Are polls misleading Americans? episode artwork

EPISODE · Aug 28, 2026 · 31 MIN

Are polls misleading Americans?

from Americast · host BBC News

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 PresenterGUEST: • Stephen Hawkins, Global Director of Research, More in CommonGET IN TOUCH: • Join our online community: https://discord.gg/qSrxqNcmRB • Send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 9480 • Email [email protected] • Or use #AmericastThis 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.If you want to be notified every time we publish a new episode, please subscribe to us on BBC Sounds by hitting the subscribe button on the app.You can now listen to Americast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Americast”. It works on most smart speakers.US Election Unspun: Sign up for Anthony’s BBC newsletter: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68093155Americast is part of the BBC News Podcasts family of podcasts. The team that makes Americast also makes lots of other podcasts, including Newscast. If you enjoy Americast (and if you're reading this then you hopefully do), then we think that you will enjoy some of our other pods too. See links below.Newscast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/series/p05299nl Top Comment: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/m001mssm Radical: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0gg4k6r The Global Story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/w13xtvsd

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Aug 28, 2026

Embed this episode

Ready to play

Are polls misleading Americans?

0:00 31:26

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

No similar episodes found.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of Americast?

This episode is 31 minutes long.

When was this Americast episode published?

This episode was published on August 28, 2026.

Can I download this Americast episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.
URL copied to clipboard!