I’m Walt Hickey.

Buy You Are What You Watchmy new book coming out October 24, 2023.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author and data expert Walt Hickey explains the power of entertainment to change our biology, our beliefs, how we see ourselves, and how nations gain power.
Employing a mix of research, deep reporting, and 100 data visualizations, Hickey presents the true power of entertainment and culture. From the decrease in shark populations after Jaws to the increase in women and girls taking up archery following The Hunger Games, You Are What You Watch proves its points not just with research and argument, but hard data. Did you know, for example, that crime statistics prove that violent movies actually lead to less real-world violence? And that the international rise of anime and Manga helped lift the Japanese economy out of the doldrums in the 1980s? Or that British and American intelligence agencies actually got ideas from the James Bond movies?
In You Are What You Watch, readers will be given a nerdy, and sobering, celebration of popular entertainment and its surprising power to change the world.

About me

  • I’m the Deputy Editor for Data and Analysis at Insider News. I work on cool stories and support the newsroom through data journalism. In 2022, I won the Pulitzer Prize for Illustrated Reporting.
  • In Spring of 2018, I launched my creator-owned daily morning newsletter Numlock News. It’s all about the cool numbers buried in the news. It’s funny and makes you smarter.
  • I also predict the Oscars in the Numlock Awards Supplement, a seasonal pop-up spinoff of Numlock.