I love data-informed opinions and arguments. So, I was fascinated when NPR told me that some academics quietly take side gigs in which they use data to help tobacco companies. Specifically, tobacco companies argue that, over time, people have become more and more aware of the risks associated with smoking. As such, Big Tobacco argues that they should not be held responsible for the harm caused by smoking. From NPR: I went down the rabbit hole to find the original data and more information on Gallups position, and this is what I found: https://news.gallup.com/poll/1717/tobacco-smoking.aspx So, while American's had heard about the potential connection between cancer and smoking, not everyone believed that this was true (41%), and many people weren't sure about the link (29%). How to use in class: -Data used in court. -Data is used by historians. More here:  http://www.stat.columbia.edu/~gelman/stuff_for_blog/Ethics-of-Consulting-for-the-Tobacco-Industry.p...

Elahe Izadi, writing for The Washington Post, shared polling data from the 1960s. The data focused on public opinion about different aspects of the civil rights movement (March on Washington, freedom riders, etc.). The old data was used to draw parallels between the mixed support for the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and the mixed support for current civil rights protests, specifically, Black Lives Matter. Here is the  Washington  Post  story on the polling data, the civil rights movement, and Black Lives Matter. The story is the source of all the visualizations contained below. H ere is the original polling data . https://img.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://img.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/files/2016/04/2300-galluppoll1961-1024x983.jpg&w=1484 https://img.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://img.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/files/2016/04/2300-galluppoll1963-1024x528.jpg&w=1484 I think this is timely data. And...