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Wall St futures pause after AI rally, focus on Mideast tensions
Wall Street's main indexes were steady on Tuesday, following strong AI-driven gains in the previous session, while investors awaited potential talks between the United States and Iran that could end their six-month-old conflict.
1 in 5 Americans thinks sports betting is an ‘investment’ — but the data says something different
Gen Z is the most likely generation to believe betting on sports is a financial plan.
Is 50 the new 60?
Subscribe TL;DR: Younger generations are showing signs of worse health compared to earlier-born cohorts at the same age This backward “drift” is showing up both in mortality risk and chronic disease Worsening trends in obesity and diabetes are the most consistent signals Taking the long view, we’ve made astonishing gains in health and life expectancy in the last century. Global average life expectancy has more than doubled from 32 years in 1900 to 73 years in 2024. (But don’t forget, there were still old people when life expectancy was 32). As people lived longer, they also generally lived healthier along the way. It turns out that avoiding things that can kill you early, like malnutrition and lots of childhood infections, also keeps you healthier later in life. In a classic 2004 paper, Finch and Crimmins proposed that cohorts of children who benefited from fewer early life infections had less lifetime exposure to inflammation and cardiovascular disease later in life, accelerating mortality improvements at older ages. Poor nutrition in the womb has also been linked to a higher risk of later chronic disease. The upshot is that improvements in childhood health can pay dividends many decades later. The combination of better living conditions (nutrition, sanitation) and medical advances (antibiotics, vaccines, blood pressure meds, etc) meant that people’s healthy lifespan generally expanded, even as they lived longer. Aging researchers call this best-case scenario “compression of morbidity”—meaning we delay the onset of disease and disability even faster than the years of life we are adding. During my 20+ year research career, we could generally bank on the idea that younger generations would not only live longer but also keep getting healthier along the way. “60 is the new 50” as they say… Enter “Generational Health Drift” Sadly, this expectation of steady progress may be changing. You’ve probably heard that US life expectancy gains have slowed to a crawl in the past couple of decades. Mortality improvements are also slowing (though less dramatically) in many other high-income countries (you can read more about that in a review paper I wrote here). Mortality is a very blunt health measure, but it is often a good barometer for the broader population health trends happening underneath. And we are now seeing that younger generations may be in worse health at similar ages compared to earlier born cohorts. My collaborator Prof. George Ploubidis at University College London coined this worsening health in more recently born cohorts “generational health drift.” “Generational health drift” is bad news on multiple fronts. Most obviously, we don’t want our health progress to go backward. But the timing is also bad, since our populations are aging. In demographic terms, “population aging” means that the proportion of the population at older ages (i.e >65 years) is increasing. Fun demography fact: Current population aging is not due to the recent declines in the birth rates making the news, but declines in fertility decades ago, after the “baby boom.” As baby boomers reach older ages, the smaller cohorts behind them mean the percentage of older adults will increase. For example, the share of the population age 65 and older in the US increased from 12.4% in 2004 to 18.0% in 2024. This story of population aging was written long ago. Many worry that population aging will put pressure on health care and pension systems. But if people reach older ages in better health than in years past, those fiscal pressures would be less dire than projected. Healthy older people can also continue to contribute to society in many valuable ways, including paid work, caregiving, community service….even high political office 🤷. On the flip side, if younger generations reach retirement age in worse health and with more disabling conditions, this could magnify the societal challenge of population aging. Evidence for worsening generational health A recent paper that I LOVED in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Dr. Leah Abrams and colleagues examined which birth cohorts (aka generations) were behind worsening US mortality. Behold the Lexis diagram (cue swooning demographers). Calendar time is on the x-axis, age on the y-axis. Birth cohorts can be followed over time as they age on the diagonal lines moving up and to the right. This figure plots the year-on-year % change in all-cause mortality at a given age. Green shading indicates mortality improvements over time, white is stagnation, and gray shading indicates worsening mortality. Following the diagonal line for those born in 1950, you can see a noticeable shift from green to gray that follows this cohort for most of their lives. This gray shading shows generally worsening mortality for the 1950 to 1959 birth cohorts compared to their predecessors across all ages. Concerningly for my GenX and elder millennial peeps, there was also a deterioration in mortality for birth cohorts born in the 1970s and 1980s, visible as dark gray areas at ages 30 to 45 during the 2010s. While some of these mortality changes reflect specific shocks such as the opioid epidemic, most deaths still occur from major causes of death such as cardiovascular disease and cancer. For cancer, the gray in the top left corner of the figure below reflects the legacies of smoking for older cohorts, followed by a period of green with improvements in cancer mortality as smoking rates declined. But the white/gray shading in the bottom right corner highlights a stagnation and reversal of the cancer trends, with cohorts born around 1970 to 1985 experiencing worsening cancer mortality. This deterioration was most noticeable for colon cancer mortality, possibly linked to obesity or dietary factors. Not just dying more, but less healthy along the way. A recent paper by Dr. Laura Gimeno of University College London (of which I am a co-author), found evidence that more recently born cohorts in Great Britain have stagnating or worsening health. A stylized picture of what“generational health drift” might look like: The review paper found: Rates of childhood overweight and obesity were highest among Gen Z. Rates of diabetes in the 40s almost doubled from 3.1% among the Baby Boomers to 5.9% in Generation X. Gen Z reported higher rates of poor mental health in adolescence compared to earlier-born groups. These UK results are consistent with studies showing worsening health across generations in the US as well. A 2021 US study found that more recently born cohorts had worse biological markers (like blood pressure and blood sugar) than earlier generations at the same age. A separate 2022 study of Americans aged 50 and over found that more recently born generations had a higher number of chronic diseases, with younger age of disease onset. A 2024 Lancet paper found that in the US, women born in 1945 had 33% obesity prevalence at age 50, rising to 48.2% for women born in 1970 turning 50. So what’s going on, and can we turn it around? We don’t have a definitive answer for what’s causing the deteriorating health of younger cohorts, but circumstantial evidence points to worsening trends in obesity and diabetes in both the US and UK. Remember that cohort trends reflect lagged effects of early environments, and younger generations have faced both earlier onset and more severe obesity across their lifetimes. Despite these very concerning trends, the future is not set in stone. We’ve reversed poor generational health trends before: drops in smoking are a major reason cancer and heart disease deaths fell so dramatically in recent decades. GLP-1 drugs may finally turn the tide against rising rates of obesity and diabetes, though it is still early days. But things could also get worse…for example from a return to higher levels of childhood infectious diseases that can have a lasting impact on health. See for example: [ ](https://jenndowd.substack.com/p/dont-you-forget-about-measles-the) [ Don’t You Forget About Me(asles): The Virus That Erases Immune Memory ](https://jenndowd.substack.com/p/dont-you-forget-about-measles-the) Jenn Dowd, PhD · March 24, 2025 [ Read full story ](https://jenndowd.substack.com/p/dont-you-forget-about-measles-the) Even as an optimist, emerging data on the “generational health drift” has my full attention. For most of my research career, we took it for granted that each generation would be healthier than the last. But if present trends continue, **50 could be the new 60….**and Gen Z celebrities will soon look older than Paul Rudd :). Stay well, Jenn Share the Health! If you found this post useful, please share it with a friend. Share
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.
Kamala Harris returns to campaign trail to boost Abdul El-Sayed in critical Michigan Senate race
Kamala Harris is set to campaign Tuesday with Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, a joint appearance between two Democrats in a state that’s crucial to the party’s fortunes in this fall’s midterms – and the presidential primary to follow.
Ohio governor’s race is a battle over Covid, health costs, and trust in science
The race between Amy Acton and Vivek Ramaswamy could be the election’s most direct test of where the heartland stands on health care and the pandemic.
Ohio governor’s race is a battle over Covid, health costs, and trust in science
The race between Amy Acton and Vivek Ramaswamy could be the election’s most direct test of where the heartland stands on health care and the pandemic.
Jiang Feng: The Unravelling of German & European Politics
A state election in eastern Germany has become a revealing test of the changing political landscapes of Germany and Europe, writes Jiang Feng, Professor and Chairman of the Council of the Shanghai Academy of Global Governance and Area Studies (SAGGAS) at Shanghai International Studies University. His analysis follows the decisive victory of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) (which has been classified as right-wing extremist by German authorities)in the state of Saxony-Anhalt on 6 September, in which it finished far ahead of its mainstream rivals. Jiang previously served as Minister-Counsellor at the Chinese Embassy in Berlin. The following article was published on 8 September 2026 on huanqiu.com, the online platform of the Global Times. On 6 September, the results of the state election in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, were announced. The Alternative for Germany (AfD), classified as far-right by German authorities, made history by becoming the largest party in the state parliament, winning 43.8 per cent of the vote — twice its share in the previous election. The Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which had governed the state continuously for 24 years, won just 17.2 per cent, its worst result ever in Saxony-Anhalt. On the night the results were announced, the atmosphere at the CDU gathering was unusually calm. There was neither shock nor argument, as if the defeat had long been expected. Several veteran party members who had spent years working in the state government said: “Defeat is not a bad thing. It is time to make changes.” This state election has not only upended Saxony-Anhalt’s political landscape, but also laid bare the deep tensions between Germany’s traditional party structure and model of governance, on the one hand, and an increasingly polarised society on the other. Its repercussions are already being felt at the federal level, making Saxony-Anhalt a useful case study of the broader trend towards political polarisation and realignment in Europe. Governing Difficulties after Electoral Victory The most immediate consequence of the election is a historic setback for the mainstream party order that took shape in post-war Germany. In Saxony-Anhalt, the AfD has leapt from a peripheral party to the largest political force in the state. Its electoral base has expanded beyond the traditional category of “marginal protest voters” to take on the characteristics of a cross-class coalition. The party has not only consolidated its support in rural areas, but also attracted many middle-class voters and even members of the social elite with stable jobs, their own homes, and substantial incomes. It has thus evolved from a “protest party” into one with the potential to govern. Despite its commanding lead in the vote, however, the AfD faces an institutional obstacle to governing the state: the mainstream parties’ long-standing “firewall” against it. Neither of the two potential routes to forming a government appears likely to break the current political deadlock. The first would be a coalition of establishment parties, led by the CDU and bringing together the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Greens, the Left Party (Die Linke) and the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) in a cross-camp government. In terms of parliamentary arithmetic, such a coalition could prevent the AfD from forming a government and preserve the outward stability of the traditional political order. Yet these parties are fundamentally divided over key issues including immigration, the energy transition, economic management, and cultural and education policy. Coalition negotiations would therefore be extremely difficult, and even if a government could be formed, it would most likely prove short-lived. More importantly, an alliance of establishment parties aimed at keeping the largest party out of government would play directly into the AfD’s narrative that “political elites are suppressing public opinion”. It could deepen perceptions of political unfairness, further strengthening the AfD’s political capital, and creating a dynamic in which “the more it is suppressed, the more people vote for it”. Ulrich Siegmund, the AfD’s candidate for state premier, has said that if efforts to form a government fail because other parties refuse to cooperate, the AfD will push for a fresh election, which he believes could deliver the party an absolute majority of seats. This points to more intense political battles ahead. The second option would be a coalition between the AfD and the BSW. Together, the two parties would command a simple majority in parliament, making this, on paper, the quickest route to forming a government. The BSW is the only elected party that has not ruled out cooperation with the AfD, and the two parties share some common ground, including on policy towards Russia. There is therefore a degree of political basis for cooperation. Were such a coalition to materialise, Germany would see its first state government jointly formed by a party defined as far-right and one with a far-left background, creating what might be called a “bipolar anti-establishment alliance”. Such an outcome would fundamentally break with the ideological boundaries of post-war German party politics. It is worth noting that even if the AfD ultimately fails to enter the state government, its roughly 47 per cent share of parliamentary seats would give it a powerful blocking minority. Without its consent, major decisions requiring a two-thirds majority — including constitutional amendments, significant budgetary adjustments, and state-level institutional reforms — would be extremely difficult to pass. Therefore, whoever ultimately forms the government, the AfD will be an unavoidable force in Saxony-Anhalt politics, with a direct influence on the state’s legislative process. Systemic Failures in Germany’s Governance Model The Saxony-Anhalt election result reflects a systemic failure of Germany’s post-war mainstream-party model of governance to adapt to rapidly changing socioeconomic conditions. It stems from multiple, mutually reinforcing structural tensions and highlights the existing political system’s difficulty in adapting to “an increasingly polarised society First, collective anxiety has replaced individual material hardship as a central driver of political mobilisation. The rise of the AfD can no longer be explained simply by poverty or social marginalisation. Its increasingly cross-class electoral base suggests that what is driving voters towards the party is, above all, concern about the broader direction of society. This anxiety about the future of the political community goes beyond individual gains and losses. In political discourse, economic anxiety has become closely intertwined with immigration, while immigration and refugee issues are, in essence, questions of social fairness. This perception turns conflicts over the distribution of social resources into negative assessments of governing parties, providing a broad social basis for far-right political narratives. Second, regional disparities and East German identity have undermined the strategy of addressing eastern Germany’s structural challenges at the regional level. More than three decades after German reunification, eastern states such as Saxony-Anhalt have experienced periods of economic growth, but their underlying economic structures remain weak, and household incomes and wealth remain significantly below those in western Germany. At the same time, they continue to face population outflow, an ageing population, labour shortages, and other structural challenges. At a deeper level, historical experiences — including the collapse of the former East German economic system, mass unemployment during the transition, and the westward shift of decision-making power over major issues — have left some residents with a sense of being “second-class citizens” and of being excluded. For years, the German government treated the “syndrome” of reunification as a regional problem to be gradually addressed at the local level. That approach is becoming increasingly unsustainable, as regional development disparities emerge as a core structural factor shaping national politics. Third, the erosion of institutional trust is perhaps the most decisive factor. AfD supporters tend to distrust establishment institutions, including parliament, government, and the mainstream media. Their concerns about economic security, pensions, and social fairness are significantly greater than the social average. Increasingly, their support for the AfD reflects not an expectation that the existing system can be improved, but a search for an alternative to the current political order. Such a systemic deficit of trust will be extremely difficult for the traditional parties to repair in the short term. Fourth, a generational shift in political mobilisation has amplified political polarisation. Unlike traditional parties, which rely heavily on offline rallies and mainstream media coverage, the AfD has developed a social-media mobilisation strategy built around “raising an issue — identifying who is responsible — offering a simplified solution — building a shared identity”. It turns complex social tensions into concise political narratives, rapidly channelling public sentiment into political support. The contrast on the eve of the election was particularly telling. The establishment parties, together with trade unions and churches, organised an offline march attended by more than 10,000 people, but its reach was largely confined to those present and to traditional media coverage. The AfD held a much smaller indoor event, yet livestreaming on TikTok, YouTube, and other platforms, combined with the involvement of online influencers, gave it a reach and mobilising capacity far beyond that of the march. The contrast illustrates how the traditional parties’ methods of political mobilisation are increasingly struggling to keep pace with a political environment transformed by changes in media technology. A Microcosm of Structural Political Change in Europe The shockwaves from the Saxony-Anhalt election quickly travelled beyond the state to the federal level. Calls for political accountability followed immediately after the results were announced. The governing CDU and SPD are now under enormous pressure, while Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil face an unprecedented test. Political polarisation in Germany is no longer simply a regional phenomenon. The post-war model of multiparty government by establishment parties is breaking down and being reshaped. Viewed in a broader European context, the Saxony-Anhalt election is part of a continent-wide wave of party polarisation, mainstream-party decline, and rising right-wing forces. Far from an isolated phenomenon, it is a microcosm of the structural political changes unfolding across Europe. Weak economic growth, cultural tensions over immigration, and declining trust in institutions are fuelling the rise of right-wing forces in several countries, challenging the liberal internationalist order established in post-war Europe. As a core member state of the European Union, Germany’s ability to adapt its political system and the direction of its politics will have profound implications for both European integration and the evolution of the international order. Subscribe [ Pekingnology China’s Germany watchers take stock of Berlin’s uneasy turn On 7 December 2025, nearly 50 Chinese scholars and policy researchers gathered in Beijing for the 2025年德国形势年终研讨会 “2025 Year-End Seminar on the Situation in Germany… Read more 9 months ago · 31 likes · 1 comment · YIRUI LI and Yuxuan JIA ](https://www.pekingnology.com/p/chinas-germany-watchers-take-stock?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=post_embed&utm_medium=web&embedding_publication_id=1151841) [ Jiang Feng on Germany's 2025 and beyond: no easy exit ](https://www.eastisread.com/p/jiang-feng-on-germanys-2025-and-beyond) Yirui LI and Yuxuan JIA · Jan 24 The following is an op-ed by Jiang Feng, published on 29 December 2025 at Shanghai Observer 上观新闻, the digital platform of Jiefang Daily, the official newspaper of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC). [ Read full story ](https://www.eastisread.com/p/jiang-feng-on-germanys-2025-and-beyond)
Redesigning healthcare for healthier women and families
Progress on many critical value-based care outcomes has stalled, with women's health most notable as an example of the gap between spending and outcomes.
China’s bet on AI-driven science
Beijing is making its research system an experiment in whether AI can compensate for central planning.
Eagles Get Bold Trade Demand After Brutal Showing vs Titans
For a brief moment, the safety spot didn’t seem like a position of need for the Philadelphia Eagles. Two weeks into the regular season, that’s no longer the case. After reviewing the tape from the Week 2 matchup between the Eagles and the Tennessee Titans, Philly Voice’s Jimmy Kempski made a bold statement that is […] The post Eagles Get Bold Trade Demand After Brutal Showing vs Titans appeared first on HEAVY.
Kayak Clarifies Position in Business Travel Marketplace
Kayak for Business is looking to broaden its appeal beyond its enterprise configuration with Blockskye, targeting SMEs as well as large clients. SVP Eva Fouquet told BTN's Elizabeth West the company also is pursuing a hybrid strategy, developing AI capabilities while maintaining traditional online booking options as traveler trust develops.
A 14-year-old in a Colorado farm town built a robotic hand from LEGO bricks, fishing line and surgical tubing, then met a 7-year-old at a science fair wearing an $80,000 prosthetic arm she had already outgrown — his next version, 3D-printed, came in under $400, and NASA took him on as an intern at 17
When a teenager's LEGO creation outperformed a prosthetic costing two hundred times more, he realized the gap between innovation and access wasn't about engineering—it was about economics.
Alibaba plans AI model with 5 trillion to 10 trillion parameters, unveils new chip
Alibaba Group plans to train a new artificial intelligence model with between 5 trillion and 10 trillion parameters, Chief Executive Eddie Wu said on Tuesday, as the Chinese technology giant outlined a sweeping strategy encompassing AI models, chips and data centres.
Pirates' Paul Skenes Isn't Wrong, But He Must Back Comments Up Next Season
Skenes need to be better in the future for Pittsburgh.
watchOS 27.2 beta 2 restores App Switcher with a new gesture
If you’ve been missing the double-click of the Digital Crown that used to bring up the App Switcher on the Apple Watch before watchOS 27, it looks like the feature is making a comeback as of watchOS 27.2 beta 2.
Jon Jones Reveals Decision to Take Gable Steveson Backstage
UFC legend Jon Jones revealed it was his decision to take Gable Steveson backstage instead of waiting for Sean Sharaf’s hand to be raised. In the biggest upset in UFC history, according to the betting odds, Steveson was brutally knocked out as a -2500 betting favorite in just 12 seconds by Sharaf on the UFC […] The post Jon Jones Reveals Decision to Take Gable Steveson Backstage appeared first on HEAVY.
Intuitive enzyme design with LLM agents
Nature Computational Science - A collaborative system of large language model agents brings protein engineering closer to natural-language interaction, lowering the barrier between human intent and...
Maple Leafs Already Dealing With Mystery Injury
The Toronto Maple Leafs have yet to win a game so far in the expedited preseason schedule, though it’s good for the club to work out any bugs between now and the start of the regular season while also not icing their full roster of starters.However, the Maple Leafs are already dealing with an injury […] The post Maple Leafs Already Dealing With Mystery Injury appeared first on HEAVY.
After new federal requirements, changes coming to the Oregon Health Plan
About 600,000 Oregon Health Plan members will soon receive a notice that Medicaid is about to change. In Oregon, that means some people will need to renew their coverage every six months instead of every two years. Many between the ages of 19 and 64 will also need to prove they work or volunteer.
Possible measles exposures at Busch Stadium, other St. Louis-area businesses
The state's Department of Health and Senior Services said a person infected with measles visited several St. Louis-area locations between Sept. 12 and Sept. 14.
Possible measles exposure at Busch Stadium and multiple St. Louis-area bars, health officials warn
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said Monday that people may have been exposed to measles at several locations between Sept. 12 and Sept. 14.
Patriots projected to drop Week 3 game in Jacksonville
Odds, spread and betting information for NFL Week 3.
907 Sports: Week 6 kicks off, father & son from Homer go coast-to-coast for ultimate NFL experience
In this edition of 907 Sports, Week 6 of the high school football season has arrived and we check in on a Division II showdown between Lathrop and Chugiak. Plus, Homer’s biggest Buffalo Bills fan gets the ultimate NFL experience.
WATCH LIVE: Judy Woodruff and Jamelle Bouie discuss the freedom of the press at Monticello
This event streams live at 6 p.m ET on Sept 21, 2026 in the player above. More about the event: At a pivotal moment for the nation, this conversation will consider the role of journalism in sustaining a free society and the challenges facing the press in 2026 and beyond. The evening will feature a conversation between award-winning journalist Judy Woodruff and New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie, Monticello’s 2026-2027 Fritz and Claudine Kundrun Fellow.
iOS 27.2 beta 2 reveals new details about anti-snatching feature
Apple continues to work on a feature that automatically locks an iPhone when it detects that the device has been snatched from its owner’s hand.
Police, business owner frustrated after series of arrests made near Aliquippa restaurant
Aliquippa Police were called three times in just about 24 hours to the Good to Go restaurant on Sheffield Road between Friday and Saturday.
Could healthcare price transparency lower costs? Mike Rogers thinks so
As healthcare costs grow ever higher, Michigan GOP US Senate candidate Mike Rogers argues that better consumer awareness of how much the services they need cost will help bring prices down.
Everyday choices may shape brain health across a lifetime
Researchers and clinicians are bringing expertise from different fields to better understand what protects brain health.
Brian Schottenheimer: "We Have to Handle Our Business"
Head coach Brian Schottenheimer discusses the Cowboys' improvements following their Week 2 win, highlighting better communication on defense, the emergence of rookie linebacker Jaishawn Barham as the defensive green-dot communicator, and the continued gro
UNGA81: Robust laboratory systems key to preventing, detecting and responding to health threats
At a side event co-organized by the Mérieux Foundation USA, Weill Cornell Medicine, GHESKIO Centers and PAHO, PAHO Director highlights lessons from the Americas and the importance of sustained investment in laboratory capacity between crises
Barcelona ‘closely following’ Real Betis starlet
The scouting department at Barcelona are closely tracking an up-and-coming member of the defensive ranks at La Liga rivals Real Betis.This comes amid the understanding that Emmanuel N’Goran has made...
Bat found in downtown Minneapolis tests positive for rabies
The bat was found on Sept. 15, on the sidewalk along Hennepin Avenue between Washington Avenue and Third Street, not far from the Minneapolis Central Library.
Mobile Health Units continue service to Valley communities
Fresno State’s Mobile Health Unit program is back on the road for the fall 2026 semester, offering free healthcare services to residents throughout the San Joaquin Valley. Services include diabetes and blood pressure screenings, health and wellness assessments, referrals and flu vaccinations at most locations. Coordinated by the School of Nursing, the program provides nursing […]
Tapatío vs Tepatitlán moved to a new date
Club Deportivo Guadalajara announces that the match between Tapatío and Tepatitlán, corresponding to Matchday 10 of the 2026 Apertura in the Liga de Expansión, will have a change of date.What was t...
Amazon makes $20 million bet on the Colorado River
Amazon has launched what it calls one of the biggest corporate water conservation efforts for a single U.S. watershed with a pledge to invest $20 million into the Colorado River
Arkansas River tonnage up more than 7% through August
Tonnage shipped on the Arkansas River in August was down more than 2%, but tonnage shipped between January and August is up more than 7%, with a 60.4% gain in...
iOS 27.2 reveals new features coming to Apple Music, CarPlay, more
Code for iOS 27.2’s beta releases points to new features in the works for Apple Music, CarPlay Ultra, and more.
‘Thursday Night Football’ opener secures 18.6M for Lions-Bills
Opening night in the new Highmark Stadium set a new high mark for a Thursday Night Football opener on Prime. 18.60 million viewers tuned in for the Buffalo Bills’ win over the Detroit Lions that christened the new Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, marking a five percent increase over last year’s TNF opener between the Washington…
Apple Seeds Second macOS Golden Gate 27.2 Beta to Developers
Apple is testing the next macOS Golden Gate update, and developers can download the second macOS Golden Gate 27.2 beta. The second beta comes a week after Apple released the first beta. Registered developers can download macOS Golden Gate 27.2 by opening up the System Settings app, clicking on General, selecting Software Update, and opting into macOS Golden Gate betas. macOS Golden Gate 27.2 introduces Siri AI in new languages. macOS Golden Gate 27.2 introduces Siri AI in new languages.
Apple Releases Second iOS 27.2 Beta
Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming iOS 27.2 update to developers for testing purposes, with the update coming a week after Apple released the first iOS 27.2 beta. Apple also seeded an iPadOS 27.2 beta. Registered developers can download the beta updates by opting in under Settings > General > Software Update and selecting the iOS 27 developer beta. iOS 27.2 includes Apple's redesigned Health app with new Insight and Longevity tabs.
University of Tennessee breaks ground on 865 Neyland entertainment district
The University of Tennessee has officially broken ground on 865 Neyland, a massive mixed-use entertainment district that will transform the riverfront footprint between Neyland Stadium and Food City Center into a year-round hub for fans and visitors.
Florida HC Jon Sumrall Shuts Down Ole Miss Hype Quickly
Despite a surprising betting line favoring the Gators, coach Jon Sumrall rejects the underdog narrative, demanding disciplined play to upset the playoff-tested Rebels in Gainesville this Saturday.
Dawg Sports on the Radio
There’s only one thing better than watching a dominant Georgia Bulldog victory, and that’s reliving a dominant Georgia Bulldog victory. That’s why I’ll be listening to MaconDawg’s skydiving instructor (you land safely or your next jump’s free!!!) on WFOY in St. Augustine(102.1 FM/1240 AM) this evening around 6:45 pm Eastern to talk Georgia Bulldog football on […]
Scientists teleport quantum states across 100 parallel optical channels
Quantum communication networks consist of several connected nodes that exchange information encoded in quantum states. These networks could potentially enable more secure communications between quantum ...
This Week: Phone Bank for Transit, SF Politics, Transit Tales
Here is a list of events this week. Monday/today! Phone bank with SFBike to Save Transit. The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition is phone banking and connecting with voters, explaining how vital it is to pass the Regional Transit Measure this November. Join them to help make sure our regional transit survives and thrives. Monday/today, September 21, 5-7 p.m. San Francisco Bicycle Coalition Office, 1720 Market Street, S.F. Tuesday Historic Photo Exhibit Tour. Moving San Francisco is a collaboration between the SFMTA and San Francisco Arts Commission and is on view at City Hall through November 25. During this informal tour, they will take an in-depth look at selected photos from San Francisco transit history and learn more about the stories and people behind them. Tuesday, September 22, 5-7:45 p.m. North Light Court inside City Hall, One Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, S.F. Tuesday San Francisco Bicycle Coalition Board Meeting. SF Bicycle Coalition members are invited to attend all board meetings. Tuesday, September 22, 6-8 p.m. Register for Zoom link. Tuesday SF Politics 101 with Joel Engardio. SF Politics 101 is a look at how local politics work and the history that shaped San Francisco—brought to life with visuals and narrative storytelling. Tuesday, September 22, 6-7:15 p.m. SPUR Urban Center, 654 Mission Street, S.F. Register to attend. Wednesday Transit Tales: A Storytelling Night. Join SPUR and Muni Diaries at Local Economy for an evening of true stories inspired by riding transit. From unexpected encounters and meet-cutes to funny mishaps and heartfelt moments, Transit Tales celebrates the experiences that make public transportation unforgettable. Wednesday, 5:30-7 p.m. Local Economy, 6028 College Ave, Oakland. Saturday Group Ride: Richmond BART to Point Pinole. Join Bike East Bay for a family-friendly, no-drop group ride to Point Pinole Regional Shoreline. Saturday, September 26, 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Starts at Richmond BART Plaza, 1600 Nevin Plaza, Richmond. Saturday Shipwreck Cove Opening. Come see Sunset Dunes’s newest playground. Saturday, September 26, 3 p.m., Sunset Dunes and Kirkham, S.F. Saturday 55 Wine Line Progressive. Ride between Horsies Market & Saloon, Bar Part Time and Ruby Wine on the 55 Dogpatch bus. Saturday, September 26. Three locations in Dogpatch. See SFMTA site for more details on locations and times. Got an event we should know about? Drop us a line.
Should government rethink its wager on sports betting?
Is it a matter of free will or vice? The Beacon’s Counterpoint columnists debate gambling on sports contests.
Google opens pre-orders for $899 Googlebook laptops built around Gemini AI
Alphabet's Google on Monday opened pre-orders for Googlebook, its new premium laptop category for Android users built around the company's Gemini AI tools.
Women’s Brain Health Is Philanthropy’s Next Big Bet
Maria Shriver, founder of the Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement, makes the case for treating women’s brain health as a philanthropic investment priority. Shriver argues that targeted investment in women…
Exercise snacks for better heart health
Exercise snacks are short bursts of activity throughout the day that can support heart health and make movement easier to fit in a busy day.
Democrats differ over campaign funding flap - Illinois Times, the capital city's source of news, politics, arts, entertainment, culture
My associate Isabel Miller and I told subscribers earlier this month that Democrats for the Illinois House had been suddenly cut off from the Democratic Party of Illinois’ lucrative postage discount program, which can save as much as a third to a half of campaign postage costs. Afterward, an extraordinary interaction occurred between the executive […]
How Issues With Your Feet Could Signal Bigger Health Issues
As your body’s foundation, issues with your feet can create a domino effect with the rest of your health. Dr. Ebonie Vincent-Sleet, podiatrists and one of the stars of TLC’s “My Feet Are Killing Me,” joins TODAY to break down remedies for common issues, when you should see a doctor, and the possible warning signs your feet could be giving you about diabetes, heart failure and more.
AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (AMC) Is a Trending Stock: Facts to Know Before Betting on It
AMC Entertainment (AMC) has received quite a bit of attention from Zacks.com users lately. Therefore, it is wise to be aware of the facts that can impact the stock's prospects.
Got an Android Phone? Google Thinks You’ll Probably Want a Googlebook Laptop
Apple lovers have long enjoyed seamless connectivity between their iPhones and Macs. Now, Google’s bringing that experience to Android.
Chocolate leads to better workouts, says science — and you don't even have to eat it
A new study found that something surprising happens in your brain around chocolate, giving you more energy. Here's what's going on.
Made in Arizona: Cactus Corn bets on partnerships, tourism for sustained growth
Phoenix-based popcorn brand Cactus Corn expands beyond Chase Field with retail partnerships and corporate gifting to diversify revenue streams.
Glacial risk zones identified in Nepal after flood
A flood on the Nepal-Tibet border highlighted glacial disaster risks in the Himalayas, High Mountain Asia and Peru, where expanding glacial lakes threaten nearby communities.
The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered Nintendo Switch 2 patch has broken the game a bit, Bethesda acknowledges issues
The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered Nintendo Switch 2 patch has all sorts of issues as Bethesda issues statement.
Louisa Proske’s Met debut will be ‘Macbeth,’ ‘a terrifying tale for terrifying times’
Louisa Proske is making her Met debut directing Verdi’s “Macbeth.”.
Louisa Proske’s Met debut will be ‘Macbeth,’ ‘a terrifying tale for terrifying times’
Louisa Proske is making her Met debut directing Verdi’s “Macbeth.” | WWL
Louisa Proske’s Met debut will be ‘Macbeth,’ ‘a terrifying tale for terrifying times’
Louisa Proske is making her Met debut directing Verdi’s “Macbeth.” | WBEN
5 Breakfast Foods Dietitians Recommend for Better Brain Health
Walnuts, blueberries, eggs, mushrooms, and avocado may support memory, focus, and brain health. Dietitians explain their benefits.
Lions vs. Jets odds: Opening lines for Week 3 matchup
Checking in on the opening betting odds for Week 3 matchup between the Detroit Lions and New York Jets.
This Chicago prof believes we are living on borrowed time, but it was his controversial life expectancy firm that died
A court fight between Abacus and Coventry puts former UIC professor S. Jay Olshansky’s life expectancy projections and defunct firm under scrutiny.
'A recipe for disaster' - but Tottenham 'will turn it around'
Former Premier League striker Clinton Morrison has backed Tottenham to "still have a good season", despite their poor start in Roberto de Zerbi's first full campaign in charge. Saturday's 3-2 defeat by Aston Villa has left Spurs rooted to the bottom of the Premier League going into the international break, but they did score league goals for the first time in 2026-27. "Spurs were the better team in that first half and [Zion] Suzuki made three or four outstanding saves," Morrison told BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast.
Burnley 1-1 Derby County
We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's 1-1 draw between Burnley and Derby County.
Why the Academy of Natural Sciences named a fish after Ernest Hemingway
The author took scientists on fishing expeditions and mailed specimens to Philadelphia while he was between books.
Baby girls’ greater interest in faces offers clue to nature v nurture debate
Study finds overall differences between groups of newborns by sex that are likely to be determined by biology
Tarrant County remains the last large 'purple' holdout in Texas
In recent elections, the county anchored by Fort Worth has swung back and forth between Republicans and Democrats. And that's why both parties are wrestling for control in 2026.
Pakistani Minister’s Tehran Visit Unrelated to US-Iran Messages
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A visit by Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi to Tehran later today has nothing to do with the exchange of messages between Iran and the US, Tasnim has learned.
UK's JD Sports expands into Mexico through Grupo Axo partnership
British sportswear retailer JD Sports on Monday announced its expansion into Mexico through a long-term franchise partnership with fashion retailer Grupo Axo, betting on strong demand from Mexico's growing young population.
Whether you like it or not, celebrities have an impact on politics
The global groundswell of support for Macklemore’s pro-Palestinian advocacy serves to remind us that maybe celebrity activism really is that deep after all, writes Cheek’s Varsha Yajman. Subscribe In the last week, publications, podcasts, and influencers that have either rarely or never spoken about Israel’s genocide in Palestine have flooded my social feed. And it was all because singer Ed Sheeran and his team dropped Macklemore as his opener for saying “Free Palestine” on stage. Millions raised, millions speaking up in support of Palestine - all of this confirming my view that, whether I like it or not, celebrities do have an impact on political outcomes. And this is interesting when much of the time celebrity activism can induce an eye roll - I love to see Charli XCX pointing out a Palestinian flag in the crowd, but it’s hardly the bold symbol of allyship that some fans would make it out to be. But there’s a line between healthy scepticism and outright dismissal - and I’d argue that the latter lets the rich and powerful off far too easily. For instance, actress Jennifer Lawrence, once outspoken about her political views, last year told The Times she no longer believes celebrities have a role to play: “Celebrities do not make a difference whatsoever on who people vote for. So then what am I doing? I’m just sharing my opinion on something that’s going to add fuel to a fire that’s ripping the country apart.” While it’s a narrative she might find comfort in, it simply is not true. Grassroots movements often garner worldwide attention when celebrities and other high-profile spokespeople bring a mainstream platform to their causes. And this frustrates me. We have had three years of a live-streamed genocide. Macklemore himself has been calling for a Free Palestine long before he booked the Sheeran concert. Yet it’s the high-profile fallout of the last week that finally seems to have made saying “Free Palestine” socially acceptable in the mainstream. It feels like the collective mood has shifted, where calling out censorship is now the obvious response - not just the business of ‘radical’ activists. To recap, Sheeran’s decision followed an ultimatum from billionaire Robert Kraft, owner of Gillette Stadium, one of the venues Sheeran was scheduled to perform at: either drop Macklemore as your opener after only two of the eight scheduled shows, or you do not play at any stadiums. Sheeran’s disappointing decision to stand on the side of billionaire-led censorship has ultimately seen a surge in support for Free Palestine. It began when all his openers and his backing band pulled out of Sheeran’s tour, in solidarity with Macklemore and with the Palestinian cause. It was met with an uproar of support from those who had never or barely touched politics before: influencers lip-syncing to Macklemore’s music, singers like Jack Antonoff singing “Free Palestine,” and publications and podcasts standing with Macklemore. And finally, we saw material support: Macklemore donated $1 million in profits from his two nights opening for Sheeran’s tour to several Palestinian aid groups and called for Sheeran and Kraft to match it, which they have since promised to do. We’ve also seen children’s entertainer Ms Rachel follow suit with a $1 million donation to Palestinian aid, and publication PopBase has donated $10,000. Anera, a humanitarian aid group working in Palestine, Lebanon, and Jordan, said donations since Macklemore’s announcement were more than triple this month’s daily average. The group’s Instagram page has also gained 8,000 followers. Macklemore far from the first celebrity to speak and participate in politics in the Western World. In 1924, singer Al Jolson supported Republican candidate Warren G. Harding for president, and decades later, celebrities such as Harry Belafonte, Lena Horne, and Aretha Franklin voiced their public support for the Civil Rights movement. More recently, in the lead-up to the 2024 US election, ‘The Daily Show with Trevor Noah partnered with the organisation Power the Polls to recruit poll workers to address shortages- a problem disproportionately affecting voters of colour. The campaign saw 170,000 new sign-ups - 35,000 of which came directly through the TV show’s link - resulting in the recruitment of 713,000 total poll workers that year, an almost three-fold increase on the organisation’s goal. Alongside recruiting workers, celebrities in the US (where voting in elections is not compulsory) have made a huge difference by calling for people to register to vote. Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Kamala Harris in 2024 saw over 400,000 visitors on the voter registration site within 24 hours of her Instagram post. In 2023, Swift had urged her fans to register, resulting in 35,000 new voter registrations. Similarly, Ariana Grande promoted voter registration in 2019 by setting up booths at concerts on the American leg of her tour, resulting in over 33,000 voters registering. And the same thing is happening closer to home. This year, musician Jack River successfully called for government action to ensure creatives in Australia do not have their work scraped by generative AI companies. Celebrity as the mediator between the punter and the politician Celebrity activism isn’t just a feel-good news story - research tells us it actually makes a difference. By directing attention to issues affecting the average person, like voting inaccessibility or a lack of action on a genocide, researchers Alfred Archer and Amanda Cawston state that “celebrities can play a useful bridging role between political elites and the people they represent”. Alternatively, in a world where talking about politics is “not cool,” or where people lack exposure or knowledge to engage with politics, celebrities can act as an educational resource or an entry point into the political world - when they speak up about an issue, their audience gets exposed to it. Olivia Rodrigo’s Daisy Chain Fields festival is a perfect example. Rodrigo partnered with twelve organisations focused on women’s issues, such as reproductive rights. These organisations had stalls at the festival for people to meet them and were also featured heavily on social media, giving their issues global attention and raising $20 million for the organisations. We have also seen celebrities at award shows such as the Emmys wearing F*CK ICE pins, referring to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s treatment and detainment of people - generally people of colour. When celebrities speak up about political issues in public forums, they put the issue at the forefront of mainstream media, rally their supporters, and make it clear that, however much they disagree, the government cannot simply ignore it. Our over-reliance on celebrities versus our politicians As much as I love seeing my favourite celebrity use their platform for a good cause, there is an important question to ask: not whether celebrity activism is good or bad, but whether we should have to rely on celebrities. And the answer would, in an ideal world, be no. In an ideal world, or merely a just world, action on Palestine would’ve happened decades ago, climate change would be taken seriously, and most importantly, people would understand their democratic rights. However, that is not our reality. Only around 28 per cent of Australian Year 10 students reach proficiency in civics and citizenship. In the US, almost two-thirds of people under 30 say high school civics education didn’t prepare them to understand voting deadlines, how to research candidates, or how to vote by mail. When civics education is weak, our trust in these institutions and our understanding of change-making processes also decline. This is where celebrity steps in and becomes our main source of reliance. As Mary R. Connelly notes in _The Tartan, “_Celebrities will always be involved in campaigns in one form or another, but their presence is not what causes people to vote blindly. The lack of political engagement and literacy is what allows celebrities to wield their influence on the political sphere so impactfully.” About the author Varsha Yajman is the Digital Content Producer at Cheek Media. She is a youth advocate and lawyer with a background in climate litigation and is passionate about looking at the intersection between race, climate justice, and mental health. Thanks for reading Cheek Media Co. ! This post is public so feel free to share it. Share
Is DSAer Gonzalez any better than corrupt Griswold?
The good news is the interminable eight years of corruption and incompetence of Jena Griswold as secretary of state will end in January 2027. The bad news is Griswold might be elected to destroy the office of attorney general unless voters elect the far superior El Paso County District Attorney Michael Allen, who is actually […]
Asian shares rise amid optimism around US-Chinese talks on trade and AI; oil prices fall
Talks between officials in New York come ahead of summit between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping later in the week
A New York City marsh was disappearing for decades; scientists added 20 inches of sand and watched what happened next
By Muskan Singh & ET Science Desk, Global Desk For decades, salt marshes across New York City’s Jamaica Bay had been disappearing. At Big Egg Marsh, scientists decided to try something that could reveal whether one damaged piece of marsh could be given a better chance to survive. The solution was surprisingly simple, to raise... Read More
Culturally Relevant Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Care Strategies
(Feature Impact) Driven by rising rates of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and other risk factors, cardiovascular disease has surpassed cancer as the leading cause of death among Hispanic adults in the United States. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('fixed-big-ad-top-asset'); }); Hispanic people represent nearly 1 in 5 of the U.S. population and are the nation’s largest ethnic minority group, yet many continue to face barriers to achieving heart health and accessing high-quality healthcare. A new scientific statement published in the American Heart Association’s flagship journal, “Circulation,” revealed how social, economic, cultural and environmental factors contribute to persistent disparities in cardiovascular health, calling for culturally tailored prevention strategies, equitable access to care and greater representation of Hispanic populations in cardiovascular research.“Hispanic populations in the U.S. are incredibly diverse even within their own communities with differences in genetic ancestry, language, cultural traditions and social experiences that can significantly influence cardiovascular health,” said Johanna Contreras, M.D., M.Sc., FAHA, director of the Division of Heart Failure and medical director of the Hispanic Heart Center within the Mount Sinai Health System. “Yet Hispanic people remain underrepresented overall in the research that guides prevention and treatment strategies… Without better representation and more detailed data, we risk overlooking important differences that can help us improve care and save lives.”Hispanic Cardiovascular Health by the NumbersCardiovascular risk factors – obesity (nearly 46%), type 2 diabetes (15.5%) and high blood pressure (approximately 44%) – are prevalent among Hispanic adults and often emerge at younger ages and occur more frequently among Hispanic adults compared with white adults.According to the report, only about 1 in 5 Hispanic adults achieves ideal cardiovascular health as defined by the American Heart Association’s original Life’s Simple 7 metrics. Updated analyses using the Life’s Essential 8 framework demonstrated persistent disparities for heart and brain health, as well as suboptimal dietary quality, sleep patterns and levels of physical activity.Social and Economic Barriers MatterBiology alone does not explain cardiovascular health disparities. The environments where people live, work and age, along with social and economic challenges, impact heart health. In fact, approximately 17% of Hispanics live below the federal poverty threshold, compared with 8.2% of white adults. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('fixed-big-ad-middle-asset'); }); “Many Hispanic adults face obstacles that extend far beyond the doctor’s office,” Contreras said. “Limited health insurance coverage, language differences, food insecurity, environmental exposures and concerns related to immigration status can make it more difficult to prevent disease, manage chronic conditions and receive timely treatment.”Contreras emphasized the cultural values and practices of Hispanic people also influence how they perceive their health and healthcare options.“Family plays a central role in many Hispanic communities and can be an extraordinary source of strength, support and resilience,” Contreras said. “At the same time, family members are often called upon to translate medical information, navigate health systems and help make healthcare decisions for loved ones. Those responsibilities can shape how health information is understood and acted upon.”An Action Plan for Improving Hispanic HealthThere are practical opportunities to achieve equitable cardiovascular health and reduce disparities through community engagement, culturally responsive care, inclusive research and policies that address the underlying drivers of health.“Reducing cardiovascular disease among Hispanic populations demands action at every level,” Contreras said, “from improving access to culturally responsive care and expanding research participation to addressing the social and environmental conditions that shape health.”By addressing both medical risk factors and the social conditions that shape health, experts believe there is an important opportunity to reduce disparities and help more people live longer, healthier lives. Learn more at Heart.org.Photo courtesy of Shutterstock googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('fixed-big-ad-bottom-asset'); });
Culturally Relevant Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Care Strategies
(Feature Impact) Driven by rising rates of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and other risk factors, cardiovascular disease has surpassed cancer as the leading cause of death among Hispanic adults in the United States.Hispanic people represent nearly 1 in 5 of the U.S. population and are the nation’s largest ethnic minority group, yet many continue to face barriers to achieving heart health and accessing high-quality healthcare. A new scientific statement published in the American Heart Association’s flagship journal, “Circulation,” revealed how social, economic, cultural and environmental factors contribute to persistent disparities in cardiovascular health, calling for culturally tailored prevention strategies, equitable access to care and greater representation of Hispanic populations in cardiovascular research.“Hispanic populations in the U.S. are incredibly diverse even within their own communities with differences in genetic ancestry, language, cultural traditions and social experiences that can significantly influence cardiovascular health,” said Johanna Contreras, M.D., M.Sc., FAHA, director of the Division of Heart Failure and medical director of the Hispanic Heart Center within the Mount Sinai Health System. “Yet Hispanic people remain underrepresented overall in the research that guides prevention and treatment strategies… Without better representation and more detailed data, we risk overlooking important differences that can help us improve care and save lives.”Hispanic Cardiovascular Health by the NumbersCardiovascular risk factors – obesity (nearly 46%), type 2 diabetes (15.5%) and high blood pressure (approximately 44%) – are prevalent among Hispanic adults and often emerge at younger ages and occur more frequently among Hispanic adults compared with white adults.According to the report, only about 1 in 5 Hispanic adults achieves ideal cardiovascular health as defined by the American Heart Association’s original Life’s Simple 7 metrics. Updated analyses using the Life’s Essential 8 framework demonstrated persistent disparities for heart and brain health, as well as suboptimal dietary quality, sleep patterns and levels of physical activity.Social and Economic Barriers MatterBiology alone does not explain cardiovascular health disparities. The environments where people live, work and age, along with social and economic challenges, impact heart health. In fact, approximately 17% of Hispanics live below the federal poverty threshold, compared with 8.2% of white adults.#placement_976606_0_i{width:100%;max-width:550px;margin:0 auto;}var rnd = window.rnd || Math.floor(Math.random()*10e6);var pid976606 = window.pid976606 || rnd;var plc976606 = window.plc976606 || 0;var abkw = window.abkw || '';var absrc = 'https://ads.empowerlocal.co/adserve/;ID=181918;size=0x0;setID=976606;type=js;sw='+screen.width+';sh='+screen.height+';spr='+window.devicePixelRatio+';kw='+abkw+';pid='+pid976606+';place='+(plc976606++)+';rnd='+rnd+';click=CLICK_MACRO_PLACEHOLDER';var _absrc = absrc.split("type=js"); absrc = _absrc[0] + 'type=js;referrer=' + encodeURIComponent(document.location.href) + _absrc[1];document.write('');“Many Hispanic adults face obstacles that extend far beyond the doctor’s office,” Contreras said. “Limited health insurance coverage, language differences, food insecurity, environmental exposures and concerns related to immigration status can make it more difficult to prevent disease, manage chronic conditions and receive timely treatment.”Contreras emphasized the cultural values and practices of Hispanic people also influence how they perceive their health and healthcare options.“Family plays a central role in many Hispanic communities and can be an extraordinary source of strength, support and resilience,” Contreras said. “At the same time, family members are often called upon to translate medical information, navigate health systems and help make healthcare decisions for loved ones. Those responsibilities can shape how health information is understood and acted upon.”An Action Plan for Improving Hispanic HealthThere are practical opportunities to achieve equitable cardiovascular health and reduce disparities through community engagement, culturally responsive care, inclusive research and policies that address the underlying drivers of health.“Reducing cardiovascular disease among Hispanic populations demands action at every level,” Contreras said, “from improving access to culturally responsive care and expanding research participation to addressing the social and environmental conditions that shape health.”By addressing both medical risk factors and the social conditions that shape health, experts believe there is an important opportunity to reduce disparities and help more people live longer, healthier lives. Learn more at Heart.org.Photo courtesy of Shutterstock
Nicholas Sparks Helped Vote a Serial-Killer Drama Into the 100 Best TV Shows of the Century; the...
Jeff Probst, June Squibb and Elisabeth Moss turned in ballots too.
Nicholas Sparks Helped Vote a Serial-Killer Drama Into the 100 Best TV Shows of the Century; the...
Jeff Probst, June Squibb and Elisabeth Moss turned in ballots too.
Scientists want these 5 'maxxing' trends dead
The “-maxxing” trend promises that extreme optimization of your sleep, appearances, fitness, diet, or wellness routine will somehow unlock a better version of you. But when health advice becomes a competition to optimize every single thing, real science often gets lost. Our scientists break down the -maxxing trends they really want you to stop—and what the evidence actually says.
What the weather can teach us about health
What if predicting your future health is more like forecasting the weather than we realize? New research suggests fundamental limits to how far ahead even perfect weather models can see. That idea raises a provocative question for precision medicine: Can more data and better models ever make an individual’s future truly predictable?
New England Patriots Starter Suffers Major Injury in Week 2
The New England Patriots were able to shake off their rough Week 1 performance with a dominant 20-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. While the team was able to look better this week, they have an injury to an important player on the offensive side of the ball. Let’s take a closer look at who […] The post New England Patriots Starter Suffers Major Injury in Week 2 appeared first on Gridiron Heroics.
Why Brewers Pulled Jacob Misiorowski After Pitching 3 Innings
Jacob Misiorowski must’ve wanted to watch the Sunday Night Football matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Indianapolis Colts. Because after pitching three innings on Sunday Night Baseball for the Milwaukee Brewers, he was pulled from the game. For those not paying more attention, it certainly could cause alarm. The Brewers are just a week […] The post Why Brewers Pulled Jacob Misiorowski After Pitching 3 Innings appeared first on HEAVY.
E-bikes: Unsafe or uncertain?
Most parents see benefits and risks of e-bikes for teens and pre-teens. Half of parents are unsure where e-bikes are supposed to be ridden. Parents strongly support helmet requirements, labeling of e-bike types, and better direction on where to ride. Only 1 in 10 parents support a ban on e-bikes.
Siri AI Settlement Website Now Live: Apple to Pay Some iPhone Owners
In May, Apple agreed to pay $250 million to settle a U.S. class action lawsuit over Siri AI's delayed launch, and the settlement website is now live. Apple will pay an estimated $25 per eligible iPhone to eligible customers, who can submit a claim via the settlement website between September 21 and December 21 of this year. The exact payment may be higher or lower than $25 depending on the total number of valid claims submitted and other factors, with the maximum amount set at $95.
Wake county, state leaders weigh in ahead of Atrium-WakeMed merger vote
The Wake County Board of Commissioners is scheduled to vote Monday on proposed merger between WakeMed and Atrium Health. Some Commissioners tell WRAL they're still skeptical, while others say the deal will serve North Carolinians.
The School Bus Driver Shortage Gave a 62-Year-Old With $260,000 Saved What His Nest Egg Couldn't: Health Insurance Until Medicare
For pre-Medicare retirees, the gap between 62 and 65 can quietly swallow a shocking portion of a nest egg before a single lifestyle expense hits. One overlooked job category is quietly solving that problem for thousands of early retirees.
One mobile number, two phones: What is iPhone handoff and which carriers support it?
Apple's new iPhone Handoff feature for iOS 27 allows users to share phone numbers, messages, wallets and more between two iPhones seamlessly. Let's set it up.
Help Was Nearby: Athlete, 25, Survives Near-Fatal Aortic Tear
When Danny Cruz, 25, suffered a near-fatal tear in his aorta, he was lucky help was nearby—at Baptist Health Bethesda Hospital East and at Boca Raton Regional Hospital, where Bradley Taylor, M.D., performed life-saving surgery.
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.
Betts Gives Dodgers Leadoff Option Amid Ohtani Uncertainty
As Shohei Ohtani’s return date remains uncertain, Mookie Betts’ explosive surge at the plate provides Dave Roberts with a potent, flexible solution for the Los Angeles Dodgers’ postseason lineup.
Florida voters won’t see a debate between Jolly and Donalds
Is the debate dead in Florida?
Norwegian PM Signing Ceremony on Parliament Hill
A signing ceremony is held on Parliament Hill in Ottawa between Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Prime Minister Mark Carney. (no interpretation) (September 20, 2026)
Positives and negatives from USC’s 42-35 victory over Rutgers
What went well for the Trojans in their victory over Rutgers Saturday, and what could have been better?
Elizabeth Hurley, 61, Poses in Peach Bikini and Shares Sunset Kiss With Billy Ray Cyrus in New Update
Fans were in awe of her ageless beauty as she flaunted her ongoing romance.
Elizabeth Hurley, 61, Poses in Peach Bikini and Shares Sunset Kiss With Billy Ray Cyrus in New Update
Fans were in awe of her ageless beauty as she flaunted her ongoing romance.
Elizabeth Hurley, 61, Poses in Peach Bikini and Shares Sunset Kiss With Billy Ray Cyrus in New Update
Fans were in awe of her ageless beauty as she flaunted her ongoing romance.