Polls and policy with FiveThirtyEight founder Nate Silver

At left, Nate Silver, Public Affairs Journalist in Residence and founder and editor in chief of FiveThirtyEight, gestures as he answers audience questions posed to him by Susan Webb Yackee (at right), director of the La Follette School of Public Affairs, in Shannon Hall in the Wisconsin Union Theater

At left, Nate Silver, Public Affairs Journalist in Residence and founder and editor in chief of FiveThirtyEight, answers audience questions posed to him by Susan Webb Yackee (at right), director of the La Follette School of Public Affairs. Photo: Althea Dotzour

Days ahead of the Wisconsin midterm elections, Nate Silver — the founder and editor in chief of FiveThirtyEight and the author of “The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail But Some Don’t” — visited the University of Wisconsin–Madison as the La Follette Public Affairs Journalist in Residence. While on campus, he met with students and discussed the promises and pitfalls of polling data as well as key issues facing voters this November.

Silver then gave a keynote speech in Shannon Hall at the Wisconsin Union Theater, an event organized by the La Follette School of Public Affairs with funding from the Kohl Initiative. In front of a packed audience, Silver dug into what polling data can tell us about public support for public policy on poverty, climate change and inflation.

Nate Silver, Public Affairs Journalist in Residence, speaks to students during a visit to a Contemporary Public Policy Issues class taught by Timothy Smeeding on Oct. 26. Photo by: Althea Dotzour

Nate Silver gives a lecture in a Russel Laboratories classroom. He stands at the front of the class and gestures to a projector screen showing slides from his presentation.

Nate Silver is the founder and editor in chief of FiveThirtyEight and the author of “The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail — But Some Don’t.”

Kaushal Dasika asks a question to Nate Silver in a Russle Laboratories classroom.

First-year student Kaushal Dasika asks a question to Nate Silver after class. Photo by: Althea Dotzour

Audience members enter Shannon Hall in the Wisconsin Union Theater, passing a sign promoting the event.

Audience members enter Shannon Hall in the Wisconsin Union Theater to attend the October event “Politics & Policy with Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.” Photo by: Althea Dotzour

Nate Silver stands on stage in Shannon Hall and gestures with his right hand as he speaks to the audience.

During the event, held days ahead of Wisconsin midterm elections, Nate Silver dug into what polling data can tell us about public support for public policy on poverty, climate change and inflation. Photo by: Althea Dotzour

At right, Susan Webb Yackee smiles at the audience as she asks Nate Silver a question. They are seated in leather chairs on the stage in Shannon Hall.

At right, Susan Webb Yackee, director of the La Follette School of Public Affairs, smiles at the audience as she asks a final question of Nate Silver. Photo by: Althea Dotzour

Audience members applaud Nate Silver at the end of an event in Shannon Hall.

A packed audience applauds Nate Silver. The event was organized by the La Follette School of Public Affairs with funding from the Kohl Initiative. Photo by: Althea Dotzour

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