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Frisco sustainable business relaunches, Breckenridge hotel debuts renovations and more
Minimal Impact reopens under new ownership in Frisco Scents of soaps, lotions and household cleaners fill Minimal Impact’s tiny Frisco storefront, where shelves newly packed with sustainable goods fill the shop following its reopening this...
Green Bay Packers suffer another injury blow
The Green Bay Packers really can't afford to lose any more players to long-term injuries, but they just did.
Journey Mental Health talks about student’s mental health screenings
Thousands of kids carry more than backpacks.
Packers make decision impacting Micah Parsons' injury return date
Micah Parsons injury update: The Green Bay Packers have made a decision that hints at where they're at with Parsons.
Did comeback win over Jets boost Packers fans’ confidence?
Win good; injuries bad. What do you think of the team on balance?
Packers Get Brutal ‘Season Is Chalked’ Message After Jets Escape
Green Bay avoided an 0-2 start, but its first two games left one ESPN analyst questioning how much can be trusted going forward. The post Packers Get Brutal ‘Season Is Chalked’ Message After Jets Escape appeared first on HEAVY.
Edgerrin Cooper Breaks 27-Year-Old Packers Record
Exploding into his third season, the disruptive linebacker is anchoring a shorthanded Green Bay Packers defense.
Packers Insider Reveals Offseason Move That Already Backfired
The Green Bay Packers bet big on their top three wide receivers staying healthy this year. After Jayden Reed was injured in Week 2, the bet on consolidating the Packers’ targets is already backfiring, according to Bill Huber of Packers OnSI. Huber noted after Week 2 that it could be an overreaction, but the Packers […] The post Packers Insider Reveals Offseason Move That Already Backfired appeared first on HEAVY.
Kansas flag football rankings: USA TODAY Sports Super 10, Week 3
As flag football teams around Kansas continue to get settled, see which teams lead the pack.
Colorado’s first pup Gia — a 4-legged staple of Jared Polis’ term as governor
Gia, a rescue dog, attended bill signings and news conferences, meetings with big-name politicians and members of the governor’s cabinet
The Green Bay Packers receive intriguing Micah Parsons return scenario
The Green Bay Packers enter Week 3 at 1-1 as the Atlanta Falcons visit Lambeau Field, while Micah Parsons continues his recovery from last season’s torn left ACL. His return date remains uncertain, and the same can be said for Jayden Reed following his frightening Week 2 injury. Peter Bukowski of Locked On Packers pointed [...]
Portsmouth housing solutions, AI threats, political views: Letters
Letters package: Writers weigh in on Portsmouth housing policy, AI risks, NH politics, Maine fisheries and international affairs.
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.
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.
🗞️ Today’s front pages: a never-ending derby, Mourinho’s theatre
A football- and news-packed Tuesday, September 22 gets underway, with the derby fallout still fresh.So let’s take a look at how the front pages of the main sports newspapers shape up this Tuesday......
Vikings’ 2-0 Start Sparks Candid Thoughts From Adam Thielen
Two games against NFC North rivals and the Minnesota Vikings are off to a 2-0 start after wins over the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears. Moreover, the team could reach 3-0 as they face the 0-2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 3. Nonetheless, with a 2-0 start that gives the Vikings good odds of […] The post Vikings’ 2-0 Start Sparks Candid Thoughts From Adam Thielen appeared first on HEAVY.
11 Packers Appear on Week 3 Injury Report vs. Falcons
A grueling short week looms as star wideout Jayden Reed and 10 other Green Bay Packers race against the clock ahead of Week 3.
Former Cowboys Starter Headlines Packers’ 3 DB Workouts
The Green Bay Packers worked out three players after their Week 2 win against the New York Jets, per the league’s transaction wire. Defensive backs Chris Edmonds, Wande Owens, and Juanyeh Thomas were all brought in for workouts on Monday. The Packers were already thin in their safety room. They signed Kahlef Hailassie to their […] The post Former Cowboys Starter Headlines Packers’ 3 DB Workouts appeared first on HEAVY.
2 Packers players hit with NFL punishment
The NFL is officially punishing two Green Bay Packers players for actions taking in the team's season opener. Now, they'll have to pay up or fight the punishment.
Packers Must Get More Creative with First Down Play-Calling
Predictable patterns nearly derailed Green Bay against the Jets. Matt LaFleur must unleash Jordan Love early to avoid stalled drives before a high-stakes Week 3 clash in Atlanta.
The Fed Moved. The Borrowing Math Changed for Businesses.
Citizens’ Mark Valentino and Eric Merlis unpack the business implications of the Federal Reserve’s latest rate hike, examining what the new borrowing environment means for investment and financial …
So, about the win over USC….
We’ll be unpacking this one for a while. If you had Rutgers winning, if you had them covering, raise your hand. Anyone? Bueller? USC: What was going on? No one on the OTB staff had RU winning or even coming close to being in this game. For that, mea culpa but, come on. There was […]
No timetable for Jayden Reed
Packers WR Jayden Reed likely to miss time after Week 2 back injury
MTV VMAs nominations 2026: Madonna, Taylor Swift and Sabrina Carpenter lead the pack
This year’s Best New Artist race is also heating up, with divisive pop-country nepo baby Stella Lefty and English vocal powerhouse Sienna Spiro among the evening’s buzziest nominees.
Ask Pete Dougherty your questions about the Green Bay Packers
Pete Dougherty is taking questions as the Green Bay Packers head into a Week 3 Thursday night matchup against the Atlanta Falcons.
Scientists reveal how our cells conduct emergency repairs for DNA
Two new federally funded studies offer detailed views of proteins repairing broken DNA inside tightly packed chromatin, and of the molecular toolkit they assemble at a break, with potential implications for cancer treatment
Local Business Owners Start New Chapter with Opening of New PostalAnnex Location in Bastrop, Texas
Annex Brands, Inc., one of the leading franchisors in the packing, shipping and office services industries, is excited to announce the opening of its newest PostalAnnex location in Bastrop, Texas to new owners Chetan Modi and Karan Desai. This new PostalAnnex is set to offer a wide range of essential shipping and office services to the local community, making it easier to provide more service to more people in more places.
Trump and Zelenskyy set for UNGA talks
With wars in Ukraine and Iran looming over the UN gathering, Trump faces a packed diplomatic agenda as Zelenskyy seeks talks on peace, Gulf leaders push for an end to the Middle East conflict...
Science In Sport partners with Nike for its After Dark Tour
Science In Sport becomes Nike After Dark Tour's fuel and hydration partner, with race packs and a co-branded nutrition range for runners.
North Carolina State Basketball 2026-27 Preview
The North Carolina State Wolfpack were hopeful that Will Wade would steady the ship after several so-so seasons under Kevin Keatts. However, not long after the Wolfpack was upset by Texas in the First Four game of the NCAA Tournament, Wade decided to return to LSU. NC State Basketball 2026-27 Preview While it was a …
Largest U.S. survey of Huguette Caland's work arrives at Hammer Museum
The Lebanese-born painter, sculptor and fashion designer Huguette Caland's life was as wild and audacious as her art. A Hammer Museum retrospective unpacks the once L.A.-based artist's remarkable legacy.
Mars rovers give scientists a ground-level view of the red planet – peek inside their NASA control room
Each day in the control room of the Curiosity rover is jam-packed with important scientific decisions, as a NASA project scientist describes.
Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6’s Engineering Prototype Video Surfaces Before Official Launch, Showing A New Packaging, Improved Benchmark Scores & More
An engineering prototype of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 has leaked ahead of launch, revealing a new SoC packaging design, higher benchmark scores, and key hardware upgrades
High diesel prices pressure Colorado agriculture
Silage harvest has begun in earnest in Colorado, and the choppers and trucks and pack tractors are all rolling and making east-slope mountains of cow chow. The silage will be used as part of cattle rations at dairies, ranches and feedyards across the area and the availability and growing conditions for silage and the state’s […]
Packers’ Matt LaFleur Under Fire Despite Snapping Losing Streak
CBS Sports' Garrett Podell argued Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur should be feeling the heat after an ugly 1-1 start to the regular season. The post Packers’ Matt LaFleur Under Fire Despite Snapping Losing Streak appeared first on HEAVY.
7 biggest new shows to stream this week,including a Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson team-up
This week’s new TV lineup is packed with drama, thrills and laughs that you can stream, including "Best Medicine" season 2, "Brothers," "American Horror Story: 13" and "A Different World" revival.
Jets Make Embarrassing History in Brutal Loss to Packers
The New York Jets made history in all of the wrong ways during their brutal Week 2 loss to the Green Bay Packers. The post Jets Make Embarrassing History in Brutal Loss to Packers appeared first on HEAVY.
‘Youth’ Creator Sharon Horgan Explains the Premiere’s Emotional Rug-Pull Ending
"Youth" creator Sharon Horgan tells TheWrap about writing her new mother-son coming-of-age story and unpacks the HBO comedy's premiere.
Packers win bizarre overtime game despite almost impossible offensive stat
Green Bay produced only one successful third-down conversion and fewer than 200 yards, yet somehow escaped with a victory.
Just two catches for Tucker Kraft
Green Bay Packers tight end Tucker Kraft posted two receptions for 15 yards on three targets in Week 2
Skyy Moore May Have Solved Packers' Special Teams Problems
Skyy Moore’s explosive 208-yard performance against the New York Jets shattered years of stagnant returns for the Green Bay Packers.
Matthew Golden leads team with 58 yards
Green Bay Packers wide receiver Matthew Golden posted four receptions for a team-high 58 yards on six targets in Week 2
MarShawn Lloyd scores TD in Week 2
Green Bay Packers running back MarShawn Lloyd rushed six times for just 20 yards in Week 2, while adding two receptions for six yards and a touchdown
Packers' Lukas Van Ness Delivers Best Career Performance vs. Jets
Green Bay Packers' Lukas Van Ness dominated the New York Jets with nine pressures and a clutch overtime sack.
Packers vs. Falcons odds: Opening lines for Week 3 matchup
The Packers are favored by nearly a touchdown heading towards a Thursday Night Football matchup.
Packers’ $13.8 Million Decision Looks Better After Jets Win
The Packers made a significant offseason commitment to a former first-round pick. His performance against the Jets made that decision look much better. The post Packers’ $13.8 Million Decision Looks Better After Jets Win appeared first on HEAVY.
Green Bay Packers Reveal Brutal Injury News After Beating Jets
The Green Bay Packers were able to pull out an ugly win over the New York Jets on Sunday afternoon. Despite trailing in the fourth quarter by a score of 17-7, the team was able to come all the way back to take home a 20-17 victory. With the win, the Packers moved to 1-1 […] The post Green Bay Packers Reveal Brutal Injury News After Beating Jets appeared first on Gridiron Heroics.
Titans players react to Eagles fans packing Nissan Stadium
The Tennessee Titans' fans were clearly outnumbered by visiting fans in Nissan Stadium during a 24-20 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 2.
Titans players react to Eagles fans packing Nissan Stadium
The Tennessee Titans' fans were clearly outnumbered by visiting fans in Nissan Stadium during a 24-20 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 2.
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.
Packers Rally to Stun Jets in Overtime
The Green Bay Packers pulled off a dramatic comeback Sunday afternoon, rallying from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the New York Jets 20-17 in overtime at MetLife Stadium. The Jets appeared to be in control for much of the afternoon and held a 17-7 lead with just over 11 minutes remaining in the fourth…
Young voters are ‘SICK AND TIRED’ of Trump: Gen-Z political commentator unpacks the youth vote
There’s less than seven weeks until the midterm elections are here. And President Trump seems to be struggling to convince voters that he's improved their lives and delivered on his promises. Co-Founder & President of Run for Something Amanda Litman, founder of Ahmed Baba News on Substack and Independent Journalist Ahmed Baba, Gen-Z Political Commentator and Founder of Mockler Media Adam Mockler and Senior Executive Editor of Bloomberg Opinion and MS NOW Political Analyst Timothy O'Brien join Antonia Hylton to discuss.
Inside Lucas Museum's starry opening party with Oprah, Mark Hamill
The Lucas Museum's opening-night party was packed with as many high-wattage celebrities as your typical Academy Awards bash.
Jayden Reed will not return in Week 2
Green Bay Packers wide receiver Jayden Reed suffered a neck injury in the first quarter
Zach Bako-Bewele will not return
Packers OT Zach Bako-Bewele ruled out after suffering knee injury
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:
Week 2 inactives for Packers
Packers rule out five players for Week 2 game
Packers vs. Jets Live Game Discussion
Join us as the Packers try to get their first win of 2026!
Philadelphia 76ers Projected To Finish No. 4 in Eastern Conference
The 76ers are poised for a great season. Sports Illustrated details who they think would lead the pack in the East.
Rain in the forecast for Packers-Jets in Week 2
The Packers and Jets will need to navigate wet and rainy conditions at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
Three Last-Minute Packers vs. Jets Predictions
The Green Bay Packers aim to stifle Garrett Wilson and ignite a struggling ground game against the New York Jets.
New York Jets vs Green Bay Packers Pre-Game Ball
Who will be a key factor for the Jets against the Packers?
New York Jets Flight Connections 09/19/26
Happy Sunday, Gang Green Nation! The Jets look to improve to an improbable 2-0 today if they can upset the Green Bay Packers in their home opener. A win wouldn’t just give the Jets a hot start. It would provide some breathing room with a difficult two game road trip coming up. The Jets could […]
Serious collectors unpack how they're investing in Pokémon cards
A new frenzy for Pokémon cards has sent prices soaring. Here's what collectors say they look for when investing in the collectible card game.
The iPhone 18 Pro isn't worth $1,200, and the Pixel 11 Pro proves it
The iPhone 18 Pro is an excellent flagship, but the Pixel 11 Pro offers a more compelling package — and with a lower price tag.
Jets vs Packers Game Day Forecast
A cool and rainy day is on deck when the Jets face the Packers
NFL Hits Evan Williams’ Pocketbook After Week 1 Incident
The Green Bay Packers didn’t have much fun during their 2026 season opener. They were defeated by the division rival Minnesota Vikings 39-22 despite jumping out to a 22-10 lead. It was the latest in several blown leads dating back to last season. For safety Evan Williams, the NFL has added insult to injury. Green […] The post NFL Hits Evan Williams’ Pocketbook After Week 1 Incident appeared first on HEAVY.
Packers get good news on Josh Jacobs' pending suspension
The Green Bay Packers are missing running back Josh Jacobs and feeling the sting.
NFL Fines 2 Packers Players For Actions Against Vikings
League officials issued financial penalties following a physical divisional clash, targeting a late hit on a backup quarterback while clearing the controversial tackle that sidelined Minnesota’s starter.
Packers Week 2 Opponent Preview: The New York Jets
What did the Jets do in the offseason and week 1?
Packers Get Good News in Latest Josh Jacobs Update
The Green Bay Packers are likely to get RB Josh Jacobs back as soon as possible considering his off-field issues and likely NFL punishment. The post Packers Get Good News in Latest Josh Jacobs Update appeared first on HEAVY.
A20 Pro’s Packaging Shift And New Vapor Chamber Unlocks Peak Performance; Liquid Nitrogen Cooling Brings Less Than 3% Increase Thanks To These Optimizations
Discover how the A20 Pro chip packaging shift and custom vapor chamber unlock massive peak performance upgrades, making liquid nitrogen cooling practically obsolete with under 3% gains
Baku, Decisive for Williams: Its Upgrade Must Validate the Future
The British team introduces the long awaited FW48 upgrade package in Azerbaijan. More than scoring points, the update must prove that the new processes and tools work and that the path toward the 2027 FW50 is the right one.
Ensuring Continuity in Science Education for Bar Harbor Students
Parents express concerns over Bar Harbor's science curriculum continuity post-pandemic, urging reevaluation of the current instructional model.
Next stop: New Jersey
The Packers departed Green Bay's Austin Straubel International Airport on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026, for their Week 2 matchup against the New York Jets.
The day's 5⃣ stories: Mazzola, De la Fuente's changes, Tuchel..
A football-packed weekend kicks off before the international break, so let’s go over the five stories you can’t miss before it gets underway.A legend has passed away: Sandro MazzolaOne of the grea...
Defence Firm Anduril Says US Delay on Taiwan Arms Sales Affecting Its Business
By Ben Blanchard TAIPEI, Sept 19 (Reuters) - US defence tech firm Anduril's founder Palmer Luckey said on Saturday that President Donald Trump's delay in approving arms sales to Taiwan is affecting its business and that he has discussed this with Trump. The $14 billion package for Taiwan has been ...
Packers Rookie Poised for Bigger Role After Week 1
Most of the discussion around the Green Bay Packers this week has been centered around the offense. However, the team could see a few small tweaks to the defense as well. The combination of rookie fourth-round pick Dani Dennis-Sutton looking solid in his NFL debut and Lukas Van Ness being a bit banged up this […] The post Packers Rookie Poised for Bigger Role After Week 1 appeared first on HEAVY.
Trump signs sweeping Russia sanctions bill, aiming to choke off funds for Moscow in Ukraine war
President Donald Trump has signed a major sanctions package targeting Russian officials and key sectors of its economy
Trump signs sweeping Russia sanctions bill, aiming to choke off funds for Moscow in Ukraine war
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday signed into law a sweeping sanctions package targeting Russian officials and key pillars of its economy that
The House's post-midterm to-do list is a political minefield
The lame-duck calendar is already packed.
Florida Alum Trey Smack Had Solid NFL Debut With Packers
Former Florida Gators kicker Trey Smack had a solid debut in his first NFL game.
3 things to watch in Packers' game at New York Jets
Historically in the NFL, teams that start 0-2 have only made the playoffs 14% of the time.
Iron Age Korean Steakhouse Reopens Friday After Being Closed For Health Code Violations
City inspectors found "over 500" rat droppings at the Wicker Park eatery last month. It has since passed a follow-up inspection and was cleared to reopen.
Maine woman says political canvasser stole Amazon package from her porch
A woman from Woolwich says a political canvasser took an Amazon package from her front porch Wednesday afternoon after leaving a flyer in support of U.S. Senator Susan Collins.
16th Asian Chief Dental Officers Meeting: Advancing universal health coverage for oral health in the WHO Western Pacific and South-East Asia Regions
Session 3 of the 100-Day Sprint BackgroundOral diseases remain among the most prevalent noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) across Asia, affecting people throughout the life course and placing a significant burden on individuals, families and health systems. Countries across the World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific Region and South-East Asia Region have committed to strengthening oral health through regional action plans and by advancing universal health coverage (UHC). The 16th Asian Chief Dental Officers Meeting (ACDOM) serves as a regional platform for Chief Dental Officers in Asia to exchange experiences, strengthen collaboration and accelerate implementation of oral health commitments. For the first time, the meeting is being jointly organized by the WHO Regional Offices for South-East Asia and for the Western Pacific and the ACDOM Secretariat. This year's meeting introduces a 100-Day Sprint, bringing together oral health and UHC leads and technical experts to support countries in strengthening integration of oral health within national UHC benefit packages. Through the Sprint, participating countries will develop, refine, cost and operationalize country-specific essential oral health-care benefit packages using WHO tools, including the Service Package Delivery and Implementation (SPDI) Platform. The in-person 16th Asian Chief Dental Officers Meeting represents Session 3 and the midpoint of the 100-Day Sprint, providing an opportunity for countries to review progress, exchange experiences, identify challenges and refine their approaches before continuing with the remaining Sprint sessions. 100-Day SprintSession Date Format Title Session 1 (Day 0) 19 Aug Virtual Setting the Scene and Introducing Key Principles and Frameworks Session 2 16 SepVirtual Introduction to the SPDI Platform and Initial Mapping Exercise Session 3 27-29 Sep In-person, 16th Asian Chief Dental Officer Meeting, Malaysia Review and Refinement of Oral Health Service Packages Session 4 14 Oct Virtual Finalizing National Essential Oral Health Services Packages and Costing Exercise Session 5 (Day 100) 26 Nov Virtual Country Presentations and Closing of the 100-Day Sprint ObjectivesLeverage the 100-Day Sprint to define priority implementation actions for oral health in countries; Strengthen national capacity to design, cost and operationalize country-specific essential oral health care packages using SPDI platform; andExplore cross-country collaboration to expand access to essential oral health supplies and products, including harmonized specifications and pricing, and improve supply chains for essential dental preparations and medicines.Expected outcomesA draft country-specific essential oral health care benefit package developed using the SPDI platform and aligned with WHO’s Essential Oral Health Care packageA strengthened regional network in Asia of oral health and UHC leaders, fostering collaboration among South-East Asia and Western Pacific countries, WHO offices and WHO Collaborating Centres to support sustained implementation beyond the meetingParticipantsChief Dental Officers and national oral health programme leads;National focal points responsible for universal health coverage, health financing and health systems;Representatives from WHO country offices, regional offices and headquarters;WHO Collaborating Centres; andAcademic institutions and technical partners.
Vikes Views: Who Ya Got? Minnesota Vikings at Chicago Bears
The Minnesota Vikings travel to the unfriendly confines of Soldier Field for Week 2. The Vikings roll into Chicago riding high after destroying the Green Bay Packers in the 4th quarter last week. However, the Bears (at least the offense) had a great time Week 1 against the Panthers. They went on the road to […]
Packers’ Matt LaFLeur gets real on offensive line woes
The Packers’ fourth quarter against the Minnesota Vikings was an abject disaster. Not only did the Vikings put up 29 unanswered points on Green Bay, but the offensive line had no answers for an onslaught of pressure from Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, who sent blitzes at quarterback Jordan Love on 78.3 percent of dropbacks [...]
Bookwaves/Artwaves - September 17, 2026: Mary Roach, America's Funniest Science Author, Part One
Two Interviews with best-selling science writer Mary Roach. From 2010, "Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void." looks at life as an astronaut and in outer space. From 2021, "Fuzz: When Nature Breaks The Law" examines what happens when animals break the law (as opposed to joining the FBI if they've been abused). Also: Reviews of "The Cook" at Berkeley Rep through October 11, 2026, and "African Stew" at the Magic through September 27, 2026. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky.
Green Bay Packers sign OL Cordell Volson
The Packers brought in Volson for a workout yesterday. Now, the 48-game starter is signed to Green Bay