Broadway Dreams: Data Behind the Drama

Ever wanted to be a Broadway producer? One of the authors in this issue of Significance—Alan Detsky—moonlights as one, when he’s not working as a physician and public health expert. He’s even been nominated for two Tony Awards. Yet, Alan still found time to put down his latest script and co-author the cover feature about how likely you are to make money as an investor on Broadway. Go straight to Page 6 for a sobering, data-led analysis of why, if you dream of staging the next Hamilton or Hairspray, you really should do it for the joy, and out of love, rather than trying to get rich.

If you do decide to invest in a Broadway show, it will definitely help if you were born in the Year of the Dragon (such as 1952, 1964, …, 2000) because that means you will be destined for success and wealthwell, according to Aunty Li, who you’ll meet in the feature about the impact of Chinese astrology on marriage and birth rates among ethnic Chinese populations. Does superstition make people avoid getting married and having babies in certain “undesirable” years, and, if so, what are the implications of this for countries facing dropping fertility rates? More importantly, did author Jonathan Koh yield to familial pressure?

July 2025 Issue Highlights

• Author and data analyst Georgina Sturge discusses the history of British official statistics


• Interview with Pew Research Center’s Vice President of Methods and Innovation Courtney Kennedy


• Is there any point to involving members of the public in highly technical statistical methodology research?


• Analyzing data to interrogate the claims of a controversial US gunshot detection system

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