podcast

Bringing the House down: our American midterms model

23.04.2026
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We examine what our forecast model predicts so far—and consider what might change its confident prediction for one house of Congress and toss-up call for the other. Our correspondent sits down with Steve Reich, a pioneering classical composer who is nearing his 90th birthday. And the surprising reason why firstborns tend to have more-successful lives.


Additional music courtesy of Steve Reich (Nonesuch Records), Erik Hall (Western Vinyl)


Guests and host:

  • Dan Rosenheck, data editor
  • Jon Fasman, senior culture correspondent
  • Ainslie Johnstone, data journalist
  • Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered: 

  • American elections, Congress, polling, gerrymandering
  • Steve Reich, contemporary classical music
  • birth order, statistics

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