I am a data journalist and editor based in New York City. I currently serve as the Executive Editor of Sherwood News. Since 2018, I  have written the daily morning newsletter Numlock News. It’s all about the cool numbers buried in the news. It’s funny and makes you smarter.

In 2023, I published my first book, You Are What You Watch, which is a data-driven exploration of the many ways pop culture affects the world,  full of fascinating charts and gorgeous visualizations. I previously worked as a deputy editor at Business Insider, where worked on the news and politics teams, and where I won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Illustrated Reporting and Commentary. Prior to that, I was the chief culture writer at FiveThirtyEight. I currently serve as the president of GALECA: The Society of LBGTQ Entertainment Critics. I also predict the Oscars in the Numlock Awards Supplement, a seasonal pop-up spinoff of Numlock

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You Are What You Watch (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.