When is the last time you called a big company or government agency and after two or three rings, a real live human being answered the phone and said: "Hello, how can I help you?"
From big data, automation, complex algorithms, and giant corporations to massive government bureaucracy, we've lost the human touch. Everyday life often seems increasingly impersonal.
Our guest, Steve Hilton, argues for radical change. The former senior policy advisor to ex-British Prime Minister David Cameron has co-authored "More Human: Designing a World Where People Come First." The book is a clarion call for reform of government, law, education, welfare and business systems.
Are opinion polls accurate? Did they miss the rise of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders? Do they properly measure America's increasingly sharp political and cultural divisions? What's the difference between a well-designed poll conducted with careful methodology and a sloppy opt-in online survey?
Our guest is Gary Langer, an internationally recognized opinion researcher and longtime director of polling at ABC News. He has overseen and analyzed more than 750 surveys on a broad range of topics.
Gary has a passion for numbers and explains what listeners should know about polls. He tells us that surveys were taken at least a year ago - when many pundits dismissed Trump as an outlier - clearly showed that his views on banning overseas Muslim visitors and building a wall along the border with Mexico had substantial support among Republican voters. Trump led the GOP field throughout the lead-up to the primary season.
"The news media have for far too long indulged themselves in the lazy luxury of being both data-hungry and math-phobic," Gary tells us. "I would suggest polls are anti-pundit. A good quality poll ... holds a pundit's feet to the fire "
In this episode, we get some vital takeaways on how well-researched randomized polls are conducted and what changes have been made recently to ensure that a representative sample is reached.
Improving America's high schools is an exceptionally complex and difficult task. But all across the country, the most enlightened educators are working to narrow the gap between student achievement and the needs of an evolving workplace.
Our guest, Liz Willen, is editor-in-chief of the groundbreaking Hechinger Report. Using solutions journalism, data, stories, and research from classrooms and campuses, Hechinger looks at how education can be improved and why it matters.