A shocking stabbing in Times Square quickly became another reason for national media and conservative commentators to portray New York City as a dangerous liberal hellscape. But do the statistics support that story?

TJ Walker compares New York’s crime numbers with Shreveport, Louisiana, and explains why one dramatic video can outweigh millions of ordinary, uneventful experiences in the public imagination. Fame is not frequency—and a frightening thumbnail is not the same thing as reliable data.

Also in this episode:

J.D. Vance calls Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed “very, very evil,” despite Vance’s own history of describing Donald Trump as “cultural heroin,” “reprehensible,” and potentially “America’s Hitler.”

A new UMass Amherst poll puts Trump’s approval rating at 32 percent, raising the question: what would Trum ...