Summer reading list

And an anniversary to celebrate

I try not to try my readers’ patience by writing about the writing, but indulge me this one time: it’s my two-year Substack anniversary. My first post appeared on July 25, 2023.

I want to do two things with this new post. The first is to sincerely thank all my readers and subscribers. Thank you!

Second, let me re-share some of the earlier newsletters that you might have missed, depending on when you came aboard. Here’s just three items that I especially enjoyed.

Making ends meet: a surprising number of people earn income from more than one job

I liked this one partly because, as I wrote, it shows that “there’s a lot more going on in what we call the “labour market” than first meets the eye.” But it’s also a good illustration of people’s diversity, ingenuity and resilience. I thought it added an important layer of information that’s missing from the usual statistics on employment.

Whom do we trust less than journalists? Part 2 of the series on trust in the media

I could have chosen any of the three parts of this series. It was triggered by some frustration with how other data on trust in the media had been presented and reported. But more generally, I can never resist the chance to challenge prevailing narratives about trust in public institutions in Canada. And remember that the most interesting trend is not related to trust in government, but to trust in business.

Canada’s political personalities: a different way to rank federal and provincial political parties

Every survey researcher has a favourite question they ask whenever they can - this one is based on mine. But what I liked about this post is the combination of partisan and regional differences: an illustration of the beautiful complexity of Canadian politics. And really, just look at that difference between BC-NDP and Alberta-UCP supporters on this question!

If you’re searching for more summer reading, I hope you will take a look at these (if you missed them the first time around) and any of the other posts on this Substack.

Thanks for reading, for sharing …

… and for subscribing …

… and enjoy the rest of the summer.

Cover photo credit: Cup of Couple