Editorial Standards

How we pick topics, do the research, and correct mistakes.

What makes a "hot take" topic

We look for stories currently in the news that reasonable, informed people genuinely disagree about — not manufactured controversy, and not stories where one side is simply misinformed. We try to keep a mix of categories (politics, culture, technology, sport) rather than leaning on any one beat.

AI-assisted, human-reviewed

We use AI tools to help surface candidate stories and draft the background research for each topic — the short summary, the "what happened / why people disagree / what's still unclear" breakdown, and the linked sources. Every one of those is reviewed by a person before it goes live. AI helps us move faster and cover more ground; it doesn't get the final word on what publishes.

Sourcing

The sources listed on a topic page are real, published articles from established news outlets — not AI-generated or fabricated citations. Where accounts conflict (for example, two sides disputing what happened), we try to say so explicitly in the "what's still unclear" section rather than picking a winner.

Neutrality on the poll itself

The point of the poll is to show where readers actually land, not to nudge them toward an answer. We try to write poll options and headlines in a way that doesn't presuppose which side is right.

Corrections

When we get something wrong, we fix it and note that a correction was made. See our Corrections page for how to flag an issue and how we handle it.

Questions

See our Contact page to reach us about anything on this page.