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Story itching get back to red-hot Red Sox, hopes for August rehab

BOSTON – Watching his Red Sox teammates dramatically change the narrative after what once looked like a lost season has only increased Trevor Story’s desire to rejoin his teammates on the field. The first key step for the veteran shortstop – who hasn’t played since May 14 due to surgery

Jul 20 • 7:06 PM EDT • Sports • mlb.com

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.

Jul 20 • 6:48 PM EDT • Entertainment • entertainment.substack.com

Bill Gates heads to Africa's cleanest country to learn about its health success story and discuss its $50 million plan

One of the world’s richest men, Bill Gates, is heading to Rwanda to get a glimpse of the progress the Eastern African country has made regarding its health sector

Jul 20 • 6:45 PM EDT • Health • africa.businessinsider.com

Ernst Names Small Business of the Week, Taylor’s Maid-Rite

Read the release on Sen. Ernst's website HERE. Throughout this Congress, Chair Ernst plans to recognize a small business in every one of Iowa’s 99 counties. RED OAK, Iowa – U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Chair of the Senate Small Business Committee, today announced her Small Business of the Week: Taylor's Maid-Rite of Marshall County. Throughout the 119th Congress, Chair Ernst plans to recognize a small business in each of Iowa's 99 counties. "Taylor's Maid-Rite has truly maid their mark as a cornerstone of Marshalltown's business community," said Chair Ernst. "For nearly a century, this shop has served generations of Iowans with a signature burger made fresh every day. This 'Maid in Iowa' success story has proven that consistency, quality, and genuine customer care are the recipe for lasting success." Founded in the heart of Marshalltown, Taylor's Maid-Rite has remained a family-owned business for nearly a century and is now entering its fourth generation of Taylor family ownership. Best known for its signature Maid-Rite sandwich, the restaurant also serves classic American diner favorites, including malts, pies, fries, and sodas. Throughout its history, Taylor's Maid-Rite has remained committed to fresh ingredients, personalized service, and strong community involvement. Stay tuned as Chair Ernst continues to recognize outstanding Iowa small businesses with her Small Business of the Week award. ###

Jul 20 • 4:10 PM EDT • Business • sbc.senate.gov

Tickets on sale for Hancher’s Infinite Dream Festival

Infinite Dream returns to Iowa City Sept. 24-26. Tickets are on sale now for the multidisciplinary arts festival exploring the shape, depth and complexity of the American story, produced by

Jul 20 • 3:51 PM EDT • Entertainment • thegazette.com

Cowboys countdown to kickoff: Top 100 iconic games

We countdown 100 days until kickoff with a series of the most iconic games in Cowboys history. Today is Day 55

Jul 20 • 2:00 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

AMC Entertainment (AMC) Rockets 25.8% on Record Revenue in 106-Year History

AMC Entertainment saw its share price climb by as much as 25.77 percent during intra-day trading on Monday at $2.44 apiece, after the theater giant posted its highest quarterly revenue in its 106-year history, prompting investors to look past a wider net loss and focus on signs that recovery is gaining momentum. In an updated […]

Jul 20 • 1:30 PM EDT • Entertainment • finance.yahoo.com

AMC Entertainment (AMC) Stock Trades Up, Here Is Why

Shares of theater company AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) jumped 17.3% in the morning session after the company reported impressive Q2 2026 earnings results with revenue and Adjusted EBITDA crushing expectations.The cinema chain delivered a blowout second quarter, posting total revenues of $1.60 billion—representing 14.2% year-over-year growth and easily surpassing analyst estimates of $1.47 billion. Profitability metrics were particularly strong, with Adjusted EBITDA soaring to $321.4 million comp

Jul 20 • 12:47 PM EDT • Entertainment • finance.yahoo.com

3 storylines for Alabama football entering 2026 SEC media days

Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer is likely to speak on a variety of topics at 2026 SEC media days, most notably the Crimson Tide's quarterback battle.

Jul 20 • 12:40 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

The coffee sweet spot: How much a day is safe — and linked to heart benefits

Jul 20 • 12:26 PM EDT • Health • nypost.com

AMC Entertainment (AMC) Stock Trades Up, Here Is Why

What Happened? Shares of theater company AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) jumped 17.3% in the morning session after the company reported impressive Q2 2026 earni...

Jul 20 • 12:00 PM EDT • Entertainment • stockstory.org

AMC Entertainment Shares Surge On Upbeat Q2 Report, Windfall From ‘The Odyssey’

The world’s biggest theater chain saw its shares surge as it posted the highest quarterly revenue in its history for the three months ended in June.

Jul 20 • 11:26 AM EDT • Entertainment • deadline.com

This Week: Muni 1 Bus Improvements, Car Free Happy Hour, SF Politics 101

Here is a list of events this week. Tuesday Park Presidio and California Evening Pop-Up. This SFMTA project aims to improve the Muni 1 California bus route from 33rd Avenue to Steiner Street. Come learn about it. Tuesday, July 21, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Corner of Park Presidio and California, S.F. Tuesday East Bay Car Free Happy Hour. Whether you’re car free, car light, car free curious, or just want to hang out with fun people and have nerdy urbanist conversations, everyone is welcome. Tuesday, July 21, 5:30-7 p.m., Drake’s Dealership, 2325 Broadway, Oakland. Wednesday SF Politics 101 with Joel Engardio. ​SF Politics 101 is an entertaining look at how local politics work and the history that shaped San Francisco — brought to life with visuals and narrative storytelling. Wednesday, July 22, 6-7:15 p.m., SPUR Urban Center, 654 Mission Street, S.F. Friday Woman and Non-Binary Morning Ride. Join the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition for a socially distanced bike ride for women and nonbinary cyclists. Friday, July 24, 7:15-8:45 a.m., McLaren Lodge, 501 Stanyan Street, S.F. Saturday Smart City Cycling 3 — Road Practice. In this class, you’ll go on a guided group ride to practice street-riding skills on increasingly high-volume streets. This class is the third in the Smart City Cycling sequence, and Smart City Cycling 2: Maneuvering is a prerequisite. Saturday, July 25, 10 a.m.-12 p.m., Arguello Extension, Arguello Blvd and Lincoln Way, S.F. Sunday Adult & Teen Learn-to-Ride Workshop. This three-hour workshop is for adults and teens who have not yet learned to ride a bike or would like a refresher on the basics of balancing, pedaling, and steering. Sunday, July 26, Alameda Waterfront Park, 2151 Ferry Point, Alameda. Got an event we should know about? Drop us a line.

Jul 20 • 11:09 AM EDT • Politics • sf.streetsblog.org

Cinema Operator AMC Entertainment Rides the Box Office Boom

AMC shares surged after Q2 results beat expectations, with record $321 million adjusted EBITDA, higher attendance and strong box office growth.

Jul 20 • 11:00 AM EDT • Entertainment • benzinga.com

Is Thailand’s PM More Concerned About Sound Cannabis Policy or Political Optics?

Amid a rise in smuggling, Anutin Charnvirakul has recently come out against the policy he once championed: the decriminalization of marijuana.

Jul 20 • 10:49 AM EDT • Politics • thediplomat.com

AMC Entertainment Q2 Earnings Call Highlights

AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) reported what executives described as the strongest quarterly results in the company’s 106-year history, with record revenue, record adjusted EBITDA and sharply improved free cash flow in the second quarter of 2026. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Adam Aron said mo

Jul 20 • 10:02 AM EDT • Entertainment • finance.yahoo.com

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

Jul 20 • 9:29 AM EDT • Science • democracysos.substack.com

Davenport University launches business degrees that save students time and money

This story is one in a series about Davenport saving students time and money Davenport University is introducing two innovative business degree pathways this fall that give students more affordable and flexible options for earning a college degree in less time without compromising academic quality. The new programs reflect Davenport's ongoing commitment to improving access to higher

Jul 20 • 8:18 AM EDT • Business • post.davenport.edu

Science can serve dark as well as light

I’m not sure how many of you are watching “Star City,” Apple TV’s spin-off of its “For All Mankind” program (2019-present), but it’s one of the better sci-fi series I’ve seen in a while, with an impressively dark political message. (Some light spoilers below.) For the uninitiated, “For All Mankind” presented a slightly tweaked history of the U.S. space program in which it was the USSR that landed on the Moon first in 1969, and shortly thereafter put a woman cosmonaut on the lunar surface. This sparks an ongoing space race that, in the original series, yields a lot of benefits for humanity. President Nixon’s insistence on a female astronaut corps to compete with the Soviets boosts the feminist movement of the 1970s and the ERA passes. New fuels generated for the space program create clean and cheap energy around Earth. There are also some darker changes — the USSR is thriving well into the 2000s, there are terrorist counter-technology movements around the globe, laborers on Mars work in nightmarish conditions and organize strikes and riots, etc. the @smotus report is a reader-supported publication. To support this work, please become a paid subscriber. Subscribe That show offers glimpses into the subtle ways this Earth is different. Teddy Kennedy never went to Chappaquidick because he was racing back to Washington to deal with the space program crisis; he gets elected President in 1972. John Lennon survives his early 1980s shooting but Pope John Paul II does not. The Apple Newton succeeded. Pretty much the whole of season 4 is a setup for an Al Gore joke. Again, mostly, the vision that “For All Mankind” presents is a positive one, with technology advancing many human interests. “Star City” goes in a very different direction. This spin-off show is about the same set of events but from the Soviet perspective. As we meet them, the team of scientists and cosmonauts responsible for the lunar landing are still basking in their hero status, but their program is embedded deep in the Soviet security state of the late 1960s. Everyone’s apartment is bugged. Whole teams of clerical staff spend their days transcribing recordings of people’s lives. People in the program, including respected cosmonauts, are regularly arrested. An incredibly menacing Colonel Lyudmilla Raskova (Anna Maxwell Martin) forces confessions and tortures and kills, expressing little more than annoyance in the process. Meanwhile, the space program’s highly respected Chief Designer (Rhys Ifans) has a vision for the program that he knows the government will not approve. He insists that they need to think past the Moon to focus on colonizing the solar system, starting with Venus. (This is a rough parallel to the Americans’ pivot to Mars in the original show.) He essentially builds a secret space program within the space program, calculating that the government will embrace the mission after it has succeeded. (As an aside, I’m not sure why the Venus obsession, as a successful mission can’t produce the biggest public relations payoff: a cosmonaut standing on the surface holding the Soviet flag. Anyone standing on Venus would be immediately crushed by the 92-bar atmosphere and then cremated in the 900°F temperatures. But in a country with no free press perhaps the visual payoff was less valued.) But the overall vision is that the technological advances have only amplified the most fearsome aspects of the Soviet system. The state is paranoid (but not incorrect) about American spies and does monstrous things to protect its secrets. People are terrified to trust each other. Classic banality-of-evil figures order people to harm those they care about; those people comply rather than get shot. Others are forced into criminal behavior to protect loved ones. We’re reminded all the time these days of what happens when a government despises science. It manifests in the defunding of schools, the elevation of fossil fuels as the rest of the world pivots to solar, outbreaks of measles and diarrhea, etc. But “Star City” offers a vision of a bad government that likes science. It’s not encouraging. It’s not yet clear if there will be a season two of this show. But I strongly recommend season one. It’s both thoughtful and gripping. Share

Jul 20 • 8:04 AM EDT • Science • smotus.substack.com

American Conference Names Eryn McVerry Chief Brand Officer

IRVING, Texas — American Conference Commissioner Tim Pernetti announced today that Eryn McVerry has been named the conference’s chief brand officer. The veteran brand strategist began her role in July 2026.

Jul 20 • 8:00 AM EDT • Sports • theamerican.org

AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) Reports Upbeat Q2 CY2026, Stock Jumps 15.2%

Theater company AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) reported Q2 CY2026 results exceeding the market’s revenue expectations, with sales up 14.2% year on year to $1.6...

Jul 20 • 7:19 AM EDT • Entertainment • stockstory.org

AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) Reports Upbeat Q2 CY2026, Stock Jumps 15.2%

Theater company AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) reported Q2 CY2026 results exceeding the market’s revenue expectations, with sales up 14.2% year on year to $1.60 billion. Its non-GAAP profit of $0.14 per share was significantly above analysts’ consensus estimates.

Jul 20 • 7:19 AM EDT • Entertainment • finance.yahoo.com

AMC Entertainment posts record quarterly revenue $1.60B and adjusted EBITDA $321.4M in Q2 2026

AMC Entertainment reported record quarterly results for Q2 2026, with total revenues of $1,596.7 million and adjusted EBITDA of $321.4 million — the highest quarterly figures in the company's history. Net loss for the quarter was $11.4 million while adjusted net earnings were $104.3 million; adjust…

Jul 20 • 7:03 AM EDT • Entertainment • tradingview.com

AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results, Delivering the Highest Quarterly Revenue and Adjusted EBITDA in Its 106-Year History

AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AMC) (“AMC” or “the Company”) today reported results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2026, which have been post...

Jul 20 • 6:55 AM EDT • Entertainment • businesswire.com

Connecting Monsoon Science and Services

In July 2022, Pakistan experienced one of the most devastating monsoon seasons in its history. A single weather station in Sindh province recorded more than 1 600 millimetres of rain in a single day. By the end of the season, the country had received 175% of its normal annual rainfall, severely disrupting the lives of around 12 million people.

Jul 20 • 6:02 AM EDT • Science • wmo.int

Why Epidemics Breed Rage at Health Workers

Some people have fought Ebola containment measures in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Scholars have seen similar responses across societies and throughout history.

Jul 20 • 5:00 AM EDT • Health • nytimes.com

George Deek’s Story Offers a Rebuttal to Politics of Blame and Hatred

In a sharply argued opinion piece, Felice Friedson […]

Jul 20 • 4:25 AM EDT • Politics • themedialine.org

AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results, Delivering the Highest Quarterly Revenue and Adjusted EBITDA in Its 106-Year History

Demonstrates for all to see the significant operating leverage inherent in AMC’s business model at a time of rising revenues LEAWOOD,…...

Jul 20 • 2:55 AM EDT • Entertainment • investor.amctheatres.com

Ajial Real Estate Entertainment Signs Preliminary Real Estate Purchase Agreement

Ajial Real Estate Entertainment Company KSCP KSE:AREEC:

Jul 20 • 1:15 AM EDT • Entertainment • tradingview.com

3 Storylines To Watch At Vikings Training Camp

We're so close to football.

Jul 20 • 12:29 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

2026 ACC Media Day Storylines: SMU Mustangs

Rhett Lashlee discussed Kevin Jennings’ Heisman campaign, his new coordinators, and more at ACC Media Days.

Jul 19 • 10:44 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Second death reported in Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in New York City

A second person has died in connection with an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in New York

Jul 19 • 12:08 PM EDT • Health • abcnews.com

Arsenal's World Cup finalists

It's European versus world champions in Sunday's World Cup final and Arsenal have three players in Luis de la Fuente's Spain side who face Argentina live on the BBC from 19:00 BST. Mikel Merino has been dubbed the World Cup 'super sub' after scoring two last-minute winners in the knockout stages to eliminate Portugal and Belgium from the competition. At this tournament, he has become the first player in World Cup history to score the winning goal in two different knockout-stage matches as a substitute, and also the first Spanish player to score two winning goals after the 80th minute at the World Cup.

Jul 19 • 6:00 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Jodi's Journal: The Sanford Sioux Falls story

"Dream with me." In one of Denny Sanford's final messages, Jodi captures what he meant to the story of Sioux Falls.

Jul 19 • 5:47 AM EDT • Business • siouxfalls.business

'A force for Utah politics': Family, friends remember Merrill Cook at state Capitol

Many gathered at the state Capitol in Salt Lake City on Saturday to celebrate the life of former congressman Merrill Cook.

Jul 19 • 12:31 AM EDT • Politics • ksl.com

Penn State's Drew Allar Remains Unsigned for One Obvious Reason

It's rather weird that former Penn State quarterback Drew Allar remains unsigned by the Pittsburgh Steelers, but when we look at recent NFL history, it isn't as crazy as it might sound. I don't really understand why Allar is doing this, but there are reasons behind holdout negotiation tactics.

Jul 18 • 11:30 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

AMC Entertainment (AMC) Reports Q2: Everything You Need To Know Ahead Of Earnings

Theater company AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) will be reporting results this Monday before the bell. Here’s what to expect.

Jul 18 • 11:17 PM EDT • Entertainment • finance.yahoo.com

Purce: Gotham FC Comeback vs. Seattle 'Why You Love Sports'

Gotham FC winger Midge Purce puts postgame thoughts to one of the club's most thrilling games in its history, a 3-2 comeback win over Seattle on a stormy Saturday in Manhattan.

Jul 18 • 8:41 PM EDT • Sports • gothamfc.com

This wild Microsoft tech may solve data storage and backup crisis forever

Future data storage backup crises may become a thing of the past, thanks to Microsoft's groundbreaking technology innovation.

Jul 18 • 8:16 PM EDT • Technology • neowin.net

Scientists just discovered a lost branch of Australia’s marsupials

Fossils from Queensland suggest a newly recognized marsupial order may have survived in Australia for around 35 million years, rewriting part of the story of how the continent's unique mammals evolved. The discovery challenges the idea that Australia's marsupials all came from a single straightforward ancestral lineage.

Jul 18 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com

🤯 Never before! France have already made unwanted history

France are currently making a fool of themselves in the World Cup third-place playoff — it is already a humiliation of historic proportions. Today’s match for third place was not exactly approach...

Jul 18 • 6:08 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Cowboys countdown to kickoff: Top 100 iconic games

We countdown 100 days until kickoff with a series of the most iconic games in Cowboys history. Today is Day 57

Jul 18 • 3:00 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

ENTERTAINMENT: Military museum to screen Abe Lincoln documentary

The MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History screens "Lincoln@Gettysburg" 6:30 p.m. Tuesday as part of the museum's Movies at MacArthur series.

Jul 18 • 1:00 PM EDT • Entertainment • arkansasonline.com

OPINION: Health investments reverberate through our Nation

At the heart of the Cherokee story is an innate commitment to community. It’s the background rhythm that connects every Cherokee Nation citizen. Gadugi, our word for working together for

Jul 18 • 1:00 PM EDT • Health • cherokeephoenix.org

Tickets For World Cup Final—The Most Expensive U.S. Sporting Event Ever—Rise 46%

The cheapest tickets for the final on the secondary market were just shy of $7,000 on Wednesday, with an average ticket price of $11,327, which marked the most expensive sporting event in U.S. history.

Jul 18 • 12:11 PM EDT • Sports • forbes.com

Samsung's Galaxy Watch 9 just leaked in full, and it's not the chip that stands out

A health feature buried in the marketing images might be the bigger story here.

Jul 18 • 11:36 AM EDT • Technology • phonearena.com

PEEC: Discover The Connection Between Science And The Science Fiction Of Project Hail Mary

PEEC NEWS RELEASE Did you enjoy the story of Project Hail Mary, question? Pajarito Environmental Education Center (PEEC) invites you to dive deeper with, “The Science of Project Hail Mary,” on Tues…

Jul 18 • 11:12 AM EDT • Science • losalamosreporter.com

The Cubs unveil the 2027 All-Star Game logo

The Cubs had a pre-game ceremony that honored the team’s history.

Jul 18 • 11:00 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Wisconsin Farm Tech Days highlights grain bin safety, farm history, health screenings, and volunteers

Wisconsin Farm Technology Days is wrapping up its three-day event in Stratford, showcasing the latest technology in the agriculture industry. The event was held at Redetzke’s No Joke Dairy.

Jul 18 • 10:00 AM EDT • Health • weau.com

One lucky guy was officially allowed to leak the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8

Although an Instagram Story didn’t provide the very first glimpse, it did offer the first official look at the new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8, which will be unveiled next week during the Galaxy Unpacked launch event. One of the BTS members was allowed to go ahead and "leak" the device in full glory.

Jul 18 • 9:15 AM EDT • Technology • notebookcheck.net

Anaheim’s 100-acre, $5 billion entertainment district reveals first 6 kitchen concepts for its massive new food hall opening in early 2027

The two-story Katella Commons will eventually house 21 kitchens, bringing Michelin-recognized chefs to the Honda Center plaza.

Jul 17 • 10:55 PM EDT • Entertainment • secretlosangeles.com

Caitlin Clark sets career high with 45 points as Fever eke out win over WNBA-worst Storm

Clark is the first player in WNBA history to post a 40-point, 10-assist game.

Jul 17 • 9:43 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

MLB Story Looks at Rockies' Trade Chips

A new article focuses on a few players that the Colorado Rockies might look at dealing away before or at the MLB Trade Deadline, which is on August 3.

Jul 17 • 8:00 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Cinematic ‘The Odyssey’ does right by by Homer’s poem

Christopher Nolan and all-star cast tame a sprawling story for the screen

Jul 17 • 8:00 PM EDT • Entertainment • thecharlottepost.com

Ranking Member Markey, Senator Hirono Reject Trump’s SBA Policy Proposal that Harms Underserved Small Business Owners and Entrepreneurs

Letter (PDF) (Washington, July 17) – Ranking Member Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Senator Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) submitted a comment letter to the Small Business Administration (SBA) opposing a proposed rule change by Trump’s SBA to the 8(a) Business Development Program that would harm underserved small business owners and entrepreneurs. The 8(a) Business Development Program was created by Congress more than 50 years ago to level the playing field for small business owners and entrepreneurs who have faced discrimination in starting and operating their businesses. The SBA’s proposed change ignores the existence of historic discrimination that minority and underserved small businesses have faced and continue to face. In the letter, the lawmakers wrote, “SBA’s proposed rule ignores present-day barriers that entrepreneurs from minority and underserved communities face. Discrimination is not dead; minority entrepreneurs continue to face reduced access to contracting opportunities and capital, as well as racial threats and targeting, including unequal treatment, refusal by others to work with minority-owned firms, being called racial slurs, and bias in the workplace. These barriers lead to wide underutilization of, and less revenue for, minority-owned businesses compared to majority-owned businesses, as supported by decades of disparity studies. The proposed rule diminishes the history of systemic racial and ethnic discrimination in the United States by claiming that remedies for discrimination create discrimination in and of themselves.” The lawmakers continued, “The program has always been open to anyone who can prove they have experienced prejudice or cultural bias in education, employment, entrepreneurship, and other facets of our society. Nonetheless SBA has moved forward with the proposed rule. It lacks a reasoned basis, purporting that the federal government has discriminated against White Americans, but offering no substantive qualitative or quantitative data or research in support. If the examples provided in the proposed rule are the only basis for what constitutes discrimination to the agency, they are woefully insufficient. The final rule must provide strong evidence that there is discrimination against White individuals and show how the rule is narrowly tailored to address it. The record remains devoid of evidence of discrimination against White individuals on the basis of race.” Ranking Member Markey is fighting to protect federal programs that address historic discrimination against small business owners from minority and underserved communities, and for a small business agenda that ensures economic opportunity for all. In June, Ranking Member Markey released a statement condemning the SBA’s proposed changes to the 8(a) Business Development Program. Also in June, Ranking Markey released a new report highlighting Trump’s drastic reduction in federal contracting dollars awarded to American small businesses, including minority-owned small businesses. In February, Ranking Member Markey, alongside Senators Hirono and Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Representative Ayanna Pressley (MA-7), introduced the Strengthening Place-based Access, Resources, and Knowledge (SPARK) Act to spur entrepreneurship and increase access to capital and resources for underserved entrepreneurs nationwide. Ranking Member Markey previously held a field hearing in Roxbury, Massachusetts, to discuss how government and the private sector can come together to make entrepreneurship more accessible for underserved communities. Earlier in February, Ranking Member Markey secured funding with the Appropriations Committee for Small Business Development Centers, Women’s Business Centers, SCORE Chapters, and Veterans Business Outreach Centers and provisions to rein in the Administration’s attempts to eliminate programs that support women, veterans, and underserved entrepreneurs. In January, Ranking Member Markey sent a letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to oppose rule changes that would gut protections against discriminatory lending practices that harm small businesses. In December 2025, Ranking Member Markey sent a letter to SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler expressing significant concerns with the SBA’s overly burdensome request and unclear guidance for extensive financial documentation over the holidays, as a part of their sweeping attempts to dismantle the 8(a) Business Development Program. In July and December 2025, Ranking Member Markey sent letters to the SBA Administrator demanding answers about the Trump administration’s efforts to limit economic opportunity for American entrepreneurs, including immigrants. In May 2025, Ranking Member Markey sent a letter to the SBA Administrator rejecting President Trump’s FY 2026 budget proposal and calling on SBA to immediately release funding for the entrepreneurial development programs, which include programs like the Women’s Business Centers and the Veteran’s Business Development Centers that support underserved small business owners. In April 2025, Ranking Member Markey introduced the New Start Act of 2025 to establish a five-year pilot program providing grants to support entrepreneurial development training for currently or formerly incarcerated individuals. In February 2025, Ranking Member Markey sent letters to the SBA Administrator and Government Accountability Office (GAO) condemning President Trump’s war on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) policies and asking how the SBA intends to implement Trump’s anti-DEIA executive orders. ###

Jul 17 • 5:23 PM EDT • Business • sbc.senate.gov

Commentary: Charleston didn’t just lose a store; it lost a leader

When news broke that Sechey was closing its King Street location, many saw it as just a retail story. It’s not. Charleston didn’t simply lose a storefront. It lost one of its entrepreneurial leaders.

Jul 17 • 5:15 PM EDT • Business • postandcourier.com

Senator says key piece of college sports legislation 'probably' has 60 votes to clear upper chamber

A lawmaker sponsoring a key piece of federal college sports legislation says he believes the bill likely has the support it needs to make it through the upper chamber

Jul 17 • 5:07 PM EDT • Sports • abcnews.com

Texas Tech’s story gets even slimier, plus niche college sports

Until Saturday is The Athletic's free college football newsletter.

Jul 17 • 3:22 PM EDT • Sports • nytimes.com

Near-Earth asteroid not an asteroid at all

1998 SH2's story is a 30-year-long cosmic identity crisis.

Jul 17 • 2:49 PM EDT • Science • popsci.com

Spotting Winners: Flutter Entertainment (NYSE:FLUT) And Consumer Discretionary - Casino Operator Stocks In Q1

The end of the earnings season is always a good time to take a step back and see who shined (and who didn’t). Let’s take a look at how consumer discretionary - casino operator stocks fared in Q1, starting with Flutter Entertainment (NYSE:FLUT).

Jul 17 • 2:33 PM EDT • Entertainment • finance.yahoo.com

Cooper Flagg unveils his NBA Debut Patch card: The sports card hobby’s next big chase

Flagg spoke about how he used to practice for this moment in his high school history class.

Jul 17 • 2:07 PM EDT • Sports • nytimes.com

New Study Reveals Why Ancient Roman Concrete Keeps Getting Stronger

There's more to the story than we thought.

Jul 17 • 11:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencealert.com

Building community starts with 'yes'

Nashua Community College's 2026 commencement speakers shares how storytelling is essential in a digital-forward world

Jul 17 • 10:56 AM EDT • Business • nhbr.com

John and Ann Tickle donate $25M to Ballad Health

John and Ann Tickle have donated $25 million to Ballad Health - the largestsingle philanthropic gift in system history.The announcement was made on Friday.Ball

Jul 17 • 9:20 AM EDT • Health • wcyb.com

Maximum Entertainment’s U.S. Subsidiary Agrees to Cathay Bank’s Request for Stipulation of a Receiver

Stockholm, Sweden, July 17, 2026 - Maximum Entertainment AB (Nasdaq: MAXENT B) (“Maximum Entertainment” or the “Company”) today announces that its U.S. subsidiary, Maximum Entertainment, LLC (the “Borrower”), has agreed to stipulate to the appointment of a court-supervised receiver as requested by…

Jul 17 • 7:46 AM EDT • Entertainment • tradingview.com

When Did Sports Get So Loud?

Athletes have become influencers. In-game production has become “storytelling.” And everything has gotten very, very stimulating.

Jul 17 • 7:00 AM EDT • Sports • theatlantic.com

The Open Championship: Lucas Herbert makes history

With a front-nine 28, Herbert tied the lowest nine-hole score ever in The Open Championship.

Jul 17 • 6:56 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

AMC Entertainment Gears Up For Q2 Print; Here Are The Recent Forecast Changes From Wall Street's Most Acc

AMC (NYSE: AMC) to release Q2 earnings on July 20 before opening bell. Expected loss of 6c/share and revenue of $1.46B.

Jul 17 • 6:43 AM EDT • Entertainment • benzinga.com

Three Storylines as Nationals Begin Second Half of 2026 Season

The Washington Nationals will kick off the second half of the 2026 regular season on Friday as we break down the three key storylines to watch

Jul 17 • 6:00 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Virginie Bridoux - A life shaped by sports volunteering: "There's simply nothing else like it"

French volunteer Virginie Bridoux began her journey as a sports event volunteer 20 years ago, saying it made her "a better person". Discover her story and sign up to follow in her footsteps and become a volunteer for LA28.

Jul 17 • 3:47 AM EDT • Sports • olympics.com

Spotting Winners: Flutter Entertainment (NYSE:FLUT) And Consumer Discretionary - Casino Operator Stocks In Q1

The end of the earnings season is always a good time to take a step back and see who shined (and who didn’t). Let’s take a look at how consumer discretionary...

Jul 16 • 11:36 PM EDT • Entertainment • stockstory.org

Politics Chat, July 16, 2026

A newsletter about the history behind today's politics.

Jul 16 • 10:24 PM EDT • Politics • heathercoxrichardson.substack.com

The Unlikely Story Of How Konami Asked Evil Empire To Make Castlevania: Belmont's Curse

What started as a simple crossover request became a years-long collaboration.

Jul 16 • 8:00 PM EDT • Technology • gameinformer.com

Sports without politics is a fantasy and the World Cup proves it

From ancient Greece to Nazi Germany, sport and politics have long been intertwined. Nevertheless, we still imagine that international sport can be kept above the fray and serve as a neutral arena where nations compete on merit alone. In this article, diplomacy scholar Geoffrey Allen Pigman argues the 2026 FIFA World Cup shows this is a dangerous illusion. When international sport is left entirely to revenue-maximizing private bodies like FIFA, it doesn't escape politics, but rather surrenders to its worst expressions. With the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics fast approaching, the IOC must decide whether to learn that lesson or repeat the same mistakes. The largest and most lucrative FIFA World Cup ever draws toward its climactic conclusion amidst a swirl of controversy. Team members, staff, fans, and spectators have been denied their right to enter the United States to participate, and US President Donald Trump intervened with FIFA boss Gianni Infantino to overturn a referee’s call that Trump believed disadvantaged the US national team. It is a moment to step back and reflect on what the purposes of international sport mega-events like the World Cup, and international sport more broadly, are, and what they should be. Does international sport serve public purposes? Is there a public interest? Or is it primarily a private endeavor organized by commercial enterprises to entertain the global public (and generate profit in the process), which is occasionally used by governments and leaders for raisons d’etat? Central to the idea of sport is the principle of fair play, which in the international context demands that games be free from political interference. However, it is impossible to separate sport from politics, all claims to the contrary notwithstanding. The most positive political use of international sport through the millennia has been to facilitate diplomacy. The use of international sport for diplomatic objectives has existed since at least the time of the ancient Olympic Games, around which was instituted the custom of the Ekecheiria, or Olympic Truce, between participating states to facilitate fair competition and diplomatic achievements by ensuring that participants could travel safely to the Olympiad. In his seminal work On Diplomacy (1987), diplomacy scholar James Der Derian characterized the objectives of diplomacy as overcoming alienation and mediating estrangement between governments and between peoples. One increasingly important diplomatic tool in the technology-infused media environment over the past century has been public diplomacy, under which governments and non-state diplomatic actors (e.g. transnational corporations) communicate to global publics about their international policy objectives and to shape their global brand image. Political scientist Michał Kobierecki, in his important book Sports Diplomacy (2020), views sports diplomacy as falling broadly within the ambit of public diplomacy, as international sport intimately involves the participation of global publics as spectators and consumers of global media. Diplomacy scholar Stuart Murray and this author, in a 2013 article, distinguish between international sport used for diplomatic purposes and international sport-as-diplomacy, which encompasses the range of diplomacy that occurs as teams and competitors, spectators and fans, and government officials all converge for international sporting events like the Olympic Games and FIFA World Cup. Diplomacy scholar H.E. Chehabi, in a 2001 article on US-Iran sports diplomacy, describes the interaction between spectators and fans at international sporting events as “people-to-people diplomacy,” in which relationships develop independently of governments and their objectives. Diplomacy by the aforementioned definitions is often unsuccessful. Moreover, all too often the tools of diplomacy may be employed by governments and other actors to thwart or oppose the objectives of diplomacy as characterized by Der Derian. Governments routinely use the tools of public diplomacy to disseminate propaganda, spreading misinformation in the attempt to deceive global publics about their objectives and to create misleading impressions about their brand identity. Within sports diplomacy, the term “sportswashing” has been coined recently to describe how governments invest in and promote international sport to create positive global public impressions of their nations and, in doing so, to distract the global public from their deficient records in areas such as human rights and democratic governance. Murray, in his 2018 book Sports Diplomacy: Origins, Theory and Practice, introduces the concept of sports anti-diplomacy, wherein governments intentionally use international sport to advance aggressive and nationalistic objectives. Obvious historical examples include Hitler’s use of the 1936 Berlin Olympics to glorify his Third Reich and the 1969 El Salvador-Honduras football “war.” SUGGESTED READING The beautiful game made ugly By Emily Ryall FIFA argues that it is and seeks to be apolitical in its stewardship of international Association Football (soccer). FIFA policies governing bids to host the World Cup require uninhibited and non-discriminatory access for players, team staff, and spectators of all participating countries to host nations and venues. It became clear soon after Trump returned to power in the United States in January 2025 that Trump’s political intentions and objectives to limit non-US citizens from living and working in the United States and, in numerous cases, even visiting the country, would collide with FIFA’s host nation policies. Beginning soon after the start of the second Trump administration, US federal authorities imposed restrictions on entry to the United States of citizens of between 20 and 40 countries for any purpose, with only limited exceptions. Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began arresting non-US citizens in the United States, including persons with and without legal status, holding them in jails, concentration camps, and other detention facilities until they were deported to their home or third countries, where they faced substantive risks to their personal safety. FIFA boss Gianni Infantino, in an effort to ensure the most successful and lucrative World Cup in history, engaged diplomatically with President Trump in an attempt to facilitate entry to the US for World Cup participants. Infantino did all in his power to ingratiate himself with Trump, to the extent of creating a FIFA “Peace Prize,” which he awarded to Trump in December 2025 at a ceremony in the then Trump-controlled John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, on the occasion of the World Cup draw. The prize was an ersatz consolation for someone who aspired in vain to win the rather more prestigious and well-known Nobel Peace Prize. And in the run-up to the World Cup, conditions became worse. In February 2026, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched a war of aggression against Iran, illegal under international law, under the false pretence that Iran’s government was preparing to attack the United States and Israel. During the US aerial bombardment of Iran, US planes bombed Azadi Stadium, the facility where Iran’s national football team trained. As the 2026 FIFA World Cup began, it was clear that Infantino’s efforts had been for naught: the Trump administration would not adhere to FIFA policies governing access to World Cup host nations. World Cup referee Omar Artan, a citizen of Somalia, was denied a US visa to enter the United States to participate in the World Cup. Trump’s government only granted US visas to Iran’s football team ten days before they were scheduled to arrive for the tournament. Numerous members of the support staff for Iran’s team were denied US visas. Iran’s team, which had been scheduled to train in Arizona, was directed to shift its training site to Tijuana, Mexico, notwithstanding that all three of their group stage matches took place at US venues. The US Department of Homeland Security only permitted the Iranian team to enter the US on the day before each scheduled match and then to return to Mexico immediately after playing. Members of Iraq’s and Switzerland’s football teams were delayed for hours by US officials at the US border, and an Iraqi team photographer was refused entry. Spectators and fans from Haïti and Iran were denied entry to the United States altogether. A large number of fans from a range of countries had their applications for US visas rejected. There were multiple off-ramps through which participants could have avoided the negative consequences of Trump’s decisions for the 2026 World Cup. Once it was clear that the Trump government intended to violate the established expectations for World Cup hosts, FIFA could have shifted the matches scheduled to take place in the United States to Mexico and Canada. The three nations were already designated as co-hosts, and host cities and venues had been selected. Once it was clear that FIFA, governed by FIFA boss Gianni Infantino’s dependent and dysfunctional relationship with Trump, would never consider this option on its own, it fell to the national football federations to act. The national federations, particularly some combination of federations of the leading contenders (France, Spain, Brazil, Argentina, Morocco, England, Germany, etc.), could have refused to participate under the US-imposed conditions or, at the least, demanded an ironclad agreement with the Trump government that FIFA policies on access would be respected. ___ International sport is inextricably entangled with diplomacy of different sorts, for good or ill, it cannot be considered to be in the purely private realm and left to revenue-maximizing private actors. ___ Why did neither FIFA nor the national football federations act to protect the interests of players, team staff, referees, fans, and spectators? In essence, the relentless engines of capitalism prevailed over norm observance, ethics, and fair play. The revenue interests of FIFA, sponsors, global media, and host cities won out. FIFA’s managers viewed hosting another World Cup principally in the United States as a veritable pot of gold for FIFA and its collaborators. FIFA has estimated its own revenue over the 2023-26 budget cycle, which includes the 2026 World Cup, at $13 billion, revised up from an initial projection of $11 billion, and 72% higher than the previous revenue cycle. Of that total, FIFA is estimated to have generated $8.9 billion from the Cup itself in revenue from TV rights ($3.92 billion), sponsorships ($2.69 billion), ticket sales ($3.1 billion), licensing rights, and other sources. A joint study by FIFA and the World Trade Organization estimates that the World Cup will contribute over $40 billion to global GDP, including nearly $14 billion in direct visitor spending in the three host countries (but principally in the United States, which hosted the lion’s share of the matches). The FIFA World Cup is now reportedly “the single most lucrative recurring commercial property in global sport.” And yet, notwithstanding the Trump government’s uses of the World Cup for sports anti-diplomacy, and the climate of anxiety that this created for participants and spectators, diplomacy that did not depend upon governments was able to thrive at the World Cup. Examples of successful people-to-people diplomacy were legion, as citizens of towns and cities across the States, as well as in Mexico and Canada, welcomed team members, their families and supporters, to training sites across North America. Fans of different teams joined together in person in stadiums for matches, at watch parties and bars, and at welcome events sponsored by host cities. The joy and camaraderie shared between the citizenry of Boston and Scotland’s “Tartan Army” of fans is but one example of how the “Beautiful Game” brings people together. Friendships forged across continents are likely to endure well beyond the Cup final. Even those achievements cannot be seen as unalloyed, however. As South African football fan Byron Pillay commented to Al Jazeera, “Football is called the Beautiful Game for a reason, for its ability to unite people. But it’s hard to believe in that magic with the politics and war rhetoric off the field of play, especially when one of the tournament hosts is central to that.” Ultimately, the experience of the 2026 FIFA World Cup illustrates that, as international sport is inextricably entangled with diplomacy of different sorts, for good or ill, it cannot be considered to be in the purely private realm and left to revenue-maximizing private actors. As long as there is the possibility of diplomatic progress in mediating estrangement between governments or between peoples, there is a broad and overarching public interest in international sport. Likewise, as it would be difficult to put on an international sport mega-event without international sporting organizations like FIFA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), global media firms, and companies purchasing sponsorships, public and private interests in international sport must coexist, most likely somewhere on a shifting spectrum between partnership and rivalry or cross purposes. As the World Cup wraps up, the IOC needs to consider its lessons before the scheduled 2028 Los Angeles Olympics if they want to avoid a media-hyped Trump version of the 1936 Berlin Olympiad. The IOC and the National Olympic Committees need to set conditions on and make demands of Trump’s government with clearly articulated consequences for non-compliance, up to and including cancellation of the Games. Time is running out for the IOC, as unlike with the FIFA World Cup, there is no at-the-ready alternate venue for Los Angeles.

Jul 16 • 8:00 PM EDT • Politics • iai.tv

You can already buy the unreleased Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, provided you have $13,000

Samsung hasn't even unveiled the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra yet, but one company is already selling a $13,000 version wrapped in football history.

Jul 16 • 5:43 PM EDT • Technology • androidcentral.com

MSU graduate named Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellow

Michigan State University alumnus Aaron Philip (‘26) has been named a U.S. Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellow. He is the second Spartan in university history and one of only 29 students this year to earn the designation.

Jul 16 • 5:11 PM EDT • Science • msutoday.msu.edu

How Americans are engaged with news, politics, religion and civic life

The Briefing ☀️ Happy Thursday! The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information. Sign up here! In today’s email: 🔥 Featured story German regulators said this week that the country’s media laws apply to content generated by artificial intelligence after a court ruled last month that Google is liable for inaccurate […]

Jul 16 • 3:56 PM EDT • Politics • pewresearch.org

Goldenvoice's Ocean Way fest gets Olivia Dean, the Killers to Santa Monica. Take the E, there's no parking

"There’s a creative legacy here that’s unlike anywhere else," said Goldenvoice's Nic Adler. "Ocean Way Festival is our opportunity to celebrate that history."

Jul 16 • 2:00 PM EDT • Entertainment • latimes.com

OVC Football Media Day Presented by Shaw Sports Turf Coverage Guide

The 2026 OVC Football Media Day presented by Shaw Sports Turf will be held on Friday, July 17 in Nashville, Tennessee. Live interviews with head coaches and student-athletes from each team will be streamed on ESPN+.

Jul 16 • 10:00 AM EDT • Sports • ovcsports.com

Every Team Has an Edge: EA SPORTS™ NHL® 27 Overhauls All 32 Arena Atmospheres and Presentation for Total Immersion

Powered by Real-World NHL EDGE™ Data and Unique Team Playbooks, NHL® 27 Releases September 11 with Generational Talent Macklin Celebrini Gracing the Cover Watch the Reveal Trailer HERE Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) today unveiled EA SPORTS™ NHL 27 , launching September 11, 2026 on PlayStation®5 and Xbox Series X|S. EA SPORTS™ NHL® 27 brings all 32 NHL arenas to life with authentic atmospheres: presentation that reflects each team’s identity, a new commentary team, a new dynamic crowd system, and a new modernized broadcast package. Alongside new social and competitive mode Connected Franchise, this year marks one of the most significant upgrades in franchise history. Generational talent and San Jose Sharks forward Macklin Celebrini headlines the Standard and Deluxe Edition covers, ushering in a new era of the EA SPORTS™ NHL franchise. NHL 27 Deluxe Edition Cover “Seeing the Shark Tank brought to life like that is honestly unreal,” said Macklin Celebrini, NHL 27 cover athlete. “The

Jul 16 • 8:00 AM EDT • Sports • news.ea.com

The ’Gay’ Attacks on Lindsey Graham Are All About Politics

Was Lindsey Graham gay? As the author of a book about the history of gay Washington, D.C., it’s a question I’ve been asked frequently for years, and even more so since his sudden death last weekend. The South Carolina Republican’s lifelong confirmed bachelorhood, vocal intonation, and Southern dandy demeanor (if not sartorial choices) prompted many to conclude that he was, as they say in that part of the country, “light in his loafers.” Graham’s repeated attestations to the contrary had zero effect on those invested in the narrative that he was. Only about the matter of J. Edgar Hoover’s rumored cross-dressing (for which there is much circumstantial but no direct evidence) am I questioned more. Whenever I’ve been asked to speculate upon Graham’s sexuality—and speculate was all that I or anyone else could do—I always answered the question honestly. While my personal sense is that Graham was probably gay, as a journalist and a historian I cannot rely on my intuition to make factual assertions. (Gaydar hasn’t yet been scientifically perfected.) Given the absence of any known female or male romantic interests, Graham may very well have been a heterosexual unlucky in love. He might also have been asexual. Barring the highly unlikely postmortem emergence of a personal diary or some other unassailable evidence attesting to Graham’s innermost yearnings, we will never know the answer. As is depressingly the case these days when a public figure dies, a chorus of voices reveled in Graham’s passing, many of them making light of his presumed homosexuality.

Jul 15 • 7:30 PM EDT • Politics • thefp.com

World's Oldest Amber Comes From a World 150 Million Years Before Dinosaurs

This rewrites the history of plant evolution.

Jul 15 • 2:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencealert.com

Summer Science Day 2026 expands learning opportunities for community

On July 11 at the Eccles Health Sciences Education Building, the Summer Science Day featured multiple science-related presentations, lab tours, story times and tabling opportunities open to all ages. The day-long event was presented by the University of Utah Stark Science Learning Center (SSLC) to explore science and the career opportunities it includes. Primarily...

Jul 15 • 11:32 AM EDT • Science • dailyutahchronicle.com

As Russia’s assault continues, Ukraine’s politics shift and an old alliance begins to fray

Beneath the ​drone strikes and ​talk of ceasefires lies a battle over history that is testing ​Kyiv’s chances for an end to the conflict

Jul 15 • 10:30 AM EDT • Politics • theguardian.com

Watch the trailer for 'I Play Rocky,' the true story behind ‘Rocky,’ coming to theaters November 2026

Jul 15 • 9:00 AM EDT • Entertainment • aboutamazon.com

Troy Jackson’s Politics Are Rooted in Maine Logger Struggles

Maine Senate hopeful Troy Jackson’s history is a case study of something the Left often discusses but rarely sees: a working-class politician who emerged from workplace organizing struggles and used his power to advance pro-worker policies.

Jul 15 • 8:57 AM EDT • Politics • jacobin.com

Fantasy Football Sleepers, Busts & Predictions: 2026 Las Vegas Raiders

The Raiders have been the ultimate coaching carousel in recent history. The team hasn’t had the same head coach in consecutive full seasons since Jon Gruden captained the ship in 2019 and 2020 (and, not that it applies to on-field…

Jul 15 • 8:34 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com