Early pollsters thought they had the psychological tools to quantify American mind, thereby enabling a truly democratic polity that would be governed by a rational public opinion. Today, we malign the misinformed public and dismiss the deluge of frivolous polls. How did the rational public become the phantom public?

Episode #5: The (ir)Rational Alaskans (pt. 1 of 3)

Experts shape our world. Sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. In every big story, you’ll find one; you’ll find a researcher, scientist, engineer, planner, policy wonk, data nerd, bureaucrat, regulator, intellectual, or pseudo-intellectual. Their ideas are often opaque, unrecognized, and difficult to understand. Some of them like it that way. On Cited, we reveal their hidden stories.