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Comments Reveal A Striking Truth About Trae Young’s Hawks Era
Trae Young accomplished plenty during his time with the Atlanta Hawks, but one thing consistently appeared to be missing around the former franchise superstar. Atlanta surrounded Young with several quality players throughout his tenure, yet the organization never truly found another elite offensive threat capable of consistently forcing defenses to shift their attention away from …
Tottenham Lose Sponsor as Sidiz Partnership Comes to an End
Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly lost another commercial partner after Sidiz ended its sponsorship agreement, following Kumho Tyre’s departure and ahead of AIA’s move away from the front of Spurs’ shirts.
LIVE: Palmetto Sports Teams’ takeaways about Clemson’s quarterback from Dabo’s press conference
WATCH: Palmetto Sports’ Caroline Soro and Ella Grogan’s LIVE takeaways about Clemson’s quarterback Tait Reynolds from Dabo Swinney’s press conference.
Vera Rubin Observatory detects one of the smallest and faintest satellite galaxies ever seen — before the telescope's mission even began
Astronomers looking at Vera C. Rubin Observatory test data have discovered 'Aquarius IV', believed to be a brand new satellite galaxy of the Milky Way located 350,000 light-years away.
The next generation of American scientists is fading away
While the Trump administration racks up ‘wins’ in its anti-woke crusade, the US is eroding its talent pipeline
Would Troy Aikman actually walk away from ESPN?
This originally appeared in Tuesday morning’s edition of The A Block, Awful Announcing’s daily newsletter with the latest sports media news, commentary, and analysis. Sign up here and be the first to know everything going on in the sports media world. Something is off when the analyst half of the longest-running broadcast marriage in NFL history…
Spurs legend Hughton 'very confident things will improve'
Former Tottenham defender Chris Hughton says he is "very confident things will improve" under Roberto de Zerbi despite a poor start to the 2026-27 season. Sometimes it clicks straight away, sometimes it takes time.
Micron reportedly ends production of 2GB GDDR7 used by GeForce RTX 50
Micron appears to be moving away from 2GB GDDR7 as its catalog shifts toward 3GB devices. The older 16Gb parts were already used on RTX 50 cards.
Hayden Panettiere's Cause of Death Officially Confirmed
Hayden Panettiere's cause of death has been officially revealed. If you don't know, Hayden tragically passed away at the age of 36 on Sunday (August 16)
How the stories and science of floods shape Appalachia
For Will Waas, 24, Hurricane Helene did more than flood his home in the mountains of Western North Carolina. It washed away nearly everything he had accumulated — his clothes, tools, building materials, musical instruments, artwork, chickens and beehives. For eight days, Waas lived in a neighbor’s house with six other people and five pets...
Entertainment-Booking Startup Ande Raises $52 Million From Lightspeed, Redpoint
Personal AI agents like Instinct and Muse have promised to take away the hassle of booking hard-to-get restaurant reservations, Broadway tickets and sporting events. Now, a startup is coming out of stealth to do the same for corporate entertainment—events, group dining, catering, sporting events ...
Joanna Gaines Says She Avoided 1 Side of Magnolia’s Business for 10 Years. Now She’s Leading It.
The founder of Magnolia said a key aspect of the business was something she turned away from for years. That just changed.
Reading need to tidy up results on the road
Reading FC defender Haydon Roberts says squad is stronger to compete for promotion this season after falling away last term.
Lily Rabe Tells Chris Messina What It's Like to Return to the Stage After a Decade Away
After 10 years on screen, Lily Rabe returns to the stage with a triple-header that concludes with Other Desert Cities.
Iowa's new front on classroom behavior: Brain health rooms
Ankeny is among schools with rooms where students can step away and manage stress.
'Survivor 51' full cast: Meet the 21 new castaways battling for $1 million
The new season ushers in the 'Open Era' — and no twist from the show's past is off-limits.
BTA at 100: Our Top 8 Takeaways
The office technology industry gathered to celebrate a century of Business Technology Association (BTA) advocacy and evolution.
Can the States Stop the Corporate Domination of Our Politics?
States giveth corporations the right to exist, so the states can taketh away their political spending power—or at least, Hawaii and Montana are trying.
How lip-syncing to AI let Forced Entertainment ‘play the game of theatre’
Today we have a fascinating piece by long-time Forced Entertainment fan Ben Kulvichit, speaking to Tim Etchells about their latest show Cold Sweat, how they are integrating lip-sync and AI voices into their work, the question of ‘authenticity’ on stage, and how lip-sync has even opened the door for them to make “something a little bit like drama”. This piece is a paid partnership with the Southbank Centre, where you can see Cold Sweat next month – we’re very grateful to the Southbank Centre for their ongoing support for Exeunt. Holly Williams ‘It was immediately interesting and uncanny’ **By Ben Kulvichit** “Is the microphone on?” So goes one of the opening lines of Signal to Noise, delivered by a human performer lip-syncing to an AI-generated voice. The voice is American, cheery but sluggish, slowed down into a gelatinous drawl. It repeats ad infinitum in a farce of stuckness; an answer never materialises. I find myself asking the same question as I hop on a Google Meet call with Tim Etchells, the artistic director of Forced Entertainment. We spend five or ten minutes frowning at each other, muting and unmuting, me gesticulating in semaphore into my webcam, checking if I am coming through now, restarting the laptop. To Etchells, I appear exaggeratedly mouthing words, my voice missing. In this gloopy purgatory of broken communication, life imitates art imitates life imitates art. We try a Zoom instead. Forced Entertainment, the pioneering British theatre company who have been at the avant-garde of performance since the 1980s, turned an interesting artistic corner with Signal to Noise, created on the occasion of their 40th anniversary. The whole performance employed this lip-sync technique to AI voices; on the face of it a left-field move from a company whose identity has long been grounded in the earthy, immediate presences of its performers and its unassuming, low-tech approach to theatricality. The technique, however, turned out to provide the company with a “rich new seam” of artistic enquiry, and has now spawned a trilogy of works. The second instalment, Cold Sweat, plays at Sheffield Theatres, Southbank Centre, and Lancaster Arts in October, while the third part, Everything Must Go, has been touring in Europe and is slated to come to the UK in 2027. As is often the case with Forced Entertainment shows, the main conceit for this work didn’t arrive until quite late. They were “four or five weeks into rehearsals for Signal to Noise,” Etchells recalls, and getting nowhere. Away from rehearsals, he had been playing around with feeding “weird texts” to AI voices to see how they would cope with them – “basically for my own amusement” – and was compelled by the uniformly “serviceable, benign, good-natured” tone they would read in, no matter how poetic, fractured or experimental the writing. On a hunch, he brought some examples into rehearsals and the performers gave lip-syncing a go. “It was immediately interesting and uncanny,” he recalls, with the performers having to deal in the moment with the problem of mapping themselves onto another artificial ‘performer,’ which itself was dealing with the problem of a very human text. “Almost all the writing for these projects would be useless to us unless it was done in this way,” says Etchells. “We wouldn’t know what to do with it. It’s too poetic. It’s too fictional. It’s too tangled.” But exploring lip-syncing along to the text has opened “an enormous reservoir of ways of thinking about writing and performing.” Subscribe to Exeunt, and get two in-depth pieces on theatre a week, direct to your inbox Subscribe Forced Entertainment have long been sifting through the detritus of popular culture, from daytime TV to end-of-the-pier vaudeville, magic acts and clown shows, to find frameworks for their own unusual entertainments. Lip-syncing, then, makes sense for them to experiment with. As a mode of performance, it’s wired into popular consciousness through pop stars trying to convince stadium audiences of their liveness, or those same voices as channeled through the made-up lips of contestants on RuPaul’s Drag Race, or movie dialogue spreading virally through the host bodies of TikTok users. For Etchells, lip-syncing is often about “approaching real voices and trying to take on their aura,” subsuming that original human presence into yours. “There’s a very basic, elemental sort of theatre magic to it, produced in this very easy way.” This broad approach resonates with instances of lip-syncing within contemporary performance, too. In works like Re-Member Me and Showmanism, performance artist Dickie Beau acts as a kind of spirit medium for archival recordings (this process of re-membering – as in, giving corporeal form to voices – relies on his masterfully precise actor’s technique), while Frankie Thompson is similarly possessed by a host of characters ranging from a nine-year-old Jacob Rees-Mogg to Cliff Richards, all of whom she finds compellingly nauseating, in the exorcism ritual that is her latest show, Horrible Things. What’s different about Forced Entertainment’s use of lip-syncing is that here, there is no original presence to be channeled. The performers are instead taking on what Etchells describes as “the voices of nobody,” or rather the “phantasmic, aggregated echoes” of the many many voices on whose data the AI has been trained, and which are now conjuring into existence words they never actually said. There is a sort of mournful, empty quality to these voices, having “washed up” far away from the people they originally belonged to, to find themselves in stranger’s mouths listing objects, wondering if anyone can hear them and glitching in interminable loops. There is a cold, sad anonymity to it all. Etchells remarks that occasionally the software company he used has notified him that particular people are withdrawing their voices from the platform, instructing him to cease use of those voices. Using these technologies in performance certainly brings up ethical questions around digital rights, consent, identity and ownership, although in the grand scheme of things, Etchells is fairly blasé about it: of all the purposes someone’s voice might be put to without their knowledge, “an avant-garde performance is probably the least of their worries.” [ ](https://exeuntmagazine.substack.com/p/frankie-thompson-horrible-things-essay-mental-health-compulsive-behaviours-pleasance-courtyard-soho-theatre) [ Frankie Thompson: How I manage my own ‘horrible things’ at the Edinburgh Fringe ](https://exeuntmagazine.substack.com/p/frankie-thompson-horrible-things-essay-mental-health-compulsive-behaviours-pleasance-courtyard-soho-theatre) Exeunt · Aug 25 [ Read full story ](https://exeuntmagazine.substack.com/p/frankie-thompson-horrible-things-essay-mental-health-compulsive-behaviours-pleasance-courtyard-soho-theatre) For the performers, though, lip-syncing to these strange, artificial voices is an odd task, requiring them to bend their live, human presence into the shapes produced by machines. Politically, it mirrors processes that are already at play in the continued computational automation of human life. Etchells brings up James Bridle’s writings on new technologies as a reference point: one example Bridle gives is of “chaotic storage”, a logistics technique employed by Amazon fulfilment centres whereby items are stored not according to traditional methods of categorisation or alphabetisation, but in a way that an algorithm determines to produce the most efficient routes for ‘picking’ based on customer purchase patterns. This appears completely random and incomprehensible to humans, with paddling pools sitting next to USB sticks sitting next to blowtorches, and so for the warehouse workers, the process of picking items becomes completely reliant on technology which tells them where to go. Our world is increasingly being designed not with humans in mind, but rather machines. As Etchells puts it, “technology malforms the space, and then you end up having to live in it.” Initially, Forced Entertainment tried their best to live in the world of machines: “I was in the it’s-got-to-be-perfect school of lip-sync,” says Etchells. But with their aesthetic being so tied to the failing act, the slipping mask, the shoddy costume, “it’s no surprise really that that didn’t last.” Instead, the performers got to enjoy being late for a line, or playing games with each other, “stealing” each other’s voices. Etchells compares it to the principles of ventriloquism, in which a free-floating voice unattached to a body is fundamentally discomforting and “sort of traumatic”. That discomfort is equally as alluring to Forced Entertainment as the satisfaction of precision, the pretence of authenticity only interesting if shown to be a pretence. Lip-sync has also opened up new avenues for the company. Having been allergic all their lives to Plays-with-a-capital-P, with Cold Sweat Forced Entertainment find themselves approaching something a little bit like drama. Rather than the presentational arena of Signal to Noise’s open white stage, Cold Sweat places us more decisively in a “fictional locale”: what appears to be “the aftermath of some disastrous party or backyard drinking binge” where three figures – family members, or neighbours, perhaps – are the last ones standing. “It’s all quite acrimonious and accusatory, everyone’s talking over each other.” For Etchells, this more fictional mode is “a door that we’ve never been able to open. We’ve just never really gone there.” Perhaps it is the technique of lip-syncing, an extra buffer of mediation, that allows them to venture away from the here-and-now without feeling that they have to commit to the “psychological claptrap” that comes along with acting; to be able to “play the game of theatre, without getting one’s hands too dirty.” As I wonder how else the impulses behind Forced Entertainment’s work have changed over time, it occurs to me that over the last ten years of new creations, with the exception of If All Else Fails, the company’s performers haven’t ever spoken on stage: there were two shows without any language at all, Out of Order and Under Bright Light, and then this trilogy of lip-sync works. Etchells agrees it’s a shift away from earlier productions, that were so often about “the actual voices of the performers and their actual presences. We had a lot of money, in some ways, on an authentic approach to what it might mean to speak on the stage.” But this sense of authentic presence itself had a fakeness to it; these days, Etchells can’t stand that mode of being onstage where performers “are here to be cheeky and witty versions of themselves. I don’t want to be charmed.” Pulling back into a more anonymous space has resulted in works that feel slightly sharper-edged, more brutal in a way. “All of these shows are post-Brexit, post-Trump, post-truth, post-everything,” Etchells notes. Speech, charisma, authenticity – these things feel politically loaded, and perhaps warmth and openness just don’t feel like the right tools to reflect the world we’re living in. “It feels like the space is closing down, and we’re trying to deal with the fact that the system, the structure that you’re in, is more oppressive and more powerful. It probably always was, but I think we’re just more tuned to it now.” Yet even without their voices, the performers’ distinctive presences – ones that many audiences have followed around for years, if not decades – still, inevitably, shine through as they physically navigate whatever unending task the system of the piece has set for them. They’re still trying to keep up with the onslaught of text, still running about, changing costumes, moving stuff around. The human is always stuck in the teeth of the machine, jamming the smooth, frictionless cheeriness of the not-real, gesticulating silently, trying desperately to communicate. Cold Sweat is at Sheffield Theatres, 2 to 3 October; Southbank Centre, London, 9 to 10 October; Lancaster Arts, 14 October [ ](https://exeuntmagazine.substack.com/p/exeunt-recommends-the-best-autumn-theatre-2026-lives-of-others-standard-of-living-our-friends-in-the-north-lanny-) [ Exeunt recommends... the best autumn theatre ](https://exeuntmagazine.substack.com/p/exeunt-recommends-the-best-autumn-theatre-2026-lives-of-others-standard-of-living-our-friends-in-the-north-lanny-) Exeunt · Sep 16 [ Read full story ](https://exeuntmagazine.substack.com/p/exeunt-recommends-the-best-autumn-theatre-2026-lives-of-others-standard-of-living-our-friends-in-the-north-lanny-) This piece was paid for by the Southbank Centre. Such support helps Exeunt to keep publishing the most interesting writing, about the most exciting theatre. Interested in partnering with Exeunt? Visit our Advertise with Exeunt page, where you can get more information, download an advertising pack, and find our contact details.
Country music star opens up about stepping away from stage at 35: ‘I got my faith back’
The singer took a moment to talk about his hiatus.
One of country music’s best bands loses beloved member indefinitely: ‘My heart is full’
He issued a statement through the band announcing that he was stepping away.
Why are United thriving away from Tannadice?
You could make a case we should have beaten Rangers and Falkirk at Tannadice, but we didn't. The trips to Kilmarnock and St Mirren, though, produced two magnificent performances. Tannadice on match days can be an unforgiving place.
Brentford's remaining players given week off
Most squads in the Premier League these days are packed with international players, and Brentford are no different. Most of the Bees' squad are away, but Callum Wilson and Igor Thiago are among about 12 players left at their training facility, including five who are coming back from injury. Brentford have a longer break than almost every other team, given they hosted Chelsea on Friday.
Sports Take: Students should attend more than just football games
There's more to College than just football. Other sports allow students to explore opportunities they may never get after graduation.
Sunderland Stand Tall Against A Soulless Club
The away end was loud and proud at the Etihad — but rumours of the demise in the City atmosphere are not exaggerated.
907 Sports: High school football playoffs draw closer
On this episode of 907 Sports, Charlie Fellows dives into Week 6 high school action from across the state, as the playoffs are just two weeks away. Plus, Jordan Rodenberger joins the show to talk NFL Week 2!
Staff Takeaways: Fulham 1-1 Manchester United
Staff takeaways from Manchester United’s weekend draw with Fulham. Vince: United Are Lifeless Manchester United are playing with the energy level of a retirement home right now. There’s no spark, no pace, no urgency — honestly, there’s very little that resembles a team that actually wants to be out there. Everything feels slow and predictable, […]
Takeaways from Mike Vrabel's press conference after win over Steelers
Patriots coach Mike Vrabel had several key takeaways when speaking with reporters after the Week 2 win over the Steelers.
Mayor, Denver Health clash over treatment program’s funding
Denver Health CEO Donna Lynne says the city is walking away from decades of support for Denver CARES as the health system seeks nearly $23 million in additional funding from Denver.
Can you forget how you feel about Meta?
‘Pervert glasses.’ Thousands of lawsuits. Mark Zuckerberg wants to sweep it all away with a new bid on AI.
Voters cite political climate, economy and homelessness as Oregon governor race nears
With Oregon’s governor race 43 days away, voters tell KATU they’re uneasy about the political climate. Fears about inflation, Social Security, homelessness and vote-by-mail shape the debate.
Bengals snap count takeaways from win over Texans
Some notes about the snap counts from the Bengals' win over the Texans.
11 RB Leipzig Players Head Away On International Duty
From Maarten Vandevoordt’s Belgian call-up to Ezechiel Banzuzi’s allegiance switch for DR Congo, stars across Europe and Africa prepare for crucial qualifiers and Nations League clashes this week.
Mayor, business owners cast blame after another River Market shooting
The Little Rock Police Department is investigating a shooting that happened over the weekend, just a few feet away from the Arkansas Times offices.
Bungie is freeing vaulted Destiny 2 campaigns after Marathon "did not reach as many players as we had hoped"
Bungie promises to unvault Destiny 2 campaigns and raids that were locked away, all while rebuilding the shooter's future, after a tepid response to Marathon.
Opinion: What the international break could do for Arsenal
Arsenal have many players away on international duty, which is understandable given that they have one of the strongest squads in the world, and national teams are unlikely to pass up the opportunity ...
Lessons to be learned from Leverkusen
Sunday’s trip to Leverkusen saw RB Leipzig suffer defeat away from home for the second time this season. The second half of the 2-0 loss in particular highlighted what the Red Bulls need to work on....
Houston high school football: Week 4 takeaways and top performers
Week 4 of the Houston high school football season produced several intriguing results, including high-scoring wins for Klein Cain, Friendswood, Dickinson and Summer Creek.
Why the Steelers must shift targets away from DK Metcalf
After a 27-yard performance with crucial drops against New England, DK Metcalf’s early struggles force Pittsburgh to rethink its target share.
Three Takeaways From Dodgers Sweep vs. Giants
The San Francisco Giants' late-season collapse deepened as the Los Angeles Dodgers dominated the division rivalry.
Contest: Pick the winners in the Rhode Island's general election
Believe it or not, early voting in Rhode Island’s general election begins 23 days, and Election Day itself is just six weeks away.
Premier League Team of the Week
Brighton stunned champions Arsenal this weekend, while Aston Villa produced an impressive away win at Tottenham and Manchester City survived an eight-goal thriller against Sunderland.There were stando...
Inside Presley Gerber’s Battle With Mental Health And Addiction Before Death At 27
Presley Gerber, son of supermodel Cindy Crawford and brother of actress Kaia Gerber, tragically passed away at age 27 in a rehab facility in California. He had been open about his struggles with menta...
What Mikel Arteta thinks about allowing Madueke to leave Arsenal
Noni Madueke has been linked with a January move away from Arsenal, and the attacker could be open to leaving as he continues to struggle for regular game time.Given their performances this season, it...
Who’s Winning the Race for Congress?
We’re 43 days away from the midterms. Here’s the state of play.
Yankees news: Trent Grisham might not return until playoffs
Grisham’s path back to the roster is complicated, Schmidt reports biceps soreness/cramping; AL East dream slipping away
Cindy Crawford's son Presley Gerber passes away at 27
Presley Gerber passed away at a rehabilitation facility in LA.
Newcastle United Women Mounting An Early Title Charge In WSL2
Tanya Oxtoby’s side sits atop the table after three dominant victories, blending defensive steel with a clinical attack to cement their status as runaway promotion favorites.
2 Shane Steichen Mistakes Cost Colts Signature Win Vs. Chiefs
The Indianapolis Colts had multiple ways to control their own destiny against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday Night Football in Week 2. Colts head coach Shane Steichen gave those chances away, though. And when all was said and done, the Colts lost 33-30 to the Chiefs on a Harrison Butker walk-off field goal. There […] The post 2 Shane Steichen Mistakes Cost Colts Signature Win Vs. Chiefs appeared first on HEAVY.
Instant analysis of Colts' Week 2 overtime loss vs. Chiefs
Here are our instant takeaways from the Indianapolis Colts' Week 2 overtime loss to the Chiefs.
Opinion | Hate should be avoided, even in politics
It is often said, “you should not speak ill of the dead,” meaning that once someone has passed away, one should avoid negative remarks about the person out of respect for their life. And while there are exceptions to this rule — good things cannot be said about every person’s character — there is a...
Winning Smart Victory Post #120
First away game of the season…..and I decided to go spend time with DD (dear daughter) in the morning. TiVo is a beautiful thing, so we went and got massages, hit a couple of yard sales and ultimately wound up back at the house around 1-ish. Add in Mr. Squillian’s utter disdain for watching commercials, […]
Takeaways: UConn football makes an early statement
The big win offers lots to be optimistic about for this year’s team.
Instant analysis of Jaguars' Week 2 loss vs. Broncos
Following the Jaguars' Week 2 loss to the Broncos, here are the instant takeaways from their performance.
Biggest Takeaways From UCF's Offensive Attack in Week 2
A revitalized ground game and Duke Watson’s explosive playmaking fueled the Knights' bounce-back win, securing the temporary starting job for Keyone Jenkins ahead of a tough Big 12 opener.
Six Takeaways From Packers First Win of the Season
Green Bay Packers' Jordan Love overcame a mountain of penalties and early injuries to orchestrate a gritty overtime comeback victory.
‘No legal effect’: Poland condemns Russian ‘sham elections’ in occupied Ukraine
The Polish foreign ministry also condemned the voting held in breakaway regions of Moldova and Georgia.
Simon Wood: We had to dig in
Leeds United Women manager Simon Wood reflected on an important 2-0 victory away at Bradford City Women, with the Whites maintaining the perfect start to the FA Women’s National League Division One ...
Anguissa suffers new injury issue after Fiorentina 1-1 Napoli
Napoli midfielder Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa was brought on in the 90th minute of Napoli’s 1-1 draw away against Fiorentina on Sunday, but that was long enough for him to suffer a new injury issue, ...
Why politicians should pay more attention to the polls (reprise)
Welcome to the 231st edition of The Week in Polls (TWIP), a polling newsletter that always welcomes new readers. So please don’t keep TWIP a secret; share it with your friends and colleagues: Share The Week in Polls With all the stories swirling around Reform, JL Partners and political polling, I am finally tearing myself away from talking about the regulation of polling this week - and instead re-running a previous piece reminding us why the solution to problems with polls isn’t simply to ban or ignore them. Rather, we need them to play a vital role in making our politics - and politicians - better. This is followed by summaries of the latest national voting intention polls, seat projections from MRPs and the most recent party leader ratings. Subscribers who pay for the full edition can also read ten insights from the latest polls and analyses, including: A trio of organisations and a pair of professors have been casting their eyes over the Liberal Democrats ahead of the party’s autumn conference; What impact did the summer heatwave have on views on climate change? and Which wins out between chocolate and cheese? If you are not yet a paid subscriber, you can read all ten by starting a free trial now: Get FREE 7-day trial For more polling news as it comes in ahead of next week’s edition, you can also follow The Week in Polls on Bluesky. Picking up on my doubt last week about whether or not 35% of British train travellers have tried to order a takeaway for delivery to a railway station or carriage, thank you to reader Iain, who has been in touch to say he has done just that… in India. Another quick pair of updates, this time on the controversies around Reform and polling. Politico has a further scoop - “Farage aide caught in donor sting attended Egypt retreat with JL Partners” - and Ian Dunt has written about the problems with polling too: “Seeing the response of many polling experts in the last few weeks suggests that they are nervous about what is happening and keen to mitigate against it. Seeing the response of journalists, which has been basically non-existent, suggests the precise opposite.” My usual reminder as well: please do hit reply if you’ve spotted a poll, focus group or new piece of poll-based research that you think should be in contention for coverage in a future edition. Thank you! And with that, on with the show. How politicians get public opinion wrong I have written before about the benefits that come from widespread availability of high-quality political polling. We need more polls and more good coverage of polls. However, what I’ve not dug into before is the research into how accurately politicians estimate public opinion on issues. Thankfully we have academic research to tell us. First, the bad news: We present results from a study of 866 politicians in four countries.1 Politicians were asked to estimate the percentage of public support for various policy proposals. Comparing more than 10,000 estimations with actual levels of public support, we conclude that politicians are quite inaccurate estimators of people’s preferences. They make large errors and even regularly misperceive what a majority of the voters wants. Politicians are hardly better at estimating public preferences than ordinary citizens. Walgrave, S., Jansen, A., Sevenans, J., Soontjens, K., Pilet, J.B., Brack, N., Varone, F., Helfer, L., Vliegenthart, R., van der Meer, T., Breunig, C., Bailer, S., Sheffer, L. & Loewen, P.J. (2023a), “Inaccurate Politicians: Elected Representatives’ Estimations of Public Opinion in Four Countries”, The Journal of Politics, 85(1): 209-222. The bad news is not quite as bad as that makes it sound because, when asked whether the majority of public opinion was for or against various policies, politicians picked the wrong option ‘only’ 29% of the time. However, this included getting it wrong even when public opinion is far from evenly split on an issue: They do not only get it wrong when the public is divided and hard to read (e.g., when there is a 51%:49% distribution). Seventy percent of the misplacements occur for policies with a relatively clear distribution of at least 60% (dis)agreeing citizens. Moreover, the public scored only slightly worse than politicians, picking the wrong option 2.7 out of 8 times on average, compared with 2.3 times for politicians. Turning to the other measure of accuracy (not which side is in the lead but what the percentage support is for each side), politicians on average were 18 percentage points out in their guesses. Again, this was only slightly better than the public, whose error came in at 21 percentage points.2 Further research, using the same mix of countries, gives a little more comfort about how (in)accurate perceptions are: We show that politicians have a better understanding of public opinion when they think the issue matters to voters. Further, when an issue is personally important to politicians they more accurately estimate their party supporters’ opinions. The results confirm that politicians hold more accurate perceptions of voters’ preferences when they think it is important to do so but not necessarily when the issues actually are important to voters. Butler, C., Walgrave, S., Soontjens, K. & Loewen, P.J. (2024), “Politicians are better at estimating public opinion when they think it is more salient”, Party Politics: 1–13. Even so, it’s not a good picture. The remedy for this? Politicians should spend more time reading the polls. So forward this newsletter to someone you know… Share For a more general argument against banning polls, see my 2024 piece. Is “Let Bartlet Be Bartlet” good advice or not? The latest episode of my Political Fictions podcast heads across the Atlantic for a dip into one of the political TV classics: Mark and Cory talk about a giant of American political drama for the first time this week, as they tackle The West Wing. They talk about Let Bartlet Be Bartlet, the nineteenth episode of series one. In it, Mark wonders if The West Wing is actually the epitome of the “Boris Johnson school of politics”, Cory outmanoeuvres Mark into confirming we will record a Christmas Special about Love, Actually and they debate whether the central message of this episode has been misunderstood. Cory’s email newsletter is Paperback Rioter and Mark has a family of email newsletters. Subscribe to our newsletter for some additional bonus content and to get alerted whenever a new episode comes out. Our theme tune is “Monkeys Spinning Monkeys” by Kevin MacLeod/incompetech.com and licensed under the Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License. You can also listen to our episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the web or YouTube. Elsewhere from me… [ A Lord's Eye View How to fix the problem of money in our politics Welcome to my latest update on work in the House of Lords. This time I am taking a look at how our political system is regulated, and the protections we need to keep democracy safe from becoming simply a contest to see who has the biggest bank account… Read more 5 days ago · 3 likes · 2 comments · Mark Pack ](https://lordseyeview.substack.com/p/how-to-fix-the-problem-of-money-in?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=post_embed&utm_medium=web&embedding_publication_id=1269283) If you spot a factual error… Borrowing an idea from Stuart Ritchie and others, if you spot a factual error in an edition of this newsletter, I will give you a free 12-month subscription to the paid-for version (or an extra 12 months on your existing one). Factual errors qualify, but grammatical errors or disagreements over interpretation do not, and my decision is final. Messages about both of those are always welcome, though. Voting intention and leadership ratings Here are the latest voting intention polls from different pollsters. It is all pretty static at the moment, with a small and consistent Labour lead in nearly all the polls. The table is also online here, along with explanations about what is included. It is updated regularly throughout the week as new polls are released. Next are the seat projections from MRPs, also sorted by fieldwork dates, listing those which are based on dedicated fieldwork (rather than models based on averages of other polls). Because such MRPs are published infrequently, some of the entries below are quite old. Finally, here is a summary of leadership ratings, with a graph from PollCheck: Detailed numbers from the latest polls are online here, and both that and the graph are updated regularly throughout the week as new data comes out. For historical figures on both voting intention and leader approval stretching back to the 1930s, including Parliamentary by-election polls, see PollBase. Catch up on the previous two editions [ ](https://theweekinpolls.substack.com/p/a-crisis-point-for-political-polling) [ A crisis point for political polling Sep 13 ](https://theweekinpolls.substack.com/p/a-crisis-point-for-political-polling) [ Read full story ](https://theweekinpolls.substack.com/p/a-crisis-point-for-political-polling) [ ](https://theweekinpolls.substack.com/p/extra-questions-about-the-polls-in) [ Extra questions about the polls in Reform’s funding scandal Sep 6 ](https://theweekinpolls.substack.com/p/extra-questions-about-the-polls-in) [ Read full story ](https://theweekinpolls.substack.com/p/extra-questions-about-the-polls-in) My privacy policy and other legal information are available here. Links to purchase books or other items are usually affiliate links which pay a commission for each sale. Quotes from social media messages are occasionally lightly edited for punctuation and clarity. If you are subscribed to other email lists of mine, please note that unsubscribing from this one will not automatically remove you from the others. If you wish to be removed from all my lists, simply reply to this email to let me know. A quintet of Lib Dem polling analyses, and 9 other polling insights you shouldn’t miss The following ten findings from the most recent polls and analyses are only for subscribers who pay for the full edition, but you can sign up for a free trial to read them straight away. Ahead of the start of Liberal Democrat conference, we have a trio of organisations and a pair of professors with pieces out about Ed Davey’s party:
"Lessons to learn from today" - Post-match reaction to #B04RBL
RB Leipzig returned home empty-handed after a 2-0 defeat away at Bayer 04 Leverkusen on Bundesliga matchday 4. Afterwards, head coach Martín Demichelis, captain David Raum and Ridle Baku analysed th...
Three takeaways from UNC’s wildly frustrating loss to Clemson
The Heels now have some big issue to sort out during the bye week.
Baker Mayfield revenge narrative promises to deliver
Baker will take on the team that gave up on him and traded him away.
Celtic 'passive' & 'in trouble'
Celtic sustained a third defeat in a row after Rangers left Glasgow's east end with a 1-0 win in Sunday's Scottish Premiership match. For Martin O'Neill's side, it followed last Sunday's 3-0 League Cup loss away to Rangers and a midweek Europa League defeat at home to Ferencvaros. Former Celtic captain Scott Brown was on punditry duty for BBC Scotland and shared his thoughts on the game.
Martin Demichelis Under Pressure: What Now?
Persistent away-day struggles have overshadowed a dominant home form, leaving the under-fire manager to solve a tactical crisis as the international break puts his vision under scrutiny.
Takeaways from Chivas Femenil’s win in Tijuana
Chivas Femenil earned a very important result for its Apertura 2026 aspirations: it convincingly defeated Xolos on Matchday 8 and solidified its place as second in Group B. In addition, this result wi...
Sunday Patriots Notes: Defense keeps searching for takeaways
Notes and thoughts on the Patriots defense, the home opener blues, Mike Smith’s connection with Aaron Rodgers, and more.
Five takeaways from FSU's loss to Alabama
The Florida State Seminoles dropped to 1-2 on the season after falling to Alabama on Saturday. Here are five takeaways.
Hundreds line up for free caffeinated drinks at 7 Brew stand in South Charleston
A crew of about 30 gave away free sweet, colorful caffeinated iced drinks on Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026, at the not-yet-opened 7 Brew location in the Park Place retail center in South Charleston, West Virginia. The Arkansas-based chain expects to open at 5:30 a.m. on Oct. 5, 2026.
Chicago Cubs news
Seiya Suzuki’s slicing single to right drove in two for an early Cubs lead, but that walked away as the Reds won Friday.
Did Ben Shelton Return Too Soon After the US Open?
Five days after playing the biggest match of his career, Ben Shelton was back on a tennis court. This time it was nearly 4,000 miles away from New York, indoors in Prague and with the United States on his back. It did not go particularly well. Jiri Lehecka defeated Shelton 6-4 6-4 to level the …
Takeaways from Maryland football’s 35-26 disappointment against Virginia Tech
The Terps couldn’t get a ground game going and got gashed on the other side of the ball.
Leftists make waves and Trump flexes muscles: US primary season takeaways
Candidates have been selected for November’s midterms – have Republicans and Democrats made the right choices?
Townsend run over by pitch roller in Thailand
Former England winger Andros Townsend jokes that playing Stoke away "wasn't so bad after all" following a bizarre incident before a game in Thailand.
Seedy K’s GameCap: SMU
Louisville 41, Southern Methodist 31. It is at this juncture when reporting some details and observations of such auspicious outcomes that appropriate lyrics of some sort or another usually come to mind. Which I tried to conjure as late afternoon turned into a joyous Saturday evening at the RR Yard. When a 5-11, 195 runaway […]
Instant takeaways from UCLA football's 52-38 victory over Purdue
UCLA's defense struggled mightily on Saturday but it didn't stop the Bruins from getting a 52-38 win over Purdue.
Chivas Let Victory Slip Away in El Clásico de México
Playing with intensity and fighting until the final minute, Chivas looked for the finishing touch but ultimately let the victory slip away, drawing 2-2 in El Clásico de México. With the point earned...
Bristol, Blue Star ‘breakup’ has Ivywild hallways abuzz
Bristol Brewing Co. and Blue Star restaurant marked the beginning of a beautiful business partnership almost 30 years ago, inside neighboring operations, in co-owned property near the intersection of South Tejon Street and East Ramona Avenue. When the historic former Ivywild elementary building went on the market just blocks away at 1604 S. Cascade Ave., […]
3 Takeaways From Iowa’s 55-0 Dismantling Of Northern Iowa
It was all Hawkeyes as they finished a sweep of in-state rivals There was no doubt that Saturday belonged to […]
Five key takeaways from Florida's first SEC win against Auburn
Florida football defeats the Auburn Tigers in Week 3 of the college football season, 44-39. Here are five key takeaways.
No. 1 Texas 30, UTSA 6: Three things we learned
It wasn’t the prettiest win, but the Longhorns came away with a victory to close non-conference play.
NOAA Fisheries Takes a ‘Sharp Turn Away From Science’
The agency’s focus on commercial interests threatens fisheries science and over one million miles of protected marine habitats.
Seminoles Succumb to No. 10 Crimson Tide in Road Loss
Florida State looked like the better team in Tuscaloosa on Saturday, at least for the first 28 minutes of the game. But the second half belonged to the Alabama Crimson Tide, scoring 24 points and running away with a 50-36 victory over the Seminoles.
Three takeaways from Nebraska football’s win against North Dakota
Nebraska football (3-0) closed out its non-conference schedule Saturday night with a 34-7 win against North Dakota (3-1). Fans showed out for the under-the-lights matchup and so did the Huskers, who pieced together an impressive performance, especially on defense. Here are three takeaways from the win:
Rheumatologists Agree—You Should Stop Doing These 4 Things for Joint Health
Spoiler: Sitting still and hoping it goes away isn’t the answer.
NFL Rule Change Takes Away Patriots Special Teams Advantage
Here's how the NFL's new rule change impacts the Patriots.
Liverpool sends warning to Arsenal over their teenage sensation
Arsenal have been linked with a move for Liverpool starlet Rio Ngumoha, but the Gunners have reportedly been warned by the Reds to stay away from the teenager.During the summer, Bayern Munich targeted...
Three Takeaways From Illinois' 48-10 Win Over Southern Illinois
The Fighting Illini improved to 2-1 on the season, heading into Big Ten play.
RBS women draw at LASK
Goalless away draw LASK 0-0 FC Red Bull Salzburg WomenAfter a recent slump in results in the ADMIRAL Women's Bundesliga, our team got back to picking up points, playing out a goalless draw against LA...
Flora’s all-around day leads Iowa State over Bowling Green
For the first time in school history, Iowa State returned a kickoff and a punt for a touchdown. Jaylen Raynor threw for 133 yards and one touchdown to true freshman Jamal Polite Jr. and Iowa State defeated Bowling Green 55-7 on Saturday. Cam Pettaway, a Bowling Green transfer, had three receptions for 47 yards and […]
Olid's Man Utd take big step forward after 'intense week'
A week ago, the picture at Manchester United looked bleak. Then on Saturday, victory was snatched away from them at Arsenal. But have we seen signs of improvement from Eva Olid's side?
Trump to create ‘AI Force’ to monitor technology as fears over out-of-control agents grow
President had brushed away suggestions to slow down AI technology, even as his own party counseled caution
📋 Mirassol and Botafogo named at the Maião, eyeing safety!
There is only one focus for Mirassol vs. Botafogo this Saturday (19): moving away from the relegation zone.The ball gets rolling at 5 p.m. (Brasília time) for the Matchday 28 clash in the Brasileirã...
In Memoriam: Dorothy Zimmerman
On Aug. 16, 2026, the Florida Political Review’s advisor, Dorothy Zimmerman, passed away after a courageous fight against ovarian cancer. Dorothy joined the Bob Graham Center for Public Service in
“Have to be satisfied with the point”
Head coach Adi Hütter, captain Robin Koch and goalkeeper Noah Atubolu share their thoughts after the 2-2 draw against SC Freiburg. Head coach Adi Hütter: “We would have liked to come away with mo...
Saturday football open thread
Tottenham may have already played, but there’s plenty of football yet to play today. This is your open thread for that match. Post away. Saturday Match Schedule Brighton vs. Arsenal10 am ET / 3 pm BSTTV: USA Network (USA), not televised (UK)Stream: nbcsports.com Everton vs. Ipswich10 am ET / 3 pm BSTTV: NBCSN (USA), not […]
Apple Watch Series 12 might finally convince me to switch away from WHOOP
Earlier this year, I picked up a WHOOP for the very first time. As a longtime Apple Watch user I...