Fresh off the political equivalent of pitching a perfect game, New York Times number-cruncher Nate Silver told The Today Show he hoped his performance during the 2012 election helped make math a little cooler.

“Math does not need to be intimidating,” Silver said. “It can be fun. And interesting and useful. Hopefully kids will pursue more math and science education. We need more of that to compete in this country.”

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Silver, who runs the Five Thirty Eight election analysis blog for the newspaper, accurately predicted the 50-state breakdown for President Barack Obama’s reelection bid on Tuesday, bolstering his status as a progressive darling and leading to tribute hashtags like #natesilverfacts and #drunknatesilver popping up on Twitter, as well as Daily Show host dubbing him “lord and god of the algorythm.”

Watch Silver talk about his methods in this segment, aired Friday, below.

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