I recently wrote about my long-term fascination with American electoral geography, the way voting patterns are distributed across states, Congressional districts, counties and other areal units. Pursuing this interest as an undergraduate political science major, I began to explore state-level presidential voting data. During my junior year, I created a large chart that ranked how … Continue reading Doctor, validate thyself!
Author: Matthew Berger
I am a data geek, history researcher, writer and househusband with academic training in political science (BA, Yale; MA, Harvard), biostatistics (MA, Boston University) and epidemiology (PhD, BU). I published Interrogating Memory: Film Noir Spurs a Deep Dive Into My Family History...and My Own in 2022. As of July 2026, I seek a publisher for its completed follow-up, The West Philadelphia Story: An Immigrant Jewish Journey. I plan a third book on my idiosyncratic GenX life. My musical trinity is Genesis, Miles Davis and Stan Ridgway. A liberal Democrat, I know a healthy democracy demands cross-partisan cooperation. I grew up just outside Philadelphia, and I live just outside Boston, where my wife and children keep me happy, sane and grounded.
Separating the art from the artist
The director David Lynch—who I dressed as this past Halloween—gave this response to a question about the meaning of a puzzling moment toward the end of episode 15 of Twin Peaks: The Return. “What matters is what you believe happened,” he clarified. “That’s the whole thing. There are lots of things in life, and we wonder about … Continue reading Separating the art from the artist
Final thoughts from what is almost certainly my final APHA meeting
I debuted this blog 11 months ago yesterday as a place to tell what I hoped would be entertaining and informative data-driven stories. Given my proclivity for, and advanced academic training in, quantitative data analysis, the vast majority of my 47 prior posts have involved the rigorous and systematic manipulation of numbers. But not all … Continue reading Final thoughts from what is almost certainly my final APHA meeting
The 2016 U.S. presidential election viewed through one statistic
The 2016 United States (U.S.) presidential election is one of those elections (1948, 1960, 1968 and 2000 also come to mind) people will be re-hashing as long as the U.S. continues to HAVE presidential elections. I have already shared data-driven thoughts on the 2016 U.S. presidential election here, here, here, here, here and here. Grounding … Continue reading The 2016 U.S. presidential election viewed through one statistic
As I head to the APHA meeting in Atlanta in November…
There have been times, especially lately, that I start to write one post and end up writing an entirely different post. I originally conceived this post to be a simple repository for a set of documents related to my previous career. The impetus for this was two oral presentations I will be delivering in Atlanta … Continue reading As I head to the APHA meeting in Atlanta in November…
Phollowing the Philadelphia Phillies is phun again
I trace my love of the Philadelphia Phillies to my father. As a 15-year-old fan, he convinced members of the 1950 National League Champion “Whiz Kid” Phillies to sign his autograph book. Phillies games always seemed to be playing on the car radio when I was young, the mellifluous baritone of Harry Kalas and the … Continue reading Phollowing the Philadelphia Phillies is phun again
Unpacking Twitter arguments, both coherent and incoherent
Following ratification of the United States Constitution (Constitution) on September 17, 1787, debate ensued over whether it sufficiently safeguarded individual liberties. James Madison, then a United States House of Representatives (House) member, responded by drafting a set of Amendments, which he presented to the House as directed in Article V. Seventeen Amendments won the necessary … Continue reading Unpacking Twitter arguments, both coherent and incoherent
Positively pondering pesky probabilities, perchance
One inspiration to start this “data-driven storytelling” blog was the pioneering work of Nate Silver and his fellow data journalists at FiveThirtyEight.com; their analyses are an essential “critical thinking” reality check to my own conclusions and perceptions. Indeed, when I finally get around to designing and teaching my course on critical thinking (along with my … Continue reading Positively pondering pesky probabilities, perchance
Wait, when were you born??
I notice with some chagrin that I have only posted once (a paean to the late, great Walter Becker of Steely Dan) since August 26, 2017, which I regret, despite my assertion when I launched this blog that I would only post when I had something to say. There are two reasons (but not, as … Continue reading Wait, when were you born??
How do I love Steely Dan? Let me count…a whole lot of stuff and such.
Sometime in the spring of 1977 (probably), my mother found herself in a suburban Philadelphia record store. Maybe it was the (now long-since-gone) Sam Goody store on Lancaster Avenue in Ardmore. We were living only a short drive away in Havertown at the time, so why not? My then-39-year-old mother rarely payed attention to music … Continue reading How do I love Steely Dan? Let me count…a whole lot of stuff and such.
Just Bear With Me... 