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Notre Dame Football: Defending Something Bigger
Winning a national championship changes things. For Notre Dame, the 1988 season had been about climbing back to the top of college football. The Irish went undefeated, beat No. 1 Miami in one of the most memorable games in program history, and finished the job against West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl to claim their […]
Science and the American Experiment: 250 Years of Innovation
A new exhibit highlights moments when new knowledge changed how Americans understood their world—and how they acted within it.
Get in the game: Delta, DraftKings bring sports fandom to new heights
Delta and DraftKings are bringing a new kind of sports experience onboard: SkyPicks, a free-to-play sports knowledge contest built for fans who want to do more than just watch. SkyMiles Members (ages 21 and up) can make sports prediction picks and play to win Delta gift cards – no betting, deposit functionality, buy-in, miles or financial risk involved. It’s one more way Delta is becoming the home for sports fandom in the sky.
She Wanted to Teach Kids History. Her Idea Became a $700 Million Business
Pleasant Rowland started American Girl with an educational mission, not a toy-industry playbook. Decades later, the company remains one of the most successful toy brands ever created.
She Wanted to Teach Kids History. Her Idea Became a $700 Million Business
Pleasant Rowland started American Girl with an educational mission, not a toy-industry playbook. Decades later, the company remains one of the most successful toy brands ever created.
The Science Behind the AI Panic Is Shakier Than You Think
A column by Sascha Lobo Is AI making us dumb? So asked DER SPIEGEL on its cover a while ago. After a few weeks of recovery and a therapeutic intervention with the help of my AI, I feel able to respond. That’s a bit unfair, of course; the article itself is more nuanced than the loud cover, the image of a schoolkid with dull prompt questions, or the subtitle: “AI is conquering the schools, and educators fear a disaster.” The short answer to “Is AI making us dumb?” is: no. The long answer is more interesting, and even carries a preliminary glimmer of the spectacular. Unfortunately, it requires a detour into the sphere of artificial intelligence, into the mogul-field terrain of technology assessment, the attention economy, and the destructive virus of cultural pessimism. Along with narrowing the scope to AI’s effects on education and work rather than on intelligence. Because the honest version of the question would be: Does AI help us learn and work, or not? Generative AI, which set off the still-ongoing hype with ChatGPT, has only existed in relevant distribution since late 2022, early 2023. For a technology-driven transformation of people and society, that is extremely short. For that reason alone, research is still in its infancy. And technology assessment is not a fast discipline anyway. Prominent voices from Elizabeth Eisenstein to RAND to Tom Wheeler say we still cannot conclusively judge the consequences of the printing press. Its invention is a mere 580 years back, and some scholars would rather not circulate assessments that might have to be retracted in two or three hundred years. We’re Going Through Growing Pains A phenomenon that already caused upheaval in social media research makes serious assessment of AI’s consequences even harder: the “moving target” problem of LLM-ology, as the linguist Sean Trott called it in 2025. AI develops so quickly and so unpredictably that researchers often end up studying snapshots of the past. There are concepts, from morphological analysis to anticipatory governance, for keeping research, planning, and regulation halfway meaningful anyway. But even with those, universally valid statements are rare. DER SPIEGEL - The German View is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe We should therefore treat findings about the interplay between humans and AI as far more procedural and situational. Unfortunately, this challenge comes at the worst possible time. We are going through growing pains: AI’s everyday impact has grown very large very fast, and with it the longing for guidance. Annoyingly, the body of solid knowledge has not exploded along with it. Experts cannot be moved to broad consensus on even banal statements about AI. Sascha Lobo, born in 1975, is an author and strategy consultant focusing on the internet and digital technologies. Together with Jule Lobo, he explores the debates of the day in the podcast “Feel the News – Was Deutschland bewegt” (”What Moves Germany”). Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says software developers are dying out. Bill Gates considers coders one of only three professions that will survive the AI tsunami. Top tech economists find virtually irrefutable arguments both for and against an AI bubble. The same naturally applies to the structurally youth-hostile debate over whether AI is good or bad for young people. The gap between the demand for insight and the supply of solid knowledge creates an orientation vacuum. This vacuum of AI cluelessness is filled, as the attention economy described by Georg Franck in 1998 would have it, with half-knowledge (funnily enough, often AI-generated), marketing, and self-marketing. After all, infinite money is at stake, along with academia’s best current shot at global fame. But this iridescent froth of interpretation operates more by the algorithmic principles of the digital public sphere than by seriously earned insight. That is why dramatized, fear-feeding claims about AI are so promising. It tempts parts of academia into distorted drivel, and parts of the media then sensationalize the published drivel once more. Was the Research Aimed at a Desired Result? How badly this can influence academia and public perception is demonstrated by one of the most-discussed studies on AI’s effects: “Your Brain on ChatGPT.” The MIT study by Nataliya Kosmyna also gets plenty of space in the SPIEGEL cover story. What was measured and interpreted: lower brain activity in people who write with AI assistance, compared to people who only google or write without any tools. As is common with preprints, the study has not yet been peer-reviewed, and it contains substantial weaknesses that experts have sharply criticized. The first round had 54 participants in three groups, the second only 18, who reportedly also came from MIT’s own orbit. There was no preregistration (committing in advance to what you want to find out with which data). In their analysis, Stanković et al. even discovered an opposite effect that the study does not further explain. Some measurement data has not (yet) been published. And the EEG analysis method used is considered too imprecise to support such far-reaching conclusions. The biggest criticism, though, is the suspicion of an activism-driven study. In an interview with Time, lead author Kosmyna said she published the study immediately, rather than after full peer review, because she feared politicians might otherwise decide to put ChatGPT in kindergartens. She considers that absolutely harmful. It is legitimate to hold such a view. It just seems unscientific to approach a study with it, and then to design the setup so that the chance of a fitting desired result remains as high as possible. Ideologies Collide It is not easy to separate genuine AI insights from studies that trivialize and weaken well-founded AI criticism. The same goes for the opposing, AI-enthusiastic narratives, because the pro-AI side works against it with billions in resources. Ideologies collide, fed by egos, PR strategies, moral posturing, and once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. Doomsday marketing makes the search even harder: AI companies can profit from warnings about the dangers of AI, whether through the notoriety of apocalypse narratives or because, in some target groups, danger translates into power. Some seemingly negative findings are therefore quite welcome in the AI industry. If you try to get at the findings presumably less influenced by interest groups, the picture in education seems relatively clear: AI can improve educational outcomes when the right AI is used the right way, namely pedagogically. Simply dumping an AI chatbot into a classroom, by contrast, accomplishes little. Huge surprise. But something else is also obvious: whether they are allowed to or not, kids use AI for school, which is why the controlled integration of AI tools into education is, in the medium term, entirely without alternative. In the world of work, the landscape of findings is more complex and requires more differentiation. A series of serious studies points to an AI effect that suits neither the alarmists, regulation fetishists, and AI opponents, nor the trillion-dollar corporations with their armada of paid scientists, PR professionals, and ecosystems: working with AI helps the inexperienced (at least for now) considerably more than it helps the pros, in certain fields of work, and provided they know how to use it correctly. Missing Domain Knowledge Among the experienced, the professionals, and the high flyers, by contrast, despite frequent time savings, partially negative effects and new problems are emerging. Take the jagged frontier problem: AI solves task A brilliantly and fails completely at task B, even though both look similar even to professionals. Or the verification-cost problem, in which AI’s greater productivity gets eaten up by the enormous effort of checking its output. Or the illusion of competence, because AI makes new domains seem easily penetrable, until you painfully discover that deep domain knowledge is missing. Taken as a whole, the effects of working with AI do lean positive. But the promise that AI works as a turbocharger for everyone and boosts practically everything simply refuses to materialize. The AI magic the world has been feeling since ChatGPT arrived in late 2022 has so far barely shown up in most companies’ numbers. The consulting firm McKinsey has coined a term for this, the “gen AI paradox,” and believes that work processes and corporate structures would have to be rebuilt quite fundamentally to realize AI’s benefits at scale. Reuters just reported that only 3.3 percent of Microsoft’s customers have subscribed to the AI package Copilot. That may be down to the product; in other areas we continue to see soaring successes and new AI triumphs. But after the first quarter of 2026, disillusionment is the word for all too many AI projects at traditional companies: because the promised revolution of AI agents has so far failed to arrive or been postponed, and because of the leveling effect that many of the studies cited here suggest. Against Inequality The societal effects, on the other hand, appear rather encouraging. Many previous technologies operated on the Matthew principle, named for the Gospel verse about giving to those who already have: they tended to reward the more competent and more privileged. AI, however, seems more often to have an equalizing effect once a threshold of access and education is crossed. Some anecdotal insights point in this direction, for example, how an unemployed man in Leipzig successfully defended himself in court in 2025 against fraud accusations from Germany’s federal employment agency — without a lawyer, armed only with ChatGPT. The AI made mistakes and cited invented court rulings, but in the end the man walked away unpunished. And a key capability of artificial intelligence is its capacity to learn: set up correctly and fed with data, it can keep getting better. It is a question of time, or more precisely of AI innovations and training data, until even free AI chatbots write better legal briefs than law graduates with perfect exam scores. Whether that will make anyone dumb is something the world’s press will surely inform us of in due time. Subscribe Leave a comment
Raiders’ Fernando Mendoza Receives Blunt Reality Check
Kirk Cousins is the Las Vegas Raiders‘ starting QB for right now, and it will likely stay that way for the early part of the 2026 NFL season. Nonetheless, the question will be when the Silver and Black will turn to No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza. Las Vegas seems keen on bringing Mendoza along slowly […] The post Raiders’ Fernando Mendoza Receives Blunt Reality Check appeared first on HEAVY.
Former Auburn star, Alabama Sports Hall of Famer, dead at 85
Lanett native started in Super Bowl I for Kansas City Chiefs
Ryan Poles Gives Contract Extension Update on Darnell Wright
Darnell Wright was drafted by the Chicago Bears 10th overall back in the 2023 NFL draft and has since been a key part of this offense. Being able to land a franchise tackle is tough to do, but it seems as if Chicago was able to accomplish that task. Although Wright has yet to make a Pro Bowl, he was on the All-Pro second team in 2025.
Eagles, defensive tackle Jalen Carter agree to record $152M extension
The Philadelphia Eagles and Pro Bowl defensive tackle Jalen Carter agreed to a four-year, $152 million extension, Rosenhaus Sports said Tuesday.
Abound Health celebrates ADA Anniversary with inclusive bowling event in Murphy, N.C
Abound Health celebrated the 36th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act with an inclusive bowling event that brought clients, support staff, and co
Cowboys’ $90 Million Starter Sends Clear Warning Ahead of Camp
Entering training camp, the vibes feel different for the Dallas Cowboys, as this feels like a Super Bowl-contending team.The Cowboys’ offense is about as elite as it gets, and the defense dramatically improved in the offseason. Even with the additions on defense, there is still some concern about how this unit will look.Last year, the […] The post Cowboys’ $90 Million Starter Sends Clear Warning Ahead of Camp appeared first on HEAVY.
Pro Bowl linebacker Jamal Adams indicates he's joining Vikings on the eve of camp
Three-time Pro Bowler Jamal Adams says he’s joining the Minnesota Vikings on the eve of training camp
Alejandro Kirk loses grip on bat and sends it flying into the dugout, shattering window in win over Nationals
Alejandro Kirk's bat just narrowly missed a camera on Monday night in Washington.
MVP Matthew Stafford says star-studded Rams have "a high ceiling" for climb toward a Super Bowl run
Matthew Stafford is back at work in his 18th NFL training camp and his first since winning his first league MVP award
Zac Taylor’s New Mindset Could Define the Bengals’ 2026 Season
Trading post-Super Bowl pressure for infectious optimism, Taylor aims to unleash Joe Burrow and a revamped roster by embracing the high-stakes thrill of a pivotal campaign.
DOE: Clean Energy Grant Cuts ‘Solely’ Because of Politics
The Trump administration has acknowledged its attempt to cancel Biden-era clean energy grants worth $7.56 billion was political.
Lucky Strike Entertainment Strengthens Its Commitment to League Bowling
RICHMOND, Va., July 27, 2026--Lucky Strike Entertainment is expanding its investment in league bowling with enhancements designed to strengthen the league experience.
The State of Politics: What Explains Evers Endorsement of David Crowley for Governor?
He had expressly avoided endorsing anyone for governor, including 3 Democrats who worked for him.
A Colorado history lesson for Victor Marx
Victor Marx, who narrowly won the Republican nomination for governor by one half 1% after boasting of a massive 44-point lead, is just as misguided on Colorado political history. During the primary, Marx made a clumsy attempt to denigrate his opponent, state Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, as a “great candidate for the 1990s” whom he would […]
62-Year-Old Baha’i Prisoner Denied Medical Furlough Despite Critical Health Concerns
According to information received by IranWire, Neda Badakhsh, a 62-year-old Baha’i citizen, remains incarcerated in Dowlatabad Prison in ...
Warren McClendon has Pro Bowl pedigree
Is there room for Warren McClendon to improve as he enters first full year as a starter?
Former Vikings Pro Bowler Announces Career News After Arrest
He has had a winding journey. The post Former Vikings Pro Bowler Announces Career News After Arrest appeared first on HEAVY.
Trump administration admits grants for clean energy were canceled based on politics
The Trump administration has again acknowledged in court documents that it terminated $7.6 billion in grants for hundreds of clean energy projects 'based solely on the political identity of the grant recipient’s state.'
Bob Chesney is going to do the impossible at UCLA
Times columnist Bill Plaschke was skeptical Bob Chesney was capable of finally leading UCLA to Rose Bowl victories and beyond, but the coach won him over.
Pedro Pascal teases Reed Richards’ dynamic with Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’
‘Fantastic Four’ star Pedro Pascal is sharing Reed Richards’ perspective on Robert Downey Jr.’s villainous Doctor Doom in ‘Avengers: Doomsday.’
Growlithe and Groudon Illustration Rares from "Storm Emeralda"! -...
Illustration rare versions of Growlithe and Groudon have just been revealed from Storm Emeralda! The set will release in Japan on July 31st as their sixth
Massachusetts Republicans eye larger foothold in Southeastern Massachusetts
Situated at the intersection of two reddening counties, southeastern Massachusetts is slowly transforming into fertile political ground for Republicans.
DeAndre Hopkins debuts as Patriots assistant coach
The former Pro Bowl receiver worked with New England's wide receivers during the first day of Patriots training camp in Foxborough on Saturday.
Seahawks Issued Intriguing Najee Harris Take Amid Training Camp
The Seattle Seahawks head into the 2026 NFL season as the defending Super Bowl champions, but they still have a few concerns as they try to repeat. One of the biggest questions surrounds the team’s running back group.Kenneth Walker III departed in free agency this offseason, signing with the Kansas City Chiefs, while Zach Charbonnet […] The post Seahawks Issued Intriguing Najee Harris Take Amid Training Camp appeared first on HEAVY.
Bills Face Dire Prediction on Josh Allen’s Future in Buffalo
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen may need to leave Buffalo for a shot at winning a Super Bowl, an NFL analyst suggested. The post Bills Face Dire Prediction on Josh Allen’s Future in Buffalo appeared first on HEAVY.
Final Fantasy 7 Director Kept 'Open World Fatigue' in Mind as New Remake Chapter Promises 'Bigger' World Than Rebirth
Final Fantasy 7 Revelation director Naoki Hamaguchi has acknowledged the "open world fatigue" affecting the industry but says Square Enix was "very careful" to make sure fans would have "all the guidance they need" in the new remake chapter – even if it's bigger than the last.
Court filing bolsters claims California targeted in Trump grant cuts
Federal attorneys acknowledged political criteria in grant selections, fueling claims California was unfairly targeted.
Test your pop culture: From Hollywood to the Heartland
Test your knowledge of entertainment with this quiz on celebrities, trends and headline-making moments. Featured this week: on-set drama, bikini photos and wardrobe malfunctions.
Trump administration admits to canceling clean energy grants based on politics
The Trump administration acknowledged that it canceled grants for hundreds of clean energy projects “based solely on the political identity of the grant recipient’s state."
Mike Vrabel’s second act will define his Patriots legacy
Reaching the Super Bowl once proves you're a good coach. Sustaining excellence—proves you're great. Which one is Vrabel?
Super Bowl-winning former New England Patriots starter dead at 38
He also played with the Raiders, Bills, Ravens, Chiefs and 49ers.
Titans Sign 2-Time Super Bowl Winner Before Training Camp
The Tennessee Titans signed a defensive back a few days before the start of training camp under Robert Saleh The post Titans Sign 2-Time Super Bowl Winner Before Training Camp appeared first on HEAVY.
Charlotte business leaders say city will be ready if tapped for draft, Super Bowl
Goodell told Panthers owner David Tepper that the city, stadium and its facilities were “Super Bowl-quality.”
Trump administration admits grants for clean energy were canceled based on politics
The Trump administration has acknowledged in court documents that it canceled $7.6 billion in grants for hundreds of clean energy projects “based solely on the
Training Camp Could Decide Joshua Palmer's Future with the Bills
With a crowded receiving corps and Super Bowl aspirations, veteran Joshua Palmer must build instant chemistry with Josh Allen to secure a prominent role in Buffalo’s evolving offense.
Trump administration admits grants for clean energy were canceled based on politics
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has acknowledged in court documents that it canceled $7.6 billion in grants for hundreds of clean energy projects “based solely on the political identity of the grant recipient’s state” — in this case, 16 states that voted for Democrat Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential
Trump administration admits grants for clean energy were canceled based on politics
The Trump administration has again acknowledged in court documents that it terminated $7.6 billion in grants for hundreds of clean energy projects “based solely on the political identity of the grant recipient’s state,” in this case, 16 states that voted for Democrat Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election
Trump administration admits grants for clean energy were canceled based on politics
The Trump administration has again acknowledged in court documents that it terminated $7.6 billion in grants for hundreds of clean energy projects “based solely on the political identity of the...
Trump administration admits grants for clean energy were canceled based on politics
The Trump administration has acknowledged in court documents that it canceled $7.6 billion in grants for hundreds of clean energy projects “based solely on the political identity of the grant recipien...
Trump administration admits grants for clean energy were canceled based on politics
The Trump administration has again acknowledged in court documents that it terminated $7.6 billion in grants for hundreds of clean energy projects “based solely on the political identity of the grant recipient’s state,” in this case, 16 states that voted for Democrat Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.
Trump administration admits canceling grants based on politics
The Trump administration has again acknowledged in court documents that it terminated $7.6 billion in grants for hundreds of clean energy projects “based solely on the political identity of the grant recipient’s state,” in this case, 16 states that voted for Democrat Kamala Harris in the 2024 presid
Local book clubs provide page-turning entertainment for readers of all ages
The main library has been a repository of knowledge for generations, and much of it is contained in the pages of the many books that fill the shelves. Book clubs are a great way to explore some of the numerous titles.
Using Excel to Track and Grow Business - New York State Bar Association
Lawyers may excel in learning case law, but a working knowledge of Excel spreadsheets and other bookkeeping tasks can be daunting. A recent program sponsored by the New York State Bar Association offered tips and tricks to better navigate spreadsheet programs. The webinar was presented by Jordan Turk, a family law attorney in Texas and
WV Superintendent of Schools Launches First AI and Digital Science Framework in the Nation
Charleston, W.Va. - West Virginia Superintendent of Schools Michele L. Blatt will share the state’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Digital Science Framework with educators during professional development sessions at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center, Monday through Wednesday, July 27-29, 2026. The Framework, the first of its kind in the country, outlines an approach for digital science and AI literacy education that equips students with the knowledge, skills and credentials to succeed in this rapidly evolving workforce. It also offers educators a way to increase efficiencies in their work and better personalize learning for students.Earlier this year, Superintendent Blatt appeared before a U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee to share the state’s strategy on addressing the use of AI while also protecting students, their data and educational integrity. The Framework is the result of years of planning, collaboration and development. Digital science encompasses the evolving fields of computer science, AI literacy, data reasoning, cybersecurity awareness, media literacy and the practical application of digital technologies. The framework equips educators to prepare students with the AI and digital science knowledge and skills needed to thrive in the workforce of the future.The West Virginia AI and Digital Science Framework establishes a statewide structure for sustained success. From policy to educator development and student learning, it defines how the state will implement digital science and AI readiness at scale. It serves two priority goals:Respond to the rapidly changing technology landscapeEstablish best practices as a leader for rural models of AI readiness, workforce development and digital science educationWith three statewide commitments, educators will be equipped with understanding and the tools to support implementation. These commitments are:Student Access - Every student will have access to AI literacy learning experiences and digital science instruction before graduationEducator Capacity - All counties will sustain local AI training capacity through a train-the-trainer modelWorkforce Alignment - Every approved pathway will connect to employer demand, postsecondary alignment, and portable or verified credentialsNext week, the West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE) will launch the framework during three educator and staff development sessions. These sessions include unique opportunities for new county central office hires, the Support, Appreciate, Invest, and Learn (SAIL) Conference, and the West Virginia Middle Schools: Bridging the Future Initiative launch. Each session is designed to meet the needs of K-12 educators, professionals, paraprofessionals, service personnel and others who serve in the education community.West Virginia is a national leader in developing a framework for AI and digital science education. We are determined to elevate our model because it prepares students and educators for the future. Our partners at Prodigy Learning and Microsoft understand this commitment and believe, as do we, that our work has national implications for accessibility and scalability because we are building systems that address learning at all levels that lead to post-graduation success.Michele L. Blatt, State Superintendent of SchoolsAs part of the partnership, Prodigy Learning is providing West Virginia educators, at no additional cost, their in-person and virtual training on all products and the materials required for license renewal.
Tepper's $1.3B stadium project could help pave way for Super Bowl in Charlotte
Tepper's investment coincides with the team announcing extension of a stadium naming rights deal with Bank of America.
PSN Down But Slowly Recovering After Amazon Web Services Outage
Not quite full health yet
Slowly, Then Suddenly, the World Is Back at War | WSJ Politics Newsletter for July 24
Plus, Trump’s frustration grows over the Iran war impasse, and the president’s trade wars are back.
NFL commissioner praises Charlotte, says it’s ‘Super Bowl quality’
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell spent Thursday evening in the Queen City as he joined Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper for a fireside chat.
Polling shows Texans opposition towards data centers, as politicians reverse course
Politicians, including those in Texas, are shifting and slowly reversing their support for data centers, as polling shows most Texans oppose them.
Frog Tinder. Sweet potato milk. N&O science reporter takes you into the wild
Remember when reading about science was fun? Luke Bowles, the N&O’s summer science writer, takes you behind the scenes and into the labs.
Philadelphia Eagles Get Linked to Intriguing Browns Trade Target
Going into the 2026 NFL season, the Philadelphia Eagles‘ biggest question marks will be on the offensive side of the ball. After dominating in the Super Bowl two seasons ago, the defensive side of the clear was by far the strongest for Philadelphia in the following season and it wasn’t particularly close. But with that […] The post Philadelphia Eagles Get Linked to Intriguing Browns Trade Target appeared first on HEAVY.
Believe It or Not, Lane Kiffin Has a Regret
LSU head coach Lane Kiffin says he has one major regret about leaving Ole Miss: the way it all unfolded. Speaking at SEC Media Days, Kiffin acknowledged that his departure during Ole Miss’ College Football Playoff run became far more chaotic than he anticipated. Looking back, he said he wishes he had handled the situation…
New Dave & Busters owned entertainment center Main Event to open in Woodbury
Minnesota’s first Main Event location showcases activities like bowling, laser tag, arcade games and more.
Some House Republicans defect to again pass resolution seeking to halt military action in Iran
The House on Thursday narrowly passed a resolution to halt U.S. military action in Iran, sending a warning to President Donald Trump for the second time as the war has escalated and the future of the conflict is increasingly uncertain.
Eagles Get More Bulletin-Board Material Ahead of 2026 Season
The Philadelphia Eagles are the two-time reigning NFC East champs, and are just 18 months removed from the Super Bowl. The Eagles were 11-6 in 2025, a three-game drop off from the 2024 season where they won 14 games and defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 in Super Bowl LIX. Plus, Philadelphia fell 23-19 to the San Francisco 49ers in the wild-card round.
House again passes resolution seeking to halt military action in Iran as some Republicans defect
The House has narrowly passed a resolution to halt U.S. military action in Iran, sending a warning to President Donald Trump for the second time as the war has escalated and the future of the conflict is increasingly uncertain
This Week in Sports Trivia: July 23, 2026
How closely were you following the sports news this week? Find out and test your knowledge by taking The Athletic's weekly quiz.
Jaguars’ Strange Just Misses Top-10 TE Ranking
Despite a big contract extension and steady dual-threat ability, Brenton Strange narrowly missed the elite tier in recent league-wide rankings after a career season in Jacksonville.
Lions Add 8-Time Pro Bowler in Bold Trade Prediction
The Detroit Lions could trade for Arizona Cardinals star safety Budda Baker, according to Jarrett Bailey of SB Nation. Bailey notes that if the Lions get off to a hot start to the season and the Cardinals start slow, the two sides could agree to terms on a deal. “After dismantling the Cardinals, the Lions […] The post Lions Add 8-Time Pro Bowler in Bold Trade Prediction appeared first on HEAVY.
A Better Starting Point for Science and Society: Relationship vs. Transaction
A knowledge-deficit model underpins much of scientists’ communication to the public. The solution? Scientists need to more generous and less needy.
House passes bill to restrict lawmaker stock trading — but stops short of full ban
The House narrowly passed a bill to add new restrictions on lawmakers trading stocks after a partisan dispute resulted in a narrower proposal that stops short of an outright ban.
World Cup betting in U.S. equivalent of '10 Super Bowls'
Sportsbooks and technology providers across the United States sports betting industry report that this year's World Cup produced record handle for a soccer tournament across the board and even rivaled other major prolonged sporting events.
‘We need someone who’s going to be pragmatic’: David Crowley on challenging a democratic socialist in the WI Gov. race
The Mountain West Bowl Situation Becomes More Complicated
Back in June, we discussed how the bowl situation would be more complicated for mid-major conferences, especially the Mountain West and Pac-12, going forward. Now, it appears that the Mountain West will face more obstacles for its bowl teams. When the Poinsetta Bowl announced its return, the original reports were that it would take the […]
Powering America's Genesis Mission: Microsoft's commitment to scientific discovery
Today, we’re excited to share a long-term commitment to the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Genesis Mission, backed by a $60 million investment designed to accelerate AI for science and the breakthroughs it can deliver for the country. This deepened commitment includes Microsoft’s new Scientific Partnership Advancing Research & Knowledge coordination hub and program office, otherwise...
Bucs' Trotter Named Training Camp ‘Rookie to Watch’
As Todd Bowles faces a make-or-break season, second-round pick Josiah Trotter emerges as the heir to Lavonte David’s legacy in a revamped Tampa Bay defense.
House narrowly passes short-term funding bill to avert government shutdown
The vote sends the stopgap, known as a continuing \u200bresolution, to the \u200bSenate.
House Narrowly Passes Stopgap Spending Bill, but Shutdown Fight Looms
Republicans managed to push through legislation to fund the government through Dec. 4. But with Democrats opposed, the stage is set for a broader battle.
In new video, Mamdani acknowledges he doesn’t have authority to arrest Netanyahu
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a new video Tuesday that he does not have the legal authority to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he were to come to New York City.
World Cup Final Averaged More Than 61 Million Viewers
The final posted the largest U.S. television audience since the Super Bowl.
How Republicans Made Olive Garden Into a Voter ID Talking Point
Republicans claim that Olive Garden polices its Never-Ending Pasta Bowl more tightly than the United States does its elections. It’s not that simple.
AMF Launches Refreshed Identity After 126 Years of Bowling
AMF welcomes approximately 10.4 million guests annually across more than 80 locations; additional identity updates will roll out over time.
Bills’ ‘Nightmare’ Scenario Revealed That Could Derail Josh Allen’s Season
The Buffalo Bills made a big decision this offseason when they parted ways with head coach Sean McDermott and promoted Joe Brady to the new role.Buffalo struggled to reach the Super Bowl over the last six seasons, so it needed to take action to give the Bills and their fans a boost, which meant parting […] The post Bills’ ‘Nightmare’ Scenario Revealed That Could Derail Josh Allen’s Season appeared first on HEAVY.
Changes to government science department
The new Prime Minister has merged the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology into a new Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade. In response, Paul Nurse, the President of the Royal Society said: “The Prime Minister understands the transformative power of science, knowledge, innovation, and technology. They are all parts of an interlinked and interdependent system of research that drives economic growth, health care, security, education, prosperity and the public...
WHO marks 25 years of Research4Life, advancing access to scientific knowledge in more than 120 countries
The World Health Organization (WHO) today marks the 25th anniversary of Research4Life, a public-private partnership that provides researchers, educators, health professionals and policy-makers in low- and middle-income countries with affordable or free access to scientific knowledge.
UFC Freedom 250 Fails to Knock Out The Ratings
(Welcome to my weekly streaming ratings report, the single best guide to what’s popular in streaming TV and what isn’t. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. If you were forwarded this email, please subscribe to get these insights each week.) If UFC fans wanted one image to say, “Hey, Paramount+ is crushing it with their UFC rights deal,” I could provide that image. Here it is: (Reminder: this is my creation of the Nielsen Top 30, since Nielsen doesn’t combine the lists or include sports. I take all three lists and combine them. Some streaming TV shows probably have higher ratings than many of the films on this list.) Look at that! UFC Freedom 250 is number one! It topped the Nielsen “Top 30” list for shows and films that made the top ten the week of 15-June. So if you’re a UFC fan or supporter of Paramount+, that’s the good news for you this week. This program topped the ratings charts for one week. Everything else is bad news, or at least a huge caveat to that story, which I’ll explain today in the first part of this week’s Streaming Ratings Report—for the weeks of 8-June and 15-June—which is a double issue since I’ve been writing on a bunch of topics recently. UFC Freedom 250 is one of the biggest streaming events of the year, and super relevant to Paramount+’s strategy, so it merited its own article. Let’s dive in! (Reminder: The streaming ratings report focuses on the U.S. market and compiles data from Nielsen’s weekly top ten viewership ranks, Luminate’s Top Ten Data, JustWatch and Reelgood interest data, Samba TV household viewership, company datecdotes, Netflix hours viewed data, Google Trends, and IMDb to determine the most popular content. While most data points are current, Nielsen’s data covers the weeks of June 8th to June 21st 2026. You can find a link to my terminology here.) Subscribe Check Out My Interview on UFC 250 at MMA Draw After you read this article, if you want even more thoughts on UFC and Paramount-Skydance/Paramount+, I did a written interview with MMA Draw. They asked me to answer some questions about UFC Freedom 250, and I was happy to chat with them. Find it here: [ The MMA Draw Newsletter Did Paramount really overpay for the UFC? What the data tells us so far If you know the history of American television, you also know that combat sports is often a leading indicator of the future… Read more a day ago · 10 likes · 1 comment · Nate Wilcox and Zach Arnold ](https://www.themmadraw.com/p/did-paramount-really-overpay-for?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=post_embed&utm_medium=web) I never thought I’d need a combat sports newsletter in my life, but the good folks at MMA Draw publish an excellent one on UFC, MMA, pro wrestling, boxing and more, analyzing both the sports themselves and the politics, economics and antitrust issues that impact them. Check the article and their newsletter out! Paramount+ Has Its Best Sporting Event of All Time…But Was It Worth It? Before we look at the UFC Freedom 250 data in particular, let’s talk about what we can’t say. Namely, let’s start with the lack of comparisons. First off, I’d love to put a chart out comparing this fight to past UFC fights on Paramount+…but we don’t have the data. This is the first time we’ve gotten Nielsen data about a Paramount+ UFC fight. As far as I can tell, Paramount provided data for the first fight, but it was a proprietary datecdote (saying it had “an average minute audience” of 5 million “views”) and then, for two fights, we got the linear viewership numbers when they aired on CBS, but no streaming data. Everything else was crickets. We also can’t compare this fight to other fights/combat sports on streaming, in particular the MMA and boxing, because Netflix also didn’t use Nielsen to track those events, opting for TVision and VideoAmp, respectively. (This isn’t Paramount’s fault, but does still suck.) We also can’t compare to UFC’s fights that used to be on ESPN+, since we don’t have any data for that, plus Disney+ didn’t have marquee fights. The comparisons would not be apples-to-apples. Can we compare to past Pay-Per-View fights? Absolutely not. The comparisons would absolutely NOT be apples-to-apples. That didn’t stop Paramount+, though, who bragged that their UFC events have reached drastically more people than past PPV fights. Duh. Sorry, but I gotta make this point again. A basic tenet of economics is that the cheaper something becomes, the more people consume or buy it. That’s Econ 101. (Sometimes pundits call things “Econ 101” that are actually like Econ 210 or even PhD-level economics, but no, this is really like first or second class basic economics.) Yet I still see one analytics firm consistently say that more people watch films on streaming than PVOD proves streaming which means that the streaming window is more valuable than the PVOD window. No, it’s not! Same thing here. Pay-Per-View events back in the day could be really, really, really expensive! So whole groups of people pitched in to buy them. That increased the perceived value of, say, the Mike Tyson fight. Or a UFC numbered event. So yes, the fact that Paramount+ makes numbered UFC fights essentially “free” if you’re already a Paramount+ member means consumption will go up. Obviously. Same for Netflix and their boxing matches. They’re talking about fights that used to cost consumers, in some cases, $50 in 1996…which is over $100 in today’s dollars. Over 1.6 million people paid that to watch the Tyson-Holyfield fight! Again, streaming is essentially “free”. Or $10 to $20, depending on what streamer we’re talking about and what tier you’re on. No wonder more people are “watching”. (Plus, Nielsen’s out-of-home viewing also helps these numbers.) UFC Freedom 250 Did Well…But I Have A Lot of Worries So what can we compare the fights to? Well, the good news is Nielsen put out that the fight averaged 7.0 million viewers for UFC Freedom 250, which is a solid number for a fight. We also know the length, at roughly 4 and a half hours. (I saw different run times, but this seems to be the consensus considering it started at 8 pm, had a delay and then finished after midnight on the East Coast. If you assume a shorter run time, then yes, the total hours viewed would go down.) That means I have the two numbers needed to add this to my Nielsen database. And then…I can compare this viewership to the NFL: And, uh, not great. But also within striking distance, mainly because the runtime for this event was so long. I’d also add that this event had viewership equal to a regular season NFL game on streaming, but if anything, it was more comparable to an NFL playoff or Super Bowl-esque event. And you can compare viewership to the top football games on broadcast, cable and streaming, and it’s not impressive at all: We can also compare it to other sports that week, including the NBA Finals and start of the World Cup: Again, not great. The NBA generated roughly four times as many average viewers each game for its NBA Finals. The World Cup has similarly big numbers. Also, that’s just a tiny fraction of the 25 most watched sporting events each week. The NBA, NHL and FIFA World Cup had many, many more games racking up hours. We could also compare this to other streaming programs to get an idea of “is this a good investment?” and here is how it ranks compared to other top Paramount+ programs: The worry here? Well, unlike scripted programming, which has rewatchability, older fights/sporting events have very little library value. Very, very few people are rewatching these fights, especially years from now. Paramount has also released datecdotes bragging about their subscriber numbers. Earlier this year, they claimed that the first UFC fight on Paramount+ brought in 1 million subscribers. Then, in their quarterly earnings report, they only ended up with 700K subs. Not great! They claimed they dropped lower-value international subscribers, but that’s why I tend to discount subscriber additions when they’re leaked to the press.1 I expect we may see a bump again for UFC Freedom 250, but I’d caution using subscriber growth so soon after these events to judge the success, since new subs with high churn (see Peacock) aren’t great either. Also, analysts often want to attribute all subscriber growth to their favorite/pet show, and that just doesn’t make sense. The biggest caveat for UFC Freedom 250 and Paramount’s very first UFC marquee event is that these could be high watermarks for the sport. UFC Freedom 250 had an incredible amount of earned media coverage compared to most UFC fights. I mean, it had wall-to-wall national news coverage in the lead up to the event. (The first fight also had a lot of promotion from Paramount since it was first.) Other fights could reach this bar—say the Conor McGregor return to the Octagon—but they’ll be fewer and far between. Was This Deal Worth It? All to ask: is this Paramount deal worth it? In this case, I think the UFC Freedom 250 numbers are more distracting than helpful. This fight did well and compares well to other top sporting events. But we know that the first marquee event was at least a third smaller, if Paramount’s own data is to be believed. And it’s likely the other fights are much, much, much smaller. And then you get to the paycheck that Paramount-Skydance paid. FIFA’s World Cup cost about the same for Fox, but clearly generated multiples more total viewership. (Though it’s only every four years.) The NBA is much more expensive, but until the playoffs, they likely didn’t pay for itself. Even still, Disney, NBCUniversal and Amazon Prime Video likely overpaid. So, in that context, the NBA may be an overpay that makes the UFC look not so bad. But two overpays don’t make an underpay, to paraphrase the old cliché about wrongs and rights. And looking at UFC Freedom 250 as the likely ceiling of MMA on Paramount+, Paramount-Skydance likely paid too much. Share 1 I would love regular reports on subscriber additions by programs, but as is, it’s mostly leaked or rumored in haphazard ways.
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Shaky political "science": breakdown of the peer review process
[This article is the latest in our “Shaky Political Science” series. In our 38 page report, “Shaky political ‘science’ misses mark on ranked choice voting,” released in December 2025, we examined over 40 studies focused on ranked choice voting (RCV). Many of these studies suffered from puzzling research methodologies, poorly constructed surveys, unrealistic simulated elections, cherry picked data and faulty analyses that often were contradicted by results from real-world elections (a link to our full paper is here). Here are links to the first four articles in our series: the first one summarizing the overall results of our report; the second one analyzed a study co-authored by University of Minnesota academic Larry Jacobs, which was one of the most error-prone of all the research we reviewed in our report; a third article showing an admirable example of two political scientists holding two other political scientists accountable for their flawed, sloppy research; and a fourth article that analyzed seven studies sponsored by New America’s political reform program that deployed flawed methodology based on “simulated” elections instead of real-world elections, which when combined with some basic misunderstandings of RCV, produced odd and misleading results]. In this fifth article in our “Shaky Political Science” series, we examine two flawed studies on the impact of RCV on voter turnout authored by San Francisco State University professor Jason McDaniel. McDaniel’s research in these two papers stands out for its puzzling methodology, inadequate and cherry-picked data, and faulty analyses that not only misunderstands ranked choice voting but reflects a basic misunderstanding of politics in general. The first of the McDaniel studies actually passed through a peer review process and then was subsequently published by the Journal of Urban Affairs, despite its obvious errors. It is perplexing that a jury of peer political scientists did not catch the errors and send it back to McDaniel for a rewrite or outright rejection. This calls into question the credibility of the peer review process itself. The peer review process is supposed to represent the intellectual pinnacle of the profession – a way for academics to certify the quality of each other’s work, and to act as a check against sloppy research. In the case of the McDaniel study, the peer review process failed. Yet his flawed study has been cited dozens of times by other political scientists in their own flawed works — an unvirtuous circle of academic research. Here is the first Jason McDaniel study that we analyzed: “Writing the Rules to Rank the Candidates: Examining the Impact of Instant-Runoff Voting on Racial Group Turnout in San Francisco Mayoral Elections,” by Jason McDaniel, 2016, Journal of Urban Affairs. This study covered San Francisco’s use of ranked choice voting (RCV) in mayoral elections, purporting to show that RCV reduces voter turnout overall, increases voter errors, and has a negative impact on “marginal populations,” i.e. racial minorities, mainly as the result of the alleged complexity of RCV asking voters to rank candidates and having to be familiar with multiple candidates and related dynamics. McDaniel reached these conclusions by examining five San Francisco mayoral elections taking place in odd years (i.e. where there are no federal or state races on the ballot) from 1995 to 2011, comparing three earlier non-RCV races (in 1995, 1999 and 2003) with the later two RCV races (in 2007 and 2011). Only two RCV races were studied, and as McDaniel acknowledged, only the contest in 2011 was “competitive” (that contest in 2007 was the first mayoral election using RCV, and incumbent mayor Gavin Newsom won easily in the first round of counting, earning 74% of first choices and far ahead of the second place candidate who had just 6.3% of first choices). Yet even the allegedly competitive contest in 2011was won by an incumbent with a landslide margin of nearly 20 points. No other elections were studied by McDaniel, even though San Francisco elects 17 other offices besides mayor with RCV, including the 11 seats on the Board of Supervisors (the name for the city council) in even years, and six other citywide offices in odd years. Previous academic research has found that competitive elections can stimulate greater voter involvement and higher turnout. For unexplained reasons, this study ignored at least 34 other RCV races between the years 2004 to 2011, many of which were very competitive and had high voter turnout. Instead, McDaniel’s analysis based its conclusions on data from only a single, marginally-competitive mayor’s race using RCV. These 2007 and 2011 mayoral elections were the only two RCV elections that McDaniel used as the sole basis for his small data set to determine the impact of RCV on voter turnout. Despite having no meaningful data to inform his study, McDaniel nonetheless concluded that RCV lowered turnout when compared to the previous three mayoral non-RCV elections using two-round runoffs. Then, using the same inadequate database of San Francisco elections, McDaniel also found that “Instant-runoff voting is associated with a significant decline in Black voter turnout and White voter turnout…On average, Black voter turnout decreases by 18 points and White voter turnout decreases by 16 points …” But how could he credibly arrive at that conclusion when his study was based on voter turnout in two RCV contests that were not even remotely competitive? Beyond that, McDaniel tacitly admits that the key determining factor driving Black voter turnout was not RCV vs non-RCV elections, but the presence of a viable Black candidate. McDaniel wrote, “Black voter turnout was about 17 percentage points higher for the two elections that featured an African American candidate compared to the three elections that did not” — but one of those three elections did not use RCV. The same dynamic was present for White voter turnout, in which higher turnout was not correlated with RCV vs non-RCV elections, but the presence of a viable White candidate. Beyond that, McDaniel’s voter turnout results, whether correlated with the race of the candidates or RCV vs non-RCV elections, showed no clear patterns. In his Figure 1, he shows low Asian voter turnout in the non-RCV elections in 1999 and 2003 when there was no viable Asian candidate running, but in the 2007 mayoral election using RCV, there is still no viable Asian candidate, yet Asian turnout increases dramatically. For Latinos, voter turnout is virtually the same in 1999 (no viable Latino candidate, non-RCV elections), 2003 (leading Latino candidate, non-RCV elections), 2007 (no viable Latino candidate, RCV elections) and 2011 (leading Latino candidate, RCV elections). Meanwhile White voter turnout increased dramatically from a low in the 2007 mayoral election, in which the leading candidate was a white incumbent, to the 2011 election in which there were no leading white candidates that finished any higher than sixth place with 5.6% of the vote. Clearly other factors were determining voter turnout than either the race of the candidates or RCV vs non-RCV elections. Despite these inconsistent findings, McDaniel boldly marches forth to render conclusions about the impact of RCV on different groups of racial voters, even though his conclusions are not remotely supported by his data. This looks like the worst kind of “data cherry picking” to cover up a puzzling conclusion based on a poor data set involving only two RCV elections, neither of which were remotely competitive. McDaniel’s cherry picking didn’t stop there. In calculating voter turnout for the three non-RCV mayoral elections in 1995, 1999 and 2003, he failed to mention that in each of these years there was a two-round runoff election, with a first round election in November in which no candidate garnered a winning majority of the vote, followed by the decisive runoff in December. So there were two non-RCV elections in each election year. But McDaniel only decided to include one of the two elections in his data set, apparently the December runoff in each year (which had higher turnout in two out of the three mayor’s races, and lower turnout in the third). So he ignored the November 1995 election, the November 1999 election when turnout was only 45 percent, and the November 2003 election when turnout was only 45.7 percent. This is flawed methodology based on blatant cherry picking, since McDaniel simply omitted three elections worth of data that did not fit within his frame. His study should never have made it through a peer review process, and it is an embarrassment to political science that not only was it approved for publication, but it has been uncritically cited by dozens of other political scientists. Share A “study” without wider context or credible data Lacking a data set that included even a single competitive RCV mayoral race, McDaniel declared that RCV lowered voter turnout in 2011, when turnout was 42.5 percent. But he also ignored -- or did not realize -- that voter turnout in mayoral elections during 2011 had sharply declined in all big cities, including far more steeply in nearby Los Angeles and other cities. In fact, San Francisco’s election in 2011 had the second highest turnout of any mayoral election in the nation’s 22 largest cities from 2008-2011. Was 2011 just a particularly low turnout year all across the country, perhaps because the country was still reeling from the aftermath of the housing market collapse in 2008-2010? McDaniel ignored this factor and did not search for alternative explanations beyond his flawed thesis. Furthermore, while McDaniel suggested that RCV leads to more “overvotes” – which is an invalidated ballot in which a voter, in either a non-RCV or RCV race, makes a mistake and selects two candidates for a single choice – he failed to address that in the June 2012 US Senate primary contest, which used the typical “one-choice” plurality method and did not use RCV, there was more than five times as many overvotes in San Francisco and Oakland than in the RCV mayoral elections in those cities. Additionally, turnout had been significantly higher and more representative in RCV elections for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors races -- that McDaniel didn’t even bother to study -- as compared to previous “delayed two-round runoffs” for those offices, often higher by as much as 40% in the RCV races. Perhaps the most surprising irony was that an earlier study co-authored by McDaniel (Overvoting and the Equality of Voice under Instant-Runoff Voting in San Francisco by Francis Neely and Jason McDaniel, 2015, California Journal of Politics and Policy) found that overvotes are often more common in lower-income precincts, but that the pattern of overvoting is similar in both RCV and non-RCV contests. Wrote Neely and McDaniel: “[Overvote] errors appear to be a function of complexity in general and not IRV per se…. the pattern of overvoting is similar in both IRV and non-IRV contests…Even among votes cast in a top-of-the-ticket race like U.S. Senate, overvoting occurs in an uneven fashion” (IRV, or ‘instant runoff voting,’ is another name for ranked choice voting in single-winner contests). So McDaniel not only contradicted his own conclusion in his earlier study with Neely, but the earlier study had been an important corrective for one of the most frequently made mistakes made by anti-RCV political scientists – a continual failure to provide crucial context by pairing a comparative analysis of real world RCV elections with an analysis of real world plurality or other electoral methods. Unfortunately McDaniel’s earlier study does not get cited much by other researchers, and McDaniel did not even cite it in his own flawed study analyzed above. Incredibly, McDaniel cherrypicked McDaniel, even as his flawed study has been cited dozens of times. Despite being a textbook example of poor political “science,” featuring both inadequate as well as cherrypicked data, the shelf life of McDaniel’s study has been extended endlessly by other political scientists and media outlets who have cited it uncritically. Equally troubling, the Journal of Urban Affairs put this paper through its peer review process and published it despite its numerous flaws. McDaniel gets it wrong, Part II Not content with producing one shoddy, confused paper, McDaniel produced another one a few years later, here is the link: Electoral Rules and Voter Turnout in Mayoral Elections: An Analysis of Ranked-Choice Voting by Jason McDaniel. San Francisco State Univ. (McDaniel, 2019). In this paper, McDaniel extended his previous flawed research focused on San Francisco, about voter turnout and voter impact, to multiple RCV cities through the 2018 elections. In his data set he included San Francisco, Minneapolis, St Paul, Oakland, Berkeley, San Leandro and Santa Fe. He then compared their turnout in mayoral elections to non-RCV cities, and to mayoral elections in those cities held before first RCV usage, and concluded “a significant decrease in voter turnout of approximately 3–5 percentage points in RCV cities after the implementation of RCV.” But he replicated many of the same mistakes as his first study presented above. While in this study McDaniel attempted to distinguish between various factors, such as odd year vs. even year elections, competitive races vs. noncompetitive, contests with open seats and other factors, the analysis is superficial and inadequate. He attempts to incorporate so many often-conflicting variables that his conclusions are once again unsupported by the actual data, and ultimately unconvincing (this second study never underwent a peer review process). For example, McDaniel declared that for RCV cities “in elections that are more competitive than average (margin of victory less than 20%), there is no significant RCV effect on voter turnout.” Yet McDaniel is a professor in a city, San Francisco, in which the 2018 special election using RCV to fill a mayoral vacancy was exceedingly close, decided by a margin of only one percentage point, and resulted in the second highest turnout in San Francisco history for a mayoral election. Illustrating the complexity involved in assessing the critical factors in turnout, that special election was held on the same election day as federal and state offices, which tends to boost turnout. Yet more voters participated in that RCV mayoral election than voted on the same day in the non-RCV primary for governor in which former San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom was running. Even more puzzling, in this study McDaniel inaccurately cited his own previous study from 2015 with Neely. McDaniel wrote, “Neely and McDaniel (2015) examine individual ballot image files within a natural experiment, and find higher rates of ballot errors in RCV elections compared to non-RCV elections” (emphasis added). However, we quoted from that 2015 study several paragraphs above, and in actual fact Neely and McDaniel actually concluded the opposite -- that the pattern of overvoting – which is the most common form of ballot error – is similar in both RCV and non-RCV contests. McDaniel also ignored the fact that in Bay Area RCV elections held in even years – at the same time as federal and state elections, when turnout is highest -- the “undervote” (that is, the dropoff in ballots cast for governor or mayor) has declined, which contradicts his thesis that the act of ranking ballots in RCV elections is too complex and presents a barrier for certain demographics of voters. To his credit, McDaniel actually acknowledged another contradiction in his own paper, which found a negative RCV turnout effect in some odd-year elections but not others, admitting that “may present a challenge to the theory that increased complexity [from RCV] will have a marginal negative effect on voter turnout.” But he tried to wallpaper over that contradiction by blaming it on an unlikely source -- bad election administration. McDaniels wrote, “This would suggest that the negative impact of RCV on voter participation may be alleviated by high quality election administration,” without presenting any data or even anecdotes to support such an unfounded theory. While competent election administration of any election, whether RCV or non-RCV, is crucially important, there is no credible research that supports the far-fetched notion that the quality of election administration has much of an impact on voter turnout in US elections, whether using RCV or otherwise. Upgrade to a $5 subscription The unvirtuous circle of academic research It is puzzling how McDaniel’s first study could have survived the peer review process for the Journal of Urban Affairs. The mistakes in McDaniel’s first study above should have been obvious to anyone with a basic understanding of ranked choice voting as well as elections in general, and elections in San Francisco specifically. It undermines faith in the credibility of the peer review process to think that a jury of peer political scientists did not catch the egregious errors and reject McDaniel’s sloppy research and paper. And it remains a black mark on political science that this thoroughly discredited study has been cited dozens of times by other researchers. Indeed, in our research paper it became apparent that many political scientists cite each other’s flawed research to pad their list of citations and to legitimize their own flawed research, creating an unvirtuous circle of political science. More broadly, McDaniel’s voter turnout studies, like other studies evaluating RCV’s impact on turnout, lacked a recognition that no credible opinion or research can claim that RCV increases voter turnout merely because so many voters are excited to vote for their favorite candidates instead of “lesser evil” candidates without worrying about spoilers. Instead, with respect to turnout, the advantage of RCV has always been that, in most places where it has been used, it has eliminated a pre-November primary or post-November runoff, which usually saw about half the turnout of the November general election. This is especially true during even years when there are state and federal elections on the ballot which substantially drive turnout more than local contests. Any study that does not adequately account for this non-November primary/runoff vs November general election dynamic, or odd year vs even year election factors, is simply not credible. Both of McDaniel’s studies largely failed on those grounds. Steven Hill and Paul Haughey Share Upgrade to a $5 subscription Thanks for reading DemocracySOS…your digital portal for the pro-democracy movement. Subscribe for only $5 per month to receive full benefits and to support our work. Subscribe
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