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List of Xbox games not awarding a Mythic Achievement
Now we have the data, we can give you a list of Xbox games that are not returning anyone with a Mythic Achievement
Diamondbacks will retain manager Torey Lovullo
Torey Lovullo is returning for an 11th season as the manager of the Diamondbacks.
TGL renews media-rights partnership with ESPN
The Tiger Woods/Rory McIlroy-backed golf simulator league will be returning to ESPN networks for Season 3 in 2027
Vikings’ Kyler Murray Gets Blunt Message Amid Offensive Concerns
Despite getting the Week 3 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, there’s concern over how the Minnesota Vikings’ offense looked. Kyler Murray, returning from a concussion, was 15-for-29, finishing with 168 passing yards, one touchdown, and one interception. While this was Murray’s first full game as the starter, questions are emerging about whether he can […] The post Vikings’ Kyler Murray Gets Blunt Message Amid Offensive Concerns appeared first on HEAVY.
Looking at the Ugly Side of the Paramount-Skydance Merger...And How I’d Fix It
A Message from Our Sponsor Certified Fresh with 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, FX’s Adults is an ensemble comedy series about a group of twenty-somethings in New York leaning on each other to navigate love, work, friendship and family. Don’t sleep on “The Sitcom of the Moment” - Awards Buzz All Episodes now streaming on Hulu on Disney+. Watch The Teaser Trailer... (Welcome to the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a newsletter on the entertainment industr(Welcome to the “Most Important Story of the Week”, my bi-weekly strategy column analyzing the most important (but often not buzziest) news story of the last two weeks. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. Please subscribe.) Before we dive in, I wanted to congratulate Broadcast Now for being the first to report that Netflix’s How to Get to Heaven from Belfast has been cancelled. (I saw this in a write-up by Kasey Moore of Whats-On-Netflix.) More importantly, I wanted to note that, as of yesterday, none of the other trades had reported the news yet. I have half a guess that eventually one of them will report this. Anyways, it’s time to take a break from my deluge of streaming ratings reports to continue my analysis of the Paramount Skydance Warner Bros. Discovery (PSWbD) saga. As I noted last week, a lot of times when folks use the (sometimes cliched) “the good, the bad and the ugly” framing for an article, “the ugly” section is just more bad. Or very, very bad. In this case, yeah, I do think it’s ugly. In more than one way. Unfortunately, we’re only going to have time to tackle one of those ways today: the ugly pile of debt to finance this deal. (In a future article, I may cover the entire process for how it went down, which was very, very ugly.) Last issue, I explained why I liked this deal in a vacuum. Unfortunately, “vacuums” don’t exist outside of space. Let’s dive in. Subscribe Most Important Story of the Week - The Ugliness of the Paramount/Warner Bros. Merger More than one person sent me a note speculating that the big problem with Paramount Skydance buying Warner Bros. Discovery is the “Warner Bros.” portion of the deal. In fact, that’s a take I read a lot about Warner Bros., ever since they caught Netflix’s, and then Paramount-Skydance’s, eye. In short, multiple companies (Time, AOL, AT&T, Discovery) have bought and then regretted buying Warner Bros. Since it’s nearing Halloween, you could almost say it’s like the folks think WB is cursed! It’s a haunted studio—like the town of Derry in movie studio form—and whoever takes possession of it will fall into misery! Yet...I just don’t like that story, because it doesn’t explain the “why” behind why those deals fell through. Especially when Warner Bros. has continued to succeed as a TV and film studio in the intervening two decades. Lord of the Rings? Harry Potter? Game of Thrones? Everything HBO? Considering it never fully owned a broadcast TV channel, this media company has done pretty well. So what went wrong? Well, in recent years, companies bought Warner Bros. instead of the other, smarter option. Explaining POCD (And Applying It to Mergers & Acquisitions) As I explained last issue, one of my favorite frameworks is the POCD tool for evaluating venture capital investments: People Opportunity Context Deal The bar to invest as a VC is high. (Or I might say “was” since cheap interest rates made life easier last decade.) You review a thousand prospectuses, get pitched by a hundred, and invest in the ten best, with the hopes that one of those ten would pay for the rest. That means every element of a deal needed to pay off: you needed the right people running the companies, who could capitalize on the right opportunity, in the context of an industry that was ripe for disruption. If you could then not overpay, you could make some money in a smart deal. The analogy isn’t perfect here, but close enough. For a merger or acquisition to work, you need the combined company (which is the opportunity) to make more than the price you need to pay (which is the deal). Note: the people and context still matter, but with M&A, it’s a little more straightforward: does the opportunity exceed the cost? And usually with Warner Bros., it hasn’t. If you want to find out the single biggest mistake made by the Warner Bros. suitors over the last few years (and my simple fix) become a paid subscriber. I’ll also touch on who I think Paramount-Skydance could (shockingly) consider buying next, TBD, and more. Sign up here.
What’s Different About Jürgen Klopp’s Successor Roger Schmidt?
Returning to his tactical roots, the Salzburg veteran brings a hands-on approach to Red Bull’s global network, prioritizing continuity and aggressive pressing over flashy corporate reinvention.
Jean Arnault, Russell Wilson, and Gordon Ramsey Headline Expanded F1 Business Summit
The F1 Business Summit, announced to be returning to the Las Vegas Strip just over two months ago, finally has a keynote and a full list of panelists to round o
Packers sign Wisconsin native Kevin Zeitler in latest OL move
The former Badger and Wisconsin native is coming out of retirement and returning home.
CA Alumnus, NASA Engineer Returns for Science Night
Columbia Academy alumnus Dr. Phillip Allen is returning to campus on Tuesday, Oct. 13 as guest speaker for CA’s Science Night – and the community is invited to attend. NASA and space travel enthusiasts can attend to learn more about the recent Artemis II launch and trip around the moon. Dr. Allen served as the
Supernova Athena Is About To Return – And You Can Warn Your Grandkids About Supernova Ares!
Hubble is already checking the galaxy for any signs of the returning explosion.
Paik makes early return to Blues
South Korea midfielder Paik Seung-ho returning to Birmingham City early from international duty due to injury.
Amazon Discounting New Mac Mini and Mac Studio Alongside Early Prime Day Deals on Monitors
Amazon has brought back a few discounts on Apple's brand new Mac mini and Mac Studio, with up to $50 off select models. These deals are returning alongside early Prime Big Deal Days discounts on Samsung monitors that make nice pairings with a new Mac. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Rebels in the Pros: NFL Week 3
NFL for college football fans, particularly Ole Miss fans, isn’t all that fun when your best former players aren’t playing. Jaxson Dart is lost for the season while AJ Brown is likely over a month away from returning to a team that might need a new quarterback. Despite missing the two biggest producers in the […]
‘Live’ Fans Send Support to Mark Consuelos After His Health Update
Mark Consuelos underwent foot surgery in late September, and he surprised fans by returning to 'Live With Kelly and Mark' a few days later. See how fans supported him.
Newcastle United duo nearing returns after rejoining team training
Nico Gonzalez and Joelinton have handed Newcastle United a boost after returning to first-team training.Gonzalez missed the win over Hull City before the international break after taking a knock, whil...
Yankees news: Aaron Judge playoff roster debate nears decision
Judge returning for Wild Card series?; Overview of Yankees-Red Sox rosters; Cam on online hate; ZiPS playoff odds
Florida Basketball: 4 Stars Fuel a Powerful SEC Repeat Bid
The Florida Gators enter the 2026-27 season with a big advantage over other teams. The Gators return their already established core. With most of their frontcourt returning, the Florida basketball program has the size, physicality, and experience to finish at the top of the SEC. Continuity does not guarantee that Florida will win the conference. …
JBU enrollment hits new record
John Brown University recently said its enrollment has risen to a record 473 new students. The incoming class includes a record 401 freshmen, 60 transfer students, and 12 students returning...
Welcoming Sunday Is Planned At St. Peter’s
St. Peter’s Church-on-the-Canal will have a special service on Sunday, October 4, at 10 AM to welcome new and returning parishioners. Those who have been away from church for a
Fund Run Glow Lights Up the Night to Support Local Health Programs
A night race aimed at getting people moving while supporting key health programs is returning to the Mid-Ohio Valley.
TVXQ's Max Changmin and 2NE1's Minzy announce solo music releases
The TVXQ member will release the track “All of My Life,” while the 2NE1 singer is returning with “Calling,” both coming some five years after their last solo works.
Seattle Mariners Manager Dan Wilson Out After Failed Season
Seattle Mariners manager Dan Wilson informed the team prior to Sunday’s game that he will not be returning as skipper for the 2027 season. The Mariners were preseason favorites to win the American League after Wilson’s squad advanced to game seven of the ALCS. The loss to the Toronto Blue Jays seems to be Wilson’s […] The post Seattle Mariners Manager Dan Wilson Out After Failed Season appeared first on HEAVY.
Sunday Sports: Watertown Wolves returning soon and more
Here’s a recap of your North Country sports this Sunday.
Blazers Should Ease Damian Lillard Back Into Action
Returning from a 500-day hiatus and a torn Achilles, the 36-year-old superstar requires a disciplined ramp-up to ensure he remains explosive alongside Ja Morant for a postseason push.
State leaders highlighting mental health resources for returning active servicemembers
State leaders are creating an action plan to help active servicemembers returning home from active duty.
Multi-pronged plan to provide mental health resources for returning Vt. servicemembers
Multi-pronged plan to provide mental health resources for returning Vt. servicemembers
Multi-pronged plan to provide mental health resources for returning Vt. servicemembers
Multi-pronged plan to provide mental health resources for returning Vt. servicemembers
Multi-pronged plan to provide mental health resources for returning Vt. servicemembers
Multi-pronged plan to provide mental health resources for returning Vt. servicemembers
Multi-pronged plan to provide mental health resources for returning Vt. servicemembers
Multi-pronged plan to provide mental health resources for returning Vt. servicemembers
Multi-pronged plan to provide mental health resources for returning Vt. servicemembers
Multi-pronged plan to provide mental health resources for returning Vt. servicemembers
Multi-pronged plan to provide mental health resources for returning Vt. servicemembers
Multi-pronged plan to provide mental health resources for returning Vt. servicemembers
Team News ahead of Women’s Cup clash
Leeds United Women will be looking to secure a third win of the FA WNL Cup Group T campaign with a win over West Yorkshire rivals Bradford City this afternoon.The Whites are returning to Silsden AFC f...
Isak returns to Liverpool after sustaining knock in Sweden game
Alexander Isak is returning to Liverpool after sustaining a “minor injury” on international duty. The striker scored and played the full 90 minutes in Sweden’s 2-1 victory over Romania in the Nations League on Friday.
Julian Ward needs to recreate his biggest success at Anfield
Julian Ward has been officially announced as Liverpool’s new sporting director. The Englishman will replace Richard Hughes, who departed at the end of the summer, and is returning to a role he held ...
Bears OT Ozzy Trapilo not quite ready for game action
Bears offensive tackle Ozzy Trapilo has been a full participant in practice but will have to wait another week before returning to game action.
'American Idol' reveals which judges are returning in 2027
"American Idol" has secured its stars for Season 25.
Two astronauts who flew farther than anyone before are taking new NASA roles
Artemis II astronauts Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman are transitioning to emeritus status at NASA after their historic journey around the Moon earlier this year. The pair will continue advising and mentoring NASA teams as preparations accelerate for Artemis III and future lunar missions. Their experience with Orion and deep-space operations could prove especially valuable as NASA works toward returning astronauts to the lunar surface.
Music in the Park returns to Pelham with three Sundays of fr...
Pelham’s Music in the Park series is returning this October, with three separate concerts set to entertain the community at Pelham City Park.
Iconic horror franchise officially returning after years of delays
The “Saw” franchise is officially moving forward with an 11th movie after years of delays, with Mike P. Nelson attached to direct.
Understand That ‘Destiny 2’ Is Still Not A Live Game And Won’t Be Again
There's great news in Destiny land, but Destiny 2 itself is not returning to being a live game in any capacity, which some may not realize.
Greek PM urges 'courage' in talks with UK over Parthenon Marbles
Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Thursday called for "political will and courage" to resolve the country's protracted battle with Britain over returning the prized Parthenon Marbles to A...
Baylor receives health boost ahead of conference opener against Colorado
Baylor will get a health boost with junior quarterback DJ Lagway returning alongside multiple key pieces ahead of the Bears' conference opener against Colorado.
Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance Is the Iceborne-Like Adrenaline Boost That Wilds Needed
The first taste of Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance already has me salivating. The new tricks, new (and returning) monsters, and brand new suite of boosts are going to significantly disrupt how I do my builds, and how I approach hunts. Just thinking about it now has my synapses firing, and there are still so many weapons who're boosted actions I have yet to try, and who knows what new armor set bonuses might be ahead of us. The endgame of Monster Hunter Wilds was too easy, but this might be what Monster Hunter sickos are looking for.
Knicks Ranked Behind 2 Teams After Historic Title Run
The defending champion Knicks landed only third in a preseason power ranking despite returning most of the core from their historic title run. The post Knicks Ranked Behind 2 Teams After Historic Title Run appeared first on HEAVY.
Moussa Diaby: Leverkusen Has Changed Its Mentality
Returning from a global journey, the French winger discovers a transformed club fueled by championship grit and a personal evolution that prioritizes defensive discipline alongside his trademark pace.
Billy Bush returning to network TV 10 years after Donald Trump hot mic scandal
Billy Bush returning to network TV as a Fox News contributor 10 years after his scandal involving Donald Trump and a hot mic.
Charlie Berens coming to Green Bay; EPIC Marathon reveals concert acts
Comedian Charlie Berens is returning to the Resch Center for The Lost and Found Tour, and the timing might make it the perfect excuse to take Mom.
Jessica Lange gave strict condition to Ryan Murphy for returning to “American Horror Story” — and it’s not a ‘musical number’
The star revealed the one stipulation she had before agreeing to come back, and revealed she plays a secret fifth character on “AHS” season 13.
Watch: Greg Ballard on why he's returning to politics and ditching the GOP
The former Republican Indianapolis mayor has been retired from politics for a decade. He's back as an independent for secretary of state, with a mission.
Boo! Halloween Haunt begins at Kings Island soon. Here's when
Clawing its way out of the grave and returning for another year of shrieks and thrills is Kings Island's annual Halloween Haunt.
Report: Injustice 3 Leak Reveals New and Returning Characters for Roster
It’s an open secret by now that a new entry in the DC fighting series Injustice is in the works at NetherRealm Studios. A few months ago, we spotted the…
When is “The Voice” season 30 on? Where to watch live and how voting works
Returning coaches Kelly Clarkson and Adam Levine are joined by two newcomers.
Tove Lo talks new album 'Estrus,' motherhood and giving advice
Before making her newest album, "Estrus," Swedish singer-songwriter Tove Lo felt pressure to make it profound. But after returning to a small village in Sweden, she was instead reminded of who she is at her core: "the same f— messy girl."
Paula Poundstone on sobriety, saving democracy, and her upcoming Pittsburgh show
Paula Poundstone is looking forward to returning to Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall with a set that covers politics and practical tips.
Eagles’ Saquon Barkley Gives Injury Update After Win vs Titans
The Philadelphia Eagles saw their star running back Saquon Barkley leave Sunday’s action against the Tennessee Titans early. The veteran went from the medical tent to the locker room before returning to the game momentarily. Barkley ended up having little impact on the Eagles’ tight win over the Titans. After the game, the running back […] The post Eagles’ Saquon Barkley Gives Injury Update After Win vs Titans appeared first on HEAVY.
Cardinals Urged to Target Blue Jays Veteran This Offseason
The St. Louis Cardinals missed the playoffs this season and will need to go back to the drawing board as they look to build a team capable of returning to the postseason next year.With that in mind, the question is which moves they should make to improve the roster and compete with the Chicago Cubs […] The post Cardinals Urged to Target Blue Jays Veteran This Offseason appeared first on HEAVY.
Kings G LaVine Setting 'Extremely High' Standards
The Sacramento Kings' injury bug was major last season, with multiple key contributors suffering severe injuries. After returning to full health, Zach LaVine is one player looking to bounce back.
Yankees Send Aaron Judge Back to the Injured List
The New York Yankees will once again be without their captain and reigning American League MVP, Aaron Judge. The team announced on Saturday morning that the 34-year-old will hit the 10-day injured list (retroactive to September 17th) due to a right calf strain. Judge only appeared in seven games after returning from a fractured rib …
Bournemouth v Liverpool: Key stats and talking points
BBC Sport examines some of the key themes before Sunday's match (14:00 BST), with Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola returning to former club Bournemouth. Bournemouth's 2-2 draw with Brentford followed a frustratingly familiar pattern for head coach Marco Rose, who remains without a Premier League win.
Injured Juventus star is pushing to be involved against Atalanta
Andrea Cambiaso has been injured since Juventus’ match against Parma and is now close to returning to action, but he was not included in the Bianconeri squad for their Europa League match against NE...
Donald Trump says he is banning CNN, Politico and MSNOW from White House
The US president has had a tense and fiery relationship with the US media since returning to office.
Report: Jay Sartori Returning to Tigers Front Office
Jay Sartori is on his way back to Detroit, and Scott Harris now has company in the front office. #Tigers
Iraola on Bournemouth return, Araujo and Ngumoha's England call
Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premier League game against Bournemouth at Vitality Stadium (kick-off 14:00 BST). On returning to the Vitality Stadium for the first time since he gave up his job as Bournemouth manager, Iraola said he is looking forward to "meeting and hugging" the players and staff, but noted: "There is another part that is the most important one right now - that we need to go there and beat them and be as ruthless as possible." Iraola said that Bournemouth haven't changed much since he left: "They continue to be very dangerous, a very good team."
Jayson Tatum Shows Real Vulnerability in Dan Patrick Interview
The Boston Celtics star revealed his emotions upon returning to the Boston Celtics last March.
Wings beat the Sparks 97-77 for 5th straight win
Both teams were returning from the break for the FIBA World Cup in Germany, where Bueckers helped lead the United States to the title.
A Familiar Voice Is Returning to the 76ers
Matt Cord is back after a brief retirement. Cord decided to give it one last run with the new additions to the team.
Discovery Lab brings back Curiosity Clinic for young science and healthcare explorers
A hands-on exhibit designed to give children a closer look at science, medicine, and healthcare careers is returning to Discovery Lab.
Discovery Lab brings back Curiosity Clinic for young science and healthcare explorers
A hands-on exhibit designed to give children a closer look at science, medicine, and healthcare careers is returning to Discovery Lab.
Boston 25 News
The fan-favorite fair in West Springfield is returning this weekend for 17 days of food, fun, rides, shopping and entertainment.
Ole Miss vs LSU: A Magnolia Bowl Preview
It's a matchup roughly nine months in the making, but at long last, we've finally made it. Week three of the college football season gives us Ole Miss vs. LSU, and this year it's a Magnolia Bowl with massive storylines. Number one is obviously former Rebel head coach Lane Kiffin returning to Oxford as the …
Arkansas State Fair returns in 2026 with new rides and attractions
The Arkansas State Fair is returning to Little Rock this October with new rides, attractions and a change to how live entertainment will be offered.
Carlos Alcaraz’s Remaining 2026 Schedule: Where Will He Play Next?
It has been a rather strange season for Carlos Alcaraz, who entered the year as the World No. 1, completed his Career Grand Slam at the Australian Open, and then spent most of his time on the sidelines before returning to the tour and making a quarterfinal run at the US Open. The Spaniard now …
After 'Educated,' Tara Westover revisits a family split in memoir 'Brothers and Sisters'
Tara Westover is returning with a second memoir nearly 10 years after her million-selling “Educated.” | WBBM Newsradio 780 AM & 105.9 FM
After 'Educated,' Tara Westover revisits a family split in memoir 'Brothers and Sisters'
Tara Westover is returning with a second memoir nearly 10 years after her million-selling “Educated.” | WWL
After 'Educated,' Tara Westover revisits a family split in memoir 'Brothers and Sisters'
Tara Westover is returning with a second memoir nearly 10 years after her million-selling “Educated.” | Talk 1370
New and returning performers shine with the Oswego Players
OSWEGO — Rehearsals are underway for the Oswego Players’ fall show for the 2026 season, “Old Money, New Habits,” written by local playwright Alexis Martin and directed by Sherri Metz.The play will be performed starting Oct. 9 at the Frances Marion Brown Theater in Fort Ontario Park. × This page requires Javascript. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. kAmyF?:A6C qC:88D 2?5 y6??:76C w:E494@4< A=2J E96 4=2DD:42==J >:D>2E4965 ?6H=JH65D |@?EJ 2?5 u6=:4:EJ s2G:6D :? E9:D 72C46 D6E :? E96 `hb_D :? t?8=2?5] |@?EJ :D 2? 62DJ8@:?8[ 56G@E65 9FD32?5[ H9:=6 u6=:4:EJ :D E96 5@>:?66C:?8 2?5 4@??:G:?8 H:76 H9@ >FDE 86E 6G6CJE9:?8 D96 56D:C6D] q@E9 92G6 D64C6ED 2?5 E96J H@F=5 5@ 2?JE9:?8 E@ 2G@:5 E96:C 6IA@DFC6]k^Am#placement_726068_0_i{width:100%;margin:0 auto;}var rnd = window.rnd || Math.floor(Math.random()*10e6);var pid726068 = window.pid726068 || rnd;var plc726068 = window.plc726068 || 0;var abkw = window.abkw || '';var absrc = 'https://ads.empowerlocal.co/adserve/;ID=181918;size=0x0;setID=726068;type=js;sw='+screen.width+';sh='+screen.height+';spr='+window.devicePixelRatio+';kw='+abkw+';pid='+pid726068+';place='+(plc726068++)+';rnd='+rnd+';click=CLICK_MACRO_PLACEHOLDER';var _absrc = absrc.split("type=js"); absrc = _absrc[0] + 'type=js;referrer=' + encodeURIComponent(document.location.href) + _absrc[1];document.write('');kAmw:E494@4< DE2CE65 H:E9 E96 !=2J6CD :? a__b[ 2?5 E9:D :D 96C 7:CDE E:>6 324< @? DE286 :? 2 7F==\=6?8E9 AC@5F4E:@? D:?46 a_a` 2?5 E96 3:CE9 @7 96C 52F89E6C]k^AmkAm“x’> 92G:?8 E96 E:>6 @7 >J =:76 H:E9 E9:D D9@H[” D96 D2:5] “|J 52F89E6C 5@6D?’E C62==J 8C2DA H9J |@>>J =62G6D 96C E@ 8@ E@ C6962CD2=D 2?5 8:G6D 2 AFKK=65 6IAC6DD:@? H9:=6 x’> C64:E:?8 >J =:?6D 2C@F?5 E96 9@FD6 :? >J A@D9 t?8=:D9 2446?E] x =@G6 5@:?8 72C46[ 2?5 H@C6 324< @? DE286]”k^AmkAmu@C qC:88D[ 2=E9@F89 96 92D D@>6 DE286 6IA6C:6?46 H:E9 @E96C E962E6CD[ E9:D :D 9:D 7:CDE D9@H H:E9 E96 ~DH68@ !=2J6CD]k^AmkAm“x 962C5 23@FE E96 2F5:E:@?D E9C@F89 E96 !=2J6CD’ u2463@@< A286[” 96 D2:5] “x 6[ D@ x 7:8FC65 x’5 8:G6 :E 2 D9@E] x H2D 56=:89E65 H96? $96CC: 42DE >6 2?5 92G6 C62==J 2AAC64:2E65 E96 H6=4@>6 x C646:G65 7C@> 2== 2?5 E96 ECFDE 2?5 C6DA64E 2== E96 24E@CD 2?5 4C6H D9@H E@ 6249 @E96C]”k^AmkAm|6EK 92D 366? A=62D65 H:E9 AC@8C6DD D@ 72C]k^AmkAm“x =@G6 72C46[ 3FE :E :D 2 G6CJ 5:77:4F=E EJA6 @7 E962E6C E@ 5@ H6==] }@E @?=J 5@ E96 42DE >6>36CD ?665 E@ ‘364@>6’ E96:C 492C24E6CD[ 3FE E96J >FDE 56=:G6C DA@E\@? E:>:?8 H:E9 6?EC2?46D[ 6I:ED[ 2?5 :?E6C24E:@?] %9:D H9@=6 4C6H 2C6 5@:?8 C62==J H6== 2?5 x 2> 4@?7:56?E H:== AC@G:56 2 7:CDE\4=2DD D9@H]”k^AmkAm!6C7@C>2?46 52E6D 2?5 E:>6D 7@C U=5BF@j~=5 |@?6J[ }6H w23:EDUC5BF@j 2C6 fib_ A]>] @? uC:52JD 2?5 $2EFC52JD ~4E] h\`_ 2?5 `e\`f[ H:E9 $F?52J >2E:?66D 2E a A]>] @? ~4E] `` 2?5 `g] %:46?E H:E9 ~=5 |@?6J !C@5F4E:@?D WHHH]@=5>@?6JAC@5F4E:@?D]4@>X] %96 ~DH68@ !=2J6CD 24
Is Buccaneers' Week 2 Game Against Browns a 'Must-Win'?
Losing a home game against the lowly Browns would drop Tampa Bay to 0-2 and could be devastating for the Bucs' hopes of returning to the postseason.
‘CSI’ alum Marg Helgenberger joins ‘Blue Bloods’ spinoff in guest role as Maggie Lawson’s mother
‘CSI’ star Marg Helgenberger is returning to CBS for a guest role on the upcoming season of the ‘Blue Bloods’ spinoff ‘Boston Blue.’ The actress will play the estranged mother of Maggie Lawson’s Sarah Silver.
Boston 25 News
The fan-favorite fair in West Springfield is returning this weekend for 17 days of food, fun, rides, shopping and entertainment.
Why awarding Monaco a sprint race completely detracts from exciting 2027 F1 calendar
Comment: Two popular venues returning and more sprint races in the schedule should be the main headline; instead, Formula 1 has bafflingly put an extra race at a circuit you can’t overtake at
Truth and Politics in the Age of Post-Truth
Get E-International Relations delivered to your inbox, free of charge. As you sign up, consider becoming a paid subscriber, or make a donation, to support our work. Subscribe This is an excerpt from Global Politics in a Post-Truth Era. You can download the book free of charge from E-International Relations. The term post-truth is by now so ubiquitous in describing the state of politics in the Western world and even beyond that the most pressing issue of the day appears to be about making democracy work in the era of post-truth rather than questioning the normalisation of the term itself in the first place. The critical turning point appeared to have occurred in 2016 when the term was chosen by the Oxford English Dictionary as ‘The Word of the Year.’ On its website, the Dictionary notes the transformation of post-truth from ‘being a peripheral term to being a mainstay in political commentary and connects ‘the spike in frequency’ directly with the Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom and the election of Donald J. Trump in the United States – both occurring in 2016. Paired with the noun ‘politics,’ post-truth is defined as an adjective ‘relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.’ The Oxford English Dictionary traces the first use of the term to a 1992 essay in The Nation by the playwright Steve Tesich as he reflected on the 1980s Iran-Contra scandal and the 1990–91 Gulf War: We are rapidly becoming prototypes of a people that totalitarian monsters could only drool about in their dreams. All the dictators up to now have had to work hard at suppressing the truth. We, by our actions, are saying that this is no longer necessary, that we have acquired a spiritual mechanism that can denude truth of any significance. In a very fundamental way we, as a free people, have freely decided that we want to live in some post-truth world (Tesich 1992, 13; emphasis added). He then continued, The Gulf War is over but the war at home goes on. The gulf between rich and destitute widens – between those of us who live in a modern post-industrial nation and those of us who live in the Third World countries of our inner cities. The present administration’s response to this internal crisis has shifted from benign to malignant neglect. The current levels of misery and decomposition of our cities and the economic gulags of our ghettos are acceptable. Since there is only so much hope to go around, there is a freeze on hope. The have-nots have now been reclassified as never-will-haves (Tesich 1992, 13). In the context of Tesich’s essay, truth includes both facts, as in what happens, and ‘moral absolutes,’ as in the ‘self-evident truths mentioned in our Constitution’ (Tesich 1992, 14). Together, these two notions of truth entail the obligation to both act and react. The two passages cited above show that even in the early post-Cold War years, Tesich was already deeply concerned that the American people are neither prepared to act on truth nor react to truth that is disconcerting, or what he calls ‘bad news’ (Tesich 1992, 12). Accordingly, Tesich’s insight as captured by the term post-truth is not that truth is irrelevant to what we know, but rather it is irrelevant to how we act. In contrast, ‘post-truth politics,’ as defined by Oxford as a term that pitches ‘objective facts’ against ‘emotion and personal belief’ such that the latter appears to have overtaken the former in shaping ‘public opinion’ and thereby, democratic politics. When Tesich’s post-truth politics and its current usage are juxtaposed, the two are in fact not identical in terms of what truth is and how it relates to politics. Against such consideration, this chapter provides a critical survey of selected historical events and theoretical considerations for the purpose of gaining a more nuanced understanding of the relation between truth and politics. Truth and Language One notable impact of post-truth politics is that language is being overtly deployed as a political weapon not only by politicians and those in power, but among the general population. It seems that once facts are irrelevant to the validity of what is being said, language becomes the platform for an all-out political contest in which what is said is no more than an act of will expressed as an assertion of power and/or an exercise in defiance. As early as in the writings of Thucydides (460–400 BCE), the vulnerability of logos – which is the human capacity for rational discourse in tumultuous times – was already noted. Thucydides belonged to a school of Greek thought which maintained that language is conventional and that the association between name and things is a result of ‘human use and habit’ rather than ‘nature or divine dispensation’ (Connor 1984, 99). The conventional nature of language means that it is incapable of providing its users with any independent criteria for judgement. In Thucydides’ study of the Peloponnesian War (431–405 BCE), the subversion of logos as seen in the manipulation of language was introduced through his account of the civil war in Corcyra (Thucydides 1972, 236-245). The war first broke out in 427 BCE between the pro-Athenian democratic faction and the pro-Spartan oligarchic faction before it spread to the rest of the Greek world. There was a general breakdown of law and order, resulting in extreme violence and death. Language underwent changes that were reflective of the events of the time. The English philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) translated Thucydides’ description of the situation as follows: The received value of names imposed for signification of things, was changed into arbitrary. For inconsiderate boldness, was counted true-hearted manliness: provident deliberation, a handsome fear: modesty, the cloak of cowardice: to be wise in everything, to be lazy in everything... he that had been so provident as not to need to do the one or the other, was said to be a dissolver of society, and one that stood in fear of his adversary. In brief, he that could outstrip another in the doing of an evil act, or that could persuade another thereto that never meant it, was commended (Hobbes 1839–1845, 8: 348; Thucydides 1972, 242-243). What concerned Thucydides most was that the meanings of words are no more than linguistic conventions that require logos to support them. The Corcyrean civil war was a reminder that such capacity cannot be assumed. This is why history understood as an authentic account of what happens matters. Guided by logos, the historian’s task is ‘the search after truth’, which is established through ‘the absence of the fabulous,’ including ‘the rejection of myth and unverifiable stories’ (de Jonge 2017, 2). Thus, history plays an important role in facilitating the stability of language – without which distinctions and judgements cannot be rendered communicable. Just like Thucydides, Hobbes was a nominalist who subscribed to the view that there is no inherent meaning to words. Hobbes’ state of nature, where there is no common authority, is precisely one in which distinctions cannot be made. As Hobbes put it, there is ‘no Mine and Thine distinct’ nor is there distinction between ‘the notions of Right and Wrong, Justice and Injustice’ (1968, 188; emphasis in original). This is clearly an unsustainable condition for everyone. Behind Hobbes’ famous words that life in the state of nature is ‘solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short’ is his uncompromising argument for the ‘Leviathan’, which is described by the late American political theorist, Sheldon Wolin (1922–2015), as the ‘sovereign definer’ (Hobbes 1968, 186; Wolin 2004, 238–243). Accordingly, the social contract is importantly a ‘linguistic contract’ that binds all parties to ‘general names agreed upon’ (Peters 1979, 125; Hobbes 1968, 111). Through Thucydides and Hobbes, we can identify a line of thinking that sees politics as a contestation over the use of language, which is based on shared conventions and norms. Thus understood, politics is not a collective quest for the true nature of our being or an epistemological exercise in pursuit of true knowledge. Rather, politics is about humans living with one another by finding a shared language to communicate with one another on matters that affect them all. Truth is in that sense contingent on what is being said as opposed to setting the standard for it. In other words, truth is the embodiment of shareability among us. While truth as such ensures the viability of a political entity, truth by no means represents a normative standard to adjudicate among contesting actors in what they say, let alone in what they do. During Thucydides’ times, ancient China was also experiencing a tumultuous time as the ruling Zhou dynasty deteriorated into the period of the Warring States (481–221 BCE). This was when the rulers of Zhou no longer presided over the territories brought under its control through conquest. Instead of professing allegiance to the Zhou royalty, the lords of these territories became kings themselves to rule over their own land. The period was one marked by endless military campaigns as each of the seven major states aimed to conquer the rest (Lewis 1999). Yet, the period was also known for its intellectual vibrancy as different thinkers challenged the restoring of order among these warring states – including offering ideas and advice to rulers on good governance. Among these thinkers was Confucius (551–479 BCE). His thought, which came to be known as Confucianism, went on to become the state ideology of China from the Han dynasty (206 BCE–222 CE) until the end of the Qing dynasty in 1911 when China became a republic. The founding text of Confucianism was the Analects, which is a collection of dialogues between Confucius and his students as recorded by them. One key concept Confucius advanced is the ‘rectification of names’. Though the term only appears in one exchange in the Analects, it is considered a major aspect of Confucius’ thought. Generations of Confucian scholars from past and present, including Western academics, have debated over its interpretation (Makeham 2003). The passage in question reads as follows: Zi Lu said: ‘The monarch of the state of Wei wants you to govern the country, what is the first thing you plan on doing?’ Confucius said: ‘First it is necessary to rectify the names.’Zi Lu said: ‘Is that really what has to be done? You are being too pedantic, aren’t you now? How will you rectify these names?’Confucius said: ‘Zhong You, you are too unrefined. A gentleman, faced with a matter that he does not understand, takes a skeptical attitude. If names are not correct, one cannot speak smoothly and reasonably, and if one cannot speak smoothly and reasonably, affairs cannot be managed successfully. If affairs cannot be managed successfully, rites and music will not be conducted. If rites and music are not conducted, punishments will not be suitable. And if punishments are not suitable, the common people will not know what to do. So, when the gentleman uses names, it is necessary to be able to speak so that people understand. If one can say it, one can definitely do it. A gentleman should not be careless with words’ (Analects 13:3 in Cao 2016, 148). This translation is offered by the contemporary philosopher Cao Feng. As Cao notes, the passage is what started the whole debate over ‘exactly what kind of names did Confucius... wish to rectify’ (Cao 2016, 148). Of the three major groups of interpretation examined by Cao, beginning with classical Confucian scholarship, one is arguably the most influential and certainly most pertinent to the issue of language and politics. This is the interpretation that was first associated with the Neo-Confucian master, Zhu Xi (1130–1200), who argued that the ‘rectification of names is simply the rectification of politics’ (Cao 2016, 149). Within this interpretive framework, rectification has the dual functions of correction and prescription by ensuring that predetermined hierarchical roles are strictly adhered to through following ‘the system of rites and propriety’ (Cao 2016, 151). In addition, the rectification of names entails ‘using names to rectify actuality’ (Cao 2016, 151). Yet Cao rejects this whole body of interpretive works by arguing that these were ideas developed later. Instead, Cao suggests the following: The original meaning of Confucius’ rectification of names may, then, be quite simple. Confucius did not mean to establish a concrete, normative system of “names”; rather, Confucius was simply the first person in history to realize or remark upon the importance of language in politics. As a politician, he noticed and foresaw the impact that the indeterminacy, ambiguity, and arbitrariness of names would have on politics. Confucius recognized the political consequences of language’s not accurately expressing meaning or not being accurately received by people. He realized the great role that names, as a means of distinguishing right and wrong and establishing norms, could play in society and politics (Cao 2016, 168). Scholarly debates aside, Cao’s view has the advantage of identifying an interpretation of this controversial exchange in the Analects that enables its readers to extrapolate from it the observation that the meaning of words depends as much on their users as on their interpreters; neither of which can be predetermined. Accordingly, a good ruler is someone who can speak without ambiguity to his subjects and make good his words through actions. Stated differently, Cao’s view on what concerned Confucius then, who was living through times of protracted political upheaval, is that language is an indispensable political tool for those in power and can be deployed by both good and bad rulers alike. To sum up, this historical survey shows that politics as a war of words is by no means a distinctive marker of contemporary politics nor the Western world. Be it ancient or current, east or west, language is subject to manipulation to serve political purposes and when there is an outright war of words that defies existing norms, it is indicative of a political situation in which people no longer share a language and truth becomes irrelevant. Accordingly, political order entails stability in language use. Truth and Politics As previously noted, current use of the term post-truth as an adjective to the term ‘politics’ suggests that once there was a time when politics aligned with truth. Indeed, if we start with Plato’s Republic as the key founding text of Western political thought, we see that the ideal polis (city-state of ancient Greece) is where truth and politics converge, and justice is achieved. Written around 380 BCE when Athens was still coping with its defeat by the Spartans in the Peloponnesian War, the Republic is a defence of the rule of the ‘philosopher king’, defined as someone who is ‘guided by the truth’ and is ‘always and in every way’ in pursuit of the truth (Plato 1974, 490a). For Plato, truth converges with virtues and hence, letting the philosopher take charge of politics is to let the wisest and the most virtuous lead the less wise and the less virtuous even if it requires compulsion (Plato 1974, 499b). In Plato’s words, ‘…until the philosophers attain power in a city there will be no respite from evil for either city or citizens…’ (Plato 1974, 501e). The uncompromising rule of philosopher-kings is made palatable by the claim that we are all ‘earth- born brothers’ with random mixtures of gold, silver, bronze and iron, but only the gold can rule (Plato 1974, 414–415). Understandably, academic debates over the interpretation of Plato’s Republic revolve around the question of whether truth as attained in philosophy can be realised in politics as action and whether such a connection is even desirable. Without getting into the details of these scholarly exchanges, I suggest that they all share the concern that truth acquired through the rigorous process of philosophical reasoning is not without problem when applied to the real world of living humans. This is because not all humans are philosophers – and indeed, in Plato’s view, not everyone is capable of becoming a philosopher given the protracted and arduous training that one needs to endure to become one. Hannah Arendt (1906–1975), a highly influential political philosopher of the twentieth century, notes that ‘Plato was the first to introduce the division between those who know and do not act and those who act and do not know’ and that such a separation has remained ‘at the root of all theories of domination’ (Arendt 1958, 223, 225). What Arendt points out in this remark is not the gap between theory and practice, but rather that Plato provides the normative ground for those who know the truth to tell those who do not know what to do. Arendt herself took on the challenge of understanding the relationship between truth and politics through her analysis of Nazism and Stalinism. Arendt’s insight, which was controversial when The Origins of Totalitarianism was published in 1951, was to identify Nazism and Stalinism as representative of a new form of political rule – totalitarianism – making it distinct from ‘other forms of political oppression... such as despotism, tyranny and dictatorship’ (Arendt 1973, 460). Arendt defines totalitarianism as a self- contained system of ideas driven by their ‘logic’ and marked by a mode of reasoning called ‘ideological thinking.’ Ideological thinking as such is a distinctive form of political reasoning defined by three characteristics. First, ideological thinking claims to provide a ‘total explanation’ of all historical happenings, encompassing the past, the present, and the future. Second, while ideological thinking is an attempt to account for ‘factual reality’ in its totality, this mode of thinking is paradoxically divorced from reality and experience. This is because experience, being rooted in specificity, is clearly limited in its claim to totality. It follows that as its third characteristic, ideological thinking aims to emancipate thought from the limitation imposed by experience through a ‘specific method of demonstration.’ The method involves arranging facts into an ‘absolutely logical procedure’ that starts from an ‘axiomatically accepted premise’. It is, in short, a ‘process of deduction from a premise’ – which is the only possible movement in the realm of logic that leads to one definitive conclusion. This is how the ‘logicality of ideological thinking’ provides the basis for total explanation and the ‘principle of action’ for totalitarian movement (Arendt 1973, 468–474). Stated differently, totalitarianism is a form of uncompromising idealism that exists in one’s head irrespective of shared reality as experienced. It is the perverse form of what Arendt later refers to as ‘rational truth’, which is the product of the ‘speculative mind’ that belongs to philosophy, mathematics and the sciences. The ‘speculative mind’ is the mind working on its way to generate axioms and theories by relying on the cognitive capacity of the human brain (Arendt 1977, 231). The presence of others has no bearing whatsoever on rational truth. In contrast, ‘factual truth’ is what happens when humans are ‘living and acting together’ (Arendt 1977, 231). Factual truth is therefore particular and temporal by definition. But more importantly, factual truth is ‘political by nature’ because it can only be validated in the context of the human community (Arendt 1977, 238). In other words, factual truth is about humans in their plurality rather than in their singularity. For factual truth to be sustainable, we need what Arendt calls ‘common sense’ – understood as ‘community sense’ (Arendt 1982, 72). There is also another distinction about truth that Arendt makes which is pertinent to understanding how totalitarianism works. The issue is whether the so-called totalitarian ideology is simply an unnecessarily cumbersome way of saying that it is an all-round and polished lie. Here, Arendt calls totalitarian ideology the ‘modern lie’ – in contrast to the ‘traditional lie’. The latter is restricted by two conditions: that it is a lie about the ‘particulars’ and that it deceives only the ‘enemy’ – which means that the liar is not engaged in self- deception. The modern lie, however, involves a ‘complete rearrangement of the whole factual texture’. It also intends to deceive everyone alike, to the extent that those who initiate the lie eventually ‘fall victims to their own falsehood’ (Arendt 1977, 249–254). This distinction between the traditional and modern lie is important. It indicates that not only is totalitarianism a lie, but the lie is in fact too big to fit into the standard meaning of the word. To tell a lie from truth, we need a common standard. In the case of a traditional lie, the common standard is precisely ‘the fabric of factuality’. As such, a lie always appears as a ‘tear’ to that fabric. Yet, modern lies require making a surrogate reality with a completely different context for facts to fit ‘without seam, crack, or fissure, exactly as the facts fitted into their original context’. Arendt notes that as long as those who concoct the surrogate reality are prepared to engage in self- deception to ‘create a semblance of truthfulness’, there is nothing to prevent ‘these new stories, images, and non-facts from becoming an adequate substitute for reality and factuality’ (Arendt 1977, 253–254). Totalitarianism therefore requires a person to stand outside of the system itself in order to make sense of it. Arendt points out that it is futile for us to argue with (for example) a Nazi or a Stalinist on race or class. To confront totalitarianism requires more than just a confrontation with specific facts. It is a more fundamental confrontation between reality as experienced and its total rejection. This means that Nazism and Stalinism are more than radical ways of conducting racial conflict or class struggle. Rather: Totalitarian politics – far from being simply antisemitic or racist or imperialist or communist – use and abuse their own ideological and political elements until the basis of factual reality, from which the ideologies originally derived their propaganda value– the value of struggle, for instance, or the interest conflicts between Jews and their neighbours – have all but disappeared (Arendt 1973, xv). Accordingly: The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction (that is, the reality of experience) and the distinction between true and false (that is, the standards of thought) no longer exist (Arendt 1973, 474). Who then is the ‘ideal subject’ of totalitarianism? Although there is a revival of interest in Arendt’s observation on truth and politics since the onset of post- truth politics, not enough has been said about her reply to the question (Hyvönen 2018; Klinkler 2018; Lee 2019; Zerilli 2020). Yet if we take a look at Arendt’s portrait of this ideal subject, her view is even more pertinent to our current challenge. As a self-contained system of ideas that is detached from experience, totalitarian thinking offers consistency in ways that reality cannot. Arendt notes that this kind of consistency is especially appealing to those who have lost a sense of bearing in the world (Arendt 1973, 353). They constitute what she calls the ‘masses’. The ‘mass man’ is thus a highly isolated and atomised individual, who is ‘obsessed by a desire to escape from reality’ (Arendt 1973, 318, 352). In his ‘essential homelessness’ the mass man can ‘no longer bear its accidental, incomprehensible aspects’ (Arendt 1973, 352). This longing for escape from reality is a ‘verdict against the world’ in which one is ‘forced to live’ but ‘cannot exist’ (Arendt 1973, 352). Such a situation is ripe for the ‘revolt of the masses’ against ‘common sense,’ which is ‘the result of their atomisation, of their loss of social status’ and with it, the ‘whole sector of communal relationships in whose framework common sense makes sense’ (Arendt 1973, 352). In short, the masses are people who are considered to be ‘superfluous or can be spared … [who] cannot be integrated into any organisation based on common interest’ (Arendt 1973, 311). Whether one agrees with Arendt’s analysis of the social conditions in the interwar years that led to the formation of the ‘masses’, her portrait of the ‘mass man’ is a powerful account of what can happen to an individual who has become disposable to the society that they used to belong to. Hand in hand with this phenomenon is indeed the collapse of ‘common sense’ that leaves the dislodged individual scrambling for reconnection. By offering the masses a substitute reality validated by the ‘logic of an idea’ rather than by experience, totalitarianism makes it possible for them to live in a world where there is no condition of plurality. Between ‘facing the anarchic growth and total arbitrariness of decay’ and ‘bowing down before the most rigid, fantastically fictitious consistency of an ideology’, the masses will likely ‘choose the latter’ (Arendt 1973, 352). A world created by ideology, then, is more attractive to the masses not because ‘they are stupid and wicked, but because in the general disaster this escape grants them a minimum of self- respect’ by conjuring up ‘a lying world of consistency which is more adequate to the needs of the human mind than reality itself’ (Arendt 1973, 353). Moreover, it is precisely this ability to guarantee consistency that makes it possible for the leaders of totalitarian movements to demand ‘total, unrestricted, unconditional and unalterable loyalty of the individual member’ (Arendt 1973, 323). While this chapter is not a study of the social factors that led to specific contemporary developments such as the result of the Brexit referendum or the election of Donald Trump in 2016, Arendt’s ‘mass man’ seem to have found their counterparts among the supporters of Brexit and Trumpism. Studies of voters’ profiles in both events point to a disproportionate share of supporters from white male lower income backgrounds without university educations. These are individuals who have either already lost their jobs to globalisation or who are at high risk of losing their job with very little capacity to be retrained for the twenty-first century market economy of advanced industrialised states (BBC 2016; Pew Research Center 2018). In short, these displaced workers are part of the tapestry forming the modern equivalent of Arendt’s ‘mass man’ – ready to be the recruits of totalitarianism. Conclusion If we step back to take a more comprehensive approach to the relationship between truth and politics, both historically and theoretically, it is not so obvious that 2016 is a defining moment. From ancient China and ancient Greece to our so-called post-truth age, the indeterminacy of language appears to be a persistent political challenge. Language is always open to manipulation by its users to serve power. Nonetheless, the tendency these days is to single out the ubiquity of social media and the proliferation of Internet platforms as the incubator for the countless cyberwars of words that in turn fuel the real world of politics. In this context, language is no longer the conveyor of objective facts and accurate information, but rather the medium for expressing subjective opinions and feelings, as captured by the Oxford Dictionary’s definition of the term ‘post-truth politics’. In contrast, the historical approach used in this chapter shows that it is in fact too easy to point the figure at the Internet and digital communication for the political challenge that we face today. What is being suggested here is that with or without the Internet, language, be it used to convey facts or emotions, is simply a tool for communication that humans have invented. While language per se cannot adjudicate what is true or not true, what is right or wrong, it embodies such capacity when language is a shared norm. That shared norm cannot be sustained without some semblance of cohesion in any given community. Any war of words, irrespective of its platform, is indicative of the breakdown of such cohesiveness. Returning to the original context in which the term post-truth politics was first used by Steve Tesich helps to identify the important distinction between truth as the standard for knowledge and truth as the standard for action. The two do not necessarily coincide. Placed in the context of the history of political thought, this distinction is in fact at the heart of Plato’s Republic. Yet when the philosopher as the quintessential bearer of truth becomes king, the polis that he rules over is far from the ideal of a just state that it purports to be. Instead, it is one that is held together by lies and coercion. What Arendt reveals through her study of Nazism and Stalinism is that it is dangerous for the kind of truth that philosophy generates – ‘rational truth’ – to become the guide to politics. Politics guided by rational truth can only be uncompromising and follows a logic of its own that cannot afford the ambiguity and indeterminacy of reality as lived experiences of humans. A world of post-truth politics can be an opportunity for a new kind of politics if it is indeed about dismantling the idea that truth is the ideal that politics should strive for. But as it stands, the post-truth politics of today is more about invoking a past that never exists to judge the presence as a crisis in naming when the real crisis is about rebuilding a shared space that has room for all – be they of the left, right or centre; cosmopolitan or parochial; civic-minded or self-centred; liberal-minded or bigoted. Politics is and always will be about striving for that space, without which no human can thrive. References Arendt, Hannah. 1958. The Human Condition. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Arendt, Hannah. 1973. The Origins of Totalitarianism. Rev. ed. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. Arendt, Hannah. 1977. “Truth and Politics.” In Between Past and Future, 227–264. New York: Penguin Books. Arendt, Hannah. 1982. Lectures on Kant’s Political Philosophy, edited by Ronald Beiner. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. British Broadcasting Corporation. 2016. “Brexit vote: The breakdown.” BBC News, December 7, 2016. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-38227674 Cao, Feng. 2016. “A New Examination of Confucius’ Rectification of Names.” Journal of Chinese Humanities 2: 147–171. https://doi-org.subzero.lib. uoguelph.ca/ doi/ 10.1163/23521341-12340032. Connor, W. Robert. 1984. Thucydides. Princeton: Princeton University Press. de Jonge, Casper C. 2017. “Dionysius of Halicarnassus on Thucydides.” in The Oxford Handbook of Thucydides, edited by Sara Forsdyke, Edith Foster, and Ryan Balot. Oxford University Press. DOI: 10.1093/ oxfordhb/9780199340385.013.17 https://www-oxfordhandbooks-com.subzero. lib.uoguelph.ca/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199340385.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199340385 Hyvönen, Ari-Elmeri. 2018. “Careless Speech: Conceptualizing Post-Truth Politics.” New Perspectives 26 (3): 31–55. https://www.proquest.com/ scholarly-journals/careless-speech-conceptualizing-post-truth/ docview/2204515132/se-2?accountid=11233. Hobbes, Thomas. 1839–1845. The English Works of Thomas Hobbes, edited by Sir William Molesworth. London: John Bohn. Vol. 8. Klinkner, Melanie. 2018. “Reasonable Truth.” International Journal of Media & Cultural Politics 14 (3): 393–99. doi:10.1386/macp.14.3.393_7. Lee, Haiyan. 2019. “When Nothing Is True, Everything Is Possible: On Truth and Power by Way of Socialist Realism.” PMLA/Publications of the Modern Language Association of America 134 (5). Cambridge University Press: 1157–64. https://doi.org/10.1632/pmla.2019.134.5.1157 Lewis, Mark E. 1999. “Warring States Political History.” In The Cambridge History of Ancient China: From the Origins of Civilization to 221 BC, edited by Michael Loewe and Edward Shaughnessy, 587–650. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Makeham, John. 2003. “Zheng ming (Rectification of names).” In RoutledgeCurzon Encyclopedia of Confucianism, edited by Xinzhong Yao. Vol. 2: 813-814. New York: Routledge. Oxford Languages, n. d. “Word of the Year 2016.” Accessed 19 August 2017. https://languages.oup.com/word-of-the-year/2016/ Peters, Richard. 1979. Hobbes. Westport: Greenwood Press. Pew Research Center. 2018. “An examination of the 2016 electorate, based on validated voters.” Report, August 9, 2018. https://www.pewresearch.org/ politics/2018/08/09/an-examination-of-the-2016-electorate-based-on- validated-voters/ Plato. 1974. Republic. Translated by G. M. A. Grube. Indianapolis: Hackett. Tesich, Steve. 1992. “Watergate Syndrome: A Government of Lies.” The Nation: 12-14. January 6/13, 1992. Thucydides. 1972. The Peloponnesian War. Translated by Rex Warner. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Books. Wolin, Sheldon. 2004. Politics and Vision: Continuity and Innovation in Westen Political Thought. Expanded Edition. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Zerilli, Linda M. G. 2020. ‘Fact-Checking and Truth-Telling in an Age of Alternative Facts.’ Le foucaldien 6, no. 1: 2, 1–22. Theresa Man Ling Lee is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Guelph (Canada). Lee is a political theorist who specializes in contemporary political thought. Her research and teaching areas include continental philosophy, Marxism and critical theory, feminism, postmodernism, philosophy of social science, psychoanalysis, multiculturalism, human rights, disability studies, modern Chinese political thought and comparative political theory. Lee has published on a wide range of subjects in these areas, including intercultural pedagogy and the challenges of teaching as a person with multiple minority designations in a Canadian university classroom.
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Hall of Famer Drew Brees came remarkably close to returning to the NFL last season after the Denver Broncos lost quarterback Bo Nix to a fractured ankle in their divisional-round overtime win over the Buffalo Bills, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Monday. With the AFC Championship Game against the New England Patriots approaching, then-Broncos […] The post Broncos news: Drew Brees nearly unretired to play playoff game for Denver appeared first on ClutchPoints.
How Far Can Applied Digital Stock Fall If The Business Keeps Growing?
Applied Digital (APLD) trades near $26, about 47% below its high of the past twelve months, after returning -36.3% over three months. Over twelve months, though, it is still up 55.6%. Nothing in the operation broke: it beat the quarter it reported in July 2026, and management says every project is on time and on budget.
Will Netflix’s Latest Horror Film Save Its Summer? And Introducing a New Data Source...
(Welcome to my weekly streaming ratings report, the single best guide to what’s popular in streaming TV and what isn’t. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. If you were forwarded this email, please subscribe to get these insights each week.) All month, I’ve been polling you, my readers, on how we think the summer’s biggest blockbusters will do when they eventually land on streaming, and I wanted to share the results. First up, how readers think The Odyssey will perform when it comes to Peacock... People are pretty bullish that The Odyssey will smash it for Peacock. I don’t know that it will have as much rewatchability as Wicked did for kids, but we’ll see. It is now Universal’s highest-grossing film of all time. One note: almost half of Christopher Nolan’s films weren’t available for streaming the week The Odyssey came to theaters, including some of his biggest films like Inception, Dunkirk, Tenet, Oppenheimer and Insomnia. If you did want to watch the others, Prime Video had Memento and The Dark Knight trilogy, HBO Max only had The Dark Knight trilogy (even though Warner Bros. produced most of Nolan’s films), Hulu had The Prestige and Interstellar, and Paramount+ had Interstellar. So you needed at least two streaming subscriptions to catch the rest. Warner Bros. whiffed right here. I know they have long term licensing deals, but they should have tried to get as many Nolan films on HBO Max for launch as possible. Here are the results for Spider-Man: Brand New Day: The audience is a bit more mixed on this one, with everyone agreeing Spider-Man will swing to a big opening, but not necessarily elite or best all time. On to this week’s issue. Netflix continues searching for a hit straight-to-streaming summer film and Lioness and Ted Lasso allow me to look at the difference between a “hit” and a ‘hit for them”. All that, plus new YA/teen melodramas on Prime Video and Netflix, the House of the Dragon finale, USA Network claims a big opening, more big NFL ratings, all the flops, bombs and misses, and a whole lot more. But we start with a fun new data announcement. Let’s dive right in! (Reminder: The streaming ratings report focuses on the U.S. market and compiles data from Nielsen’s weekly top ten viewership ranks, Luminate’s Top Ten Data, JustWatch and Reelgood interest data, Samba TV household viewership, company datecdotes, Netflix hours viewed data, Google Trends, and IMDb to determine the most popular content. While most data points are current, Nielsen’s data covers the weeks of August 3rd to August 9th, 2026. You can find a link to my terminology here.) Subscribe A New Data Source: Reelgood’s Data on Content Libraries Here’s a fun new treat for you. Reelgood—an online service and app that lets users track where shows or films are streaming—is providing data every month for the Streaming Ratings Report on the size of each streamer’s catalogue, along with the new shows and films for each streamer. Yay! Previously, I had pulled “new shows on streamers premiering on the first of the month”: While I liked that data cut, it was a big wonky since it didn’t show all of the new shows or movies that came to a streamer each month. Instead, I would have preferred something like this from Reelgood’s annual report: And now we have it! I’m going to feature Reelgood’s data monthly, showing both total catalogue size and new shows and films appearing on the charts. That’s going to make these two cool new charts. First, here’s the size of various streamers’ film catalogues… (By the way, Reelgood offered to make the charts for me, but I like doing that task by hand to understand the data better.) They also provided data back to last year. Here’s the number of films timeline: And here are the new films on each streamer for the month prior to Aug: As I get used to this data, I plan to keep tinkering with how I display it, but I’m excited to feature it monthly. Today, I’m sharing the film charts; next issue, I’m going to feature TV shows by streamer. Now, in full disclosure, Reelgood is a sponsor of this little-newsletter-that-could. But in my constant quest to figure out what streamer various shows and films are on, I was already a Reelgood user before this sponsorship. I go to their website all the time, and their data is very accurate on where shows are (or have been). Plus, I’ve been sharing their weekly top ten lists for years now, pre-sponsorship. For me, this is a great win-win, since I get to amplify a service I love, and I get a cool new data source to play with. Now, normally folks don’t usually mention their sponsors directly, but as I wrote before, as I start featuring ads in my newsletter, I plan to be extremely open about who is sponsoring my writing so you can trust what I write. Television - Two Big Returning Shows Look Set to Take Over The Charts One key question when it comes to judging streaming shows is whether a show is a “hit” or a “hit for them”. To be clear, the former means a show that’s one of the top shows on streaming, no questions asked. The latter means a show is one of the biggest, for a given streamer. That distinction makes a big difference! It’s really good to be one of the biggest shows on a streamer; it’s much better to be the biggest on streaming, despite the size of a streamer. Because, as we’ve seen now, nearly every streamer—while lacking the number of subscribers or usage of Netflix—can make hit TV shows: Paramount released Landman, whose first and second seasons were among the top two TV shows the year they came out. HBO Max’s The Pitt’s second season is the biggest show of the year so far. Love Island USA was the top show in 2025 for Peacock. And, crucially for today’s discussion: Wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy back in 2023, Ted Lasso was actually the top streaming show of the year according to Nielsen! So even Apple TV (formerly +) can make hit shows. It just doesn’t make them that often. And looking at the Nielsen charts this week, we have two prime candidates for this discussion: That’s right: Ted Lasso returned to Apple TV for its fourth season. Did it return in all its expected glory? Sure, though right now it’s still just a “hit for Apple TV”, but we’ll see how long it lasts on the charts. Its ten episodes are coming out weekly. (Smart choice, Apple!) Ted Lasso started out strong, actually making the Nielsen charts the week before new episodes dropped, which is a rare feat. (Shows like Stranger Things or Bridgerton have pulled that off. That’s terrific company to join!) On Nielsen, it opened to 14.4 million hours in its first week, and 16.6 million the week of 10-Aug. Here’s how that compares to previous seasons: Apple put out that this is their biggest TV launch through two days ever, and looking at the chart and Apple TV’s viewership history, I’d believe it. Here’s Apple’s top shows for season two and beyond: Other data tells a (mostly) similar story. Ted Lasso made Samba TV and it has elite IMDb scores, an insane 8.7 on 465K reviews. The only outlier is Luminate, where the latest season only had 7.4 million hours, and no other seasons made the top ten. As you’ll see below, that’s well below some other solid, but not spectacular shows like Sterling Point, Ride or Die or Furious. I’d be surprised if Ted Lasso isn’t bigger than those other shows, but it’s fine for different data sources to occasionally disagree. And while it’s sucky to bring this up, given that Warner Bros. produced this show, I do wonder how the streaming wars may have been different if Ted Lasso landed on HBO Max initially instead of Apple. I don’t think one show can make or break a streamer, but given HBO’s brand, it could have helped bring people to that streamer much earlier in its lifespan. (Though yeah, I don’t love calling out executives for passing on hit shows, since that’s just the nature of the job. Even the absolute best execs will pass on lots of successful shows. The key is not greenlighting the under-performers/misses.) The other show I’m thinking about in the “hit or hit for them” category is Lioness from Paramount+. Like Ted Lasso, its first season missed the charts, but it’s grown its audience since then. Here’s how season three opened: We’re just getting started with this issue, but the rest is for paid subscribers of the Entertainment Strategy Guy, so if you’d like to find out… How Lioness did on streaming... Two new melodramas for Netflix and Prime Video... Whether Netflix’s latest horror film saved its summer... Hulu’s Furious and Prime Video’s Ride or Die continuing their strong runs... The latest high profile showrunner to flop on streaming... All the flops, bombs and misses... And a whole lot more... ...please subscribe! We can only keep doing this great work with your support. Next week, we’ve got a double issue—since the week of 17-Aug had very few notable new shows or films—so I’ll look at HBO’s Lanterns, Prime Video’s Reacher, Netflix’s Tires, Outer Banks (which posted up huge numbers four years ago), an Aussie romance, and another baseball event (that didn’t resonate). And a bunch of movies like the latest dramedy from an Adam Sandler daughter, Don’t Say Good Luck, Camp Rock 3 on Disney Channel and Disney+, Michael on Starz, and more. Later this month, we’ve got a ton of shows and films to analyze! Movies will be the big story, featuring a box office bomb (Supergirl on HBO Max) and an “underperformer” (The Mandalorian and Grogu on Disney+) contending with a bunch of star-studded straight-to-streaming films like Netflix’s The Whisper Man (Adam Scott, Michelle Monaghan and De Niro!), Mayday on Apple TV+ (Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh!), The Runner (Gal Gadot) and The Last Sunrise (Eva Longoria and Maia Reficco) on Prime Video. Plus, a ton of TV shows have sophomore seasons coming out. Will The Gentleman put up big numbers on Netflix or suffer from a sophomore slump? Leanne and Beauty in Black on Netflix seem small, but they both might be bigger than you think. Hulu has a bunch of shows: a new season of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives (the first after all the controversy last year) and the second season of Chad Powers (from Peyton Manning’s production company and starring Glen Powell). This one flopped last year; can it score a touchdown this year? Same goes for FX’s Adults, which I didn’t track last year; will it hit this year? Peacock’s The Office spinoff, The Paper and Apple TV’s Dark Matter also return for second seasons. And Netflix has more Untold specials featuring Vince Young, Raygun (that horrible breakdancer) and Mr. T. Long term, Paramount+ is rebooting yet another franchise, Clueless, and I’m somewhat bullish on this new show. The talent attached (Alicia Silverstone) and creative Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage (of The O.C. and Gossip Girl) also feel solid...if they make it funny like the original.
Mitch McConnell says he's returning to Capitol Hill after monthslong absence
McConnell say he'll vote in Senate for the first time since his hospitalization in June
Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is returning to vote in the Senate | KNSS Radio