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Netflix and Superheroes Are Having a Rough Stretch on Streaming....
(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.) I have a quick prediction before we start today’s article: You might see this data in future news articles. Not my specific charts or analysis, but the core trend I’ve been monitoring—Netflix is having a lackluster Q2—will become inescapable. Often, folks want to know “What does the data say?” Well, that’s what it says. I haven’t seen this analysis hit the trades really yet, but I have a feeling some other outlets are going to start making this case soon. Remember, you read it here first. You probably have read about the problems facing superhero films at the box office this weekend. Well, this week, I explore whether superheroes are dying on TV as well! And the data says: definitely maybe! We have a lot to cover in today’s Streaming Ratings Report, which covers the two weeks of 18-May and 25-May. Today, I’m just looking at TV, like Netflix’s disappointing Q2, superhero shows underwhelming, a few TV shows dropping off the charts, The Pitt finally ending its epic run on the viewership charts (and whether “view counts” change its status as one of the biggest shows of all time), all the flops, bombs and misses, and a whole lot more. Tomorrow, I’ve got a great rundown of the film side of things. Let’s dive right 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, Showlabs, TV Time trend 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 May 18th to May 31st, 2026. You can find a link to my terminology here.) Subscribe Television - Netflix’s Q2 Slump Continues Having analyzed streaming ratings for going on half a decade, I have learned to trust my gut, but I’m always relieved when I can find actual data to back it up. For example, after a string of very popular shows like Stranger Things, Bridgerton, The Lincoln Lawyer and The Night Agent came out, week after week, in January and February, my gut wondered if Netflix had enough new and returning TV shows to sustain them throughout the year. Since then, Netflix’s post-March slate of shows has not impressed me. This week seemed to feature a potential new hit, but then, like a classic Duffer Bros. TV show, there was a twist. I speak of The Boroughs, Netflix’s latest (and last) Duffer Bros. produced show. The pitch is “Stranger Things with older actors”. And it topped the Nielsen charts: With just two weeks of viewership, The Boroughs would have been a top 25 debut show last year: But here’s the twist: Netflix has already cancelled The Boroughs! What happened? Likely a few things. First, the show didn’t do as well globally as it did in the US. As What’s on Netflix showed, it lagged behind several other shows that got cancelled. Second, its completion rate was likely low; after an initial burst of interest, it quickly dropped off on the Samba TV and Luminate charts. Third, the Duffer Bros. left Netflix for Paramount, and that may have factored into Netflix’s decision here. (Though I tend to believe that if a show is doing well, Netflix would have kept greenlighting seasons.) Still, just because I can explain why Netflix may have cancelled this show doesn’t mean I’m justifying it. In particular, as I’ve noted before, Netflix is losing a lot of their bigger shows as they reach their natural ends, and they need to replace those shows. This show had the hallmarks of a big new genre show, and it’s their biggest hit of the last few months (in the US at least), but now it’s done. Netflix’s other show this week—The Four Seasons, the second season of the “hit” show from last year—definitely disappointed. Its sophomore season had about half the viewership of the first, only 12.7 million hours. It also only had a two week run on Samba TV, and its numbers were all down on Luminate too. In other words, even with two successes, the Q2 slump for Netflix looks real: I could add to the list of disappointments: Both Lord of the Files and Man on Fire had short runs on the Nielsen charts. Running Point’s sophomore season also opened to about half its viewership, similar to The Four Seasons. A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder’s second season—see below—didn’t even make any of the three viewership charts I track, unlike the first season. Netflix is absolutely having a dismal second three months of 2026. If this Nielsen data is any indication, and I think it is, I think this will show up in Netflix’s engagement report, and maybe even their financial outcomes. And the rest of June doesn’t look much better. We have two hit shows coming back—Sweet Magnolias, one of their quietest big shows, and Avatar: The Last Airbender, a big hit for them in 2024—but the other big swings are limited series crime thrillers i.e. no future season potential. Like I said above, sometimes when I uncover a juicy nugget like this, other outlets end up writing very similar articles mimicking the data without credit. We’ll see if that happens this time! Share Television - The State of Superhero Shows on Streaming When I first heard the pitch for Spider-Noir—a Sony TV show on Prime Video that binge-released eight episodes first on MGM+ then on Prime Video two days later—I had my doubts. It’s a live-action Spider-Man show set in the 1930s, starring Nicholas Cage, based on a cameo of a character in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. No, seriously, that’s the pitch. That could either go terrifically well or horribly wrong. Great because, Spider-Man. He’s the biggest superhero we have. I’ve seen tracking numbers that put the new _Spider-Man: Brand New Da_y as the blockbuster of the year and initial pre-sales back that up. And yet this Spider-Noir pitch feels very esoteric. (Also, the eight-episode binge release feels very “Amazon copying Netflix” again.) So what’s the data say? And what does this say about the future of superhero shows?
Scott Eastwood recalls entitled costar who exited movie mid-production: 'Don't be a piece of s---'
Scott Eastwood recently looked back on working with an entitled costar who abruptly left a movie while production was underway.
Alt-rock band Drip Edges hits the stage at Gabe’s
Drip Edges, led by Jeremy Scott, delivers powerful alt-rock influenced by power pop bands like Sugar and the Smithereens, showcasing catchy, dynamic tracks that highlight the lead singer’s dedication to
Liberty Media CEO Chang, LIV CEO O'Neil Join Sportico Sports Business
Scott O'Neil and Derek Chang expressed the opportunities for sports investors by highlighting teams with rising valuations and a global footprint.
Liberty Media CEO Chang, LIV CEO O'Neil Join Sportico Sports Business
Scott O'Neil and Derek Chang expressed the opportunities for sports investors by highlighting teams with rising valuations and a global footprint.
Singham funding one of 'most subversive political networks' in America: former senior Treasury advisor
Sam Lyman, former Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speechwriter, called the Department of Justice grand jury probe into the Neville Roy Singham network an "enormous development."
ScottsMiracle-Gro names new CEO as longtime leader exits
The Marysville-based national lawn and garden manufacturer has announced some big leadership changes, effective immediately.
Why did Scott Patterson leave 'Sullivan's Crossing'? Inside the conflicting stories of his exit
When Harry Sullivan left the Crossing at the end of season 3, he promised to return, but Scott Patterson remains absent in 'Sullivan's Crossing' season 4. Here's what we know.
Dem running for Pelosi’s seat mocked after anti-Israel hecklers chase him from SF Trans March
Videos show state Sen. Scott Wiener being shouted down by anti-Israel activists in San Francisco, sparking widespread mockery from conservatives.
Blake Duncan & Scott Hendricks Launch TAYCAN Entertainment
Blake Duncan and Scott Hendricks have launched TAYCAN Entertainment, a Nashville-based independent [...]
The Hollywood Reporter Tops 2026 SoCal Journalism Awards With 20 First-Place Wins, More Than Any Other Outlet
Among its awards are best website, journalist of the year honors for Gary Baum and Seth Abramovitch, best film critic for David Rooney, and best audio anchor/host for Scott Feinberg. Overall, THR nabb...
Viktor Hovland edges Scottie Scheffler in 2026 Travelers Championship playoff for first win in 15 months
Hovland beat Scheffler on the first playoff hole after the round required postponement and completion Monday morning
After stunning Scottie Scheffler miss, Viktor Hovland claims Travelers Championship in Monday playoff
Scottie Scheffler and Viktor Hovland settled the Travelers Championship with a Monday morning playoff.
Scottsdale Golf to host fan entertainment and retail hub in Birkdale during Open Week
Southport & Birkdale Sports Club to become free entry experience, combining golf, retail, entertainment and hospitality.
Raveheart by Graeme Armstrong review – ravers rebel in a Scottish political satire
A veteran techno DJ embarks on a campaign of civil disobedience in this passionate and at times hilarious tale of underground resistance
Just hopes agent is 'busy' after World Cup impact
Elijah Just hopes his agent is "busy at the moment" as the New Zealand midfielder hinted at a possible summer exit from Motherwell after impressing at the World Cup. Just only joined Motherwell from Danish club Horsens a year ago and is under contract until next summer, with the Scottish Premiership club having an option of extending that by a further year. "The World Cup has given me added belief and also motivation to keep pushing," Just told the NZ Herald.
Cognition's CEO says token leaderboards are 'directionally correct'
Cognition CEO Scott Wu said there are better ways to incentivize employees to use AI.
Polsinelli Expands Health Care M&A with Addition of New Shareholders
Polsinelli added Matthew S. Miller as a shareholder in the firm’s Nashville office and Muthuramanan “Ramana” Rameswaran as a shareholder in Dallas.
Scottie Scheffler, Viktor Hovland set for Monday playoff at Travelers
The Travelers Championship will be decided in a playoff on Monday morning
Travelers Championship: Scottie Scheffler and Viktor Hovland go to Monday morning playoff after lightning delay
Ace Aquatec wins Scottish Business of the Year award for innovation
Ace Aquatec wins Scottish Business of the Year award for innovation
Read Live Updates From The 2026 BET Awards
Cardi B, Doechii, Jill Scott, Kehlani and more are set to take the stage on culture's biggest night.
Prescott, Parker present Cowboys with an 'iron sharpens iron' dynamic
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott has had issues solving two defensive schemes. With Christian Parker in the building, he may finally figure it out.
Saturday Sports: The World Cup enters knockout stage; Serena returns to Wimbledon
NPR's Scott Simon and sportswriter Howard Bryant have a World Cup knockout stage preview and discuss Serena Williams' return to Wimbledon.
One night in Miami: The Scotsmen of the apocalypse
BBC Scotland's Scott Mullen paints the scene from Miami as Scotland's World Cup hopes fade.
Mia Sara reflects on working with ‘weird guy’ Tom Cruise in 'Legend'
Mia Sara recalls working with Tom Cruise in the Ridley Scott film 'Legend,' saying the actor was 'very insecure.'
Paraguay vs Australia Extended Highlights
Check out the full game highlights between Paraguay and Australia in the 2026 FIFA World Cup™. Announced by Mark Scott and Cobi Jones.
Paraguay vs Australia Highlights
Check out the full game highlights between Paraguay and Australia in the 2026 FIFA World Cup™. Announced by Mark Scott and Cobi Jones.
Growing sinkhole in Houston's Third Ward raising safety concerns for business owner, neighbor
A growing sinkhole behind a property on Scott Street in Houston’s Third Ward is raising concerns for a longtime business owner and her neighbor.
Gov. Scott vetoed the Legislature’s latest attempt to lower health insurance costs. What’s next?
Governor Phil Scott's veto of a health insurance bill sparks debate over lowering healthcare costs in Vermont. Discover the proposed alternatives and political tensions.
What are the best businesses in Centre County? Submit your nominations to CBICC
Your input can help recognize a deserving local business or nonprofit organization.
An Olympic-sized collaboration between Lake Placid, Big Apple
Commentary: Governor Kathy Hochul’s recent announcement about New York City possibly hosting the Olympics isn’t a new idea.
Tickets for top entertainment events at Scotts Bluff Co. Fair go on sale Wednesday
Tickets for the ‘big three’ of the nightly entertainment at the Scotts Bluff County go on sale Wednesday morning. Starting at 9 a.m., you can get your advance tickets for the Truck and Tractor Pull…
'The Adventures of Juan Planchard': A political thriller that reads like a blockbuster
NPR's Scott Detrow speaks with author and filmmaker Jonathan Jakubowicz about his book The Adventures of Juan Planchard, now translated into English.
Why Trump (and other politicians) are going to sporting events
NPR's Scott Detrow talks with University of Richmond political scientist Dan Palazzolo about the politics of officials affiliating with sports.
Why Trump (and other politicians) are going to sporting events
NPR's Scott Detrow talks with University of Richmond political scientist Dan Palazzolo about the politics of officials affiliating with sports.
Tickets for top entertainment events at Scotts Bluff Co. Fair go on sale Wednesday
Tickets for the ‘big three’ of the nightly entertainment at the Scotts Bluff County go on sale Wednesday morning. Starting at 9 a.m., you can get your advance tickets for the Truck and Tractor Pull…
Vape shops in Scotland to be excluded from business rates relief
Scottish ministers also announced an independent review of how the property tax is calculated.
The Extraordinary Embezzlement Case That Rocked Scottish Politics
Peter Murrell, the husband of the former Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon, was sentenced on Tuesday after he admitted to buying a bizarre range of items with the Scottish National Party’s money.
Gov. Scott vetoed the Legislature’s latest attempt to lower health insurance costs. What’s next?
Scott wants to expand other models of health insurance in Vermont. Observers worry that his veto points to deepening political divisions over how to keep healthcare affordable.
Top States for Business: Pennsylvania's Gov. Shapiro on data center backlash
CNBC's Scott Cohn joins 'Closing Bell Overtime' to share his conversation with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro on data centers and red tape in the state.
Congress is on the brink of a rare bipartisan victory: From the Politics Desk
Plus, the latest on the talks to end the Iran war.
Fantasy Baseball Rest-of-Season Rankings: Scott Pianowski's updated risers and fallers as of June 22
America's Top States for Business 2026: The war on red tape
CNBC's Scott Cohn joins 'Squawk Box' with his latest report on America's Top States for Business 2026.
Pope Leo on Sports: Insights From a Personal Meeting at the Vatican
Sportico Editor-in-Chief Scott Soshnick met Pope Leo as part of two days of discussions in Rome on global issues, including sports.
Scotland can 'go far' in World Cup
The Scots sit on one win and one defeat so far and face Brazil on Wednesday (23: BST). "If we just get that 10% more out of the group and that's all it is for me, I think we can go deep in this tournament," former Hearts, Motherwell and Rangers midfielder Halliday told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.
Gannon-Doak role 'main topic' for Scotland
Scott Allan believes Ben Gannon-Doak's role in Scotland's final World Cup Group C fixture with Brazil is "the main topic" in how the Scots prepare. The winger started the win against Haiti, playing a role in the winning goal, and came off the bench in the loss to Morocco. "I feel like when we land on the ball, we never really know what the next pass is," former Celtic and Hibernian midfielder Allan told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.
Celtic move for defenders Smajlovic & Saracchi
Celtic and Olympiacos have had bids of £3.5m for centre-back Zinedin Smajlovic rejected by Sandefjord, who want closer to £4.3m for the 22-year-old. Meanwhile, Celtic are set to intensify talks with Boca Juniors over a permanent deal for Marcelo Saracchi after the 28-year-old left-back was told by head coach Rodolfo Arruabarrena he is not in his plans after his loan to the Scottish champions. Reported Celtic transfer target Soufiane El-Faouzi is poised to sign a new contract with Schalke until 2030 that will hand the 23-year-old midfielder an annual salary of nearly £1m.
New Zealand vs Egypt Highlights
Check out the full game highlights between New Zealand and Egypt in the 2026 FIFA World Cup™. Announced by Mark Scott and Cobi Jones.
Former high-level health officials think out loud about HHS, FDA
More than 15 years after the National Academy of Medicine summoned a blue-ribbon panel to “reimagine” the Department of Health and Human Services for the 21st century, the cabinet-level operation has yet to make good on the experts’ overarching directive.
Scheffler praises Clark's resolve in gutsy US Open triumph
World number one Scottie Scheffler praised playing partner Wyndham Clark for defying New York hecklers as well as formidable Shinnecock to win his second US Open title on Sunday.Scheffler settled for a share of fourth after firing a one-over par 71 to finish on 280 while Clark edged fellow American Sam Burns by one stroke for the title.
Vermont’s Governor Scott vetoes Legislature’s attempt at healthcare reform
The bill was designed to fast-track premium savings for public school employees and people buying plans on Vermont’s Affordable Care Act marketplace.
3 things to watch during 'most technically important' period for stocks
The stock market is heading for a critical stretch as June winds down. Here's what Citadel Securities' Scott Rubner says he's watching.
Pols & Politics: Boston Mayor Wu joins Scottish statue traffic cone prank: ‘A sense of joy everywhere’
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu admitted to joining in on a traditional Tartan Army prank by placing a traffic cone on a statue outside City Hall. Plus: US Attorney Leah Foley’s special necklace.
Christian Scott takes positive step toward looming Mets return
Christian Scott took a positive step Saturday toward potentially returning to the Mets as soon as his required 15 days on the injured list pass.
April Coffee is a business coach and an advocate for unification around scholarships
By Andy Furman NKyTribune staff writer April Coffee says she was quiet, real quiet – almost shy – when she attended Scott High School. Really? If so, she fooled the Covington Rotary Club, as she had them mesmerized on every word during her noontime presentation recently at the Radisson Hotel. “I’m a Business Coach,” she...
3rd annual Louisville celebrity basketball game raises funds for mental health, suicide prevention
Peyton Siva, Nolan Smith, Ray Spalding, Pedro Bradshaw, Scott Davenport, Tony Williams and Grace Berger were among those playing, coaching and supporting 24 Reasons.
Kustom Entertainment's Stan Ross on 30 years of Country Stampede
Country Stampede at Azura. // photo courtesy Kustom Entertainment Country Stampede takes place at Azura Amphitheater from Thursday, June 25, through Saturday, June 27, and features Rascal Flatts, Zach Top, Treaty Oak Revival, Wyatt Flores, Scotty McCreery, and Tracy Lawrence, among others. Details on the festival here. In its 30-year history, Kansas’ country music festival, Country Stampede, has steadily moved...
Saturday Sports: The World Cup; the unexpected 'Boston Scottish Beer Fest'
NPR's Scott Simon and sports reporter Michele Steele discuss the World Cup.
Cowboys Headlines: Prescott's playoff goals, Mafah's chance to shine
Here's the latest news and note about your Dallas Cowboys and teams around the NFL.
Scott Lowe, researcher: ‘Governments must fund science. Pharmaceutical companies want to help, but they also want to make money’
The geneticist speaks with EL PAÍS about the advances and challenges in the field of cancer research
Scheffler career Slam chances blowing in Shinnecock winds
Scottie Scheffler's chances of winning the US Open to complete a career Grand Slam might just come down to how the fickle winds of Shinnecock blow this weekend.Playing in the wind is extremely difficult and judging speed on putts when the wind is blowing that hard can be challenging," Scheffler said.
Congressman attacks Evers for his push to apply for federal funding
Wisconsin applied for federal funding through the Rural Health Transformation Program, which was included in the so-called Big Beautiful Bill.
Hip-hop producer Tay Keith found dead in apartment at 29
The Grammy nominee worked with Travis Scott, Beyoncé, and more.
SNP concedes Aberdeen South with Scottish Conservatives set to win
Byelection loss suggests voters rebelled against SNP over Peter Murrell’s theft of £400,000 in party funds
For once, Cowboys enter NFL summer break free of contract drama
After years of offseason contract battles involving stars like Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons, Dallas heads into the summer with rare peace and quiet
Cook Political Report shifts 7 House races toward Democrats
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report (CPR) on Thursday moved seven House races toward Democrats, as the minority party looks to retake control of the lower chamber this November. Erin Covey,…
Swampscott Center for Performing Arts Secures Entertainment License After Board Review
The Swampscott Center for Performing Arts secured its entertainment license from the Select Board on Wednesday after several rounds of discussion at previous meetings. “We have been very clear about...
Swampscott Center for Performing Arts Secures Entertainment License After Board Review
The Swampscott Center for Performing Arts secured its entertainment license from the Select Board on Wednesday after several rounds of discussion at previous meetings. “We have been very clear about...
Report: Nets' Nic Claxton drawing trade interest from Hornets
Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton is drawing trade interest from the Charlotte Hornets, according to HoopsHype's Michael Scotto.
Scott vetoes Legislature’s latest attempt at healthcare reform
The governor said he wants savings to be shared equally among insurance buyers, not only the two groups targeted by the bill. Others say the savings just aren’t there.
Scottish Premiership fixture release - all you need to know
The fixtures for the 2026-27 Scottish Premiership season are released on Thursday at 12:00 BST - and you can see them on the BBC Sport website and app as soon as they are announced.
Commitment supports UVA football, men’s basketball, women’s sports at UVA
Virginia Athletics and the Virginia Athletics Foundation announced on Wednesday that Dr. Scott Wagner and Kristin Norman have committed $5 million to provide critical immediate resources and support.
Fantasy Baseball: Scott Pianowski's 9 (favorite) mistakes for the 2026 season he's ready to learn from
Villa's lethal weapon takes on the World Cup
The moment Youri Tielemans's opener burst the net in Aston Villa's Europa League triumph against Freiburg, each of Unai Emery's substitutes took a turn to embrace the man responsible for orchestrating another set-piece goal. Goalkeeper Emi Martinez chose not to celebrate with his outfield team-mates, instead racing over to the dugout to also show his appreciation to Scottish coach Austin MacPhee. Villa fans were heard chanting the name of the 46-year-old as their heroes on the pitch closed in on a 3-0 victory in Istanbul.
Dak Prescott, Cowboys Get New Offensive Lineman on Monday
Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys are desperate for a turnaround after missing the playoffs in back-to-back years.
Emigholz on Jersey Thing: Business Climate Analysis Shows Competitive Struggles with Neighboring States
In a recent interview on Jersey Thing with Eric Scott, NJBIA Chief Government Affairs Officer Christopher Emigholz said New Jersey’s disappointing ranking
Arkansas ranks 43rd in child well-being as education, health scores decline, report finds
KATV ABC 7 in Little Rock, Arkansas covers news, sports, weather and the local community in the city and the surrounding area, including Hot Springs, Conway, Pine Bluff, Jacksonville, Sherwood, Stuttgart, Benton, Bauxite, East End, Scott, Pinnacle, Maumelle, Gibson, Landmark and Hensley.
Doctor on how social media can affect children's health, development
Dr. Scott Hadland, the Chief of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at Mass General for Children, said research shows real risks that social media can affect young people's sleep as well as their attention and focus in school.
Beer sales surge in Boston after first home World Cup match
Pubs and liquor stores are reporting busier-than-normal weekends. Scottish visitors drank a lot of beer, and businesses are preparing for the week ahead.
2027 NFL Draft Summer Scouting Report: Justin Scott, DL, Miami
Miami's defense is loaded on the defensive line with Justin Scott being an underrated piece.
Fantasy Baseball Rest-of-Season Rankings: Scott Pianowski's updated risers and fallers as of June 15
Fitzgerald tells ‘UpFront’ Packers will be fine as he explores issues with NFL, Sports Broadcasting Act
Fresh off his hearing on Capitol Hill, U.S. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald said the NFL may be violating the Sports Broadcasting Act and quickly dismissed concerns from the Green Bay Packers about any changes to the league's shared revenue model.
How morals influence food, health decisions
Olin’s Sydney Scott researches why consumers act the way they do in the grocery aisle – and the doctor’s office.
Novant Health Scotts Hill Medical Center hosts community day ahead of opening
Novant Health hosted a community day at Scotts Hill Medical Center ahead of its opening, giving neighbors their first look at New Hanover County’s first newly built hospital in decades.
James Uthmeier backs Scott Singer in crowded CD 25 Republican primary
The Attorney General's nod hands Singer a statewide ally as he competes with a field of GOP rivals.
Novant Health Scotts Hill Medical Center hosts community day ahead of opening
Families and their pets attended the event outside the facility. Attendees met staff, learned about services and took guided tours inside.
Changes to the NC State Health Plan will make retirees pay more. Here’s what it means for you
Retirees on the state’s Medicare Advantage plans will pay more for hospital stays, specialist visits and some drugs next year.
In Retrospect: Poland, Russia, Europe
In April I spent a few days with Zryw, a Polish non-profit organization that recruits young people to enter politics and public life. Their aim is to build a new generation of civic leaders in Poland. I’ve followed their evolution from the beginning; my son is one of the founders. (“Zryw” means “impulse” or “burst of speed” in Polish). Julie Chmielewska, one of Zryw’s leaders, interviewed me at the event. Here is the conversation, lightly edited for grammar and context: Julia Chmielewska: Assuming that culture shapes institutions, could we conclude that some cultures are more prone to authoritarianism? Anne Applebaum: I don’t think so. Every culture, every nation, and every country has the potential for change. When we look at history, we can see that nations do change. Poland has changed, for example, from the 1980s to today. There’s a completely different mentality here than the one I encountered when I first visited, in 1988. The current generation sees the world through a different frame. So no, I don’t believe that certain nations are doomed to authoritarianism, or to anything. Of course, there are political and cultural traditions, but they can always be challenged. JC: So do you think there’s something intrinsic in human nature that pushes people to democracy, freedom? AA: I think there is something in human nature, a deep instinct, that pushes people towards freedom, yes. People who live in authoritarian countries – and I’ve heard this from them over and over again – sooner or later find themselves angered by a feeling of helplessness. They can see the unfairness of crooked courts, irrational political decisions. They naturally dislike the fact that somebody has all the power while they have none. In those circumstances, people who have no political background at all sometimes are politicized just by that frustration. I’m thinking of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, for example, who was a Belarusian housewife, until the circumstances of her husband’s arrest forced her to become a politician. I met a woman who is a Uyghur from China, and who had come to live in Turkey. After several of her family members were arrested, she too was propelled into a political role. These kinds of experiences make people interested in democracy or political reform, even if they thought they didn’t care. I also think that the opposite is true: some people instinctively prefer homogeneity, order, hierarchy. They don’t like the confrontation of opinions or the noise of debate, and they lean towards a single leader or a unified regime. I think that most of modern history is shaped by the clash between those two different sides of human nature. JC: Which force do you find more powerful today? AA: I think they both have a lot of power and there’s no way of predicting who wins. Even in countries that seem very shut off or stuck in an authoritarian system can change. We’ve seen that happen. And vice versa, I think democracies can also begin to fail and slide into authoritarianism. So it’s very important not to be complacent in either direction. JC: I want to go into your history and your experiences. You’ve lived in Russia during a time of incredible change in the late 80s, and then you came back to do research in post-Soviet Russia. AA: I was a student in Russia just before the collapse of the Soviet Union. I then traveled and worked there extensively in the 1990s, and I met people who really were full of hope. They hoped that Russia could become a democracy, or at least a place that guaranteed freedom of speech, freedom of the press. These weren’t ideas that came from Washington. Although now the narrative in the Kremlin is different, I met many people who were working towards exactly that kind of transformation. A friend of mine ran a series of seminars – once a year, and then later several times a year, in cities all over Russia – designed to get people to discuss politics in new ways. She invited young politicians and journalists, as well as foreigners. I went to many of them, in Moscow as well as Volgograd and Novosibirsk. Over two decades, hundreds of people came to these seminars, and all of them wanted Russia to be different. I remain convinced that many Russians still want Russia to be different. It’s just that the old system, in the form of Putin, a representative of that system, returned. The KGB reimposed their power. And this wasn’t because of something to do with culture, this was to do with money and politics, and who was in charge. JC: You’ve partially answered my question... I wanted to ask whether that excitement of the 1990s was an exception from the Russian historical norm which has been rather authoritarian? AA: Of course, if you look at the history of Russia since the 18th century, there have always been liberal groups, reformers and revolutionaries. There were the Decembrists, in the early 19th century, and the rural populists later on, who tried to organize the peasantry. A significant group of liberal Russians appeared at the turn of the 20th century, people like the father of the writer Vladimir Nabokov, who was a Russian politician before the revolution. These groups were small in number, but sometimes had a broader significance. The Russian dissident movement in the 1950s and 1960s actually invented the modern human rights movement. It was their idea to hold the leaders of the Soviet Union accountable for the language they used, to remind them of the treaties they had signed and the promised they had made. They created the Helsinki group, for example, that held Soviet leadership to the language of the Helsinki Treaty, which formally ended the Second World War and which contained guarantees of human rights, at least on paper. That idea spread to Eastern Europe, and similar tactics were used here in Poland. (Benjamin Nathans recently wrote a great book about the Soviet dissidents, To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause) JC: But seemingly, even if they do ever get power, they could never hold on to it. AA: We don’t know, because they have never really had power. But in any case, we also don’t know what will happen in the future. There is no reason to assume that Russia will forever be condemned to totalitarianism. Even during the first fifteen years of Putin’s regime there was some form of democratic politics. Only when the full-scale war began did he bring everything to an end: he shut down all remaining independent organizations and killed his most important opponent, Alexi Navalny. But does that mean he is popular, that he enjoys legitimacy? Even now, we don’t really know what Russians think about him, or about the war. There is no way of doing real polling in Russia because nobody will answer an independent pollster over the phone. JC: Do you think that the flock of young people, especially young men, who fled Russia after the start of the war represent a continuation of liberal movements that refuse to partake in the authoritarian state, or do you think they are moving for the sake of self-preservation – “I don’t want to go to the army, so I leave”? AA: I’m sure it’s both. I actually know many people who left Russia for political reasons either in the very last years before the war, or else just after the war began. JC: And do you see a change in the young generation versus the old one that have fled? AA: It’s hard for me to say because the people who I know were mostly already politicized. I do know some younger people who left, but most of them were already either active in the opposition, or working as journalists. Many of them very self-consciously think of themselves as maintaining Russian culture abroad, just as in the 20th century the Soviet dissidents or the anti-communist White Russians once thought of themselves as people who maintained the true Russian culture, outside of Bolshevik Russia. JC: Let’s move on to Poland. One of your first experiences with Poland was reporting on Margaret Thatcher’s first state visit, in the autumn of 1988. You followed her around the farmers’ market. AA: She was making a symbolic gesture. She wanted to welcome free markets, but the only one she could really visit was the farmers’ market at Hala Mirowska. JC: And I want to talk about this area because today you can look out of any window in that district, Mirów, and see rows and rows of skyscrapers. How does it feel to see a country built from the ground in such a short time, both politically and economically? AA: You know, when you’re living in a period of dramatic change, it’s always hard to know whether the change is positive or negative. The transformation in Poland created winners and losers, as well as new classes of people, new political movements of different kinds. At the time, it sometimes just felt like turbulence. Now, we can look back at the 1990s and early 2000s in Poland and see in retrospect that the country was headed in towards prosperity and European integration. In around 2009 or 2010, I remember speaking to a woman who worked cleaning government offices, and who asked me if her daughter should study in Amsterdam or in London. This seemed to me to be a real transformation, and it happened very fast: within a few years, Poles stopped feeling like second-class Europeans, and a generation of younger Poles appeared who had no qualms about crossing borders. JC: We again live in turbulent times. Do you think we’re heading towards positive outcomes? AA: I can’t make predictions, because everything that happens tomorrow depends on what people do today. Also, history doesn’t have a trajectory. It doesn’t move in a particular direction. You only think it does afterwards. As I said, you can look afterwards at Poland in the 1990s and you could say this was a period of great progress. But not everybody at the time saw that. Sometimes people are very wrong about a given country’s trajectory. I remember people writing about Ukraine in the 1990s, about how dangerous it was that Ukraine was independent, that this was going to be an anti-semitic state, that Ukrainian nationalism was going to come back... and although you can say many bad things about Ukraine, the country made many bad choices, actually it became a pretty tolerant state which now has a Jewish president and until recently a Muslim defense minister. JC: In the 1990s Poland’s and Ukraine’s GDP were roughly similar. Ukraine was even a bit richer. So the starting point was similar for both of these countries, but they’ve turned out very, very differently. Even if we stop in 2014. Why do you think Ukraine “chose East”? Was it external influence? AA: No, I think Ukraine was in a different position. First of all, central and eastern Ukraine had been part of the Soviet Union since the 1920s, and had therefore experienced a longer period of occupation, repression, Sovietization and even Russification. Ukraine did not have, as Poland did, an alternative elite: a large cadre of economists and politicians, who already had some experience in opposition politics and in independent thinking. In Poland, the transformative finance minister, Leszek Balcerowicz, had already thought about how an economy might be decentralized before he took office. We can argue about how successful he was, but at least he was prepared to try something new. In Ukraine, people weren’t prepared. For one, there hadn’t been much space even for an illegal opposition in the previous couple of decades. Ukraine was also in many ways still emerging from colonial occupation. For the previous couple of centuries, many of the most capable Ukrainians had moved to Russia, and the first generation of leaders in independent Ukraine tended to be former Soviet apparatchiks. They didn’t immediately seek to become closer to western Europe. Instead, they looked for some kind of economic and political “third way” and an accomodation with Russia. Ukraine became stuck in this position, half-in, half-out and became pretty profoundly corrupt. JC: The Polish alternative elite had a vision of where they wanted the country to go. I think the general perception now is that this vision ends with the next election, right? Is this a natural process of gaining power? AA: Their vision, and it was shared by the time by politicians who now call themselves both left and right, was that Poland should join the EU and NATO, as fast as possible. My husband (Radek Sikorski) was in the very first government that said it wanted to join NATO. At the time this was taken very badly in Washington: the demand for NATO membership absolutely came from Poland, not from the US. But even then, in the early 1990s, many Poles already understood that the Russian sphere of influence would grow once again, that it was important to become part of the transatlantic alliance and an integrated Europe as fast as possible: NATO, the EU, the Council of Europe, all of the trading and security alliances. That consensus lasted through several different governments and over many years, even governments containing former communists. For twenty years, right, left and center disagreed about many things, but they all agreed on the direction that the country should go. In retrospect, that consensus created the basis for prosperity in Poland. JC: And regarding the Polish-Ukrainian relations. We know that antagonisms, e.g. the myth of Wołyń [a massacre of Poles that took place in what is now Western Ukraine, in 1943] are increasingly used in Polish political discourse today. In Ukraine, nationalist historians make heroes out of UPA, the Ukrainian revolutionary army, which is held responsible for this tragedy. Where do you see a start for burying the hatchet? Is the reconciliation of our nations possible? AA: So here’s a strange thing: For more than a decade after they both gained independence, Poland and Ukraine participated in a number of projects that were designed to solve exactly these kinds of Polish-Ukrainian differences. Books were published that were jointly written by Polish and Ukrainian historians, monuments were built. These projects were successful: If you’d asked me this question in 2010, I would have said that there are no real historical issues between Poland and Ukraine, that the two countries had mostly reconciled. For a number of reasons, this began to shift. In Poland, children and grandchildren of victims of the Wołyń massacre felt their tragedy hadn’t been fully recognized. In Ukraine, nationalist groups wanted the UPA partisans who had fought against the Soviet Union recognized for their heroism, despite the fact that some in this broad and not well-defined group were also linked to Wołyń. In both eastern Poland and western Ukraine, the memory of the ethnic cleansing that took place there in the late 1940s - Poles were moved West, Ukrainians East - to accomodate new borders has left feelings of displacement and bitterness. The wave of Ukrainian immigration, which started before the war, may have provoked some of this. But don’t underestimate the role played by Russia, which has always wanted to create discord between Poland and Ukraine, and pumps out propaganda to that effect in both countries. Vandalism on both sides of the border, damage done to cemeteries and monuments, is sometimes carried out by provacateurs working for Russia, just to create bad feelings. The Polish-Ukrainian conflict also hides a different reality: although there are real grievances and bad memories, the truth is that the biggest tragedies both nations experienced in the twentieth century were inflicted by the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. That should unite these two countries, not divide them. JC: This week (19.04.2026 – Ed.) in Hungary we saw that using historical narratives to create grievance has no longer worked. Are you optimistic about the direction after Orban’s loss? AA: The Hungarian election was really important because it shows that people can actually resist powerful, dominant propaganda. The ruling party Fidesz controlled all of the TV, 90% of the newspapers, the constitutional court, the bureaucracy... and yet people had the nerve to vote against it and resist it. It’s also an important election because Hungary created a huge network of well-funded think tanks and foundations that were funding other far right groups and projects. So that loss is going to have a knock-on effect in other places too, maybe even in Poland. JC: What you’ve said about resisting propaganda reminds me of one of the interviews you did about talking to Russians in the post-Soviet era who claimed that people knew that the system was lying. Why do people choose to believe in these regimes anyway? AA: Because it’s useful. Stephen Kotkin, an American historian, once described how people would learn how to “speak Bolshevik”: It was just a language that you needed to use in order to get by in society. If you didn’t talk the way the regime wanted you to talk, then you might have problems, or lose your job, or your kids would not get into university. It was a way of getting along. Communist Poland was similar, at least in the early years. When I was writing a book about the Sovietization of Eastern Europe after World War II, I met a lot of people who wanted to talk a lot about the war, when many of them had done really heroic things. But almost nobody wanted to talk about the decade afterwards, between 1945 and 1956. This was when you had the short period of terror, violence and Polish Stalinism. To stay safe, people felt the need to just go along with what others were saying, or stay out of politics, or use communist jargon without necessarily believing it. I don’t judge them for it, and I wouldn’t describe all of those people as collaborators. It’s easy to feel moral certainty in retrospect, because we know that communism ended. But if you were living in 1949, it might not have been clear to you that communism was going to end. In very repressive societies, maybe about 10% of people who are really evil – collaborators, torturers. Maybe 10% of people are really brave and who find ways to resist. And then around 80% of people have kids, they have parents, they have to have jobs and they’ve had to get through it somehow. Strange though it may sound, I’ve found that the work I did on that book is now very useful in explaining some of what’s going on in the United States today. There are plenty of members of the Republican Party in Congress who know perfectly well that Donald Trump says many things that aren’t true. But they avoid criticizing him because it’s inconvenient, because they would get in trouble, because someone would attack them on the internet. So actually you don’t even need mass terror to get people to conform. JC: Is Gen Z reinventing agency? AA: We’ll see. In any generation you can find groups of people who want agency. If you live in a society that’s unfair, for example where a tiny number of people have captured most of the wealth, then at a certain point people rebel. This is always easier for younger people, who have you have less to lose. The question now is how the internet will affect the relationships between citizens and the state, and how it will change organizations. The “Twitter revolutions” people spoke about as early as 2008-9, mass protests organized online, have often proved to be very superficial. Although you can easily join something just by clicking, the work of creating a real movement requires physical participation. Successful mass movements of the past, for example the Civil Rights movement in the United States, were built by people who had spent many years together. They had participated in non-violent workshops together. They practiced and prepared. Just using the you can get everybody to show up at a certain moment, but then when the protest is broken up, nothing happens. It’s also true that the repressive regimes have more recently learned how to use the internet to undermine leaders and movements. Most of all, they now understand how to make people cynical. The form of propaganda that most modern authoritarians use - and I think the Russians really pioneered this - deploys sneering cynicism. Instead of praising the rulers, the regime propagandists mock the opposition movement leadership for being supposedly corrupt or sexually degenerate, with the goal of undermining any kind of idealism. JC: MAGA grew on the internet? AA: MAGA is a real grassroots movement. They had symbols, red hats, they showed up at rallies. But you’re right that the cynicism, the sarcasm and the distrust that the movement embodies came originally from the internet, and this is different. Fifty years ago, most European political parties had a social base in real organizations, in trade unions for Social Democrats, in church groups for Christian Democrats. As people stopped going to church and as the trade unions became smaller, the social base of these parties disappeared. Now people who wouldn’t have known one another in the past meet on the internet and create new movements, many of which don’t last. JC: Is history ending? Going in stale circles? AA: History never ends. In truth, human beings want contradictory things at the same time: order and freedom, stability and change. These things are never resolved, and when a society swings too far in one direction, people always push it the other way. But each time that happens, the result is different. Certainly it is true that we are now in a period when old philosophers and ideas from the 1930s are undergoing a revival. Carl Schmitt, who was a philosopher who was very influential on the Nazis, is back as an influence on both the far left and the far right, once again inspiring people to think that all politics has to be existential, that all politics is about defining and defeating enemies. In the US, some are also bringing back dominionism, the idea that we need a Christian and not a secular state. It’s also true that we are living through a more fundamental shift. The old left-right divide, which was mostly about the size of the state, is much less important now. Instead, we are arguing about more fundamental things: what are our rights, what protects our freedom. Or how much power do we want to give small elites, versus how much power to give ordinary people. In America a small group of very wealthy people now control information, because they control the social media platforms and AI, which means they determine what people will read and learn. Finding a way to preserve preserve zones of autonomy and independent thinking, this is going to be the main task for the next generation. JC: What is the one book that a person interested in Central Europe should read? AA: You could read my book “Iron Curtain: the Crushing of Eastern Europe” which tells the story of how the Soviet Union imposed its culture on the region. Or read Tim Snyder’s history of the region, “The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus 1569-1999.” And everyone should read “The Captive Mind” by Czesław Miłosz, which describes exactly the phenomenon we were talking about: why do people collaborate? I joined Scott Galloway and the brilliant Fiona Hill in a discussion about the wars in Ukraine and Iran, the future of global power, and what these conflicts reveal about America's role in the world. Scott told us that this was the 400th edition of his podcast, which is quite a number: My friend Francesco Chiamulera runs a brilliant series of literary events, Una Colline di Libri, A Hill of Books, in the Prosecco Hills, a region of vineyards and elegant hill towns in the Veneto, north of Venice. We did an event in Vittorio Veneto and also drove and biked around the countryside. Buy Autocracy Inc Buy Iron Curtain Open Letters, from Anne Applebaum is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe
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