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Instagram introduces a redesigned wordmark
The social media giant says it was time for a sharper and more modern look after a decade.
Jeld-Wen secures $135 million in capital, extends debt maturities
Jeld-Wen Holdings has negotiated with creditors a $135 million capital infusion and an extension of 2027 and 2028 debt maturities, giving the Charlotte-based window and door maker a liquidity cushion to sharpen operations in the persistent housing slump. Jeld-Wen said earlier today it expects to extend the maturity of 2027 senior notes and 2028 term […]
Disney names insider Adam Smith as chairman of streaming business
Sept 17 (Reuters) - Walt Disney on Thursday named insider Adam Smith chairman of its streaming business, as the company seeks to sharpen its focus across its direct-to-consumer platforms such as Disney+ and Hulu.
Your health insurance rates are going to rise next year: Here's why
Employer health care costs are on track to climb about 11% next year, the sharpest jump in more than two decades.
Pompeii Is Helping Scientists Sharpen the Clocks Used to Date Earth’s History
An ancient catastrophe is helping geologists tell time across billions of years.
OpenAI's First Devices: Speaker, Smartphone, and More
OpenAI's hardware roadmap has sharpened considerably in recent months, with its first device now identified, a smartphone said to be arriving as soon as next year, and a wider lineup taking shape behind them. AI Smart Speaker OpenAI's first product is a portable, screenless smart speaker developed with former Apple design chief Jony Ive, designed to act as a personal companion in the home rather than a conventional voice assistant.
Nets, Wizards Put Undefeated Preseason Records on the Line
The Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards both enter Monday night’s matchup at 2-0 in the preseason. With Michael Porter Jr. and Day’Ron Sharpe expected back, Brooklyn could get another look at its lineup while trying to extend its winning streak.
NASA’s Roman Space Telescope exceeds expectations by nearly 30%
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has exceeded expectations after engineers made incredibly tiny adjustments to sharpen its view of the universe. By moving a mirror just one-sixteenth the width of a human hair, the team helped bring its powerful instruments into near-perfect alignment. Roman’s Wide Field Instrument now produces image quality nearly 30% better than predicted, promising exceptionally sharp cosmic surveys.
Will Nets See C Sharpe Attempt Jumpers in 2026-27?
With Nic Claxton gone, Day'Ron Sharpe is polishing his perimeter game to transform Brooklyn’s offense. Recent workouts suggest the rebounding specialist could finally provide the spacing Nets fans crave.
The sharpest minds of world university sports meet in Liaocheng
Competition is underway as the best student chess and bridge players work to make their way to the podiums. The Liaocheng 2026 FISU World University Championship Mind Sports opened on the weekend with a captivating opening ceremony. The ceremony featured a wonderful performance that fully incorporated elements of the “Two Rivers” culture, displaying the vitality […]
Quickly Sharpen Your Chainsaw Blade Efficiently With A Portable Amazon Find
Quickly sharpen your chainsaw blade efficiently with the Tarist 6-Piece Chainsaw File Set on Amazon, which comes with files of multiple sizes.
Wizards Look to Build on Encouraging Preseason vs. Pelicans
The Washington Wizards aim to curb turnovers and sharpen defensive physicality against the Pelicans, while rookie Felix Okpara hopes to stand out again.
SHANE BROWN: If my house is haunted, I hope it's just my ghost cats
If my house is haunted, I hope it’s one of my cats, but if I hear something sharpening its claws on my couch at 3 a.m., I won’t get up
Mental Health Strategies for Youth Hockey Players
As the dates for tryouts and the start of the new season – among the most stressful points on the youth hockey calendar – creep closer and closer, it’s important for players, parents and coaches alike to remember the mental preparation required, while they work on sharpening their physical skills an
Scientists turn Starlink into a giant scanner for Earth’s upper atmosphere
Researchers have found a clever new way to map a part of Earth’s upper atmosphere that is notoriously difficult to observe. Using orbital data from roughly 1,200 Starlink satellites, they reconstructed changes in atmospheric density about 500 kilometers above Earth. The approach could sharpen satellite tracking and help reduce the growing risk of collisions in increasingly crowded orbits.
The Human Fingerprint on Earth’s Water Cycle
Human activities have become intertwined with how water is distributed across the continents. A new study brings their effects into sharper focus.
SHANE BROWN: If my house is haunted, I hope it's just my ghost cats
If my house is haunted, I hope it’s one of my cats, but if I hear something sharpening its claws on my couch at 3 a.m., I won’t get up
500,000-year-old elephant bone hammer shows ancient humans were master toolmakers
Early humans in England crafted a rare piece of elephant bone into a reusable hammer for sharpening stone tools nearly 500,000 years ago. The extraordinary find reveals that ancient toolmakers were resourceful, skilled, and capable of surprisingly advanced planning.
Kustom Entertainment Amends Divestiture Terms with Cycurion into Upgraded $6.1M Deal Featuring Immediate Cash Injection and 12% Yielding Preferred Equity
Captures $250,000 in immediate non-refundable capital, eliminates warrants in favor of preferred equity, and sharpens execution on its $100B live entertainment and ticketing expansion. OVERLAND PARK, KS, July 27, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kustom Entertainment, Inc. (Nasdaq: KUST) (“Kustom” or the “Company”), an emerging force in live music festival production and proprietary ticketing operations, today announced a major upgrade to its divestiture strategy. On July 23, 2026, the Company executed t
Mistfall Hunter's Best Class Just Got Even Better
The Withered Knight's second weapon, the polearm and shield, got a bit sharper to do more damage in the July 30 update.
Disney names insider Adam Smith as chairman of streaming business
Sept 17 (Reuters) - Walt Disney on Thursday named insider Adam Smith chairman of its streaming business, as the company seeks to sharpen its focus across its direct-to-consumer platforms such as Disney+ and Hulu. • The company also named Joe Earley...
'It has become very dire in a lot of places': New map reveals exactly where humans are adding and removing precious fresh water on Earth
A new high-resolution map of global freshwater trends between 2002 and 2025 has sharpened scientists' understanding of how humans are using and displacing our most precious resource.
Astros Outslug Yankees in 9-7 Victory
The Astros took their first bite out the big apple on Tuesday Night, and it was a big one. Astros 9 Yankees 7. Game one of the post-Dana Brown era had a different feel with a much-needed result. Call it desperation, call it sharper focus, patience at the plate, or just unwavering […]
Dodgers Get Off Deck, Sink Cardinals in Ninth Inning
On a night when Tarik Skubal wasn't his sharpest, the Los Angeles Dodgers, thanks to Teoscar Hernández's ninth-inning double, beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2.
Flutter Entertainment (FLUT) Stock Trades Below Fair Value Following Its 62% Slump
Flutter Entertainment has had a tough run over the past year, with the stock down 61.9%, yet current valuation checks still flag it as looking cheap against its fundamentals. High profile interest from investors such as Michael Burry has sharpened the focus on whether the market has pushed Flutter too far to the downside or is correctly pricing in regulatory and competitive risks. Over the last 12 months, Flutter Entertainment's share price has fallen 61.9%, which puts recent interest from...
Educator and business expert gives tips to young and emerging entrepreneurs in Milwaukee
In honor of National Black Business Month and World Entrepreneurs’ Day on Aug. 21, Angelique Sharpe shares how emerging entrepreneurs in Milwaukee can develop a successful business.
Bucs' ‘Biggest Bust’ Predicted for 2026
Facing a defensive overhaul and new competition, linebacker SirVocea Dennis must sharpen his coverage skills or risk losing his roster spot to high-profile free agents and rising rookies.
PC shipments fall 20.1 percent in “sharpest decline” since Q1 2023
The current decline may be just the beginning of a new downward cycle."
Empowering Youth Sports Culture helps kid's mental health
The Move Your Body, Calm Your Mind Campaign provides guidance and resources on physical activity and mental well-being for Californians of all ages. The goal is to increase awareness among all age groups about the benefits of movement, sport, nutrition, and overall physical and mental wellness. Now there's a sharper focus not just on the athletes but on the coaches, in making sure kids stay in the game. We spoke with Olympic Gold Medal figure skater, Fremont's own Kristi Yamaguchi to Mornings on 2, to talk about this.
More capacity, fiercer competition: the E&S battle begins
As capacity returns and competition intensifies, E&S players are being forced to sharpen their game
Tulsa knife sharpener turns teenage fundraiser into full-time business
What began as a teenage fundraiser has turned into a full-time, mobile business for a Tulsa man.
Employer health costs expected to see sharpest increase in 20+ years: Survey
The cost of employer health benefits is projected to jump by the highest degree in more than 20 years next year, according to new projections released this week. Estimates released by the financial…
ResMed to sell software business MatrixCare for $490 million
ResMed said on Tuesday it would sell its software business MatrixCare to private equity firm Frazier Healthcare Partners for $490 million in cash, as the health technology company sharpens its focus on sleep, breathing and home-based care.
Every Hit Counts: The new science behind football and dementia
After decades of debate fueled by courtroom battles, documentaries, and heartbreaking personal stories, the scientific picture linking repetitive head impacts to neurodegenerative disease is becoming sharper. A landmark study of nearly 20,000 NFL players replaces speculation with one of the strongest population-level analyses yet of how football, career length, and playing position influence the long-term risk of brain disease.
Clash between Rick Edmonds, Blake Miguez ramps up in Louisiana congressional race
A battle over who lives where is sharpening a clash between two sitting senators who are frontrunners for a Baton Rouge-area U.S. House seat.
Jared Goff Was Sharper From Shotgun in Lions Opener
Jared Goff went 17-of-22 for 134 yards and both touchdowns from shotgun in the Lions' Week 1 win. #Lions
Willie Lampkin is helping Jordan Davis sharpen his pass rush
Willie Lampkin’s low center of gravity is forcing Jordan Davis to improve his technique
Bayer Leverkusen Begin Their Europa League Campaign Against Celje
Fresh off a frustrating domestic draw, the German giants must sharpen their clinical edge against goal-hungry Slovenian champions to ignite another deep run toward European silverware.
OPKO Health (OPK) Sharpens Its Focus, Is It Still A Bargain?
OPKO Health (OPK) has been drawing attention after recent trading moves around its US$1.56 share price, with investors weighing its mixed return profile over the past year against longer term performance trends. For context, OPKO Health’s recent pullback, with a 7 day share price return of down 4.29% and a 30 day share price return of down 4.88% from US$1.56, comes after a stronger 90 day share price return of 4.70% and year to date share price return of 22.83%. The 1 year total shareholder...
California nearly achieved universal healthcare. Now, millions are losing coverage
California's uninsured rate could nearly double by 2030, with the sharpest losses hitting Black, Asian and Latino residents in Southern California.
Sony’s new PS5 Pro beta update automatically enables PSSR 2.0 for every game
Sony’s latest PS5 system software beta enables PSSR 2.0 by default across all PS5 Pro games, promising sharper visuals and fewer frame-rate drops without requiring manual setup.
Who Steps Up For Portland with Sharpe Sidelined?
With Shaedon Sharpe sidelined for at least six months, who steps up?
Business journalism studies took her to the White House | UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media
The story by UNC Hussman alumni Brennan Doherty ’19 and video by John Roberts ’16 (M.A.) was originally published on unc.edu. This story is part of a four-part series on Carolina alumni working in Washington, D.C. Soon after her 2015 graduation from UNC-Chapel Hill, Megan Cassella was an intern for the Reuters news agency, eagerly awaiting and prepping for a special assignment. “Every now and then they needed an intern to run over to the White House last minute,” Cassella said. “You have to send your information the night before, so I started proactively sending my information to the White House every single night to be able to go the next day if they ever needed an intern.” Since then, she’s made many return trips to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in a career that’s included roles at Reuters, Politico, Barron’s and now CNBC, where she works as an on-air Washington correspondent. A longtime newswriter, Cassella made the move to TV in 2024, appearing on broadcasts multiple times daily to report on the biggest political and business stories. But the keys to doing a good job — knowing how to research, asking insightful questions, building relationships and explaining complex topics to a broad audience — remain the same. Did you know: Outside of the state of North Carolina, the Washington region is home to the largest concentration of Tar Heel alumni in the country. Cassella’s time as a Tar Heel was crucial in sharpening those skills, both in the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media and through roles at student-run publications like The Daily Tar Heel. She excelled in Carolina’s business journalism program with former professor Chris Roush, which led to an internship at The Charlotte Observer and helped Cassella find her journalistic niche. A data journalism course with Associate Professor Ryan Thornburg taught her how to find stories in numbers, and former professor Paul O’Connor’s reporting class took Cassella to the North Carolina Capitol weekly, where she gained invaluable experience interviewing politicians. “Those hands-on experiences that Carolina gave me really kept my interest and have really benefited me since I’ve been up here in D.C.,” said Cassella. “I have UNC to thank for the fact that I even went into business journalism in the first place.” Megan Cassella ’15 “You’ve got to thrive on adrenaline in this job. You’ve got to do well with last-minute changes, with running by the seat of your pants.” Megan Cassella ’15 ‘There’s nothing else like it’ In recent months, Cassella has reported live from the G7 Summit in Geneva, covered the latest developments in the U.S.-Iran war and followed changes to trade policy, including tariffs. “Anything in this realm that influences Wall Street, I’ll be covering,” Cassella said. Her working hours are long and variable. After waking up, Cassella immediately checks her phone to see what news broke overnight. By 8:15 a.m., she usually learns which newscasts she’ll be on, and then she heads to the newsroom, White House or wherever her assignment is. “We want you in the 9 a.m. show and the 11, and then the 3 o’clock show wants you, too,” Cassella said, referring to a hypothetical day. If Cassella gets an exclusive or major news breaks, she might be told, “We want that on TV right now.” Within five minutes, she’d be expected to get to the camera, figure out what to say and deliver the news to a live audience. “It’s exciting. It’s nerve-wracking,” Cassella said. “But there’s nothing else like it.” A well-rounded education Cassella grew up in Maryland, the youngest of four kids. Her oldest brother, Brian Cassella ’05, attended Carolina, became a photojournalist and recently won a Pulitzer Prize. She remembers visiting campus as a young child and loving it. “I just always wanted to go,” she said, and that desire grew when she, like her brother, gravitated toward journalism. But it wasn’t just the journalism school that drew Cassella to Carolina. “It was also the whole liberal arts curriculum,” she said. “Even though I always wanted to be a journalist, I got to college, and I sort of felt I had to think about other things. I had to explore my options and see if that’s what I really wanted.” Did you know: In April UNC-Chapel Hill opened its Carolina in the Capital office in Washington. She combined her journalism schooling with a global studies major and a history minor. That broad range of academic experiences in Chapel Hill molded her, preparing Cassella for a career that’s taken her to the highest levels of political journalism and inside the Oval Office. “When you sit back and remember you’re actually sitting inside the White House and asking questions of the president, it’s a cool feeling,” Cassella said. “No matter who is in office, no matter what administration or party, it’s a privilege to be there.” Megan Cassella on… Being a Tar Heel in Washington: I run into Tar Heels all the time. My husband’s a Tar Heel. We actually met here in Washington, not at Carolina, even though we were the same class. Probably most of our friends are still Tar Heels. Even up here in D.C., we all get together for games and March Madness. And through work, there’s Tar Heels all over the place. It’s often used as a connection. Favorite Franklin Street spot: When we go back, our first stop is always IP3. That’s more my husband’s doing than mine. In college, I was a huge Spanky’s fan. Felt like it was a classic spot. May it rest in peace. Advice to journalism students: Reps, reps, reps! Nothing beats the experience you’ll gain by simply starting to do the work — asking the questions, reporting and writing the stories, doing the TV hits. When you can, go places in person. Talk to more people than you think you’ll need. Read as much as you can, from different sources and on different topics. If you’re not sure how to start your story, that usually means you need more reporting. When you’re not sure, ask.
Biotech is ‘leading innovative science, not universities’
Sharper mission and team ethos of pharma companies make them more effective than university labs, says Nobelist Fred Ramsdell
Disney names insider Adam Smith as chairman of streaming business
Sept 17 (Reuters) - Walt Disney on Thursday named insider Adam Smith chairman of its streaming business, as the company seeks to sharpen its focus across its direct-to-consumer platforms such as Disney+ and Hulu.
Week Two: Where to Watch Michigan State vs. Eastern Michigan
The Spartans look to sharpen their red-zone efficiency and shore up a vulnerable secondary as they host the Eagles for a high-stakes cross-county clash in East Lansing.
How sharper tech focus is transforming DoD’s business dynamic
Our construct is to deter major conflict by having a disparity of technological capability," Mike Dodd said.
Alliance Entertainment (AENT) Stock Jumps On Revenue Growth Despite Q4 Loss
The market cheered Alliance Entertainment Holding on Friday. The stock jumped 16.5% to US$6.42, extending an already strong three month run, as traders focused on the headline of double digit full year revenue growth to about US$1.15b. Under the surface the story is sharper. Investors are reacting to Q4 top line acceleration to US$268.1m and to management’s focus on higher margin physical formats and collectibles. At the same time, the quarter swung to a net loss of US$3.5m, a reminder that...
‘Maine has been through a lot’: Democrats sharpen pitch to women after turmoil in must-win Senate race
A month after he became the Democratic nominee for Senate in Maine, Troy Jackson is ramping up his appeals to women and voters who care about abortion rights, looking to sharpen a contrast with Republican Sen. Susan Collins that has long been at the center of the race.
Google’s $180 Fitbit Edge makes a bet on smartwatch fatigue
Google draws a sharper line between Fitbit and Pixel Watch.
Who Will Break Nets’ 40-Year 1,000 Rebound Season Drought?
Not since Buck Williams dominated the glass has a Brooklyn Net reached four digits. Now, Day’Ron Sharpe faces the uphill battle of ending a four-decade rebounding drought.
XGIMI HORIZON 30 Series Brings Smoother, Sharper Entertainment to Life with 4K 120Hz
/PRNewswire/ -- Following its first preview at IFA 2026, XGIMI, a global leader in premium smart projection and home entertainment, today announced the HORIZON...
OpenAI releases ChatGPT Images 2.5 with 'sharper details' and 'more precise editing'
In April, OpenAI released upgraded image generation technology with ChatGPT Images 2. Five months later, the company is releasing an...
Armani’s business and creative evolution on show in Milan a year after founder’s death
MILAN (AP) — The future of Giorgio Armani ’s empire is coming into sharper focus a year after the designer’s death. On the runway in Milan, his signature elegan
Armani's business and creative evolution on show in Milan a year after founder's death
The future of Giorgio Armani ’s empire is coming into sharper focus a year after the designer’s death. On the runway in Milan, his signature elegance defined the latest collection previewed on Sunday...
US move to overhaul science funding prompts some agreement and much doubt
Although researchers agree with the some of the critiques in a new report about the US research system, they are wary of the proposed changes
Looking for a way to sharpen your mind? Bird-watchers may have found it.
They get up early. They know what to look for. They quickly memorize details. For birdwatchers, an engrossing hobby could very well be a path to keeping the brain healthy.
Six months on, Iran is still standing, but survival is becoming more costly
Economic pressure is testing Iran where it is weakest and sharpening divisions within its leadership.
The Real Purpose of Rams' Preseason
The Los Angeles Rams have taken a cautious approach to the preseason, and in 2026, that strategy should continue. The Rams rely on training camp, Woodland Hills sessions and joint practices to sharpen their top players before the opener. The same likely goes for most starters, including stars such as Puka Nacua and Myles Garrett.
Kings’ Acuff Jr., Sharpe Earn Rookie Superlative Praise
Fellow 2026 draftees identify Darius Acuff Jr. as the class's premier scorer while branding Emanuel Sharp a defensive powerhouse.
Lamborghini Revuelto SV Revealed: V12 Hybrid Tuned For Track Domination
Lamborghini Revuelto SV sharpens its hybrid V12 with revised aero, chassis tuning, and software changes aimed at higher cornering speeds on track.
Key Takeaways From Zac Taylor's Week 4 Press Conference
Zac Taylor details how Cincinnati must sharpen execution and leverage emerging playmakers to overcome recent adversity as Trevor Lawrence’s explosive Jacksonville offense arrives at Paycor Stadium.
Gusto Small Business Jobs Report: Small Businesses Add 38,200 Jobs in July, Marking Sixth Straight Month of Growth
America's small businesses added an estimated 38,200 net new jobs in July on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the latest Gusto Small Business Jobs Report — the sixth consecutive month of positive hiring following January's dip. July's gain held roughly in line with June's 40,800 net new jobs, extending a small business labor market that has remained remarkably steady through the summer even as growth normalizes from the sharper gains seen earlier this spring.
Amazon winds down most flagship AI models in strategy overhaul, Business Insider reports
Amazon.com is revamping its AI strategy, winding down many of its in-house AI models and sharpening focus on a new frontier-model effort, Business Insider reported on Tuesday citing people familiar with the matter.
Disney names insider Adam Smith as chairman of streaming business
Sept 17 (Reuters) - Walt Disney on Thursday named insider Adam Smith chairman of its streaming business, as the company seeks to sharpen its focus across its direct-to-consumer platforms such as Disney+ and Hulu. • The company also named Joe Earley...
Orlando Magic Summer League Guard Ready to Take Major Leap
After transforming his physique and sharpening his perimeter shooting, Alex Morales is embracing a defensive-first mindset to transition from G League standout to a permanent NBA roster spot.
Korean cosmetics stocks surge as K-pop entertainment shares fall
Cosmetics makers led gains on the Korea Exchange, while K-pop and content companies suffered the market's sharpest industry decline.
Dodgers’ Snell Could Make Final Start After Left Groin Scare
After dodging a serious injury scare, Blake Snell aims for a crucial late-season return to sharpen his mechanics before the Los Angeles Dodgers begin their high-stakes postseason push.
Arri Surprisingly Sells its Global Rental Business
Arri says selling Arri Rental will help sharpen its focus.
This Is A Drill: Scenario Planning That Drives Business Agility
CFOs can use scenario planning, AI-enabled data and "break-glass-in-case" playbooks to sharpen strategy, manage risk and build agility for uncertain futures.
Sony Forces PSSR 2.0 On Every PS5 Pro Game, As New Beta Update Flips The Upscaler Toggle On By Default
Sony's new PS5 Pro beta update enables "Enhance PSSR Image Quality" by default to sharpen unpatched games
Health insurance costs are projected to rise by most in more than 20 years
The 2027 projection would mark the fifth consecutive year of elevated health benefit cost growth after a decade of more moderate annual increases. It would also be the sharpest increase during the five-year period, up from a projected 6.7%…
Will Sharpe Jokes Unlike His Artist Character in “In Waves”, His Art ‘Looks Like Somebody Is Going Through Psychosis’ (Exclusive)
Sharpe voices AJ in the new animated film ‘In Waves,’ which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 14
Mental Health Benefits of Travel: How Vacations Reduce Stress
Forget the staycation. Research reveals that travel can build stress resilience, sharpen cognitive health and ward off depression far better than staying home.
Kustom Entertainment Amends Divestiture Terms with Cycurion into Upgraded $6.1M Deal Featuring Immediate Cash Injection and 12% Yielding Preferred Equity
Captures $250,000 in immediate non-refundable capital, eliminates warrants in favor of preferred equity, and sharpens execution on its $100B live...
How AI is quietly reshaping chemical sciences
From reducing administrative workload to navigating ‘alien intelligence,’ this month’s column takes a practical look at integrating LLMs and LWMs in the lab
Health care features prominently in Democrats’ agenda
Democrats are sharpening their health care plans as the midterm elections near.
Sharpe Predicted To Be Nets’ Most Efficient Player
Day'Ron Sharpe transitions into a starting role, prepared to anchor Brooklyn’s interior and expand his offensive range.
Remembering the Packers’ best performances against the Buccaneers
Lynn Dickey, Sterling Sharpe, and more headline the best performances against the Buccaneers.
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.
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