Getty Merriam-Webster: Searches for 'socialism', 'fascism' skyrocketing due to Sanders and Trump 
 
 Bernie Sanders this year has sparked immense interest in socialism — so much so that the word is dictionary company Merriam-Webster’s most-searched term this year, an increase of 169 percent over 2014. 
 
 The Vermont senator and Democratic presidential candidate is a self-described “democratic socialist.” But in 2015, what exactly socialism is has seemed incomprehensible at times. Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz this summer dodged a question about the difference between a Democrat and a socialist on MSNBC, instead choosing to contrast Democrats and Republicans. 
 
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 Interest in the term spiked this summer and again after the first Democratic debate in October, when the word "socialist" was uttered four times and "socialism" twice. 
 
 “The fact that a major-party candidate for president embraces socialism shows that the term has moved beyond its Cold War associations,” Merriam-Webster wrote in its post announcing its words of the year. “The complex meanings of socialism have required new information at its dictionary entry.” 
 
 Pure socialism has been seen only rarely and generally briefly in some Communist regimes, according to the dictionary-maker. 
 
 “Far more common are systems of social democracy, now often referred to as ‘democratic socialism,’ in which extensive state regulation, with limited state ownership, has been employed by democratically elected governments (as in Sweden and Denmark) in the belief that it produces a fair distribution of income without impairing economic growth,” Merriam-Webster said in explaining its definition. 
 
 "Fascism" was the second most-searched term this year. The dictionary said the word saw significant spikes in searches after the recent attacks in Paris, Colorado Springs, Colorado, and San Bernardino, California. Some pundits have begun describing Republican front-runner Donald Trump’s proposals, such as his ban on all Muslims from entering the U.S., as “fascist.” 
 
 Merriam-Webster defines the word as “a political philosophy … that exalts nation and often race above the individual,” but made no judgment as to whether Trump's rhetoric qualified him for the label. 

 The year is coming to a close so Estately thought we’d look back on 2015 and see how Americans spent their time Googling the people, terms, movies, TV shows, organizations, events, cultural phenomena, and controversies that grabbed people’s attention in 2015. To do this Estately ran hundreds of search terms through Google Trends to discover what people in each state searched for more with more frequency than people in any other state. 
 
 From tragic violence and celebrity breakups to presidential primaries and space exploration, there was plenty of things to occupy Americans’ time on the internet. Read on to learn what other things—besides the terms on the map above—that each state Googled more frequently than any other state in 2015. 
 
 ALABAMA 
 
 Same-sex marriage 
 
 Ken Stabler (football player who passed away in 2015) 
 
 Ben Carson (presidential candidate) 
 
 Laverne Cox (actress) 
 
 ALASKA 
 
 Barack Obama 
 
 Game of Thrones (HBO series) 
 
 3D printing 
 
 ARIZONA 
 
 2nd Amendment 
 
 Jen Welter (pro football player and first female coach in NFL) 
 
 ARKANSAS 
 
 Blood moon prophecy (apocalyptic beliefs about the end of the world) 
 
 Syrian refugees 
 
 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (terrorist organization) 
 
 ISIS (another name for the same terrorist organization above) 
 
 19 Kids and Counting (reality TV show) 
 
 Josh Duggar (reality TV show personality) 
 
 CALIFORNIA 
 
 Kim Kardashian (reality TV personality) 
 
 Stephen Curry (pro basketball player) 
 
 Drought 
 
 Water conservation 
 
 Love wins 
 
 U.S. Housing Bubble 
 
 iPhone 6s 
 
 Spy (2015 film) 
 
 Spectre (2015 film) 
 
 Ben Affleck nanny 
 
 Leah Remini Scientology (actress who left the Church of Scientology in 2015) 
 
 Chile earthquake 
 
 Mark Zuckerberg (CEO of Facebook) 
 
 Volkswagen scandal 
 
 Donald Trump hair 
 
 Donald Trump racist 
 
 COLORADO 
 
 Syrian civil war 
 
 Water on Mars 
 
 Mass shootings 
 
 Keystone Pipeline 
 
 CONNECTICUT 
 
 Speaker of the House 
 
 Frank Gifford (pro football player/broadcaster who passed away in 2015) 
 
 DELAWARE 
 
 Amtrak 
 
 Pope Francis 
 
 Beau Biden (former Attorney General of Delaware who passed away in 2015) 
 
 Kendrick Lamar (rapper) 
 
 Nicki Minaj (rapper) 
 
 FLORIDA 
 
 Obamacare 
 
 Marco Rubio (presidential candidate) 
 
 Concealed weapons permit 
 
 Trump net worth 
 
 House prices 
 
 GEORGIA 
 
 Blood Moon 2015 
 
 Whip dance 
 
 Stanky leg dance 
 
 Serena Williams 
 
 Blake Shelton divorce 
 
 HAWAII 
 
 Nepal earthquake 
 
 Bruce Jenner (previous name of reality TV personality Caitlyn Jenner) 
 
 Chrissy Teigen (model) 
 
 Apple Watch 
 
 Furious 7 (2015 film) 
 
 Selfie stick 
 
 Radio Shack (filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2015) 
 
 Pitch Perfect 2 (2015 film) 
 
 IDAHO 
 
 Refugees 
 
 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 (2015 film) 
 
 Gun control 
 
 Vaccines 
 
 Windows 10 (operating system released in 2015) 
 
 ILLINOIS 
 
 Super Blood Moon 
 
 INDIANA 
 
 Religious Freedom Restoration Act 
 
 Jared Fogle (former Subway pitchman/sex offender) 
 
 IOWA 
 
 Elizabeth Banks (actress) 
 
 Bachelorette (reality TV show) 
 
 The Bachelor (reality TV show) 
 
 KANSAS 
 
 World Series 
 
 Koch Industries 
 
 KENTUCKY 
 
 American Pharaoh (Triple Crown-winner) 
 
 Dusty Rhodes (pro wrestler who passed away in 2015) 
 
 Rand Paul (presidential candidate) 
 
 Kim Davis (County Clerk of Rowan County) 
 
 LOUISIANA 
 
 Ashley Madison hack (online dating website marketed to people in committed relationships that was hacked and had user names released in 2015) 
 
 Blue Bell recall (delicious ice cream) 
 
 MAINE 
 
 Amy Schumer (comedian) 
 
 MARYLAND 
 
 New Horizons (space mission) 
 
 Trevor Noah (new host of The Daily Show) 
 
 Benjamin Netanyahu (Prime Minister of Israel) 
 
 Freddie Gray (Baltimore man who died in police custody, sparking protests) 
 
 Police brutality 
 
 Misty Copeland (ballet dancer) 
 
 Nuclear program of Iran 
 
 Iran nuclear deal 
 
 Moses Malone (basketball player who passed away in 2015) 
 
 Loretta Lynch (newly appointed U.S. Attorney General) 
 
 Real estate 
 
 Edward Snowden (computer programmer, leaker of classified documents) 
 
 Ta-Nehisi Coates (writer, journalist, educator) 
 
 Viola Davis (Emmy Award-winning actress) 
 
 Bill Cosby (comedian) 
 
 al-Qaeda (terrorist organization) 
 
 Don Lemon (CNN TV personality) 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS 
 
 Charlie Hebdo (French satirical magazine attacked by terrorists in 2015) 
 
 Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (TV show) 
 
 Aziz Ansari (actor/comedian) 
 
 Jon Snow (character in Game of Thrones) 
 
 Opioid addiction and dependence 
 
 Republican primary 
 
 Eddie Redmayne (Academy Award-winning actor) 
 
 Justin Trudeau (newly elected Prime Minister of Canada) 
 
 John Oliver (comedian) 
 
 Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (TV show) 
 
 Inside Amy Schumer (TV show) 
 
 Vladimir Putin (President of Russia) 
 
 Dad bod 
 
 MICHIGAN 
 
 What is transgender? 
 
 Marriage equality 
 
 MINNESOTA 
 
 Black Lives Matter (activist movement campaigning against violence toward black people) 
 
 Scott Weiland (musician who passed away in 2015) 
 
 Cecil the Lion (famous lion killed by a Minnesota hunter in Zimbabwe) 
 
 MISSISSIPPI 
 
 Straight Outta Compton (2015 film) 
 
 B.B. King (blues musician who passed away in 2015) 
 
 U.S. Supreme Court 
 
 Bobbi Kristina Brown (daughter of singer Whitney Houston; passed away in 2015) 
 
 Booty (there was a lot of talk about “booty” in 2015) 
 
 Megyn Kelly (FOX TV personality) 
 
 Ashley Madison (online dating website marketed to people in committed relationships) 
 
 Common Core State Standards Initiative 
 
 MISSOURI 
 
 Amy Schumer photo 
 
 Right to keep and bear arms 
 
 MONTANA 
 
 Wolves 
 
 NEBRASKA 
 
 Kaley Cuoco (actress) 
 
 NEVADA 
 
 Floyd Mayweather (pro boxer) 
 
 Khloé Kardashian (reality TV personality) 
 
 Lamar Odom (pro basketball player who overdosed in a Nevada brothel in 2015) 
 
 Wes Craven (film director) 
 
 Selena Gomez (actress) 
 
 Kylie Jenner (reality TV personality) 
 
 San Andreas (2015 film) 
 
 Amber Rose (musician/model/actress/fashion designer) 
 
 Pitbull (rapper) 
 
 The Weeknd (musician) 
 
 Britney Spears (musician), 
 
 NEW HAMPSHIRE 
 
 Deflategate 
 
 Heroin 
 
 Paris terrorist attack 
 
 Hillary Clinton (presidential candidate) 
 
 Donald Trump (presidential candidate) 
 
 Carly Fiorina (presidential candidate) 
 
 Jeb Bush (presidential candidate) 
 
 Ted Cruz (presidential candidate) 
 
 Terrorism 
 
 NEW JERSEY 
 
 FIFA (governing body of international soccer tournaments that’s being investigated for bribery/corruption crimes in 2015) 
 
 Hilary Clinton email 
 
 Yogi Berra (baseball player/manager who passed away in 2015) 
 
 Chris Christie (presidential candidate) 
 
 Pierre Paul hand (pro football player Jason Pierre-Paul who blew off part of his hand in a fireworks accident) 
 
 NEW MEXICO 
 
 Pluto (the dwarf planet) 
 
 Ronda Rousey (MMA fighter) 
 
 Holly Holm (MMA fighter) 
 
 Animas River (site of a massive 2015 spill of water containing toxic heavy metals) 
 
 Wiz Khalifa (rapper) 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 Greece 
 
 Democratic Socialism 
 
 Omar Sharif (actor who passed away in 2015) 
 
 Netanyahu Congress (Israeli Prime Minister who made a speech to Congress in 2015) 
 
 Julianne Moore (actress) 
 
 Mr. Robot (TV show) 
 
 Angela Merkel (German Chancellor and Time “Person of the Year”) 
 
 Drake (rapper) 
 
 Martin Shkreli (CEO who dramatically raised prescription drug prices) 
 
 Gigi Hadid (model) 
 
 Bashar al-Assad (President of Syria) 
 
 Islamophobia 
 
 Charlie Sheen HIV (actor announced he’s had HIV for four years in 2015) 
 
 Jihadism 
 
 Jennifer Aniston wedding (actress married in 2015) 
 
 American Apparel (clothing company that filed for bankruptcy in 2015) 
 
 Kanye West (rapper) 
 
 Rihanna (musician) 
 
 Hoverboard scooter 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 Concealed carry permit 
 
 Blake Miranda divorce (country stars Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert announced they were divorcing in 2015) 
 
 Confederate flag meaning 
 
 NORTH DAKOTA 
 
 NFL Draft 
 
 OHIO 
 
 Marijuana legalization (a proposed constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana was not approved by voters in 2015) 
 
 Anna Duggar (wife of reality TV personality Josh Duggar) 
 
 Randy Quaid (actor) 
 
 OKLAHOMA 
 
 Je suis Charlie (solidarity message for French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo) 
 
 Stuart Scott (ESPN sportscaster who passed away in 2015) 
 
 Caitlyn Jenner (reality TV personality formerly known as Bruce Jenner) 
 
 Patricia Arquette (actress), 
 
 Jordan Spieth (pro golfer who won the U.S. Open and The Masters in 2015) 
 
 OREGON 
 
 Syria 
 
 Iran 
 
 Hassan Rouhani (President of Iran) 
 
 Tamasha (2015 film) 
 
 Islam 
 
 Ukraine 
 
 Nicky Jam (musician) 
 
 Shakira (Musician) 
 
 Dilma Rousseff (President of Brazil) 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 Jon Snow dead (character from Game of Thrones who died in the Season 5 finale… or did he?) 
 
 Pope Francis visit 
 
 War on terror 
 
 Dick Van Patten (Eight is Enough actor who passed away in 2015), 
 
 Creed (2015 film) 
 
 Carrie Underwood baby 
 
 Royal baby 
 
 Blake Lively baby 
 
 RHODE ISLAND 
 
 Brian Williams (NBC journalist suspended for telling an exaggerated story) 
 
 Adele (musician) 
 
 Taylor Swift (musician) 
 
 Justin Bieber (musician) 
 
 Charlie Sheen (actor) 
 
 Wet Seal (clothing company that filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in 2015) 
 
 Ariana Grande (musician) 
 
 Tom Brady (pro football player) 
 
 SOUTH CAROLINA 
 
 Charleston shooting 
 
 Trump for President 
 
 Nae nae dance 
 
 Confederate flag 
 
 SOUTH DAKOTA 
 
 Back to the Future (popular 1985 movie that got a lot of attention because the characters in it travel to the future—the year 2015). 
 
 Ed Sheeran (musician) 
 
 Fitbit (a device that measures how many steps you take between your sofa and the fridge) 
 
 TENNESSEE 
 
 Fred Thompson (former actor and Tennessee Senator who passed away in 2015) 
 
 National Rifle Association 
 
 TEXAS 
 
 James Harden (basketball player) 
 
 Bandidos Motorcycle Club (a motorcycle gang that engaged in a massive shootout with the Cossacks motorcycle gang in Waco, Texas in 2015) 
 
 Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán (Mexican drug lord) 
 
 Hurricane Patricia 
 
 Clock boy (14-year-old Texas student Ahmed Mohamed who was arrested after bringing a homemade clock to school) 
 
 Planned Parenthood video 
 
 Lion hunting 
 
 Miranda Lambert divorce 
 
 Jade Helm (a popular conspiracy theory that claims the annual U.S. military training exercise was really a cover for a full-scale invasion of Texas) 
 
 Filibuster 
 
 Greg Hardy (pro football player) 
 
 UTAH 
 
 Transgender 
 
 Man bun (male hair style) 
 
 Spotify (digital music service) 
 
 Apple TV 
 
 Star Wars: The Force Awakes (2015 film) 
 
 Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015 film) 
 
 Jurassic World (2015 film) 
 
 Ant-Man (2015 film) 
 
 Planned Parenthood (non-profit organization) 
 
 Sister Wives (TV show) 
 
 VERMONT 
 
 Bernie Sanders (presidential candidate) 
 
 The Daily Show (TV show) 
 
 Climate change 
 
 87th Academy Awards 
 
 VIRGINIA 
 
 Abdel Fattah el-Sis (President of Egypt) 
 
 Islamic State (terrorist organization) 
 
 Boko Haram (terrorist organization) 
 
 Recep Taytip Erdogan (President of Turkey), 
 
 Muhammadu Buhari (President of Nigeria), 
 
 Narendra Modi (Prime Minister of India) 
 
 WASHINGTON 
 
 Leonard Nimoy (actor who played Spock on Star Trek passed away in 2015) 
 
 Super Bowl 
 
 Amanda Knox (American woman acquitted of murder in Italy) 
 
 Left Shark 
 
 Mad Max: Fury Road (2015 film) 
 
 Microsoft Surface (tablet) 
 
 WEST VIRGINIA 
 
 Magic Mike XXL (2015 film) 
 
 WISCONSIN 
 
 Rep. Paul Ryan (newly elected Speaker of the House) 
 
 What does bae mean? 
 
 Koch brothers 
 
 Political activities of the Koch brothers 
 
 WYOMING 
 
 Mars (4th planet from the sun) 
 
 U.S. Constitution 
 
 Blake Shelton + Gwen Stefani 
 
 Firearm 
 
 Playboy (magazine that announced it would cease showing photos of naked women) 
 
 AR-15 (type of firearm) 
 
 Whether you choose to live in a state that obsessively Googles the status of celebrity couples or one more focussed on world events just be sure when it comes to finding your dream home you search online using Estately.com or with the Estately iPhone App. Download it today!
– As another year gets ready to disappear in the rear-view mirror, the folks over at Estately put some of 2015's cultural milestones under the microscope, vis a vis the most popular Google searches by state. Let's just say that some of our 50 states went for the dark and newsy, while others strayed toward the quirky and downright strange. Some of the highlights: Arkansas: Arkansans had basically two things on their minds: ISIS (related searches included "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant," "Syrian refugees") and the Duggars ("19 Kids and Counting," "Josh Duggar). They threw in "blood moon prophecy" to round things out. Florida: The Sunshine State was most concerned with "concealed weapons permit," but also "Obamacare," some fellow named "Marco Rubio," and "Trump net worth." Louisiana: Feeling guilty? The top two searches were for "Ashley Madison hack" and "Blue Bell recall." Maine: Maine apparently had one thing on its mind and that was "Amy Schumer." Michigan: Inquiring Michiganders wanted to know "What is transgender?" and searched for "marriage equality." North Carolina: Perhaps a little late to the game, "Confederate flag meaning" was tops, followed by "concealed carry permit" and "Blake Miranda divorce." West Virginia: "Magic Mike XXL." That is all. Click for Estately's full rundown, including a largely embarrassing map; a list of 2015's most notable quotes is here. (Meanwhile, Politico reports that Bernie Sanders has sparked such consternation that Merriam Webster's most-searched term this year was "socialism.")