How often do opinion polls get it right and zero in on what Americans are actually thinking and feeling when it comes to elections?

We've all seen political polls get it wrong, miss the mark and be an inaccurate barometer of public sentiment.

With an election looming, polling is in overdrive.

Could AI make polling more accurate? That's what a group at Ohio State is working to find out.

Without question, work has changed post-pandemic. Workers and managers have had to navigate many obstacles, including working from home, Zoom, and more recently, the addition of AI.

But just because work looks different, it doesn’t mean the work isn’t working.

Smart lights are new ways of creating unique atmospheres in homes. Some of the lights are now using generative AI.

Dry cat food dispensers have existed for a while now, but what about cats who prefer wet food?

Dishwashers are beginning to include cameras. How do they help get your dishes cleaner?

We're talking about all of these topics on this week's Tech Tuesday.

Guests:

• Ryan Kennedy, political science professor and the Timashev Chair of Data Analytics, Ohio State University
• Gleb Tsipursky, author and CEO of Disaster Avoidance Experts
• Russell Holly, director of commerce content, CNET

Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther announced late last week that the city is suspending its use of Flock automatic license plate readers while investigating an officer’s potential misuse of the cameras.

A USA Today investigation found that an officer searched for a single vehicle’s location more than 200 times using the city’s cameras.

Will we get to see Ohio's governor candidates Democrat Amy Acton and Republican Vivek Ramaswamy debate? The short answer is no. We will discuss why.

After the death of a 20-year-old Springfield resident and Haitian migrant, many people are once again questioning ICE tactics. Pierre Damas Bel died last week by apparent suicide.

All of these topics and more are coming up on a special Tuesday edition of the Reporter Roundtable.

Guests:

• George Shillcock, WOSU news reporter
• Marty Schladen, reporter, Ohio Capital Journal
• Andrew Tobias, state government and politics reporter, Signal Ohio
• Laura Hancock, politics and policy reporter, Cleveland.com

Sometimes, it’s the people we least expect who will change the direction of our lives. For many, our parents teach us about the world and how to exist within it. But for others, family is found.

Family can be found in many ways, for Richard Durate Brown, it was through his passion for art.

Sports are a platform for athletes to speak out against racial injustice. The Civil Rights Movement was greatly advanced by athletes like Muhammed Ali and Jesse Owens.

We’ll meet an author who highlights Jim Brown, the former football player for the Cleveland Browns, who is more than an athlete.

Prior to being a pop culture professor, we will meet someone who was also a flying trapeze artist, cliff diver, stunt driver, and also became a life saver.

It's all coming up on this week's edition of Fascinating Ohio.

Guests:

• Richard Durate Brown, artist and art educator
• Robert A. Bennett III, associate professor, Denison University/author, More than an Athlete: Jim Brown, Black Capitalism and the Black Economic Union
• Montana Miller, associate professor of popular culture, Bowling Green State University

Higher education is costing more and some say it's delivering less.

In a world of fast-paced technology and micro-credentials, are public universities becoming relics of the past?

A group of experts in higher education, including former Ohio State President Gordon Gee, will gather at Ohio State to discuss ways to modernize universities.

From expanding AI to strengthening transparency. From rebuilding trust to aligning education with real-world needs.

How can academic leaders position higher education for the future?

Guests:

• Gordon Gee, president emeritus, The Ohio State University
• Steve Gavazzi, professor of human development and family science/director of CHRR, The Ohio State University
• David Rosowsky, senior advisor to the president, Arizona State University

photo: Mark Duncan / AP

Driverless trucks may seem to be a thing of the future, but it's coming faster than we think, and it's being tested right in our backyard.

What does it mean for a truck to have no driver? How does it work? Is it safe?

Meta will soon be signing a very large check: a $16.7 billion check to be exact with money flowing to dozens of states, including $319 million to Ohio.

The tech giant also pledged to make substantial changes to the platform to protect kids. So what exactly will be different?

Are you looking to upgrade your old iPhone? It might be best to wait to save on deals. Apple typically releases its new models in September. This year it might include a foldable iPhone.

And what if earbuds could listen and hear?

We're discussing all of these topics on this week's edition of Tech Tuesday.

Guests:

• Abbi Failla, chief administrative officer, EASE
• Paresh Dave, senior writer, WIRED
• Russell Holly, director of commerce content, CNET

photo: Gene J. Puskar / AP

In many U.S. cities, you'll find a partnership between civic leaders, local businesses, and nonprofits working to better the community.

Here in Ohio's capital city, it's known as the "Columbus Way."

However, economic challenges and social forces have some feeling that local nonprofits are losing their way.

We're talking about why it may be time to reimagine nonprofit leadership.

Guests:

• Mark Barbash, lecturer, Ohio State University John Glenn College of Public Affairs
• Karen Mozenter, CEO, Jewish Family Services/vice chair, Human Service Chamber

The Cinema Columbus Film Festival has moved from May to September and it's an annual showcase for Ohio filmmakers.

This year's topics are timely and topical, including a Columbus native of Haitian descent exploring the Haitian experience in America.

Another filmmaker tells the story of Columbus through interwoven stories. An Ohio State University professor-turned filmmaker explores modern marriage and traditions in China. And that's just a sampling of what's in store.

Guests:

• Brett Reiter, festival director of the Cinema Columbus Film Festival
• Logan St. Hilaire, filmmaker
• Claudia Owusu, filmmaker

From political attack ads to unexpected policy positions, we look at how the two candidates, Democrat Amy Acton and Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, for Ohio's next governor are trying to woo voters.

Stark differences emerge in the U.S. Senate race between Senator Jon Husted and former Senator Sherrod Brown and a grief-stricken family asks Husted's campaign to remove a political ad.

We'll also look at Flock cameras and how misusing the technology would be a felony under a proposed Ohio bill. Plus, an Ohio judge kicked off the bench and suspended is on the November ballot.

Finally, did you know, Ohio children received more free books from Dolly Parton's Imagination Library than any other state. We'll discuss all this and more on our Weekly Reporter Roundtable.

Guests:

• Jeremy Pelzer, chief politics reporter for Cleveland.com
• Haley BeMiller, state government and politics reporter for the Columbus Dispatch
• Jake Zuckerman, reporter for Signal Ohio

The race for Ohio governor is heating up.

Amy Acton and her Republican opponent, Vivek Ramaswamy, have been traveling the state, doing the grassroots work and raising money. Ramaswamy, who has much more money than Acton, has been running ads for months, as has his political action committee. Acton appears to have been saving her money for the stretch run and has just started running ads.

The ads are coming fast and furious, setting up a rough-and-tumble final two months before Election Day.

The question is, will the positive and negative ads help us understand who these candidates really are?

To help dissect the candidates and the race going forward, we welcome Cheri Strachan, director of the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron.

Snollygoster of the week

For those of you outside Central Ohio, you should know we have not had a competitive mayoral race in Columbus since at least the Clinton administration, possibly the first Bush administration. Competitive races for mayor violate the Columbus Way: collaborating, usually behind closed doors, and waiting your turn to run for mayor.

Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin is not waiting his turn. He announced last week that he will challenge the three-term incumbent, Ginther. It was a big production. His campaign leaked it to the Dispatch and the local NBC affiliate. They did interviews the day before and held the story for a day. Hardin held a big announcement at his childhood home on the first day of school. It was very well planned.

Then Columbus got flash floods. It was a real mess in many parts of the city. The city had to temporarily erect the floodwalls, and major roadways were blocked. What did Mayor Ginther do at the exact time Hardin was kicking off his challenge? The mayor stood in front of a floodwall and explained how the city—ahem, his administration—was going to assist people affected by the flooding.

It would have been a pretty good split screen, but the TV stations only focused on the flooding and Ginther. I do not know if it was intentional, but scheduling a weather emergency news conference at the same time as your opponent's campaign announcement is pretty shrewd.

There are so many ways to fix breakfast. But what makes a restaurant’s breakfast special, special?

Columbus has some serious chef talent, and a food and travel writer is spotlighting that talent.

Hardships can be a part of any life, but doing something with them and turning it into something positive can be difficult, but this is what one woman did.

Math is difficult for many students. It can be very challenging to learn new math skills and kids often become overwhelmed and discouraged by its challenges, but one teacher decided to fix this problem.

Guests:

• Nick Dekker, food and travel writer, Breakfast with Nick
• Dureti "Mimi" Tadesse, CEO and founder, Cawwaaqee Guuttatta Women’s Empowerment
• Caroline Farkas, certified teacher and educational content creator/founder, Doodles and Digits