#58 Our Problem With Polls. Gary Langer: How Do We Fix It?

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.

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#54 Fixing Our Habits: Smarter, Faster, Better Charles Duhigg

This podcast is all about how to have better habits and use them to be more productive in our projects, careers and everyday lives.

We talk about to-do lists, email, mental models and making the most of our time with best-selling author, Chares Duhigg. His latest book is "Smarter, Faster, Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and In Business." Charles is also the author of "The Power of Habit."

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#50 Building a Better Workplace: Social Psychologist Ron Friedman

The numbers are alarming. A 2015 Gallup poll found nearly 70% of U.S. employees say they're either bored or disengaged at work.

The cost to employers has been put at more than $500 billion in lost productivity. The cost to workers is incalculable - in human misery, unnecessary stress, and lost opportunity.

Workplace psychologist Ron Friedman is the author of "The Best Place to Work: The Art and Science of Creating an Extraordinary Workplace." Ron says there's an astonishing gap between the latest science and most of the modern workplace. He has some great tips for both employers and employees.

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#45 The Case for Children's Free Play: Lenore Skenazy

You can't have too much of a really good thing. That's why we decided to invite Lenore Skenazy,founder of Free Range Kids, to make a welcome return to "How Do We Fix It?" She was a guest on an earlier show.

Lenore is the passionate and playful campaigner, who says most American kids don't have nearly enough unstructured free time, when they can be curious and engage the world on their own terms.

"Free time is unsupervised time," Lenore tells us. "It's not a parent sitting there saying 'oh, that was really good, or try it this way.' Sometimes you've got to do things that are really bad and try it the wrong way, because that's the creative process."

Lenore says parenting styles have changed in the past 30 years, especially for many urban and upper-middle classes Moms and Dads. Risk avoidance seems more important than stimulating a child's imagination.

"Think back on your own childhood. Your parents loved you and they let you go. And it's a new thing not to give children any freedom."

From the Free Range Kids statement of where it stands: "Fighting the belief that are children are in constant danger from creeps, kidnapping, germs, grades, flashers, frustration, failure, baby snatchers, bugs, bullies, men, sleepovers and/or the perils of the non-organic grape."

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#42 Neighbors Divided Over Politics: Joan Blades: How Do We Fix It?

This show is another response to the deep partisan divide in America - part one of a fascinating conversation with Joan Blades.

Much of our political campaign has been dominated by personal insults, name-calling and dogma. Voters have rewarded politicians who use anger and blame others for the country's problems. Individual citizens are part of the problem and the solution.

"We live with the dysfunction of partisan behaviors and believe we must and can do better," says Joan, co-founder of Living Room Conversations She makes the case for personal dialog across party lines, arguing that it's a key part of changing the way all of us think about politics.

A strong progressive, who co-founded the liberal activist group, MoveOn.org in the late 90's, Joan makes the case for listening to those you don't agree with.

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#41 Mark Earls Explains Donald Trump: Emotions & The Power of "We"

Let's face it. Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have won far more votes than almost any "expert" forecast.

The reason may well be that emotions and learned behavior from others play a far bigger role in our decision-making than most of us realize.

Our "Fix It" guest Mark Earls - the HERDMeister - is an award-winning British writer and consultant on marketing, communications and human behavior. In his latest book, "Copy, Copy, Copy," Mark shows how we vote and buy stuff by copying others - our friends, family and our neighbors.

"Donald Trump is "much smarter than we give him credit for," says Mark.. "He gets that people need to feel stuff rather than think about it.

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