In the year 2076, after a long and happy life, I died peacefully in my sleep. This is the conversation that took place. “Welcome, my son,” a voice said. I blinked into the light. It was a brilliant white. My arm instinctively rose to shield my eyes. I squinted under […]

Analyzing the 2016 election with God

Late Sunday night, the campaigns of Ted Cruz and John Kasich announced an unprecedented level of collusion in an effort to stop Donald Trump from winning the Republican nomination. Kasich is suspending operations here in Indiana while Cruz is ceding New Mexico and Oregon. Think of it like a three-man […]

How many votes have been wasted due to early voting?

The Indiana Primary is 11 days away, and since no candidate has clinched the Republican or Democratic nomination for president, Indiana matters. That means for the next week and a half, Hoosiers will be courted and wooed like a fairy tale princess (RIP, Prince). Candidates will go from town to […]

Tale of the Tape: Clinton vs. Berne

In a reversal of a 2015 decision, the Department of Treasury announced today that Alexander Hamilton is staying on the $10. And the populace rejoiced. You see, back in summer of 2015, Treasury announced it was time to put a female face on American money. There was much celebration of […]

“Hamilton” is more meaningful than money ever will be

A few weeks ago, we introduced you to the Wrangler Rule, a new trend in political slogans whose origins can be traced to Brett Favre’s denim commercials. Real. Comfortable. Jeans Since that post went up, we’ve been pointed to several more examples that we wanted to share here. First, a quick refresher. […]

Wrangler Rule, Part 2

Today, hundreds of a Hoosiers rushed to social media to share a Nate Cohn article from the New York Times that declared Indiana is the most important state primary election state. It may sound strange, but when you start gaming out the rest of the primary contest, it’s hard to […]

The most important primary is Indiana…until the next one

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While sitting in the Indianapolis International Airport, I read an article from Washington Post’s Wonkblog that argued Indiana could be the least interesting state in the Union. As the Hoosier behind Indiana Explained, I have filed my official protest. Don’t worry, guys, I got this. But when I dug deeper, […]

May 2008: When Indiana was the nation’s most interesting state

This is the inaugural “Everyone is wrong about” post. In this occasional series, Jay examines a popular position and goes the other way. There’s a mini-outcry happening on the internet. A couple days ago, TBS announced that someone other than Luther Vandross will perform “One Shining Moment” for the montage after the NCAA men’s championship game. […]

Everyone is wrong about: One Shining Moment

Ivy Tech has been the unexpected driver of political change in Indiana this year. When Lt. Governor Sue Ellspermann revealed that she was interested in the vacant position of Ivy Tech President, it set off a ripple effect throughout Indiana politics. Of course, by now you know Ellspermann resigned and […]

Why I didn’t apply for the Ivy Tech job, in ...

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There’s this thing in writing called the Rule of Three. The Rule isn’t so much a rule as the idea that, when making a list, it’s best to make it a list of three. You could use two or four, but three items is almost always more memorable, effective, and […]

Super. Terrible. Slogans.

The United States Supreme Court is more diverse than it has ever been. Sure, you have four white guys. But there are now three women on the court, one African-American, and one Hispanic. But diversity is about more than melanin and chromosomes. The Court, for example, is made up entirely […]

The Supreme Court’s Diversity Problem

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From Indiana Explained global headquarters in downtown Indianapolis, it’s pretty easy to get a sandwich. In a five-block radius, I can access seven different Subway restaurants. There’s the one with the crazy lady by the Statehouse. There’s one in the Hyatt, where the crazy lady doesn’t work, but they don’t […]

The absurd state of auto dealer laws

After Jeb Bush dropped out of the 2016 presidential race last week, a few of my Jeb-supporting friends voiced concern over the rest of the GOP. Their argument, in large part, was that presidents should serve as a Governor, or at the very least as some sort of executive so that they […]

Experience of every U.S. President

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History teachers across the country had a mild heart attack during the Grammys when Google tweeted this: “Who is Alexander Hamilton?” spiking on Google search during #Grammys as #Hamilton wins Best Musical Theater album pic.twitter.com/ADUCxykPcL — GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) February 16, 2016 The twittersphere was all over that one. How could […]

A lesson on the Grammys and Google Trends