I'm not certain about 538s target demographic these days.
I'm gonna guess that they did solve it analytically, but for the sake of exposition and readers that might not know what a binomial distribution, they bring up the coin-flip as an illustrative example.
I'm gonna guess that they did solve it analytically, but for the sake of exposition and readers that might not know what a binomial distribution, they bring up the coin-flip as an illustrative example.