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Americast

Are polls misleading Americans?

28 August 2026

Available for over a year

In several primary elections so far, polling has been wrong. So much so that a candidate in the Wisconsin Democratic primary dropped out because another candidate so high in the polls. The only problem - the ‘clear winner’ lost.

Whether polls mislead American voters has been an active question since 2016, when predictions were that Donald Trump would lose the presidential race.

But as voters look toward the midterms, we ask when they do and don’t help. Does the media oversell them? And do they play too big of a role in shaping political narratives?

Joining Anthony and Sumi to discuss is Stephen Hawkins, the Global Director of Research at More in Common.

HOSTS:

• Anthony Zurcher, North America Correspondent

• Sumi Somaskanda, BBC Chief Presenter

GUEST:

• Stephen Hawkins, Global Director of Research, More in Common

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This episode was made by Chris Flynn, Alix Pickles and Grace Reeve. The technical producer was Ben Andrews. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

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