the twist in books solely via unkind goodreads review, I could probably tell you the plot of a lot more of them (also, special shoutout to The Likeness, an absolute all-timer in rising above its premise)
Alan Zilberman@alanzilberman.bsky.social · 11h ago16 out of 50, which isn't too bad I guess. What's funny, though, is that half of the thrillers I haven't read is because I have already watched the TV or film adaptation.
obviously there is domestic context here, but I do love the idea of asking a nation whether some random chap named Andy may take a holiday, presumably as a condition of his PTO
YouGov@yougov.co.uk · 11h agoHow do voters feel about Andy Burnham going on holiday? Labour: 84% acceptable / 9% unacceptable Green: 80% / 14% Lib Dem: 80% / 12% Con: 61% / 31% Reform: 45% / 45% yougov.com/en-gb/daily-...
Good news: confidence in elections is less polarized than in past cycles! Bad news:
Andrew Daniller@adaniller.bsky.social · 11h agoNew: A narrow majority of Americans (55%) are confident that this November’s midterm elections will be conducted fairly and accurately – down from 61% ahead of the 2024 elections, 64% in 2022 and 59% in 2020. www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...
local woman feels slightly vindicated for several weeks spent steering colleagues away from state primary polling that was a) sponsored or conducted by groups with vested interests b) done on the cheap c) done by people with very little track record d) all of the above, yes
the sky is very blue and it is unclear to me why I am simply not drinking iced coffee in a city park somewhere
two personal hobby-horses I have about poll writing that I wish were more widely shared:
years ago someone referred to polling as astrology for men, a phenomenally dumb statement that apparently I'm still mad about
Josh Fruhlinger@jfruh.bsky.social · 2d ago"astrology forecast"? isn't astrology itself a forecast? is this like a second-order astrology derivative
the scariest halloween decoration: a spotted jack-o'-lanternfly
about to see metric, even more excited than lincoln chafee
there exists a truly excruciating kazoo bolero, it is worse than the description suggests, and every so often my brain impels me to listen to it voluntarily
lil miss big boy@lighter.bsky.social · 5d agoPost your hottest music take. Mine is New Order is better than Joy Division.
the best part of the year is when it's been at least a month since I've had to think about bringing a jacket anywhere and at least a month before I'll need to
Because the 1st is a Saturday, “How is it August already?!” will be observed today, Friday, July 31, 2026. Please panic accordingly.
the new @shearwaterband.bsky.social album is very good and "still, you gotta live with people" is an excellent all-purpose life refrain
Generic ballot numbers tend to get outsized attention, but IMO we asked a bunch of interesting stuff in our latest poll, so I want to highlight some of the findings that aren't directly horserace: www.cnn.com/2026/07/30/politics/cnn-poll-midterm-generic-ballot-democrats-republicans-change
Teamed up with @danmerica.bsky.social to break down Trump's weak job approval numbers in polls this week and how they're shaping the midterms. Gift link wapo.st/4yPmJU9
Analysis | Trump’s poll numbers just took another turn for the worse
The president of the United States is more unpopular than he has ever been, according to a series of polls of American voters ahead of the 2026 midterms.
wapo.st
The critical question of US politics right now is whether the reticence of normally solid Republican voters to pick up the phone and talk to pollsters signals a general disengagement with politics (and thus low turnout in November), or is limited to polling.
it's funny that we have all these stories about AI "escaping the sandbox" as if sandboxes weren't notoriously easy to get out of
idea: streatery but it's a coworking space where you get to do your little emails outside
please...my crosstabs....they're very interesting
Ariel Edwards-Levy@aedwardslevy.bsky.social · 6d agoGeneric ballot numbers tend to get outsized attention, but IMO we asked a bunch of interesting stuff in our latest poll, so I want to highlight some of the findings that aren't directly horserace: www.cnn.com/2026/07/30/politics/cnn-poll-midterm-generic-ballot-democrats-republicans-change
I'm going to tell you how to spin straw into gold in 45 seconds flat, and anyone can do it. But first, hi, i'm rumpelstiltskin, I tell you hacks for escaping the evil king, and here's how i get ready for a day as a full-time imp. [5 min later] Come back for part 2, where we'll spin that straw.
to expand on this one: the whole debate about skirting paywalls aside, this particular site (also known as archive dot is, etc.) is currently banned from wikipedia for using its site to DDoS attack a critic and editing the content of archived pages
Ariel Edwards-Levy@aedwardslevy.bsky.social · last wk.also also: using archive dot today is bad (see: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archive...)