Serial Podcast Subreddit Survey Results

So here are the results of a survey I put up for serial fans on https://www.reddit.com/r/serialpodcast/ .  Because it was a free account, I can't export the raw data into excel for analysis and I haven't had time to do in manually.  And of course all of this has to be taken with the caveat that it is a self selected group of poll takers from a small group and totally non-random.  But some quick thinks that jumped out at me:


1) Gender disparity.  65% female to 35% male.  I'm guessing that's far off general reddit breakdown, but maybe reflects the Serial audience demographic.  In any case, it's a big difference which I can't explain.

2) Age skewed a a lttle younger than I would have guessed, but that may be more reflective of reddit and serial's general listening audience.

3) Super white dominated at 81%.

4) Less than 50% of repondents believe Adnan's guilty.  The rest believe innocent of undecided.  This is very different from my impression from reading comments.  And that indicate to me that the guilters are just far more outspoken and strident.  They attack others, downvote and likely push people to stop commenting if they believe Adnan might not be guilty.

5) If you look at who thinks the State met the beyond a reasonable doubt burden of proof, the difference is even more clear.  Only 34% thinkg the State proved their case vs 66% who thing it did not.

I'll update when I have time to manually export the data to excel.

Are you male or female?

• Answered: 117 
• Skipped: 0

FemaleMale

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Answer Choices–	Responses–
– Female	64.96% 76
– Male	35.04% 41
Total	117

Q2

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What is your age?

• Answered: 116 
• Skipped: 1

17 or younger18-2021-2930-3940-4950-5960 or older

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Answer Choices–	Responses–
– 17 or younger	1.72% 2
– 18-20	3.45% 4
– 21-29	24.14% 28
– 30-39	37.93% 44
– 40-49	18.10% 21
– 50-59	9.48% 11
– 60 or older	5.17% 6
Total	116

Q3

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In what country do you currently reside?

• Answered: 83 
• Skipped: 34

United States

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%

Answer Choices–	Responses–
– United States	100.00% 83
Total	83
Comments(33)

Q4

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What is the highest level of school you have completed or the highest degree you have received?

• Answered: 116 
• Skipped: 1

Less than high

school degree

High school

degree or...

Some college

but no degree

Associate

degree

Bachelor degreeGraduate degree

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%

Answer Choices–	Responses–
– Less than high school degree	0.86% 1
– High school degree or equivalent (e.g., GED)	3.45% 4
– Some college but no degree	6.90% 8
– Associate degree	5.17% 6
– Bachelor degree	36.21% 42
– Graduate degree	47.41% 55
Total	116

Q5

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Are you White, Black or African-American, American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific islander, or some other race?

• Answered: 111 
• Skipped: 6

White

Black or

African-Amer...

American

Indian or...

Asian

Native

Hawaiian or...

From multiple

races

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Answer Choices–	Responses–
– White	81.08% 90
– Black or African-American	3.60% 4
– American Indian or Alaskan Native	0.00% 0
– Asian	10.81% 12
– Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander	0.00% 0
– From multiple races	4.50% 5
Total	111
Comments(5)

Q6

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US Region

• Answered: 80 
• Skipped: 37

New EnglandMiddle Atlantic

East North

Central

West North

Central

South Atlantic

East South

Central

West South

Central

MountainPacific

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Answer Choices–	Responses–
– New England	5.00% 4
– Middle Atlantic	18.75% 15
– East North Central	20.00% 16
– West North Central	3.75% 3
– South Atlantic	11.25% 9
– East South Central	7.50% 6
– West South Central	6.25% 5
– Mountain	6.25% 5
– Pacific	21.25% 17
Total	80

Q7

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Which of the following best describes the field in which you received your highest degree?

• Answered: 71 
• Skipped: 46

MathematicsScienceHealthcareMedicineComputingEngineeringTechnologyBusiness

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Answer Choices–	Responses–
– Mathematics	5.63% 4
– Science	28.17% 20
– Healthcare	9.86% 7
– Medicine	8.45% 6
– Computing	5.63% 4
– Engineering	7.04% 5
– Technology	5.63% 4
– Business	29.58% 21
Total	71
Comments(39)

Q8

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Generally speaking, do you usually think of yourself as a Republican, a Democrat, an Independent, or something else?

• Answered: 113 
• Skipped: 4

RepublicanDemocratIndependentSomething else

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Answer Choices–	Responses–
– Republican	5.31% 6
– Democrat	56.64% 64
– Independent	16.81% 19
– Something else	21.24% 24
Total	113

Q9

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Do you believe the State met the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt in its case against Adnan Syed?

• Answered: 117 
• Skipped: 0

YesNo

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Answer Choices–	Responses–
– Yes	34.19% 40
– No	65.81% 77
Total	117

Q10

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Do you believe Adnan Syed is guilty?

• Answered: 117 
• Skipped: 0

Yes or Lean YesNo or Lean NoUndecided

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Answer Choices–	Responses–
– Yes or Lean Yes	48.72% 57
– No or Lean No	29.06% 34
– Undecided	22.22% 26
Total	117

Selma and Tim Scott

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., an honorary co-chairman of the Selma trip and the only African-American Republican in the Senate, said voting rights and the commemoration of Selma should be “de-coupled.”

“The issue of voting rights legislation and the issue of Selma, we ought to have an experience that brings people together and not make it into a political conversation,” Scott said.

So in other words "Stop making civil rights commemorations about civil rights!  This is supposed to be an empty, meaningless photo-op for me."

Clintonemail.com

I'm pretty sure this is just another overblown fake GOP manufactured "scandal" but I looked up the history of the clintonemail.com domain and it was originally registered in 2009 by Justin Cooper, an adviser to Bill CLinton who, according to wikipedia, "began working in the White House as an intern in the Office of Science and Technology Policy and later in the Oval Office. He was later hired as a Staff Assistant for Oval Office Operations." Today it's registration info is shielded by a middleman company called PERFECT PRIVACY, LLC. Not anything revelatory, but I hadn't seen that detail reported yet so I figured I'd write a quick post about it. I also noticed a traceroute dies at a zayo.com router, a company which provides " bandwidth infrastructure services, including dark fiber, wavelengths, SONET, Ethernet, IP services, and carrier-neutral colocation and interconnection.".




Registrant:
Cooper, Justin
   ATTN CLINTONEMAIL.COM
   care of Network Solutions
   PO Box 459
   Drums, PA.  US  18222
 

   Domain Name: CLINTONEMAIL.COM

   Administrative Contact, Technical Contact:
      Cooper, Justin  Email Masking Image@networksolutionsprivateregistration.com
      ATTN CLINTONEMAIL.COM
      care of Network Solutions
      PO Box 459
      Drums, PA 18222
      US
      570-708-8780
   

   Record expires on 13-Jan-2014.
   Record created on 13-Jan-2009.
   Database last updated on 30-Jan-2013 12:37:38 EST.

He was great in the Star Trek Pilot, but....

via TPM - Michael Carvin, the attorney arguing on behalf of the plaintiffs in the King v. Burwell case, said this challenge is different because the argument against the law centers on a statute that was "written by white women and minorities." http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/michael-carvin-obamacare-statutes-white-women-minorities

Anti-vaxxers and the 2016 Presidential Election

I find it interesting that on most political blogs i read, even far right wingers aren't popping up to defend the anti-vaxxers against the tyranny of gubmint overreach. That tells me even

the vast majority of serious movement conservatives see this as craziness. But the GOP presidential clown show are still feeling pressure to flip-fop and give vague answers on whether they support mandatory vaccinations. So i expect this to be the first of many issues in the 2016 campaign where the GOP field is forced to take crazy positions 70 or 80% of americans disagree with to satisfy the fringiest right wing litmus tests during the primaries. And that's once again gonna kill 'em in the general. Especially if they end up running one of the real nutjobs instead of a bush or walker type.

My Email for the Maryland Attorney General about Serial

I'm writing to express my concern regarding the 1999 murder conviction of Adnan Syed, which has been the focus of the recent NPR podcast Serial.  Although his guilt or innocence remain unknown, it is clear that there were multiple, serious problems with the evidence, prosecution misconduct (including attempts to coach and intimidate a witness), prosecution witness perjury and ineffective counsel.  It's abundantly clear that these issues necessitate approval of the appeal and the State should not oppose the motion.  I strongly urge your office to address this matter and allow the appeal to go forward.

What is Affirmative Consent?

So Jerry Brown just signed SB-967, the Student Safety: Sexual Assault Bill, into law in California. There's been a good deal of reporting recently on widespread problems at colleges and universities in how they deal with rape and assault and I'm the first to acknowledge those problems. There's a

culture of acceptance at best or tacit approval at worst of sexual assault on campuses, and in many cases faculty and staff would rather ignore it than address it. So legislation to reform the system and protect victims is certainly needed and welcome.

And that brings us to the current bill, which basically requires every school to enact and Affirmative Consent sexual assault policy to receive any state of federal funds. The affirmative consent standard is usually defined as requiring the each person engaging in sexual activity to obtain active affirmative, voluntary agreement to sexual activity. Which sounds great. Of course affirmative consent should be required. But when it comes to criminal legal matters the details are critical and that's where California's new law is problematic. The relevant text reads:

(1) An affirmative consent standard in the determination of whether consent was given by both parties to sexual activity. “Affirmative consent” means affirmative, conscious, and voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity. It is the responsibility of each person involved in the sexual activity to ensure that he or she has the affirmative consent of the other or others to engage in the sexual activity. Lack of protest or resistance does not mean consent, nor does silence mean consent. Affirmative consent must be ongoing throughout a sexual activity and can be revoked at any time. The existence of a dating relationship between the persons involved, or the fact of past sexual relations between them, should never by itself be assumed to be an indicator of consent.

This law requires "affirmative, conscious, and voluntary agreement" but never defines what constitutes such agreement to satisfy the legal requirement. It tells you what does NOT constitute consent, including lack of protest, silence or an ongoing dating relationship. OK. But what DOES constitute affirmative consent? A yes, a nod, a smile? And further complicating things is the requirement for ongoing consent throughout the sexual activity. Again, what exactly is required? Does an initial verbal consent mean that less definitive physical cues are sufficient going forward? Or must both parties pause every 10 minutes to obtain updated verbal consent? 

This may seem like petty carping because everyone KNOW what consent means. But in legal matters of such import, "just knowing" isn't enough. This law creates questions and confusion with arbitrary and undefined requirements to avoid being guilty of rape. Amanda Marcotte defends this ambiguity saying "The law has no bearing on the vast majority of sexual encounters. It only applies when a student files a sexual assault complaint". To which Jonathan Chait responds "So the law will not come into play because nobody will actually try to enforce it. Instead, it will technically deem a large proportion of sexual encounters to be rape, but prosecutors will only enforce it if there is an accusation. And since most, and possibly nearly all, sexual encounters will legally be rape, then accusation will almost automatically result in conviction... What percentage of the last decade worth of Hollywood sex scenes, if acted out between college students in California, would technically constitute rape? A majority? Ninety percent? Deprogramming and reorienting societal ideas about sex is an evolutionary process. California isn't merely attempting to set out to nudge the culture in this direction. It is reclassifying all sex that falls outside those still-novel ideas as rape. A law premised on this sort of sweeping, wholesale change is likely to fail." I have to say I find Chait's argument more compelling.

So again, reform and new laws to deal with sexual assault are both needed and welcome.  An Affirmative Consent law of some form is a great idea.  But those laws must be clear, well defined and specific in their requirements.  I don't think California's new law reaches those bars.