Polling is facing an existential crisis. People aren't picking up the phone. Nobody wants to talk to pollsters. Trust is on the line. We pluck a solution from the economics canon and convince a polling firm to let us test it. 

Today on the show, we head to Marist College — home of the Marist Poll — to learn how to be pollsters ourselves. We learn the great moments in polling history, the latest science of polling, and find out all the tricks that pollsters use to get people to finish their surveys. Then we get on the phone and give it a try ourselves. And offer some of our own solutions. 

This episode was originally published before the 2022 midterm elections. 

We have an update on our idea to save polling, which Marist is still testing, and we find out what it might be able to tell us about the 2026 midterms. 

Music: "Partyline, "The Danzig Connection, and "Saku"

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This update was produced by Emma Peaslee with help from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was mastered by Gilly Moon with help from Cena Loffredo. The original episode was edited by Jess Jiang. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.

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