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Hamilton returns to Louisville with $10 ticket lottery
Hamilton returns to Louisville later this month, and fans can enter a digital lottery for a limited number of $10 tickets to each show.
Congressman attacks Evers for his push to apply for federal funding
Wisconsin applied for federal funding through the Rural Health Transformation Program, which was included in the so-called Big Beautiful Bill.
Ruben Ostlund reveals further plot details of ‘The Entertainment ...
Cricket, Australian masculinity, Andrey Zvyagintsev and Adam Sandler all play their part.
The 'Toy Story 5' moment that 'shattered' Tom Hanks
Spoiler alert! We're discussing an important plot point in “Toy Story 5” (in theaters now), so beware if you haven’t seen it yet.
A new era for D.C. politics
With D.C. Councilmember Janeese Lewis George capturing the nomination for mayor, and a host of other progressive candidates winning races down the ballot, the city's government is set for some of the biggest changes in the last two decades.
Battle ramps up over WA ballot measure to bar transgender students from girls’ sports
Opponents of conservative-backed initiatives officially launched their campaign to defeat the Washington ballot measures this week.
Herring Gut Coastal Science Center welcomes two new members to Advisory Council
PORT CLYDE — Two distinguished leaders in environmental science and communications have been appointed to Herring Gut Coastal Science Center's Advisory Council: Claire Parsons and Melissa Waterman. The Advisory Council provides strategic guidance and expertise to support Herring Gut's mission of educating students and communities about the connections between Maine's waters, environment, and economy.
'Angry, Raucous …' review: Good performances weighed down by plot
LaTanya Richardson Jackson directs the L.A. premiere of Pearl Cleage's 'Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous' at the Geffen Playhouse
Ask the expert: Michigan’s 16-year constitutional convention ballot vote
MSU Professor Quinn Yeargain explains how every 16 years, Michigan's constitution requires that voters decide if the state should hold a constitutional convention.
Aaron Roussell speaks to Charlottesville Business Exchange
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (CBS19 SPORTS) -- Virginia women's basketball coach Aaron Roussell spoke with the Charlottesville Business Exchange at Burton's on Thursday afternoon.
Video: A Small Election Could Change British Politics
Voters in the northern English district of Makerfield cast ballots on Thursday to choose their representative in Parliament, the outcome of which could lead to Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s ouster.
Trump's FISA threat is like 'cutting off your nose to spite your face,' says Sen. Slotkin
Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., says Trump's threat to block FISA reauthorization is like "cutting off your nose to spite your face."
Jason Stone Joins Tepper Sports & Entertainment as General Manager of Stadium & Venue Operations
Stone will join the organization on July 8, 2026, and oversee all stadium and venue operations for Carolina Panthers (NFL) games, Charlotte FC (MLS) matches and all other events at Bank of America Stadium, in addition to TSE’s broader portfolio of venues, including Atrium Health Performance Park and the Atrium Health Training Facility.
Charlotte mayor finalists on who holds power in city hall: activists or business?
The City Council will select Charlotte’s next mayor from a pool of five finalists amid a changing political landscape.
Plot Twist Books Launches Bookmobile To Boost Business On NW Side
Plot Twist Used Book's bookmobile is stocked with about 300 books. The colorful bus will make appearances at farmers markets and street fests throughout the summer.
What the Makerfield election means for England's political future
There's a lot riding on roughly 75,000 voters.
The science behind why we turn on our colleagues
Study explores why being around co-workers a lot may affect mental health.,,,European Commission
In politics: Hoyer votes a Hoyer-free ballot, Percy convicted, Schmoke steps down
Rep. Steny Hoyer votes for a congressional candidate not named Steny Hoyer, one-time Annapolis lobbyist Davion Percy convicted in federal court, and Kurt Schmoke sets a retirement date from the University of Baltimore, in political notes.
Katie Couric (@katiecouric)
3,068 likes, 268 comments - katiecouric on June 17, 2026: "Rahm Emanuel has been a major force in Democratic politics for decades—from congressman and White House chief of staff to mayor of Chicago and U.S. ambassador to Japan. As the 2026 midterms approach, he joined me on Next Question to discuss President Trump's second term, why Democrats "lost the plot," why he believes the U.S. should end taxpayer-funded military aid to Israel, and what it will take for the party to reconnect with voters and regain lost ground. 🎧 Watch the full interview on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts.".
Red Sox Best Trades In Team History
The Boston Red Sox have a long and storied history. They’ve won nine World Series, including four since 2004. The first five championships came over 100 years ago. They’ve been around for a long time. And they’ve made a lot of big trades. Some have worked wonders in the quest for a championship. ...
It’s official: California voters will weigh a one-time billionaire tax
The measure’s spot on the ballot ensures a brutal and expensive campaign that will coincide with voters’ deciding control of Congress and the governorship.
Who is 49ers most essential non-QB?
The 49ers have a lot of important players, none more essential than these two.
Report: Nets' Nic Claxton drawing trade interest from Hornets
Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton is drawing trade interest from the Charlotte Hornets, according to HoopsHype's Michael Scotto.
Hoy, business leaders pull out of effort to make it easier to sweep homeless encampments
A statewide petition led by Salem Mayor Julie Hoy sought to repeal a state law that requires cities and counties to be “objectively reasonable as to time, place and manner,” when clearing a homeless encampment from a public place. After state officials required the petition’s backers to change the ballot's title and description, they dropped the effort. To comment on this story, use the form at the end of the report.
MrBeast's next challenge? Writing a book. See the cover, title, plot.
If popular YouTuber MrBeast and bestselling author James Patterson have anything in common, it’s that they’re both game to try something new.
More than 11K bottles of blood pressure drug recalled
Certain lots of a popular diuretic have been recalled due to concerns about the drug's effectiveness.
Texas State, Sky Safety Flight Academy partner to offer Aviation Science degree across San Antonio
Texas State University and Sky Safety Flight Academy are expanding the Aviation Science degree to San Antonio, creating new pathways for pilot training and aviation careers starting Fall 2026.
Deep-red state wrapped race calls before DC started counting, despite same poll deadline
Alabama called races within an hour of polls closing while D.C. officials didn't begin counting ballots until nearly three hours later Tuesday.
RideShare's Third Annual Bike Month Business Challenge Expands Community Impact Fivefold
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJune 17, 2026RideShare's Third Annual Bike Month Business Challenge Expands Community Impact FivefoldCHARLOTTESVILLE, VA — RideShare, a program of the Thomas Jeffe
Epic reveals Unreal Engine 6 is integrating AI models so developers can ‘reduce tedious work’
Epic claims UE6 is “going to change a lot about how games are made”…
OnePlus defies RAM crisis, offers the 15R with more memory
And the price hasn't skyrocketed compared to the options with less. There's been a lot of talk recently about RAM prices going through the roof because of...
What hospitals are preparing for during World Cup
Measles? A food poisoning outbreak or a need for lots of CT scans in a hurry? With the World Cup in town, hospitals and public health teams say they're prepared.
RFK Jr. pans processed food during visit to Charlotte's Country Mill
Secretary of Health and Human Services visited mid-Michigan on Tuesday, June 16, to tout Trump administration policies that require more fresh foods to be offered through food subsidy programs.
Jefferson School and Black Business Expo join forces to celebrate and uplift Black community members - C-VILLE Weekly
The Jefferson School African American Heritage Center and Charlottesville Albemarle Black Business Expo combine forces on June 20 for their third annual joint event. The all-day gathering is the culmination of months of preparation and years of history. Before coming to the Jefferson School, Charlottesville’s Juneteenth Celebration was held at Piedmont Virginia Community College and […]
Entertainment venue with rage rooms in north Charlotte opening soon
A rage room and splatter paint venue called iSmash will open in University City this summer.
Latvia pilots citizen engagement in research grant evaluations
Latvia has introduced an element of citizen engagement to the evaluation of nationally funded research grants. The aim is to both create more connections between science and society, and to improve the quality of its evaluations. The move comes as research funders across Europe are experimenting with ways to improve evaluation processes in the face of a sharpened focus on science’s impact on society. Evaluators of grant applications submitted to Latvia’s Fundamental and Applied Research Programme (FLPP), the country’s main research funder, will this year have the option of consulting citizen feedback on challenges the public thinks science should focus on to inform their decisions. “In recent years, both public discussions and policy-level debates in Latvia have highlighted the importance of demonstrating how publicly funded research contributes to society, the economy and the resolution of real-world challenges,” said a source at the Latvian Council of Science (LCS), which manages the FLPP. “At the same time, research institutions themselves expressed interest in improving the project evaluation framework while continuing to ensure that funding is awarded to the highest-quality projects,” the source added. The citizen input comes from a survey that was conducted between 25 February and 16 March 2025, to which 1,737 people responded. It gathered information on what the public views as problem areas for Latvia, and the role of science and technology in providing solutions to these problems. A summary of these responses has been included as an annex to the FLPP 2026 call for proposals that evaluators can refer to, purely in an advisory manner, when judging proposals. Results from the survey show that the main problem areas identified by the public were in healthcare and public health, followed by the development of new treatment methods and medicines, and then digital technology, data security and cyber security. At the bottom of the list was research aimed at acquiring new knowledge about the universe, matter and the laws of nature. Further analysis looked at the public view of the possible role of science in solving these problems. The survey charted 4,167 individual responses based on open-ended questions that were derived from the participants’ answers. The analysis again found that medical and health sciences topped the scoring, with 788 responses referring to the field. Humanities and the arts were bottom of the list, with 625. Digging further into the details, the survey suggests citizens are aware of and concerned about a number of research areas. This includes technologies and innovation to improve the environment or reduce pollution, the development of modern military technologies and cybersecurity tools, and the development and application of artificial intelligence, among others. “We hope this initiative will help strengthen public trust in science and create a more meaningful dialogue between researchers and society,” the LCS source said, adding that it offers benefits to researchers, evaluators and to the general public. More space for citizen engagement in evaluationsThere is a gradual but increasing use of citizen engagement in research evaluation processes around Europe, especially in healthcare, but it remains relatively rare, said Henry Sauermann, a professor at the European School of Management and Technology in Berlin and an expert in citizen science.“Given that we are at a point where citizen involvement is extremely limited, there is presumably space for more, but it's not that we should do it just because we want to do it,” he told Science|Business. He said some research lends itself better to having citizen input, and this usually tends to be on the applied end of the science spectrum where the public can offer useful feedback based on their experiences. He added that advising scientists on certain topics to study is also a useful approach, in the way that Latvia is doing. “The public does fund a lot of science, there's a lot of tax money going into this. We of course do want to preserve academic freedom, but it's also not unreasonable to incorporate more feedback or input from citizens where possible,” he said. Related articlesCitizen science: where, when, and how to let the public contribute to researchHow can Europe cope with a flood of AI-assisted research grant proposals?Data Corner: Horizon Europe’s AI, digital and data call success rate is 5.2%There are several ways of involving citizens in science funding. The most minimal way is having a few representatives on a panel, such as members of a patient group or union. The most direct way is crowdsourcing funding for specific projects. There is an increasing number of online platforms that allow the public to chip in to support scientific proposals.Sauermann studied this in a recent paper and found that it can have its uses, but it still is not clear if there are benefits to it. There are various assumptions linked to citizen engagement, for example that it increases public trust in science, or that it provides a representative view of what the public thinks about science. These are not necessarily true, Sauermann found. People who participate in engagement activities tend to already be very trusting of science, and, on the whole, it is generally the well-off and well educated who contribute, giving a narrow view of public opinion. On whether citizen input can help manage the increasing number of proposals that are being submitted due to assistance from AI, Sauermann is more sceptical. “The obvious answer to the flood of AI-written proposals is AI-driven evaluation,” he said, adding that it doesn’t mean citizen engagement shouldn’t be a part of evaluations in a well thought-out manner. Southern Denmark’s successful approachOne successful example of citizen engagement in science evaluations was implemented in southern Denmark. Between 2019 and 2025, citizens in the region were invited to vote to fund one of five pre-selected projects in the field of healthcare. The project, called A Healthier Southern Denmark, was a collaboration between regional authorities, the University of Southern Denmark, and two media partners. Over the seven years, there were 75,000 votes and significant public engagement online and on social media. “It was a bit of a wild project, we’d never done something like that before and we were a bit nervous about what would be said in the media about it. But actually, people were very positive,” said Anne Kathrine Overgaard, one of the main organisers of the project from the University of Southern Denmark. The university and its researchers have learned a lot from the experience, particularly about engaging with society and shaping their research to match real-world needs. This is important with Europe’s increasing focus on competitiveness and bringing innovations to market faster, Overgaard said. She hopes to see more citizen engagement in evaluation processes and in science more broadly. “For many years, citizen engagement has been a bit of an add-on to proposals, just to check a box. But I think things are changing,” she said. It’s less about citizens just gathering data and more “about the dialogue between the public and the scientists,” she said. The initiative ended last year as the team wanted to regroup to find fresh momentum. The development of AI and AI-written proposals has made Overgaard reflect on how the project could be reworked to help evaluators. She hopes to bring it back in the future. “It could be a good idea to try this initiative again in a slightly re-worked format,” she said.
Proposed USPS rule could restrict vote by mail
Nearly 30% of all votes cast in the 2024 presidential election were by mail. But voting by mail could be severely restricted if a new rule proposed by the U.S. Postal Service is adopted
Health Outcomes Data For Wearables Key To Medicare Coverage Expansion
Insurance coverage of wearables is spotty. This could soon change as Medicare begins a pilot to facilitate access to wearables while gathering data on health outcomes.
Your letters: Writer uses novel character to make point about life, politics
Dear editor, In Louise Penny’s novels, her protagonist, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, gives his subordinates a bit of advice: “Don't believe everything
Ohio State students showcase creativity, business sense at fashion show
The Ohio State University students who participated in the Fashion Production Association’s (FPA) recent runway show at the Ohio Union not only put their creativity into practice – they gained professional experience that can benefit them in the workplace, organizers say. The runway show gives students in the fashion and retail studies progr...
In Michigan visit, RFK Jr. hammers processed foods
Kennedy spoke at an event with U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett, a Charlotte Republican who faces a reelection campaign expected to be competitive this fall.
Live Results: California special primary election to replace Eric Swalwell
For several of these candidates, it’s the second time in two weeks that they have appeared on a ballot for this U.S. House seat.
Dragon Undocks to Return Science Experiments to Earth
At 12:25 p.m. EDT, the unpiloted SpaceX Dragon spacecraft undocked from the forward‑facing port of the International Space Station’s Harmony module after a command from SpaceX ground controllers. Flight controllers delayed the undocking slightly to power‑cycle a navigation sensor and restore full redundancy before departure.
Microsoft weighs DeepSeek for Copilot Cowork
Microsoft will also shift to usage-based pricing for the enterprise agent.
Report links anti-Christian extremism and 'assassination culture' to alleged plot against Erika Kirk
A new report links anti-Christian extremism and assassination culture to the alleged bomb threat against Erika Kirk at a Turning Point USA event.
Jelly Roll thanks Novant Health in Charlotte after health issue: ‘They got me on my feet for the show’
Along with Novant Health, Jelly Roll also thanked Post Malone, who sent him flowers the next night with a “get well soon” message.
FBI says it foiled ‘planned attacks’ targeting White House UFC event
At least five people are in custody in an alleged plot that included 23 people, according to US media reports.
KU Health System Pharmacy Technicians Hold Rally to Demand Every Union Election Vote Be Counted
KU Health System has not yet agreed that all timely postmarked ballots in closely contested union elections be counted. KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Pharmacy Technicians at The University of Kansas (KU) Health System held a rally to demand that every timely cast ballot be counted in their union election and to call attention to the
RFK Jr. stops in Charlotte to talk health policy
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is in Charlotte to discuss health policies.
Adaptive plots splitting Pfizer-partnered drug discovery unit from diagnostics business
Adaptive Biotechnologies is planning to separate its drug discovery and diagnostics businesses,
TST Images: Diamondbacks defeat Angels, 4-3, at Chase Field
PHOENIX --The Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Los Angeles Angels, 4-3, on June 15, 2026 at Chase Field and The Sporting Tribune's Robert Sloter was there to capture the following TST Images.
Washington, DC, voters cast ballots in crucial primaries as Trump reshapes the capital
Voters in Washington, D.C. are heading to the polls to select party candidates for mayor and congressional delegate
Can $100 million overcome a Trump endorsement? What to watch in Tuesday's elections
An endorsement from President Donald Trump is worth a lot in Republican primaries
Can $100 million overcome a Trump endorsement? What to watch in Tuesday's elections
An endorsement from President Donald Trump is worth a lot in Republican primaries.
Can $100 Million Overcome a Trump Endorsement? What to Watch in Tuesday's Elections
WASHINGTON (AP) — An endorsement from President Donald Trump is worth a lot in Republican primaries. But is it worth more than $100 million in Georgia? Can it propel a sitting congressman past an insurgent outsider in Alabama? Can it transform a candidate into a front-runner in Oklahoma? Trump has ...
From the Knicks’ Victory to World Cup Matches and Foresters Baseball, Veteran Sports Journalist is Still a Huge Fan
Finding a lot of places to share the love of sports right here in Santa Barbara.
More than 52K cast ballots in first 2 days of early voting in N.Y. primaries
Typically during the primary election season, especially in non-presidential years, voter turnout is low.
Beer sales surge in Boston after first home World Cup match
Pubs and liquor stores are reporting busier-than-normal weekends. Scottish visitors drank a lot of beer, and businesses are preparing for the week ahead.
Revised charter aims to give more sports a place on Fairfax County Athletic Council
Changes to membership on the Fairfax County Athletic Council could give a seat at the table to representatives from a wider array of sports. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on June 9 approved the body's first significant charter change since 2004, slightly adjusting slots on the 23-member council. Approved by supervisors unanimously and without
Senate candidate with same name as incumbent Dan Sullivan ineligible for ballot, official rules
A top Alaska election official has ruled that a U.S. Senate candidate with the same name and party affiliation as Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan is ineligible to appear on the state’s primary ballot in August.
Colorado Attorney General Democratic primary: Meet the candidates
One of the most closely watched contests on the June primary ballot is the four‑way Democratic race for Colorado attorney general. With Attorney General Phil Weiser term‑limited and running for governor, attention has shifted to the candidates vying to replace him and the qualifications they bring to the state’s top legal office. Running for attorney […]
NBA Draft Intel: Why Darryn Peterson isn't visiting Jazz
A significant shake-up appears to be brewing at the top of the lottery involving the Darryn Peterson and AJ Dybantsa
By Letting You Fly the Highwind and Drop Into Its Open World Wherever You Want, Final Fantasy 7 Revelation Is Doing JRPG Airships Right
By putting you back in the pilot seat and letting you command the Highwind, Final Fantasy 7 Revelation is finally bringing back the airship dream.
Listening to political opponents who share common values can ease polarization
Americans are more willing to engage with opposing views than popular narratives about echo chambers presume, and perceived common ground can help moderate positions.
Business Buzz: Confession Curated Clothing
Business: Confession Curated Clothing Address: 31 Hawleyville Road Owner: Erin Porter What is your business background? “I worked on Wall Street for quite a while … I have always been ...
Why I designed Charlotte Tilbury Beauty as a technology company
The beauty mogul explains why technology has been central to her business strategy from day one.
Immokalee business owner aids injured man after witnesses say he collapsed
Erica Ramirez, owner of Los Eloteros in Immokalee, says she stopped to help a man with severe injuries who collapsed near her business after he said he was hit by a car
Business Notes: Stores open at Norfolk Premium Outlets; 3 women receive Farm Bureau awards
See which businesses are giving back and which ones are celebrating milestones in Hampton Roads.
25 best whodunit movies in movie history, according to fans
Stacker compiled data on the top whodunit movies and ranked them by IMDb user ratings, with any ties being broken by votes. To qualify, the plot of the film had
25 best whodunit movies in movie history, according to fans
Stacker compiled data on the top whodunit movies and ranked them by IMDb user ratings, with any ties being broken by votes. To qualify, the plot of the film had
25 best whodunit movies in movie history, according to fans
Stacker compiled data on the top whodunit movies and ranked them by IMDb user ratings, with any ties being broken by votes. To qualify, the plot of the film had
Georgia's vote-counting method will soon be banned. Lawmakers will try to find a fix this week
Legislators passed a law two years ago barring the use of the QR code printed on ballots that the state relies on to tally votes beyond July 1 of this year, but no replacement method was ever implemented.
Meet the new kids on the World Club block
There’s always a lot of talk about the big teams and best players at a World Cup, but this year will also see four debutants step foot on the global stage.
The Future of Health Technology
Early detection for all sorts of ailments will allow doctors to treat conditions before a lot of damage is done.
Harissa Apricot Chicken, Done in 20 Minutes
The word “perfect” turns up a lot in the comments on this new spicy-sweet dish.
New Research Finds You Probably Need to Eat Way More Carbs than You Think Before a Major Workout
Scientists dial in the dose to maximize stored carbohydrates before a race. It’s a lot.
Gen Zer made over $100,000 selling clothes on Vinted
After an injury derailed his dream of playing professional rugby, Morgan Purnell turned to reselling vintage clothes.
What Makes International Google Pixels Different From American Ones?
The U.S. version of the Pixel 10 lacks a SIM card slot, allowing Google to implement mmWave 5G since most users in the country already utilize eSIMs.
‘A lot of work going on’: Boston firm working on big Las Vegas construction projects
A Boston construction firm is working on some big Las Vegas projects
Voters cast first ballots in primary season as early voting begins
Social Preview text goes here.
From rockets to brain implants, here's a look at Elon Musk's vast empire
Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and now first-ever trillionaire, controls a lot of different businesses.
Science facility in Newport News breaks ground on new center
The Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility broke ground Friday for a new center that will expand its mission into high-performance computing, artificial intelligence and the data-driven research to meet the demands of modern science.
Rye Beach parking cuts protested by residents, business owners
The Rye Selectboard is hearing a lot of complaints about its decision to cut about 90 beach parking spaces.
In Retrospect: Poland, Russia, Europe
In April I spent a few days with Zryw, a Polish non-profit organization that recruits young people to enter politics and public life. Their aim is to build a new generation of civic leaders in Poland. I’ve followed their evolution from the beginning; my son is one of the founders. (“Zryw” means “impulse” or “burst of speed” in Polish). Julie Chmielewska, one of Zryw’s leaders, interviewed me at the event. Here is the conversation, lightly edited for grammar and context: Julia Chmielewska: Assuming that culture shapes institutions, could we conclude that some cultures are more prone to authoritarianism? Anne Applebaum: I don’t think so. Every culture, every nation, and every country has the potential for change. When we look at history, we can see that nations do change. Poland has changed, for example, from the 1980s to today. There’s a completely different mentality here than the one I encountered when I first visited, in 1988. The current generation sees the world through a different frame. So no, I don’t believe that certain nations are doomed to authoritarianism, or to anything. Of course, there are political and cultural traditions, but they can always be challenged. JC: So do you think there’s something intrinsic in human nature that pushes people to democracy, freedom? AA: I think there is something in human nature, a deep instinct, that pushes people towards freedom, yes. People who live in authoritarian countries – and I’ve heard this from them over and over again – sooner or later find themselves angered by a feeling of helplessness. They can see the unfairness of crooked courts, irrational political decisions. They naturally dislike the fact that somebody has all the power while they have none. In those circumstances, people who have no political background at all sometimes are politicized just by that frustration. I’m thinking of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, for example, who was a Belarusian housewife, until the circumstances of her husband’s arrest forced her to become a politician. I met a woman who is a Uyghur from China, and who had come to live in Turkey. After several of her family members were arrested, she too was propelled into a political role. These kinds of experiences make people interested in democracy or political reform, even if they thought they didn’t care. I also think that the opposite is true: some people instinctively prefer homogeneity, order, hierarchy. They don’t like the confrontation of opinions or the noise of debate, and they lean towards a single leader or a unified regime. I think that most of modern history is shaped by the clash between those two different sides of human nature. JC: Which force do you find more powerful today? AA: I think they both have a lot of power and there’s no way of predicting who wins. Even in countries that seem very shut off or stuck in an authoritarian system can change. We’ve seen that happen. And vice versa, I think democracies can also begin to fail and slide into authoritarianism. So it’s very important not to be complacent in either direction. JC: I want to go into your history and your experiences. You’ve lived in Russia during a time of incredible change in the late 80s, and then you came back to do research in post-Soviet Russia. AA: I was a student in Russia just before the collapse of the Soviet Union. I then traveled and worked there extensively in the 1990s, and I met people who really were full of hope. They hoped that Russia could become a democracy, or at least a place that guaranteed freedom of speech, freedom of the press. These weren’t ideas that came from Washington. Although now the narrative in the Kremlin is different, I met many people who were working towards exactly that kind of transformation. A friend of mine ran a series of seminars – once a year, and then later several times a year, in cities all over Russia – designed to get people to discuss politics in new ways. She invited young politicians and journalists, as well as foreigners. I went to many of them, in Moscow as well as Volgograd and Novosibirsk. Over two decades, hundreds of people came to these seminars, and all of them wanted Russia to be different. I remain convinced that many Russians still want Russia to be different. It’s just that the old system, in the form of Putin, a representative of that system, returned. The KGB reimposed their power. And this wasn’t because of something to do with culture, this was to do with money and politics, and who was in charge. JC: You’ve partially answered my question... I wanted to ask whether that excitement of the 1990s was an exception from the Russian historical norm which has been rather authoritarian? AA: Of course, if you look at the history of Russia since the 18th century, there have always been liberal groups, reformers and revolutionaries. There were the Decembrists, in the early 19th century, and the rural populists later on, who tried to organize the peasantry. A significant group of liberal Russians appeared at the turn of the 20th century, people like the father of the writer Vladimir Nabokov, who was a Russian politician before the revolution. These groups were small in number, but sometimes had a broader significance. The Russian dissident movement in the 1950s and 1960s actually invented the modern human rights movement. It was their idea to hold the leaders of the Soviet Union accountable for the language they used, to remind them of the treaties they had signed and the promised they had made. They created the Helsinki group, for example, that held Soviet leadership to the language of the Helsinki Treaty, which formally ended the Second World War and which contained guarantees of human rights, at least on paper. That idea spread to Eastern Europe, and similar tactics were used here in Poland. (Benjamin Nathans recently wrote a great book about the Soviet dissidents, To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause) JC: But seemingly, even if they do ever get power, they could never hold on to it. AA: We don’t know, because they have never really had power. But in any case, we also don’t know what will happen in the future. There is no reason to assume that Russia will forever be condemned to totalitarianism. Even during the first fifteen years of Putin’s regime there was some form of democratic politics. Only when the full-scale war began did he bring everything to an end: he shut down all remaining independent organizations and killed his most important opponent, Alexi Navalny. But does that mean he is popular, that he enjoys legitimacy? Even now, we don’t really know what Russians think about him, or about the war. There is no way of doing real polling in Russia because nobody will answer an independent pollster over the phone. JC: Do you think that the flock of young people, especially young men, who fled Russia after the start of the war represent a continuation of liberal movements that refuse to partake in the authoritarian state, or do you think they are moving for the sake of self-preservation – “I don’t want to go to the army, so I leave”? AA: I’m sure it’s both. I actually know many people who left Russia for political reasons either in the very last years before the war, or else just after the war began. JC: And do you see a change in the young generation versus the old one that have fled? AA: It’s hard for me to say because the people who I know were mostly already politicized. I do know some younger people who left, but most of them were already either active in the opposition, or working as journalists. Many of them very self-consciously think of themselves as maintaining Russian culture abroad, just as in the 20th century the Soviet dissidents or the anti-communist White Russians once thought of themselves as people who maintained the true Russian culture, outside of Bolshevik Russia. JC: Let’s move on to Poland. One of your first experiences with Poland was reporting on Margaret Thatcher’s first state visit, in the autumn of 1988. You followed her around the farmers’ market. AA: She was making a symbolic gesture. She wanted to welcome free markets, but the only one she could really visit was the farmers’ market at Hala Mirowska. JC: And I want to talk about this area because today you can look out of any window in that district, Mirów, and see rows and rows of skyscrapers. How does it feel to see a country built from the ground in such a short time, both politically and economically? AA: You know, when you’re living in a period of dramatic change, it’s always hard to know whether the change is positive or negative. The transformation in Poland created winners and losers, as well as new classes of people, new political movements of different kinds. At the time, it sometimes just felt like turbulence. Now, we can look back at the 1990s and early 2000s in Poland and see in retrospect that the country was headed in towards prosperity and European integration. In around 2009 or 2010, I remember speaking to a woman who worked cleaning government offices, and who asked me if her daughter should study in Amsterdam or in London. This seemed to me to be a real transformation, and it happened very fast: within a few years, Poles stopped feeling like second-class Europeans, and a generation of younger Poles appeared who had no qualms about crossing borders. JC: We again live in turbulent times. Do you think we’re heading towards positive outcomes? AA: I can’t make predictions, because everything that happens tomorrow depends on what people do today. Also, history doesn’t have a trajectory. It doesn’t move in a particular direction. You only think it does afterwards. As I said, you can look afterwards at Poland in the 1990s and you could say this was a period of great progress. But not everybody at the time saw that. Sometimes people are very wrong about a given country’s trajectory. I remember people writing about Ukraine in the 1990s, about how dangerous it was that Ukraine was independent, that this was going to be an anti-semitic state, that Ukrainian nationalism was going to come back... and although you can say many bad things about Ukraine, the country made many bad choices, actually it became a pretty tolerant state which now has a Jewish president and until recently a Muslim defense minister. JC: In the 1990s Poland’s and Ukraine’s GDP were roughly similar. Ukraine was even a bit richer. So the starting point was similar for both of these countries, but they’ve turned out very, very differently. Even if we stop in 2014. Why do you think Ukraine “chose East”? Was it external influence? AA: No, I think Ukraine was in a different position. First of all, central and eastern Ukraine had been part of the Soviet Union since the 1920s, and had therefore experienced a longer period of occupation, repression, Sovietization and even Russification. Ukraine did not have, as Poland did, an alternative elite: a large cadre of economists and politicians, who already had some experience in opposition politics and in independent thinking. In Poland, the transformative finance minister, Leszek Balcerowicz, had already thought about how an economy might be decentralized before he took office. We can argue about how successful he was, but at least he was prepared to try something new. In Ukraine, people weren’t prepared. For one, there hadn’t been much space even for an illegal opposition in the previous couple of decades. Ukraine was also in many ways still emerging from colonial occupation. For the previous couple of centuries, many of the most capable Ukrainians had moved to Russia, and the first generation of leaders in independent Ukraine tended to be former Soviet apparatchiks. They didn’t immediately seek to become closer to western Europe. Instead, they looked for some kind of economic and political “third way” and an accomodation with Russia. Ukraine became stuck in this position, half-in, half-out and became pretty profoundly corrupt. JC: The Polish alternative elite had a vision of where they wanted the country to go. I think the general perception now is that this vision ends with the next election, right? Is this a natural process of gaining power? AA: Their vision, and it was shared by the time by politicians who now call themselves both left and right, was that Poland should join the EU and NATO, as fast as possible. My husband (Radek Sikorski) was in the very first government that said it wanted to join NATO. At the time this was taken very badly in Washington: the demand for NATO membership absolutely came from Poland, not from the US. But even then, in the early 1990s, many Poles already understood that the Russian sphere of influence would grow once again, that it was important to become part of the transatlantic alliance and an integrated Europe as fast as possible: NATO, the EU, the Council of Europe, all of the trading and security alliances. That consensus lasted through several different governments and over many years, even governments containing former communists. For twenty years, right, left and center disagreed about many things, but they all agreed on the direction that the country should go. In retrospect, that consensus created the basis for prosperity in Poland. JC: And regarding the Polish-Ukrainian relations. We know that antagonisms, e.g. the myth of Wołyń [a massacre of Poles that took place in what is now Western Ukraine, in 1943] are increasingly used in Polish political discourse today. In Ukraine, nationalist historians make heroes out of UPA, the Ukrainian revolutionary army, which is held responsible for this tragedy. Where do you see a start for burying the hatchet? Is the reconciliation of our nations possible? AA: So here’s a strange thing: For more than a decade after they both gained independence, Poland and Ukraine participated in a number of projects that were designed to solve exactly these kinds of Polish-Ukrainian differences. Books were published that were jointly written by Polish and Ukrainian historians, monuments were built. These projects were successful: If you’d asked me this question in 2010, I would have said that there are no real historical issues between Poland and Ukraine, that the two countries had mostly reconciled. For a number of reasons, this began to shift. In Poland, children and grandchildren of victims of the Wołyń massacre felt their tragedy hadn’t been fully recognized. In Ukraine, nationalist groups wanted the UPA partisans who had fought against the Soviet Union recognized for their heroism, despite the fact that some in this broad and not well-defined group were also linked to Wołyń. In both eastern Poland and western Ukraine, the memory of the ethnic cleansing that took place there in the late 1940s - Poles were moved West, Ukrainians East - to accomodate new borders has left feelings of displacement and bitterness. The wave of Ukrainian immigration, which started before the war, may have provoked some of this. But don’t underestimate the role played by Russia, which has always wanted to create discord between Poland and Ukraine, and pumps out propaganda to that effect in both countries. Vandalism on both sides of the border, damage done to cemeteries and monuments, is sometimes carried out by provacateurs working for Russia, just to create bad feelings. The Polish-Ukrainian conflict also hides a different reality: although there are real grievances and bad memories, the truth is that the biggest tragedies both nations experienced in the twentieth century were inflicted by the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. That should unite these two countries, not divide them. JC: This week (19.04.2026 – Ed.) in Hungary we saw that using historical narratives to create grievance has no longer worked. Are you optimistic about the direction after Orban’s loss? AA: The Hungarian election was really important because it shows that people can actually resist powerful, dominant propaganda. The ruling party Fidesz controlled all of the TV, 90% of the newspapers, the constitutional court, the bureaucracy... and yet people had the nerve to vote against it and resist it. It’s also an important election because Hungary created a huge network of well-funded think tanks and foundations that were funding other far right groups and projects. So that loss is going to have a knock-on effect in other places too, maybe even in Poland. JC: What you’ve said about resisting propaganda reminds me of one of the interviews you did about talking to Russians in the post-Soviet era who claimed that people knew that the system was lying. Why do people choose to believe in these regimes anyway? AA: Because it’s useful. Stephen Kotkin, an American historian, once described how people would learn how to “speak Bolshevik”: It was just a language that you needed to use in order to get by in society. If you didn’t talk the way the regime wanted you to talk, then you might have problems, or lose your job, or your kids would not get into university. It was a way of getting along. Communist Poland was similar, at least in the early years. When I was writing a book about the Sovietization of Eastern Europe after World War II, I met a lot of people who wanted to talk a lot about the war, when many of them had done really heroic things. But almost nobody wanted to talk about the decade afterwards, between 1945 and 1956. This was when you had the short period of terror, violence and Polish Stalinism. To stay safe, people felt the need to just go along with what others were saying, or stay out of politics, or use communist jargon without necessarily believing it. I don’t judge them for it, and I wouldn’t describe all of those people as collaborators. It’s easy to feel moral certainty in retrospect, because we know that communism ended. But if you were living in 1949, it might not have been clear to you that communism was going to end. In very repressive societies, maybe about 10% of people who are really evil – collaborators, torturers. Maybe 10% of people are really brave and who find ways to resist. And then around 80% of people have kids, they have parents, they have to have jobs and they’ve had to get through it somehow. Strange though it may sound, I’ve found that the work I did on that book is now very useful in explaining some of what’s going on in the United States today. There are plenty of members of the Republican Party in Congress who know perfectly well that Donald Trump says many things that aren’t true. But they avoid criticizing him because it’s inconvenient, because they would get in trouble, because someone would attack them on the internet. So actually you don’t even need mass terror to get people to conform. JC: Is Gen Z reinventing agency? AA: We’ll see. In any generation you can find groups of people who want agency. If you live in a society that’s unfair, for example where a tiny number of people have captured most of the wealth, then at a certain point people rebel. This is always easier for younger people, who have you have less to lose. The question now is how the internet will affect the relationships between citizens and the state, and how it will change organizations. The “Twitter revolutions” people spoke about as early as 2008-9, mass protests organized online, have often proved to be very superficial. Although you can easily join something just by clicking, the work of creating a real movement requires physical participation. Successful mass movements of the past, for example the Civil Rights movement in the United States, were built by people who had spent many years together. They had participated in non-violent workshops together. They practiced and prepared. Just using the you can get everybody to show up at a certain moment, but then when the protest is broken up, nothing happens. It’s also true that the repressive regimes have more recently learned how to use the internet to undermine leaders and movements. Most of all, they now understand how to make people cynical. The form of propaganda that most modern authoritarians use - and I think the Russians really pioneered this - deploys sneering cynicism. Instead of praising the rulers, the regime propagandists mock the opposition movement leadership for being supposedly corrupt or sexually degenerate, with the goal of undermining any kind of idealism. JC: MAGA grew on the internet? AA: MAGA is a real grassroots movement. They had symbols, red hats, they showed up at rallies. But you’re right that the cynicism, the sarcasm and the distrust that the movement embodies came originally from the internet, and this is different. Fifty years ago, most European political parties had a social base in real organizations, in trade unions for Social Democrats, in church groups for Christian Democrats. As people stopped going to church and as the trade unions became smaller, the social base of these parties disappeared. Now people who wouldn’t have known one another in the past meet on the internet and create new movements, many of which don’t last. JC: Is history ending? Going in stale circles? AA: History never ends. In truth, human beings want contradictory things at the same time: order and freedom, stability and change. These things are never resolved, and when a society swings too far in one direction, people always push it the other way. But each time that happens, the result is different. Certainly it is true that we are now in a period when old philosophers and ideas from the 1930s are undergoing a revival. Carl Schmitt, who was a philosopher who was very influential on the Nazis, is back as an influence on both the far left and the far right, once again inspiring people to think that all politics has to be existential, that all politics is about defining and defeating enemies. In the US, some are also bringing back dominionism, the idea that we need a Christian and not a secular state. It’s also true that we are living through a more fundamental shift. The old left-right divide, which was mostly about the size of the state, is much less important now. Instead, we are arguing about more fundamental things: what are our rights, what protects our freedom. Or how much power do we want to give small elites, versus how much power to give ordinary people. In America a small group of very wealthy people now control information, because they control the social media platforms and AI, which means they determine what people will read and learn. Finding a way to preserve preserve zones of autonomy and independent thinking, this is going to be the main task for the next generation. JC: What is the one book that a person interested in Central Europe should read? AA: You could read my book “Iron Curtain: the Crushing of Eastern Europe” which tells the story of how the Soviet Union imposed its culture on the region. Or read Tim Snyder’s history of the region, “The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus 1569-1999.” And everyone should read “The Captive Mind” by Czesław Miłosz, which describes exactly the phenomenon we were talking about: why do people collaborate? I joined Scott Galloway and the brilliant Fiona Hill in a discussion about the wars in Ukraine and Iran, the future of global power, and what these conflicts reveal about America's role in the world. Scott told us that this was the 400th edition of his podcast, which is quite a number: My friend Francesco Chiamulera runs a brilliant series of literary events, Una Colline di Libri, A Hill of Books, in the Prosecco Hills, a region of vineyards and elegant hill towns in the Veneto, north of Venice. We did an event in Vittorio Veneto and also drove and biked around the countryside. Buy Autocracy Inc Buy Iron Curtain Open Letters, from Anne Applebaum is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe
Bars, restaurants looking forward to bump in business from World Cup
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What Genres and Streamers Won 2025? And Who Lost? Plus Six Strategy Thoughts
(Welcome to the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a newsletter on the entertainment industry and business strategy. I write a weekly Streaming Ratings Report and a bi-weekly strategy column, along with occasional deep dives into other topics, like today’s article. Please subscribe.) Okay, time for the tenth and final article in my ten-part series recapping 2025. As I wrote two articles ago, my barometer for whether these articles are worth writing/publishing is whether they yield strategic insights, and once again, every subsection in this article has a strategic takeaway (or two). Honestly, these are the most important takeaways, since I step back and look holistically at the streaming wars in 2025. After I declare which streamers won and lost the year and which genres won and lost the year, I have six bonus thoughts. If you’d like to review the whole series... You can find the film flops here and here. You can find the TV shows flops here and here. You can find the top films here. You can find the top TV shows here, here and here. Then I declared my winners and losers in various categories here. You can find my 2024 recaps here. You can find the 2023 recaps here and here. And my 2022, 2021 and 2020 are all stored here. Yeah, it’s halfway through the year, and I’m just finishing this series up now. This year, I tried to space things out to not clog up my writing calendar, plus I had to wait for Fallout to (finally) drop off the charts. Well, that ended up pushing this series wayyyyy too far back on the calendar. Oh well. Next year, the goal will be to finish this series in March, but frankly, I just need more staff to make that happen. So please subscribe. Or, if you’re an advertiser (movie studio, FYC firm, or other), please reach out. Subscribe Streamer of the Year: Netflix Honorable Mention: Paramount (and CBS) So, just last week, I wrote about how Netflix has lost seven of its top twelve scripted shows in the last year. And I shared two very dour looks at Netflix’s potential slowdown this year and last. Guess what? They’re still the number one streamer in America. In 2025, they dominated new streaming shows (even if most of those new hit shows aren’t coming back for future seasons), they had the two biggest films, and they had the top returning TV show by a mile. The world is complicated, nuanced and messy. There may be warning signs of a future Netflix slowdown, but in 2025, Netflix was still the number one streamer. Note what I didn’t say? That Netflix has “won” the streaming wars, because obviously the streaming wars are still ongoing and, more importantly, YouTube is still growing—so now YouTube has “won” the streaming wars?—while Netflix’s share of TV consumption has stalled out. Avoid simplistic talking points, especially if they’re constantly repeated and could fit on a bumper sticker. I had trouble picking the second-place streamer this year, because all of the candidates for second place—Prime Video, HBO Max, and Paramount+—had some hits, but no one stood out. Then I saw this update from Nielsen on the top shows on TV in the 2025-206 season. Sure enough, Netflix had five of the top ten shows! And they had ten of the top 31 shows and fifteen of the top fifty. But CBS/Paramount+ actually had more shows in the top thirty and the top fifty. Paramount+/CBS had twelve of the top thirty shows and nineteen of the top fifty. Let me emphasize that: CBS/Paramount+ had more top shows in the 2025-2026 season than Netflix. And this look was just for TV shows, not live sports, an arena Netflix barely plays in. Meanwhile, Paramount-Skydance’s market cap is a fraction of Netflix’s. That’s weird, right? Streaming Loser of the Year, TV… We’re just getting started with this issue, but the rest is for paid subscribers of the Entertainment Strategy Guy, so if you’d like to find out… ...what streamer lost the year in TV... …whether Netflix could win the title for “film” streamer too… …who won the Disney vs Warner Bros. battle for theaters… ...what TV genres won and lost the year... ...what film genres won and lost the year... ...what film genre people think is thriving on streaming but isn’t… …why F-BOSSS TV shows don’t hold the same sway in the 2020s… …what it means to “flop” as a film on streaming… …UK shows underperforming on streaming… And a lot more... ...please subscribe! We can only keep doing this great work with your support. If you’d like to read more about why you should subscribe, please read this article about the Streaming Ratings Report, why it matters, why you need it, and why we cover streaming ratings best.
It’s my tree. Why can’t I cut it down?
Can the government stop you from cutting down your own tree? In many towns and cities these days, removing a tree now requires a permit. You might have to pay a fee, or promise to plant replacement trees. But sometimes, the city won't let you cut down the tree at all, even a tree in your own backyard.That's because trees are important for air quality, for flood control, and for public health. They help keep neighborhoods cool on hot days. But some think that tree protection laws have gone too far — that they might even be unconstitutional.On today's episode, it's the latest showdown between property rights and local zoning laws. Typically, towns and cities enjoy a lot of power when it comes to zoning and permits. They can ban certain types of buildings. They can make you paint your house a certain color. But can they make it illegal to cut down a tree? And what does it mean to "own" a piece of property anyway?Support:Planet Money+Read: Our book: Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life Our weekly longform Planet Money newsletterOur weekly Indicator round-up newsletterFollow: InstagramTikTokYouTubeFacebookThis episode of Planet Money was hosted by Jeff Guo and Amanda Aronczyk. It was produced by James Sneed and Emma Peaslee, edited by Jess Jiang, and fact-checked by Vito Emanuel. It was engineered by Robert Rodriguez and Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.
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UK selected to participate in 'Science to Venture' pilot focusing on national security
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Massachusetts Ties Business Tax Breaks to Ballot Initiative
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) signed a budget bill Friday that ties five business deductions to maintaining the state’s 5% personal income tax rate, putting fresh pressure on a proposed ballot measure that could lower the rate to 4%.
FDA clears new computer-assisted device for removing clots in stroke patients
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Ranked choice vote count underway in Augusta
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A lot of health AI isn’t where you think it is, and it’s not overseen the way you might expect
The same AI may be regulated by different entities depending on where it is used, the data that it's trained on," said Maya Sandalow.
Maine counts ranked choice ballots to determine nominees for governor and a US House race
Maine has begun counting ranked choice ballots on Friday to determine nominees for its open governor’s office and a pivotal U.S. House of Representatives race
Apple to Release These 15 New Products Later This Year
Apple's annual WWDC developers conference is drawing to a close, but there is still a lot to look forward to in the second half of the year. Apple is expected to release at least 15 more products later this year. Now that the more intelligent and personal version of Siri has finally arrived in beta, a full two years after Apple first previewed it at WWDC 2024, we should begin to see some new devices that were reportedly postponed until the new Siri was ready.
Stanley Cup Final: John Tortorella says Golden Knights will force a Game 7 — 'I'm going to leave my clothes here'
A Price War Is Brewing Between OpenAI and Anthropic — And It Could Make AI a Lot Cheaper for Your Business
OpenAI is weighing drastic cuts to what it charges for AI tokens. It expects Anthropic to do the same.
Trump's grand sporting season begins with UFC fights on White House lawn
President Donald Trump's run of high-profile sporting events begins this week in Washington, with the U.S. leader eager to project an image of strength at home and abroad.