by using a simple method, we show that a random $\pm 1$ polynomial of degree n does not have double roots with probability tending to one (as $n$ tends to infinity). as a consequence, we deduce that the expected number of real roots is $(2/\pi)(\log n) + c + o(1)$ for some absolute constant $c$. the method extends to more general coefficient distributions. (based on joint work with o. nguyen and v. vu)