The Jeff-alytics Podcast Is Coming!
Episode 0 is here! Episode 1 drops next Wednesday!
“Even among would-be users of criminal statistics there is much hazy thinking. A clear understanding is lacking of the various elements that enter into criminal statistics, as well as of the sources whence they must be obtained. Some demand too much from this branch of knowledge, some are content with it” - Statistician John Koren, 1910
People perceive crime trends poorly. This isn’t a new thing as the above quote from John Koren, written 115 years ago, would largely work today. Crime data is difficult to use and our criminal justice system is complex, making trends and their causes extremely challenging to understand.
Crime — and especially murder — is falling in the United States. If crime was rising nationally I’d be among the first to say so (I was in 2020/2021!), but it’s not, and I place getting people’s perceptions to match that reality near the top of my personal goals (right after breaking 70 in golf).
I wrote a bit ago about this problem and teased a new podcast as one way to try and address it head on. Well, Episode 0 is here and available for you to listen to as an appetizer for what’s coming. The RSS feed is here, and new episodes will show up here on our website or wherever you get your podcasts.
The goal of the podcast is to understand why American perceptions on crime and criminal justice are so wrong so often and, more importantly, what can be and what is being done about it.
I’m very excited!
In the first few episodes, I to talk with best-selling author Michael Lewis, philanthropist Laura Arnold, former Washington Post reporter Philip Bump, NYU professor Anna Harvey, and a bunch of other interesting conversations. We discuss communicating crime data/trends, working towards the future of criminal justice, perceptions of crime, and a ton more.
FBI statistical chief A.E. Leonard said it well in 1954: “The crime picture of a community may not be an attractive one, but its details should not be obscured on that account. The crime record is everybody's business and everybody should know the score.”
I’m hopeful that this podcast will help to tell the score in an accurate and accessible way. I hope you’ll hear interesting conversations about how to communicate data, what the future of criminal justice might look like, and how perceptions can better meet reality.
New episodes are coming out every other week starting next Wednesday (October 1st), so please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and be on the lookout for the newly dropping Jeff-alytics Podcast!