Thomas & Friends series 5

# Thomas & Friends series 5

## Abstract

Thomas (the Tank Engine) & Friends is a children's television series about the engines and other characters working on the railways of the Island of Sodor, and is based on The Railway Series books written by the Reverend W. Awdry.

This article lists and details episodes from the fifth series of the show, which was first broadcast in 1998. This series was narrated by Michael Angelis for audiences in the United Kingdom, while Alec Baldwin narrated episodes for audiences in the United States.

In the United States, this season was first aired in 1999 on Fox Family. This was the first season of the series that was not aired on PBS Kids.

This was the last season produced by Gullane Entertainment 's original name, The Britt Allcroft Company before its current rename in 2000.

## Production

### Stories

The show's staff had decided since Series 3 that most of the best stories of The Railway Series had been adapted, the rest involving too many new characters or closely resembling previous stories. With Series 5, the decision was made to write a full series of original, staff-written stories. One reason for this was producer Britt Allcroft 's desire to create a theatrical Thomas the Tank Engine movie. She requested that director David Mitton show off his modelling skills.

Some inspiration for the stories came from a former LMR manager named David Maidment. In 1997, Maidment met with Steven Wright about the possibility of supporting the Railway Children charity, and while Wright told him the series' staff commonly received such requests, they would consider. During their meeting, Maidment relayed stories about his railway experiences working in South Wales and as the manager at Crewe station. Days later, Maidment received a call asking if he would allow some of his stories to be used as material – the stories from The Railway Series were frequently based on true events, and Allcroft and Mitton preferred this. Maidment agreed, and was also asked to review each story to make sure that the railway in the show operated realistically. As a result, Maidment received writing credit alongside Allcroft and Mitton. 10,000 pounds ($14,406 in U.S. money) was donated to the Railway Children for his work.

These stories are amongst those adapted:

- "A Better View for Gordon" - the Granville-Paris Express ran through the buffer stop, across the station concourse, and crashed through the station wall; landing in the Place de Rennes below.

- "Baa!" – a ram invades a railway station and attacks some vandals; additionally, the idea of a "Best Kept Station" competition.

- "James & the Trouble with Trees" – rain erodes an embankment, causing a tree to slide down and stand upright on the tracks.

- "Double Teething Troubles" – a diesel stalls while banking a train.

- "A Surprise for Percy" - a runaway in the Garw Valley that occurred during David Maidment's time as Area Manager at Bridgend.

- "Busy Going Backwards" - a couple of "hair-raising" runaway trains in the Tondu valleys that occurred during David Maidment's time as Area Manager in South Wales.

- "Gordon & the Gremlin" – bathwater in a luxury coach splashes around the compartment.

The design for each new character would be chosen by David Eves, and given to David Mitton for approval.

### Filming

Mitton shot 2,700 slates for Series 5, the most of any of the series he shot for Thomas, and music from seasons 3 and 4 play while recording the audio to 5.1 surround sound while the final cut uses stereo audio.

The filming for this season lasted from September 1, 1997, to April 30, 1998.

### Broadcast

Previously Thomas had only appeared in the US as a segment on the TV show Shining Time Station, but Series 5 aired in the US as part of the half-hour Storytime with Thomas program. Each episode would include a new Series 5 episode, an episode of Britt Allcroft's Magic Adventures of Mumfie, and a Series 4 episode narrated by George Carlin, with music videos and footage of Day Out with Thomas in between.

## Episodes

## Characters

### Introduced

- Old Slow Coach

- The Horrid Lorries

- Cranky

- Old Bailey

- Derek (not named)

- 'Arry (not named) and Bert (does not speak)

- Dowager Hatt (not named)

- Bertram (does not speak)

- Butch (does not speak)

- Thumper (does not speak)

- Tiger Moth (does not speak)

### Recurring cast

- Thomas

- Edward

- Henry

- Gordon

- James

- Percy

- Toby

- Duck

- Oliver

- Bill and Ben

- Stepney

- BoCo

- Mavis

- Skarloey

- Rheneas

- Duncan

- Rusty

- Troublesome Trucks

- Annie and Clarabel

- Toad

- Terence

- Bertie

- George

- Caroline

- Harold

- The Fat Controller

- Lady Hatt

- Stephen Hatt

- Bridget Hatt

- Mrs. Kyndley

- Jem Cole

- Farmer Trotter (not named)

- S.C.Ruffey (not named)

- Peter Sam (does not speak)

- Henrietta (does not speak)

- Donald (cameo)

- Trevor (cameo)

- Farmer Finney (cameo)

- The Vicar of Wellsworth (cameo)

- The Refreshment Lady (cameo)

- Nancy (cameo)

- Duke (portrait cameo)

- Bulstrode (faceless cameo)

## Home Video Releases

### United Kingdom

All twenty-six episodes were released on VHS in the UK by Video Collection International in four volumes. The last volume was also released on DVD, making it the very first UK DVD release of the show.

Video Collection International later released a complete series VHS set in 2002, available as either a single-VHS or double-VHS release. It was soon released on DVD in 2004 as part of the "Classic Collection Boxset" before being released on its own in February 2007.

Episodes from the series have also made it to various compilation releases with other series.


Terry Homestead

# Terry Homestead

## Abstract

The Bristol Fletcher Terry Homestead (also known as the Terry Homestead and Fletcher Terry House) was a historical building in Bristol, Connecticut dating to 1748. After years of neglect, the building was demolished in 2012–2013.

## History

The Terry homestead was built in 1748 by William Barnes. In 1751, Barnes sold the home to Samuel Cooke who, two months later, sold it to Elnathan Ives and his wife Ruth. The next inhabitants where Reuben and Elizabeth Ives with their child Joseph. The house was later bought in 1805 by Colonel Thomas Botsford, and his wife Ruth Lewis. When the town schoolhouse burned down, the house was used as a temporary school building. Their daughter was Julian Botsford, who married William Hubbel. They had four children, including three who did not live past 14 years. Their daughter Ruth Lewis married Ralph E Terry (the son of Samuel Terry). Samuel Terry purchased a gristmill adjacent to the property and converted it into his clock factory.

The homestead remained in the Terry family until it transferred into the Fletcher family through marriage. The Fletcher family inhabited the home and let the Historical Society use five large rooms in the front of the house until the house was sold in 2001. After 2002, the building was bought by Chatham Lake One LLC. The company moved the house across the property with plans of restoring it as they built a commercial development on the lot. However, the house was abandoned. In early 2012, Chatham Lake announced that the house was too damaged to restore and would be demolished.

## Structure

The original house was simply a large kitchen with one single bedroom in the attic. The kitchen had a six bay bread oven fireplace, along with a huge main fireplace. The kitchen was believed to be built in around 1730, or 1740 (the true date is unknown, the Farmington town hall burned to ashes, and all Bristol history records where destroyed). In 1748, the front of the house was built; a traditional 5 bay clapboarded central hallway house. The wooden beams for the structure were believed to have actually been laid on the ground, or perhaps in the forest as trees where cut, and numbered with large roman numerals carved into the beams of the house. The numerals on the beams were: 1–6 on the front, and 1–4 on the side.

The house was built in the post and beam style, with pegs the size of three inch pipes. There were two rooms on the bottom left of the house, a center fireplace, a center staircase, center hallway, and one large room going the whole width of the house to the right. Notable work was done to the house in 1810, subsequent work done in 1830, and drastic work done in 1930. In 1930, the entire house was gutted, all doors replaced except for three, the center fireplace removed (entirely), walls demolished, a doorway closed up, and a whole new fireplace added in the north parlor. The entire center chimney was removed, however the top of the chimney remained, in order to keep the physical appearance of the house intact. In reality, the only original pieces of the home where floorboards, walls, and the top of the fireplace. The three original doors that remained, where left for a great reason of tradition. The coffin door on the south of the house, was left alone, it was never opened sense its last funeral, and stayed shut until February 28, 2013. Two doors — where basement and kitchen door — which were original to the house and date back to 1748 — and were made from Kings wood (illegal at the time) during the crisis of the Pine Tree Riot. Wooden boards had to be at most 12 inches wide, or a fine of 5 pounds per inch over. The doors measured 13, and 17 inches, leading to fines of over 35 pounds but the family was fortunately never caught by England. The first and second floor board were made of chestnut or hickory, and the attic boards were made with red pine.

In February 2013, the home was demolished.


Jensen's inequality

# Jensen's inequality

## Abstract

In mathematics, Jensen's inequality, named after the Danish mathematician Johan Jensen, relates the value of a convex function of an integral to the integral of the convex function. It was proved by Jensen in 1906, building on an earlier proof of the same inequality for doubly-differentiable functions by Otto Hölder in 1889. Given its generality, the inequality appears in many forms depending on the context, some of which are presented below. In its simplest form the inequality states that the convex transformation of a mean is less than or equal to the mean applied after convex transformation; it is a simple corollary that the opposite is true of concave transformations.

Jensen's inequality generalizes the statement that the secant line of a convex function lies above the graph of the function, which is Jensen's inequality for two points: the secant line consists of weighted means of the convex function (for t ∈),

while the graph of the function is the convex function of the weighted means,

Thus, Jensen's inequality is

In the context of probability theory, it is generally stated in the following form: if X is a random variable and φ is a convex function, then

The difference between the two sides of the inequality, E − φ (E) {\displaystyle \operatorname {E} \left-\varphi \left(\operatorname {E} \right)}, is called the Jensen gap.

## Statements

The classical form of Jensen's inequality involves several numbers and weights. The inequality can be stated quite generally using either the language of measure theory or (equivalently) probability. In the probabilistic setting, the inequality can be further generalized to its full strength.

### Finite form

For a real convex function φ {\displaystyle \varphi }, numbers x 1, x 2, …, x n {\displaystyle x_{1},x_{2},\ldots,x_{n}} in its domain, and positive weights a i {\displaystyle a_{i}}, Jensen's inequality can be stated as:

and the inequality is reversed if φ {\displaystyle \varphi } is concave, which is

Equality holds if and only if x 1 = x 2 = ⋯ = x n {\displaystyle x_{1}=x_{2}=\cdots =x_{n}} or φ {\displaystyle \varphi } is linear on a domain containing x 1, x 2, ⋯, x n {\displaystyle x_{1},x_{2},\cdots,x_{n}}.

As a particular case, if the weights a i {\displaystyle a_{i}} are all equal, then (1) and (2) become

For instance, the function log(x) is concave, so substituting φ (x) = log (x) {\displaystyle \varphi (x)=\log(x)} in the previous formula (4) establishes the (logarithm of the) familiar arithmetic-mean/geometric-mean inequality:

log (∑ i = 1 n x i n) ≥ ∑ i = 1 n log (x i) n {\displaystyle \log \!\left({\frac {\sum _{i=1}^{n}x_{i}}{n}}\right)\geq {\frac {\sum _{i=1}^{n}\log \!\left(x_{i}\right)}{n}}} exp (log (∑ i = 1 n x i n)) ≥ exp (∑ i = 1 n log (x i) n) {\displaystyle \exp \!\left(\log \!\left({\frac {\sum _{i=1}^{n}x_{i}}{n}}\right)\right)\geq \exp \!\left({\frac {\sum _{i=1}^{n}\log \!\left(x_{i}\right)}{n}}\right)} x 1 + x 2 + ⋯ + x n n ≥ x 1 ⋅ x 2 ⋯ x n n {\displaystyle {\frac {x_{1}+x_{2}+\cdots +x_{n}}{n}}\geq {\sqrt{x_{1}\cdot x_{2}\cdots x_{n}}}}

A common application has x as a function of another variable (or set of variables) t, that is, x i = g (t i) {\displaystyle x_{i}=g(t_{i})}. All of this carries directly over to the general continuous case: the weights a are replaced by a non-negative integrable function f (x), such as a probability distribution, and the summations are replaced by integrals.

### Measure-theoretic form

Let (Ω, A, μ) {\displaystyle (\Omega,A,\mu)} be a probability space. Let f: Ω → R {\displaystyle f:\Omega \to \mathbb {R} } be a μ {\displaystyle \mu } -measurable function and φ: R → R {\displaystyle \varphi :\mathbb {R} \to \mathbb {R} } be convex. Then: φ (∫ Ω f d μ) ≤ ∫ Ω φ ∘ f d μ {\displaystyle \varphi \left(\int _{\Omega }f\,\mathrm {d} \mu \right)\leq \int _{\Omega }\varphi \circ f\,\mathrm {d} \mu }

In real analysis, we may require an estimate on

where a, b ∈ R {\displaystyle a,b\in \mathbb {R} }, and f: → R {\displaystyle f\colon \to \mathbb {R} } is a non-negative Lebesgue- integrable function. In this case, the Lebesgue measure of {\displaystyle } need not be unity. However, by integration by substitution, the interval can be rescaled so that it has measure unity. Then Jensen's inequality can be applied to get

### Probabilistic form

The same result can be equivalently stated in a probability theory setting, by a simple change of notation. Let (Ω, F, P) {\displaystyle (\Omega,{\mathfrak {F}},\operatorname {P})} be a probability space, X an integrable real-valued random variable and φ {\displaystyle \varphi } a convex function. Then:

In this probability setting, the measure μ is intended as a probability P {\displaystyle \operatorname {P} }, the integral with respect to μ as an expected value E {\displaystyle \operatorname {E} }, and the function f {\displaystyle f} as a random variable X.

Note that the equality holds if and only if φ {\displaystyle \varphi } is a linear function on some convex set A {\displaystyle A} such that P (X ∈ A) = 1 {\displaystyle \mathrm {P} (X\in A)=1} (which follows by inspecting the measure-theoretical proof below).

### General inequality in a probabilistic setting

More generally, let T be a real topological vector space, and X a T -valued integrable random variable. In this general setting, integrable means that there exists an element E {\displaystyle \operatorname {E} } in T, such that for any element z in the dual space of T: E | ⟨ z, X ⟩ | < ∞ {\displaystyle \operatorname {E} |\langle z,X\rangle |<\infty }, and ⟨ z, E ⟩ = E {\displaystyle \langle z,\operatorname {E} \rangle =\operatorname {E} }. Then, for any measurable convex function φ and any sub- σ-algebra G {\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}} of F {\displaystyle {\mathfrak {F}}}:

Here E {\displaystyle \operatorname {E} } stands for the expectation conditioned to the σ-algebra G {\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}}. This general statement reduces to the previous ones when the topological vector space T is the real axis, and G {\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}} is the trivial σ -algebra {∅, Ω} (where ∅ is the empty set, and Ω is the sample space).

### A sharpened and generalized form

Let X be a one-dimensional random variable with mean μ {\displaystyle \mu } and variance σ 2 ≥ 0 {\displaystyle \sigma ^{2}\geq 0}. Let φ (x) {\displaystyle \varphi (x)} be a twice differentiable function, and define the function

Then

In particular, when φ (x) {\displaystyle \varphi (x)} is convex, then φ ″ (x) ≥ 0 {\displaystyle \varphi ''(x)\geq 0}, and the standard form of Jensen's inequality immediately follows for the case where φ (x) {\displaystyle \varphi (x)} is additionally assumed to be twice differentiable.

## Proofs

### Intuitive graphical proof

Jensen's inequality can be proved in several ways, and three different proofs corresponding to the different statements above will be offered. Before embarking on these mathematical derivations, however, it is worth analyzing an intuitive graphical argument based on the probabilistic case where X is a real number (see figure). Assuming a hypothetical distribution of X values, one can immediately identify the position of E {\displaystyle \operatorname {E} } and its image φ (E) {\displaystyle \varphi (\operatorname {E})} in the graph. Noticing that for convex mappings Y = φ (x) of some x values the corresponding distribution of Y values is increasingly "stretched up" for increasing values of X, it is easy to see that the distribution of Y is broader in the interval corresponding to X > X and narrower in X < X for any X; in particular, this is also true for X 0 = E {\displaystyle X_{0}=\operatorname {E} }. Consequently, in this picture the expectation of Y will always shift upwards with respect to the position of φ (E) {\displaystyle \varphi (\operatorname {E})}. A similar reasoning holds if the distribution of X covers a decreasing portion of the convex function, or both a decreasing and an increasing portion of it. This "proves" the inequality, i.e.

with equality when φ (X) is not strictly convex, e.g. when it is a straight line, or when X follows a degenerate distribution (i.e. is a constant).

The proofs below formalize this intuitive notion.

### Proof 1 (finite form)

If λ and λ are two arbitrary nonnegative real numbers such that λ + λ = 1 then convexity of φ implies

This can be generalized: if λ,..., λ are nonnegative real numbers such that λ +... + λ = 1, then

for any x,..., x.

The finite form of the Jensen's inequality can be proved by induction: by convexity hypotheses, the statement is true for n = 2. Suppose the statement is true for some n, so

for any λ,..., λ such that λ +... + λ = 1.

One needs to prove it for n + 1. At least one of the λ is strictly smaller than 1 {\displaystyle 1}, say λ; therefore by convexity inequality:

Since λ +... + λ + λ = 1,

applying the inductive hypothesis gives

therefore

We deduce the inequality is true for n + 1, by induction it follows that the result is also true for all integer n greater than 2.

In order to obtain the general inequality from this finite form, one needs to use a density argument. The finite form can be rewritten as:

where μ is a measure given by an arbitrary convex combination of Dirac deltas:

Since convex functions are continuous, and since convex combinations of Dirac deltas are weakly dense in the set of probability measures (as could be easily verified), the general statement is obtained simply by a limiting procedure.

### Proof 2 (measure-theoretic form)

Let g {\displaystyle g} be a real-valued μ {\displaystyle \mu } -integrable function on a probability space Ω {\displaystyle \Omega }, and let φ {\displaystyle \varphi } be a convex function on the real numbers. Since φ {\displaystyle \varphi } is convex, at each real number x {\displaystyle x} we have a nonempty set of subderivatives, which may be thought of as lines touching the graph of φ {\displaystyle \varphi } at x {\displaystyle x}, but which are below the graph of φ {\displaystyle \varphi } at all points (support lines of the graph).

Now, if we define

because of the existence of subderivatives for convex functions, we may choose a {\displaystyle a} and b {\displaystyle b} such that

for all real x {\displaystyle x} and

But then we have that

for almost all ω ∈ Ω {\displaystyle \omega \in \Omega }. Since we have a probability measure, the integral is monotone with μ (Ω) = 1 {\displaystyle \mu (\Omega)=1} so that

as desired.

### Proof 3 (general inequality in a probabilistic setting)

Let X be an integrable random variable that takes values in a real topological vector space T. Since φ: T → R {\displaystyle \varphi:T\to \mathbb {R} } is convex, for any x, y ∈ T {\displaystyle x,y\in T}, the quantity

is decreasing as θ approaches 0. In particular, the subdifferential of φ {\displaystyle \varphi } evaluated at x in the direction y is well-defined by

It is easily seen that the subdifferential is linear in y (that is false and the assertion requires Hahn-Banach theorem to be proved) and, since the infimum taken in the right-hand side of the previous formula is smaller than the value of the same term for θ = 1, one gets

In particular, for an arbitrary sub- σ -algebra G {\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}} we can evaluate the last inequality when x = E, y = X − E {\displaystyle x=\operatorname {E},\,y=X-\operatorname {E} } to obtain

Now, if we take the expectation conditioned to G {\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}} on both sides of the previous expression, we get the result since:

by the linearity of the subdifferential in the y variable, and the following well-known property of the conditional expectation:

## Applications and special cases

### Form involving a probability density function

Suppose Ω is a measurable subset of the real line and f (x) is a non-negative function such that

In probabilistic language, f is a probability density function.

Then Jensen's inequality becomes the following statement about convex integrals:

If g is any real-valued measurable function and φ {\textstyle \varphi } is convex over the range of g, then

If g (x) = x, then this form of the inequality reduces to a commonly used special case:

This is applied in Variational Bayesian methods.

### Example: even moments of a random variable

If g (x) = x, and X is a random variable, then g is convex as

and so

In particular, if some even moment 2n of X is finite, X has a finite mean. An extension of this argument shows X has finite moments of every order l ∈ N {\displaystyle l\in \mathbb {N} } dividing n.

### Alternative finite form

Let Ω = { x,... x }, and take μ to be the counting measure on Ω, then the general form reduces to a statement about sums:

provided that λ ≥ 0 and

There is also an infinite discrete form.

### Statistical physics

Jensen's inequality is of particular importance in statistical physics when the convex function is an exponential, giving:

where the expected values are with respect to some probability distribution in the random variable X.

Proof: Let φ (x) = e x {\displaystyle \varphi (x)=e^{x}} in φ (E) ≤ E. {\displaystyle \varphi \left(\operatorname {E} \right)\leq \operatorname {E} \left.}

### Information theory

If p (x) is the true probability density for X, and q (x) is another density, then applying Jensen's inequality for the random variable Y (X) = q (X)/ p (X) and the convex function φ (y) = −log(y) gives

Therefore:

a result called Gibbs' inequality.

It shows that the average message length is minimised when codes are assigned on the basis of the true probabilities p rather than any other distribution q. The quantity that is non-negative is called the Kullback–Leibler divergence of q from p, where D (p (x) ‖ q (x)) = ∫ p (x) log (p (x) q (x)) d x {\displaystyle D(p(x)\|q(x))=\int p(x)\log \left({\frac {p(x)}{q(x)}}\right)dx}.

Since −log(x) is a strictly convex function for x > 0, it follows that equality holds when p (x) equals q (x) almost everywhere.

### Rao–Blackwell theorem

If L is a convex function and G {\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}} a sub-sigma-algebra, then, from the conditional version of Jensen's inequality, we get

So if δ(X) is some estimator of an unobserved parameter θ given a vector of observables X; and if T (X) is a sufficient statistic for θ; then an improved estimator, in the sense of having a smaller expected loss L, can be obtained by calculating

the expected value of δ with respect to θ, taken over all possible vectors of observations X compatible with the same value of T (X) as that observed. Further, because T is a sufficient statistic, δ 1 (X) {\displaystyle \delta _{1}(X)} does not depend on θ, hence, becomes a statistic.

This result is known as the Rao–Blackwell theorem.

### Risk aversion

The relation between risk aversion and declining marginal utility for scalar outcomes can be stated formally with Jensen's inequality: risk aversion can be stated as preferring a certain outcome u (E) {\displaystyle u(E)} to a fair gamble with potentially larger but uncertain outcome of u (x) {\displaystyle u(x)}:

u (E) > E {\displaystyle u(E)>E}.

But this is simply Jensen's inequality for a concave u (x) {\displaystyle u(x)}: a utility function that exhibits declining marginal utility.


Naftali Bennett

# Naftali Bennett

## Abstract

Naftali Bennett (Hebrew: נַפְתָּלִי בֶּנֶט, romanized: Naftālī Beneṭ, IPA:; born 25 March 1972) is an Israeli politician who served as the 13th prime minister of Israel from 13 June 2021 to 30 June 2022, and as the 3rd Alternate Prime Minister of Israel from 1 July to 8 November 2022. Bennett was the leader of the New Right party from 2018 to 2022, having previously led The Jewish Home party between 2012 and 2018.

The son of immigrants from the United States, Bennett was born and raised in Haifa. Bennett served in the Sayeret Matkal and Maglan special forces units of the Israel Defense Forces, commanding many combat operations, and subsequently became a software entrepreneur. In 1999, he co-founded and co-owned the US company Cyota. The company was sold in 2005 for $145 million. He also was CEO of Soluto, an Israeli cloud computing service, sold in 2013 for a reported $100–130 million.

Bennett entered politics in 2006, as Chief of Staff for Benjamin Netanyahu until 2008. From 2010 to 2012, he was the director of the Yesha Council. In 2011, together with Ayelet Shaked, he co-founded the My Israel extra-parliamentary movement. In 2012, Bennett was elected as the party leader of The Jewish Home. In the 2013 Knesset election, the first contested by The Jewish Home under Bennett's leadership, the party won 12 seats in the Knesset. He served under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Minister of Economy and Religious Services from 2013 to 2015, before being appointed Minister of Education in 2015. In December 2018, Bennett left The Jewish Home to form the New Right party. After he lost his Knesset seat in the April 2019 Knesset election, he was dismissed by Netanyahu as Education Minister in June 2019. He regained his seat in the September 2019 Knesset election, representing the New Right (now a member of the Yamina alliance), and was appointed Minister of Defense, before leaving the position the following year.

In the 2021 Knesset election, Yamina under Bennett's leadership won 7 seats. On 2 June 2021, Bennett agreed to a rotation government with Yair Lapid, whereby Bennett would serve as Israel's prime minister until 2023, after which Lapid would assume the role until 2025. Bennett was sworn in on 13 June 2021. On 20 June 2022, following failures of the coalition to pass bills in the Knesset, Bennett announced he would call for a vote to dissolve the Knesset and step down as prime minister after the dissolution, to be succeeded by Lapid. On 29 June, he announced that he would not seek re-election to the chamber in the next election that have been scheduled for later in the year. Lapid succeeded him as prime minister on 1 July 2022, while Bennett succeeded Lapid as the Alternate Prime Minister. He announced his resignation as alternative prime minister on 6 November, which became effective on 8 November.

## Early life

Bennett was born in Haifa, Israel, on 25 March 1972. He is the youngest of three sons born to Jim and Myrna (née Lefko) Bennett, American-Jewish immigrants who moved to Israel from San Francisco in July 1967. Both his parents were from Ashkenazi Jewish backgrounds. His father's ancestors were from Poland, Germany, and the Netherlands. Bennett's paternal great-great-great-grandfather Julius Salomonson was from Łobżenica, Poland, and arrived in San Francisco in 1851 during the California Gold Rush. His mother's ancestors lived in Russia and Poland, and her parents immigrated to the United States prior to World War II. They later moved to Israel, joining their daughter's family there, and settled on Vitkin Street in Haifa, close to where Bennett and his brothers grew up. Some of his mother's family members who remained in Poland were murdered in the Holocaust.

Bennett's parents were raised in non-Orthodox Jewish homes and were progressive activists during the 1960s. His father was arrested while taking part in an anti-racism sit-in protest in 1964. They later began to observe Modern Orthodox Judaism and embraced right-wing Israeli politics. After moving to Israel in 1967, they volunteered for a few months at kibbutz Dafna, where they studied the Hebrew language, then settled in the Ahuza neighborhood of Haifa. Jim Bennett found a job in the Technion, working for its fundraising team, and became a successful real estate broker turned real estate entrepreneur. Myrna Bennett was the deputy director general of the Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel 's northern region.

In the summer of 1973, when Bennett was one year old, the family returned to San Francisco at the urging of his mother. With the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War in October 1973, Jim Bennett returned to Israel to fight in the Israel Defense Forces, serving in an artillery unit on the Golan Heights front. Following the war, the rest of the family returned to Israel at his request as he was held in reserve duty for months after the war. Bennett's parents ultimately decided to stay permanently in Israel.

In 1976, when Bennett was four years old, the family moved to Montreal for two years as part of his father's job. Upon returning to Haifa, Bennett began attending Carmel elementary school. When he was in second grade, the family moved to Teaneck, New Jersey for two years, again as part of his father's job. While living in New Jersey, Bennett attended Yavneh Academy. The family returned to Haifa when Bennett was ten.

Bennett has two brothers; they are Asher, a former Israeli Navy submarine officer and businessman based in the United Kingdom, and Daniel, an accountant for Zim Integrated Shipping Services. Bennett attended Yavne Yeshiva High School in Haifa and became a youth leader (madrich) with the religious Zionist youth organization Bnei Akiva.

### Military service

Bennett was drafted into the Israel Defense Forces in 1990. He served in the elite Sayeret Matkal commando unit, and after his regular service was selected for officer training. He was given a choice of remaining in Sayeret Matkal but as a regular operator rather than a commander or transferring to the Maglan commando unit to receive a command position and chose to transfer to Maglan. He became a company commander in the Maglan unit.

Bennett was discharged from active service after six years but continued to serve in the reserves and attained the rank of major. During the time that Bennett was living in the United States and building his career as a software entrepreneur, he repeatedly traveled to Israel to do reserve duty. Bennett served during the First Intifada and in the Israeli security zone in Lebanon during the 1982–2000 South Lebanon conflict. He commanded many operations. Among other missions, he served as an officer in Operation Grapes of Wrath.

After his regular IDF service, Bennett received a law degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. During the Second Intifada, he participated in Operation Defensive Shield.

He was called up as a reservist in the Maglan special forces unit during the 2006 Lebanon War and participated in a search and destroy mission behind enemy lines, operating against Hezbollah rocket launchers.

One of Bennett's actions as a commando officer became highly controversial. During Operation Grapes of Wrath, while leading a force of 67 Maglan soldiers operating in southern Lebanon, Bennett radioed for support after his unit came under mortar fire. The IDF launched an artillery barrage to cover his force, and the shelling hit a United Nations compound in which civilians were taking refuge, an incident that became known as the Qana massacre. A total of 106 Lebanese civilians were killed.

The incident resulted in a wave of international condemnation, and the subsequent diplomatic pressure caused Israel to end Operation Grapes of Wrath sooner than planned. Journalist Yigal Sarna, writing in Israeli national tabloid Yedioth Ahronoth, argued that Bennett displayed "poor judgement" during the operation. Sarna wrote that "Bennett led a force of 67 combat troops into Lebanon. At a certain point, he decided to ignore orders and change operational plans, without coordinating these moves with his superiors, who in his mind were cowardly, and not steadfast enough. Near the village of Kfar Kana, Bennett's troops were caught in an ambush."

Citing a "senior army figure", journalist Raviv Drucker said that Bennett's radio call for support after his unit came under fire was "hysterical" and contributed to the loss of life which occurred. Bennett responded: "I have now been subjected to an attack claiming that I am 'responsible for the massacre in Kfar Kana.' Heroism will not be investigated. Keep looking in the archives. My military file is available for viewing, and it's waiting for you." Former members of Bennett's unit wrote a letter defending him, saying: "Naftali... led many successful operations that led to the elimination of Hezbollah terrorists deep in enemy territory." Other officers involved in the operation, including one who was Bennett's deputy during the Qana incident, also denied that he had changed plans without consulting his superiors.

In October 2023, immediately following the start of the Israel-Hamas war, Bennett enlisted to do reserve duty in the IDF's emergency storage unit of the Technological and Logistics Directorate.

### Business career

Bennett moved to the Upper East Side of Manhattan in 2000 to build a career as a software entrepreneur. In 1999, he co-founded Cyota, an anti-fraud software company, and was its CEO. The company was sold in 2005 to RSA Security for $145 million, making Bennett a multimillionaire. A stipulation of the deal allowed the Israeli arm of Cyota to remain intact. As a result, 400 Israelis are employed at the company's Israeli offices in Beersheba and Herzliya.

Bennett was the CEO of Soluto, a technology company providing cloud-based service that enables remote support for personal computers and mobile devices in 2009, at a time when he and partner Lior Golan were engaged in raising funds for myriad Israeli technology startup companies. Soluto had hitherto raised $20 million from investors, including venture capital funds Giza Venture Capital, Proxima Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Index Ventures, Michael Arrington 's CrunchFund, and Eric Schmidt 's Innovation Endeavors and Initial Capital. The sale of Soluto for a reported $100–130 million to the American company Asurion was finalized in October 2013.

In June 2021, Forbes Israel reported that Bennett is expected to make $5 million from his investment in the American fintech company Payoneer. Bennett invested several hundred thousand dollars in the company before entering politics. Payoneer is set to list on the Nasdaq stock exchange with a $3.3 billion valuation after reaching a SPAC merger with FTAC Olympus Acquisition Corp in February 2021.

## Political career

From 2010 to 2012, Bennett served as the director of the Yesha Council. In April 2011, together with Ayelet Shaked, he co-founded My Israel, which claims to have 94,000 Israeli members. In April 2012, he founded a movement named Yisraelim ("Israelis"). The movement's main goals include increasing Zionism among centre-right supporters, increasing dialogue between the religious and secular communities, and promoting "The Israel Stability Initiative."

Bennett was elected the leader of The Jewish Home party in 2012. He was reelected as the party's leader in 2015 and 2017.

Following his election to the Knesset, and before he could take his seat, Bennett had to renounce his U.S. citizenship, which he held as the son of American parents. He was appointed Minister of Economy and Minister of Religious Services in March 2013. In April 2013, he was also appointed Minister of Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs.

After being reelected in the 2015 Knesset election, Bennett was appointed Minister of Education and retained the Diaspora Affairs portfolio in the new government. In May 2015, Netanyahu split the Ministry of Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs, initially taking back the Jerusalem Affairs portfolio for himself. He later appointed Ze'ev Elkin to the role of Jerusalem Affairs Minister. As Minister of Education, Bennett issued an official order prohibiting school principals from inviting members of Breaking the Silence and other organizations that denounce Israel's military conduct in the West Bank.

In October 2015, Bennett resigned from the Knesset in order to allow Shuli Mualem to take his seat. His resignation took place under the Norwegian Law, which allowed ministers to resign their seats when in the cabinet but return to the Knesset if they leave the government. He returned to the Knesset on 6 December after Avi Wortzman opted to vacate his seat, having temporarily had to resign as a minister in order to do so.

Following Avigdor Lieberman 's resignation as Defense Minister in November 2018, Bennett announced that he was seeking the position for himself. On 16 November 2018, a Likud party spokesman announced that Netanyahu had rejected Bennett's request and that Netanyahu himself would take the position instead. It was then announced that Bennett's Jewish Home party would no longer be affiliated with Netanyahu's government. On 19 November, Bennett reneged on his pledge to withdraw from Netanyahu's coalition.

In December 2018, Bennett was among the Jewish Home MKs to leave the party and form the breakaway New Right party. In the April 2019 Knesset election, New Right narrowly failed to cross the electoral threshold; as a result, Bennett did not gain a seat in the 21st Knesset. In June 2019, he left the government after Netanyahu dismissed Bennett from his positions as Education and Diaspora Affairs Minister.

After the Knesset dissolved and a second election in 2019 was called for September, the New Right formed an electoral alliance with the Jewish Home and National Union-Tkuma, named the United Right which was later renamed Yamina, and was led by Ayelet Shaked. The list won seven seats in the election, and Bennett regained his Knesset seat. In November 2019, Bennett rejoined Netanyahu's government as Minister of Defense. After briefly dissolving, the Yamina alliance was reunified in January 2020 ahead of the 2020 Knesset election, with Bennett succeeding Ayelet Shaked as the new leader of the alliance. Yamina won six seats in that election.

In May 2020, with negotiations to form a new government between Netanyahu and Benny Gantz, leader of the centrist Blue and White alliance, Yamina announced that it would go into the opposition, ending Bennett's tenure as Defense Minister. The day before, Rafi Peretz, the leader of The Jewish Home, had split from the alliance, and would be named as the Minister of Jerusalem in the thirty-fifth government of Israel. On 17 May, Bennett met with Gantz, who also succeeded him as Defense Minister, and declared that Yamina was now a "head held high" member of the opposition. Tkuma, which rebranded as the Religious Zionist Party on 7 January 2021, split from Yamina on 20 January. In spite of this, Yamina won seven seats in the 2021 Knesset election in March.

## Prime Minister of Israel (2021–2022)

On 9 May 2021, it was reported that Bennett and Leader of the Opposition and Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid had made major headway in coalition talks for forming a new Israeli government which would oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On 30 May, Bennett announced that he would be prime minister in a rotation government until August 2023, at which point Lapid would take over as prime minister until 2025. Bennett was sworn in on 13 June, ending Netanyahu's 12-year tenure in office. He is Israel's first kippah -wearing prime minister.

On the fast of 9th of Av, 2021, as hundreds of Jews went to mourn on the temple mount, where it was forbidden for them to pray, Bennett wrote: "The Jewish people twice had a Jewish state on the Land of Israel, and both times we did not succeed to complete the eighth decade as an independent state, because of internal wars and baseless hatred... At the time of the Roman siege on Jerusalem, the nation was divided, each group entrenched itself in its own position, and burned the food stores of the others, as part of the internal power struggle, so the Romans had a much easier task. The bitter end we all know, and until today every year on this date we mourn the awful destruction which a people with a little more baseless love, restraint, and listening, could have saved us from."

Upon the government's formation in June 2021, it held 61 seats in the Knesset; all these members of the Knesset (MK) came from coalition parties excluding Yamina's Amichai Chikli. On 6 April 2022, Yamina MK Idit Silman, resigned from the coalition, causing the governing coalition to lose its majority in the Knesset. On 13 June, Yamina MK Nir Orbach left the coalition, arguing that left-wing members of the coalition were holding it hostage. Several days later, on 20 June, Bennett and Lapid announced the introduction of a bill to dissolve the Knesset in a joint statement, stating that Lapid would become the interim prime minister following the dissolution. The Knesset was dissolved on the night of 30 June, ending Bennett's term as prime minister.

### COVID-19 pandemic

At the time of Bennett's assumption of office, the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel had somewhat subsided, with a low national infection rate and with 55% of the Israeli population having received two or more COVID-19 vaccines. Within ten days of his assumption of office, Israel underwent an outbreak of the Delta variant. In response, Bennett encouraged renewed social distancing, and the vaccination of all children aged twelve and above. In addition, he reached a deal with Pfizer to provide previously purchased vaccines before their intended delivery date to ensure the accessibility of the vaccine, and to provide additional vaccines in case a second booster shot becomes necessary. Following the variant's continued spread, a second booster shot and third overall shot was approved by the government on 1 August 2021 for all individuals aged 60 or older, which was expanded on 29 August to all adults.

Israel experienced a surge in COVID cases beginning in late November 2021. By December, the first cases of the Omicron variant were being reported in the country, the government responded by restricting air travel to the country and encouraging the vaccination of children and teenagers. On 2 January 2022, following an additional surge in late December, a third booster shot, and a fourth overall shot, was approved by the government for all individuals aged 60 or older. Cases grew at a steady pace through January and began to decrease, stabilizing again in March before continuing to fall. Israel ended its mask mandate in late April.

### Foreign policy

King Mohammed VI of Morocco sent a special congratulatory letter to Prime Minister Bennett upon his taking office. Bennett responded that he would "work to reinforce Israeli-Moroccan relations in all areas". Israel and Morocco restored diplomatic relations on 10 December 2020, as part of the Israel–Morocco normalization agreement involving the United States, which at the same time recognized Morocco's sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara. In August 2021, the two parties agreed to enter formal diplomatic relations, and to open embassies in Tel Aviv and Marrakesh respectively.

That month, Bennett made his first visit to the United States, where he met Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, and AIPAC CEO Howard Kohr. He subsequently met President Joe Biden on 27 August 2021. In this meeting, Bennett described Israel's strategy against Iran as "a death by a thousand cuts" or " lingchi ".

On 27 September, Bennett addressed the general assembly of the United Nations in his first speech there. He talked about fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and combatting political polarization. In addition, Bennett denounced Iran 's alleged state-sponsored terrorism, which he argued brought harm not only to Israel but also to many countries in the Middle East. He warned of Iran's efforts to acquire nuclear weapons, stating that Israel would not allow it.

On 12 December, he visited the United Arab Emirates in the first visit of the country by an Israeli Prime Minister, meeting with then crown prince of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, Mohamed bin Zayed. On 14 February 2022 he visited Manama, marking the first time an Israeli Prime Minister officially visited Bahrain.

On 5 March 2022, Bennett met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in order to discuss the Russian invasion of Ukraine in a meeting coordinated with the United States, France, and Germany. The Kremlin stated that Bennett had offered to mediate between Putin and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Bennett then flew on the same day to Germany to brief German chancellor Olaf Scholz, updated French President Macron by telephone, and spoke with Zelenskyy twice in the evening, but few details were disclosed publicly. According to Al Monitor, the meetings were instigated by Scholz who made a lightning visit to Israel on 3 March and held a long one-on-one meeting, which resulted in the mediation idea. Natan Sharansky, former head of the Jewish Agency for Israel, criticised Bennett, saying he was afraid to call out Putin by name for war crimes, and said Israel should provide defensive arms to Ukraine. Bennett later faced criticism for putting himself forward as neutral mediator amid global condemnation of Putin, while refusing requests from Ukraine for military equipment.

## Alternate Prime Minister and post-political career

Upon the end of his term, Bennett became the Alternate Prime Minister of Israel on 30 June. On 29 June 2022, Bennett announced that he would not run in the next election, and retire from politics at the end of his term as Alternate Prime Minister. Following the election, Bennett resigned from his position on 6 November, with his term ending two days later. Following his retirement, Bennett joined the board of directors of Israeli Tech company Quantom Source in May 2023.

## Political positions

Bennett's positions have been described as " ultra-nationalist ", and Bennett describes himself, and has been described, as "more right wing" than Netanyahu. He had also been labeled a "pragmatist" and an "opportunist". He opposes the creation of a Palestinian state, and supports cutting taxes.

### Israeli–Palestinian conflict

In February 2012, Bennett published a plan to manage the Israeli–Palestinian conflict called "The Israel Stability Initiative." The plan was based in part on elements of earlier initiatives, such as "Peace on Earth" by Adi Mintz and the " Elon Peace Plan " by Binyamin Elon. It relied on statements of Netanyahu and Likud party ministers in favor of unilateral annexation of the West Bank. Bennett opposed the creation of a Palestinian state, saying: "I will do everything in my power to make sure they never get a state."

In January 2013, Bennett suggested a tripartition of the Palestinian territories, whereby Israel would unilaterally annex Area C, authority over the Gaza Strip would be transferred to Egypt, and Area A and Area B would remain with the Palestinian National Authority, but under the security umbrella of the Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet to "ensure quiet, suppress Palestinian terrorism, and prevent Hamas from taking over the territory." Area C constituted 62% of the area, and approximately 365,000 people lived in Israeli settlements. Palestinians who lived in this area would be offered Israeli citizenship or permanent residency status (between 48,000, according to Bennett, and 150,000, according to other surveys).

Finally, Israel would invest in creating roads so Palestinians could travel between Areas A and B without checkpoints, and invest in infrastructure and joint industrial zones, because "eace grows from below – through people, and people in daily life." Bennett also resisted immigration of Palestinian refugees now living outside the West Bank, or the connection between the Hamas -controlled Gaza Strip and the West Bank. In 2011, he stated that there were about 50 factories in the West Bank industrial region where Israelis and Palestinians work together and cited this as one workable approach to finding peace between the two sides.

In June 2013, Bennett suggested that Israel must learn to live with the Palestinian problem without a "surgical action" of separation to two states: "I have a friend who's got shrapnel in his rear end, and he's been told that it can be removed surgically, but it would leave him disabled.... So he decided to live with it. There are situations where insisting on perfection can lead to more trouble than it's worth." Bennett's "Shrapnel in the butt" quickly became widely known as representing his view of the Palestinian problem.

In response to Israel's release of Palestinian prisoners in 2013, Bennett said that Palestinian terrorists should be shot, allegedly adding: "I already killed lots of Arabs in my life, and there is absolutely no problem with that." Bennett was widely condemned for these words, although he denied saying them, claiming he said merely that "terrorists should be killed if they pose an immediate life threat to our soldiers when in action." In January 2013, Bennett said: "There is not going to be a Palestinian state within the tiny land of Israel. It's just not going to happen. A Palestinian state would be a disaster for the next 200 years."

In December 2014, a group of academics who opposed the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and members of The Third Narrative, a Labor Zionist organization, called on the U.S. and E.U. to impose sanctions on Bennett and three other Israelis "who lead efforts to insure permanent Israeli occupation of the West Bank and to annex all or parts of it unilaterally in violation of international law." The academics, who called themselves Scholars for Israel and Palestine (SIP) and claimed to be "pro-Israel, pro-Palestine, pro-peace", asked the U.S. and EU to freeze Bennett's foreign assets and impose visa restrictions. Bennett was chosen as a target for proposed sanctions because of his work in opposing the 2010 settlement freeze while he was director of the Yesha Council, actively supporting annexation of over 60% of the West Bank, and "pressing strongly for a policy of creeping annexation."

In October 2016, Bennett said: "On the matter of the Land of Israel, we have to move from holding action to a decision. We have to mark the dream, and the dream is that Judea and Samaria will be part of the sovereign State of Israel. We have to act today, and we must give our lives. We can't keep marking the Land of Israel as a tactical target and a Palestinian state as the strategic target." In November 2016, Bennett said that the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States gave him hope that the two-state solution would no longer be considered viable, claiming: "The era of the Palestinian state is over."

According to Israeli journalist Anshel Pfeffer, those who have worked with Bennett have privately said that much of his rhetoric is for electioneering purposes, and he is in fact more moderate than believed. In spite of his expressed right-wing views against a Palestinian state, while engaged in coalition negotiations for a unity government with Yair Lapid and other party leaders following the 2021 Knesset election, during which he was offered the prime ministership, Bennett agreed to a policy of not annexing any territory in the West Bank and to not build any new settlements while being prime minister in a potential unity government.

In October 2023, during the Israel–Hamas war, he expressed support for Israel's total blockade of the Gaza Strip, saying "I’m not going to feed electricity to my enemies."

### Economy and society

Bennett believes in less government regulation of the private sector and that private businesses are the engine of economic growth. He favors social support of vulnerable populations such as the elderly and disabled. Bennett has said Israel needs to break the monopoly of the tycoons, the major labor unions, and the Ministry of Defense, which in his opinion are strangling Israel's economy. He believes the key to reducing disparities is equality of opportunity and investment in education in the periphery, to give tools to populations of weaker economic backgrounds. By doing so, Bennett believes weaker populations in Israel will be given the opportunity to succeed professionally and financially. He supports the provision of land to veterans in the periphery, in the Negev, and the Galilee, to promote a national solution to the problem of "affordable housing" and a more equitable distribution of the population in Israel. He has also pledged to remove heavy bureaucratic challenges to small and medium-sized Israeli businesses.

As Economy Minister, Bennett oversaw a new strategy by Israel to increase trade with emerging markets around the world and reduce trade with the European Union, so as to diversify its foreign trade. The two main reasons for this shift are to take advantage of opportunities in emerging markets and to avert the threat of possible EU sanctions on Israel over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Bennett acknowledged that he was seeking to reduce Israel's economic dependence on the EU to reduce its influence on Israel. According to the Financial Times, Bennett is the primary architect of this economic pivot. Under his leadership, the Economy Ministry began opening new trade attaché offices in Asia, Africa, and South America, and also began closing some trade offices in Europe and consolidating others with offices in neighboring countries. As part of this process, Bennett opened negotiations with Russia and China on free trade agreements, oversaw continuing negotiations with India for a free trade agreement, and led economic delegations to China and India. While attending the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 2013 in Bali, Indonesia, Bennett held talks with delegations from some unspecified countries on the possibility of future free trade agreements.

Bennett implemented reforms to lower Israel's high food prices. Under his oversight, import duties and barriers were reduced, and mechanisms were set up to ensure more competition in the Israeli food industry. These reforms have been credited with a decline in Israeli food prices that began in April 2014 and continued throughout the rest of the year and into 2015. According to a Haaretz editorial, a fall in global commodity prices and dire financial straits among many Israeli consumers prompted the decline, not the reforms. Bennett has led a push to integrate Haredi men, many of whom are unemployed, into the workforce. According to Bennett, their integration into the workforce will greatly bolster economic growth. Under his "voucher plan", the Ministry of the Economy issues vouchers for hundreds of vocational schools that will allow Haredi men to avoid mandatory military service, at least temporarily, in exchange for enrolling in a vocational school to learn a trade. Bennett also wants to increase employment rate among Israeli-Arab women. In October 2021, Bennett's administration approved plans to spend billions of dollars to improve conditions for Israel's Arab minority.

An adherent of Orthodox Judaism, Bennett opposes the implementation of same-sex marriage in Israel, "just as we don't recognize milk and meat together as kosher", but has expressed support for equivalent rights such as tax breaks for same-sex couples. Following the murder of a 16-year-old girl at the Jerusalem gay pride parade in 2015, Bennett, who was Education Minister at the time, instructed the Education Ministry to prepare programs to prevent future attacks on the LGBTQ community, saying: "We are responding to this attack with actions and not just talk." While Bennett has voiced support for LGBTQ rights, saying "they deserve all of the civil rights", he stated in late 2020 that he had no plans to push for policy changes to help LGBTQ people.

## Personal life

Bennett's wife, Gilat, is a professional pastry chef. She was secular, but following her husband she now observes the Sabbath and kashrut. The couple have four children and live in Ra'anana, a city 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of Tel Aviv. Their eldest son Yonatan is named after Yonatan Netanyahu, and their youngest son David Emmanuel is named after Emmanuel Moreno, who was a comrade of Bennett's in the special forces. Bennett adheres to Modern Orthodox Judaism.


Ryan Preece

# Ryan Preece

## Abstract

Ryan Preece (born October 25, 1990) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 41 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Stewart–Haas Racing.

Preece previously competed in what is now the ARCA Menards Series East and the ARCA Menards Series West. He is also a veteran of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and won the series championship in 2013 after being the runner-up in 2009 and 2012. Preece also made multiple starts in the defunct NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour.

## Racing career

### Early career

Preece began racing in 2007 and became 32nd in the championship in the Northeastern Midget Association with the Bertrand team. A year later he finished on the podium for the first time in his career with a third place finish at Monadnock in his only Northeastern Midget race that year.

Preece competed in and won the championship in the SK Modified Series in 2011 at Stafford Motor Speedway, while his future wife Heather was the series' Rookie of the Year.

### Whelen Modified Tour

That same year, he got his first career victory in the Whelen Modified Tour after dominating the Made In America Whelen 300 at Martinsville. In 2009 and 2012, he was runner-up in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, but he became champion in 2013 with four wins in fourteen races driving for Flamingo Motorsports, owned by Eric Sanderson. In 2014, he returned to the team and won the last two races of the year, coming home in second place in the final standings. In 2015, he drove for TS Haulers Racing, owned by Ed Partridge.

On November 24, 2016, it was announced that Preece would remain at JD Motorsports for another full season in 2017. However, on December 8, 2016, it was announced that Preece and JD Motorsports had parted ways, letting Preece explore other opportunities. The primary reason why Preece left JD is that he wanted to be in a team to win races and expected to be back in the Whelen Modified Tour in 2017. He rejoined Partridge's team in the Modified Tour.

### Xfinity Series

#### 2013–2017

He made his debut in the Nationwide Series in 2013 and finished 24th at Loudon driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro for Tommy Baldwin Racing. In 2014, he drove two races driving the No. 36 Camaro for TBR at Loudon and Homestead, with a best finish of 14th.

On August 8, 2015, Preece announced he would make his NASCAR Cup Series debut for TBR at Loudon. Preece joined JD Motorsports full-time in 2016, driving the No. 01 Chevrolet in the Xfinity Series. The primary sponsor was Flex Seal. Preece has several decent runs for the mid-pack organization in 2016, just missing the first ever Xfinity playoffs.

#### 2017–2018: Joe Gibbs Racing

In July 2017, he returned to the Xfinity Series, racing at Loudon in the No. 20 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing with sponsorship from Mohawk Northeast and Mizzy Construction, finishing a career-best second behind teammate Kyle Busch. The opportunity originally came after Kevin Manion contacted Preece about openings at JGR after the retirement of Carl Edwards.

At Iowa, Preece returned to the No. 20 with Mohawk and Falmouth Construction sponsoring. Preece won the pole and held off teammate Kyle Benjamin on a late restart to win his first career Xfinity race.

After his Iowa win, JGR announced that Preece would also drive for the team at Kentucky Speedway in September (a standalone Xfinity race), and later Homestead (where Cup drivers, regardless of experience, are prohibited from participating). Preece, with the American Red Cross on the No. 20 car, finished 4th at Kentucky.

Preece moved to Gibbs’ No. 18 Safelite Toyota at Homestead. Preece was involved in a controversy, as championship contender Elliott Sadler placed the blame on Preece for blocking him on the final restart of the season. Preece still managed a top 5 finish.

On November 15, 2017, it was announced that Preece would run another partial schedule with JGR in 2018, running at least ten races in the No. 18 car, sharing it with JGR Cup drivers Kyle Busch, Erik Jones and Daniel Suárez, JGR development driver Kyle Benjamin, and Australian James Davison. While he is listed for ten races, more races are possible. Sponsorship of Preece's races in the No. 18 would come primarily from Rheem. A few of the races were instead supported by Ruud and its affiliate businesses.

Preece began his season with a 9th-place finish at California, his first time finishing outside the top 5 at Gibbs. He got back in the top 5 a week later at Texas.

Preece became eligible for the Xfinity Dash 4 Cash after his good run at Texas. The next week at Bristol, Preece won the race and the bonus, taking home the $100,000. It was Preece's second career Xfinity Series win.

Preece did not run any of the other Dash 4 Cash races. He returned to the No. 18 car at Daytona.

#### 2019: JR Motorsports

For 2019, Preece joined JR Motorsports to drive their No. 8 part-time. He competed in four events, all finishing in the top ten with a highest of fourth at Pocono.

### Cup Series

#### 2015: Premium Motorsports

Preece drove the No. 98 Chevy out of the TBR shop in partnership with Premium Motorsports. After starting 37th, he finished 32nd in the Sylvania 300. Preece returned to the Cup Series for the final four races of the season with Premium. TBR did not assist his races at Martinsville, Texas, and Phoenix, though they returned to help field the No. 98 at Homestead out of their shop.

#### 2019–2021: JTG Daugherty Racing

On September 28, 2018, Preece was announced as the new full-time driver of the No. 47 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for JTG Daugherty Racing in 2019, replacing the departing A. J. Allmendinger and competing for 2019 Rookie of the Year honors. Preece also joined JR Motorsports for a part-time Xfinity Series schedule in the No. 8 Camaro.

On August 16, 2019, Preece confirmed that he would remain with the team for the 2020 season. However, he moved to JTG's No. 37 car as new teammate Ricky Stenhouse Jr. took over the No. 47. For the Toyota 500 at Darlington Raceway, Preece started on the pole via field inversion, unofficially marking his first career pole at the Cup level; he had finished 20th in the previous race, and a field inversion placed him in first. Despite running with the leaders for much of the Toyota 500's early stages, he finished last after his engine failed on lap 69. Preece was involved in a violent crash on a restart at Kansas Speedway in July 2020. On a restart down the backstretch, Christopher Bell came up in front of Ryan Newman sending Bell into the outside wall. Bell came back across traffic where Newman tagged Preece and Preece hit the inside wall head on and nearly sent Preece on his side. Fortunately, Preece walked out unscathed. It was Preece's fourth straight DNF, but broke a string of last-place finishes. Preece scored a total of 8 DNF's during the season, and finished out the year 29th in points.

Preece returned to the No. 37 in 2021, but the car did not have a charter that would have guaranteed it a spot in every race and only carried enough sponsorship for 24 of 36 races. The performance and funding of the team suffered. The No. 37 would be shut down after 2021, leaving Preece without a ride.

#### 2022: Part-time driver

On January 6, 2022, Stewart–Haas Racing hired Preece as a reserve driver, as the backup driver for all related teams and simulator driver for SHR. Preece will also race two Cup races for Rick Ware Racing at Dover and Charlotte, three Xfinity races for B. J. McLeod Motorsports at Richmond, Charlotte, and Nashville, and seven Truck races for David Gilliland Racing. Preece started 13th in the No. 15 Rick Ware Racing car for his Cup Series start in the 2022 DuraMAX Drydene 400 at Dover and finished 25th. Preece would run all three races during the Coke 600 weekend. He finished 11th in the Truck Series event after being involved in an accident with Carson Hocevar. On June 24, 2022, Preece would win his first career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series pole at Nashville Superspeedway. He would go onto lead 74 of the 150 laps, winning Stage 2 and his second career Truck Series race. He would also race in the Xfinity Series event the following day.

#### 2023: Stewart–Haas Racing

On November 16, 2022, Stewart–Haas Racing announced that Preece would replace Cole Custer in the No. 41 for the 2023 season while Custer would return to the 00 Xfinity Series entry. In December, Chad Johnston returned to SHR to replace Mike Shiplett as crew chief of the No. 41, after Shiplett moved to Richard Childress Racing.

Preece started the 2023 season with a 36th place DNF at the 2023 Daytona 500. He scored his first career pole at Martinsville. He struggled throughout the regular season, scoring only one top-five finish at Richmond.

On August 26, at the 2023 Coke Zero Sugar 400, Preece was running toward the tail of the lead pack in the closing stages of the race. On lap 157, while racing down the backstretch, he was pushed from the rear by Erik Jones. The contact sent Preece down the track, where he collided with teammate Chase Briscoe, and spun onto the apron. As the car slid, aerodynamic forces lifted the car off of the ground and rolled it onto its roof. The car planted upside-down in the grass before violently barrel-rolling roughly ten times before finally coming to a rest on its wheels. After a few moments, Preece exited the car under his own power, and was put on a stretcher, and taken to a nearby hospital for further evaluation. During his time in the hospital, he tweeted that he would be coming back to race again and expressed disappointment that his race ended in the fashion it did. He was discharged the next morning and would be in the next race at Darlington. Preece would come into the next race at Darlington revealing in his interviews that he had two black eyes and both of his eyes were bloodshot from the wreck. The car was taken back to the NASCAR Research and Development center to be studied. Safety concerns emerged as film of the crash showed that the roof hatch, designed to allow the driver to escape from the car through a method other than via the driver's side window, was detached from the car early in the crash, exposing the cockpit during the remainder of the crash. Given his points situation entering the race, the crash eliminated Preece's chances of contending in the NASCAR playoffs.

Preece started the 2024 season with a 23rd place finish at the 2024 Daytona 500. Following the Atlanta race, the No. 41 was hit with an L1 penalty and docked 35 owner and driver points after pre-race inspection revealed unapproved roof rails.

On May 28, 2024, Stewart–Haas Racing announced it would shut down its NASCAR operations at the end of the season.

### Camping World Truck Series

Preece made his debut in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2021, driving the No. 17 for David Gilliland Racing in the races at Nashville Superspeedway and Pocono Raceway. Despite driving for a Chevrolet team in the Cup Series, Preece drove for DGR, a Ford team, in these starts. At Nashville, he passed Grant Enfinger with six laps remaining which enabled him to become the fifth driver in series history to win in his first career start.

## Personal life

Preece was born in Berlin, Connecticut to Jeff and Jodie Preece. He is the youngest of three sons. In 2009, he graduated from Xavier High School.

Preece married his longtime girlfriend, Heather DesRochers, in 2017. Together, Ryan and Heather have one child together, named Rebecca Marie. She was born on August 7, 2023. DesRochers is also a racing driver and was a participant in NASCAR's Drive for Diversity combine in 2009 and 2010, attempting to become one of the drivers selected to be in the D4D program, although she was not selected either year. The two met at Stafford Motor Speedway in 2009 and competed against each other in the SK Modified Series in 2011, where Preece won the championship and DesRochers was the Rookie of the Year.

## Motorsports career results

### NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. ** – All laps led.)

#### Cup Series

#### Camping World Truck Series

Season still in progress Ineligible for series points

### Superstar Racing Experience

(key) * – Most laps led. – Heat 1 winner. – Heat 2 winner.


The Burning Zone

# The Burning Zone

## Abstract

The Burning Zone is an American science fiction drama television series created by Coleman Luck that originally aired for one season on United Paramount Network (UPN) from September 3, 1996 to May 20, 1997. The series follows a government task force assigned to investigate chemical and biological threats. Initially, the program focused on the virologist Edward Marcase (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Dr. Kimberly Shiroma (Tamlyn Tomita). In response to the show's low ratings, Marcase and Shiroma were removed in the middle of the season. Dr. Daniel Cassian (Michael Harris) became the lead character, and a new character, Dr. Brian Taft (Bradford Tatum), joined the task force. The Burning Zone initially incorporated supernatural and religious elements, but shifted towards more action-oriented storylines.

The series was the only drama ordered by UPN for the 1996–97 television season. It was paired with the sitcoms Moesha and Homeboys in Outer Space. The Burning Zone has never been released on DVD or Blu-ray, or made available on online-streaming services. Critical response to The Burning Zone was primarily negative; commentators were divided over its storylines and tone. It received comparisons to other science-fiction shows of the time, especially The X-Files. Kasumi Mihori and Billy Pittard were nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Design for the 49th Primetime Emmy Awards for their contributions to the series.

## Premise and characters

The Burning Zone is a science-fiction drama about a task force that investigates biochemical emergencies. Funded by the United States government, the team includes a virologist, a geneticist, a security specialist, and a bureaucrat. Set during a global rise in lethal diseases, known as the Plague Wars, the show includes hard science storylines resolved through spiritual solutions, including the efficacy of prayer and the power of a "healthy soul". When discussing the show's premise, critics had varying opinions on its inspiration. Comparisons were drawn to television films, B movies, and news headlines, and the Chicago Tribune 's Allan Johnson summed up The Burning Zone as a "mutant-disease-of-the-week series".

The task force includes virologist Edward Marcase (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) who survived a case of Ebola virus disease as a child, although his parents died from the virus. Devoting his life to researching the virus, he approaches the process of handling and curing a diseases as a "mystical experience" or a "supernatural quest". Johnson likened Marcase to Fox Mulder, a fictional character from The X-Files, due to his "almost mystical relationship with diseases". Caryn James of The New York Times wrote that Morgan played Marcase with "a brooding style". Marcase works closely with Dr. Kimberly Shiroma (Tamlyn Tomita), who specialized in molecular genetics and pathology during her time at the World Health Organization. She blames Marcase for her fiancé's death. James compared Marcase's relationship with Shiroma to that between The X-Files ' Mulder and Dana Scully. The team's other members include Michael Hailey (James Black) and Dr. Daniel Cassian (Michael Harris). Hailey handles the task force's security, while using his previous work experience with the Central Intelligence Agency. The group's leader Cassian is portrayed as a "no-nonsense doctor" with a high security clearance and a "firm grip over his emotions".

In response to the show's low ratings, United Paramount Network (UPN) removed Marcase and Shiroma with "only the briefest of explanations". Cassain subsequently became the lead character, despite previously being portrayed as "a kind of Dr. Smith-like thorn in the side". Critic John Kenneth Muir referred to the casting changes as "a behind-the-scenes massacre". Dr. Brian Taft (Bradford Tatum) was added to the show after Marcase and Shiroma's exit. Muir described Taft as "a motorcycle-riding, rebellious James Dean-like physician". Storylines shifted away from supernatural cases to include more action. Science fiction writers Roger Fulton and John Gregory Betancourt wrote that the program had "so many transformations in its brief 19-episode run that no viewer who saw the first show would recognize the last". Morgan and Tomita appear in 11 episodes while Todd Susman was in two episodes. Black appears in all 19 episodes, and Harris and Tatum are in 18 episodes and eight episodes, respectively.

## Production and broadcast history

Produced by Universal Television, The Burning Zone was created by Coleman Luck, who was an executive producer alongside James Duff McAdams and Carleton Eastlake. Consultation for the episodes was provided by an infectious-disease expert, Dr. Kimberly A. Shriner. One of six shows ordered by UPN, The Burning Zone was the network's only new drama for the 1996–97 television season. It was the final program announced as a part of UPN's 1996-97 line-up.

John Kenneth Muir cited The Burning Zone as an example of how the mid-1990s was "the great era of 'virus'-centric pop-culture entertainment". According to John Carman of the San Francisco Chronicle, The Burning Zone was one of the eight shows ordered for the 1996–97 television season that could be "classified as science fiction or at least very strange". Critics frequently compared the series to The X-Files. In the 1999 book Gen X TV: The Brady Bunch to Melrose Place, journalist Rob Owen described The Burning Zone as part of a 1996 trend of " X-Files rejects" that included Dark Skies and Millennium. The show also received comparisons to the 1995 film Outbreak and the 1971 film The Andromeda Strain.

The Burning Zone was broadcast on Tuesday nights at 9 pm EST, airing with the sitcoms Moesha and Homeboys in Outer Space. UPN included references to The X-Files in the promotional materials for the show. In a University of California, Los Angeles report, senior fellow Harlan Lebo wrote that The Burning Zone is one of two shows, along with The Sentinel, in the 1996–97 television season that received complaints for its use of violence. The network canceled The Burning Zone, and rescheduled Tuesday nights with four additional sitcoms, including Clueless. In 2012, Muir called for the show's release on home media, along with Sleepwalkers and Prey, but it has never been released on DVD or Blu-ray, or licensed to an online streaming service.

## Critical reception

The critical response was primarily negative. Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly called the show "stiff, pretentious blarney" and an "unhealthy hugger-mugger", and cited its dialogue as one of its weaknesses. Bret Watson, writing for the same publication, dismissed The Burning Zone as "sci-fi schlock-fest". During a negative review of the special effects, Caryn James wrote that the "supposedly new microbe-imaging system look like the inside of a multicolored lava lamp". Scott D. Pierce panned the show's storylines for going "into the realm of ridiculous fantasy", and negatively compared the characters and dialogue to those of a soap opera. Allan Johnson criticized The Burning Zone as a poor replacement for UPN's previous series Nowhere Man, and requested that the network cancel The Burning Zone to revive Nowhere Man. In his review of the pilot, Johnson criticized Morgan's beard for making him appear "like he spent more time at college kegger parties than studying germs". John Kenneth Muir called The Burning Zone "a one-season blunder".

Some critics had more positive remarks for The Burning Zone. Kasumi Mihori and Billy Pittard received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Design for the 49th Primetime Emmy Awards for their work on the show's main title. James Endrst praised the production, though he had a more mixed response for the show's "B-level stars and performances". Caryn James praised the episodes for containing "the loopy delights of a cut-rate, over-the-top horror movie", but questioned their intended tone due to the actors' serious portrayals of their characters. James felt that the show should have embraced "its silliest, campiest instincts".


List of Spotify streaming records

# List of Spotify streaming records

## Abstract

The following lists contain the most streamed songs and albums as well as chart records on the audio streaming platform Spotify.

As of September 2024, " Blinding Lights " (2019) by Canadian singer the Weeknd is the most streamed song on Spotify. Three artists tie for having the most songs (including features) in the top 100; The Weeknd, English and Albanian singer Dua Lipa, and American musician Bruno Mars each have five. The newest song in the top 100 is " Flowers " by Miley Cyrus (2023), while the oldest song in the top 100 is Queen 's " Bohemian Rhapsody " (1975).

Ten songs are known to have claimed the top of the ranking, beginning with " Viva la Vida " by the British band Coldplay in 2008. Spotify's most streamed song for the longest period of time was " Shape of You " (2017) by the English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran.

Currently, 733 songs have surpassed one billion Spotify streams, 101 have surpassed two billion, 14 have surpassed three billion, and two have surpassed four billion Spotify streams.

## Most-streamed songs

On this chart, songs are ranked by cumulative streams since their release.

## Historical most-streamed songs

## Milestones and achievements for songs

### Annual top five most-streamed songs

The following table lists the five songs that Spotify reported as most-played in each calendar year.

The following table lists the top song that Spotify reported as most-played in each calendar year, for the years 2008 to 2011.

### Most-streamed songs in a single day

#### Non-seasonal songs

The following table lists the 20 non-seasonal songs to receive the most streams in a single day, as registered on the Spotify Global Daily chart.

#### Christmas season songs

The following table lists the 20 songs associated with the Christmas season to receive the most streams in a single day, as registered on the Spotify Global Daily chart. Historically, these songs have performed well yearly on December 24, and often reach new peaks with each season.

† - Version featuring The B. Swason Quartet.

### Historical number one most-streamed non-seasonal songs in a single day

The following table lists the progression by date of number one ranked most-streamed songs in a single day, as registered on the Spotify Global Weekly chart.

### Most-streamed songs in a single week

The following table lists the top 20 most-streamed in a single week, as registered on the Spotify Global Weekly chart.

### Historical number one most-streamed songs in a single week

The following table lists the progression by date of number one ranked most-streamed songs in a single week, as registered on the Spotify Global Weekly chart.

### Longest-running number-one songs by days

The following table lists the songs with more than 60 days in the number 1 position on the Global Spotify Chart.

## 10 most-streamed albums

As of September 2024, Un Verano Sin Ti (2022) by Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny is the most-streamed album of all time on Spotify, while Sour (2021) by American singer Olivia Rodrigo is the most-streamed album by a female artist. Canadian singer The Weeknd and American rapper Post Malone are the only men with multiple albums in the top 10, while Albanian-British singer Dua Lipa is the only woman with multiple albums in the top 10.

The following table lists the top 10 most-streamed albums on Spotify, with streams rounded to the nearest million, as well as the number of tracks, the artist and the date it was released.

## Milestones and achievements for albums

### Annual top five most-streamed albums

The following table lists the five albums most-played on Spotify in each calendar year.

### Most streamed albums in a single day

The following table lists the most streamed albums in a single day, registering the total of obtained streams, the artist, the publication of the album and the date in which these streams were reached.

### Historical number one most-streamed album in a single day

The following table lists the progression by date of number one ranked most-streamed albums in a single week, as registered on the Spotify Global Weekly chart.

### Most streamed albums in a single week

The following table lists the most streamed albums in a single week, registering the total of obtained streams, the artist, the publication of the album and the date in which these streams were reached.

### Historical number one most-streamed album in a single week

The following table lists the progression by date of number one ranked most-streamed albums in a single week, as registered on the Spotify Global Weekly chart.


British Rail Class 450

# British Rail Class 450

## Abstract

The British Rail Class 450 Desiro are third-rail DC electric multiple unit (EMU) passenger trains that entered service during 2003. Used for outer-suburban services, they were built with both first- and standard-class accommodation. They have a maximum speed of 100 mph (160 km/h).

The Desiro UK family also includes units of Classes 185, 350, 360, 380 and 444.

Along with the Class 444 Desiro, the Class 450 units are operated by South Western franchise operator South Western Railway.

## Introduction

In April 2001, 785 vehicles were ordered by South West Trains in order to complete the replacement of its slam-door rolling stock, in accordance with its franchise commitment to do so by 2005, as the slam-door trains, many of which were more than 40 years old, did not meet modern health and safety requirements. Introduction to service was delayed by the required power supply upgrades capable of powering the new trains, which feature air conditioning, a feature not present in the slam-door trains they replaced. In the December 2004 timetable change, the Class 450 Desiro began serving most intended routes, although introduction was delayed until June 2005 in some areas. The units are leased by Angel Trains to South Western Railway.

Sixty-eight new vehicles were ordered by South West Trains as a replacement to the growth order which was diverted to form the similar Class 350 range of electric multiple units.

## Operations

Class 450 units operate suburban, outer-suburban, and regional services from London Waterloo. They are used on all SWR lines except the non-electrified West of England Main Line and Eastleigh to Romsey Line.

On occasion Class 450 units are also used on the Portsmouth Direct Line for services between Waterloo and Portsmouth Harbour, in place of the intended Class 444. The difference in comfort – particularly the higher-density 2+3 seating arrangement used on the Class 450 fleet – has prompted complaints from some passengers affected by the substitution.

Both the Class 444 and 450 fleets are maintained at the purpose-built Northam Traincare Facility in Southampton, which is equipped to perform both preventative and corrective maintenance, deep-cleaning, and overhauls on up to eight units simultaneously.

In March 2012, the Class 450 fleet, along with the Class 458 and 444 fleets, was fitted with regenerative braking.

### Class 450/2 and more orders

Originally, SWT's order with Siemens was for 100 four-car sets (the current 450/0) and 32 five-car sets, intended as Class 450/2 for inner-suburban use. The Strategic Rail Authority, however, did not agree to the terms required, such as the lengthening of platforms and changes to railway infrastructure. As a result, the 32 five-car sets were cancelled and the 160 vehicles redistributed; an extra 10 four-car sets were added to the SWT order, while the remaining 120 vehicles were then ordered as 30 four-car sets of the dual-voltage Class 350 for Silverlink and Central Trains.

Subsequently, SWT received further 17 four-car sets, bringing the total number of Class 450 units up to 127. These trains were delivered in 2006, not long after the last of the first order was delivered.

### Class 450/5 modifications

In January 2008, 28 Class 450/0 sets were modified and re-numbered in the Class 450/5 series, for use on services between Waterloo and Windsor, the Hounslow Loop Line, as well as between Waterloo and Weybridge. They had their first-class seating removed and replaced with 2+3 formation standard-class seating, and some other seats were removed to provide more standing capacity; extra handrails were also provided. The numbers modified are 450043 to 450070, which have become 450543 to 450570 respectively and displayed the letters HC (denoting 'High Capacity') above the unit number on the front of the sets. The modifications were carried out at the Bournemouth Traincare Depot.

In anticipation of the Class 458/5 modifications for use on the Windsor Lines, the 450/5 sub class had the First Class reinstated, and they are now used generally across the SWR routes. These trains retained their 4505xx number as the standard seating configuration remained different but as they completed their SWR interior refurbishment during late 2019 they were returned to their original numbers.

## Refresh

South Western Railway, as part of its franchise award in 2017, has carried out a refurbishment programme on its Class 450 fleet. As part of this, every unit has been deep cleaned with carpets and seat covers replaced and every two seats in standard class have had a plug socket fitted. The 24 first class seats carried in the centre of one of the intermediate trailers were replaced with standard-class rows, while new first-class areas of eight seats each were installed immediately adjacent to each driver's cab. These areas feature new leather seats and tables with wireless charging facilities. As part of this work, subclass /5 high-capacity units have also been similarly refurbished, and returned to their original numbers, meaning that all Class 450s once again share a common layout.

## Accidents and incidents

On 6 November 2017, unit 450025 was derailed near Wimbledon. Four people were injured; over 300 passengers were evacuated from the train. The accident was caused by track spread (an increase in the distance between rails), and occurred on a 120-metre (131 yd) stretch of line that had not been inspected or maintained for many years because of a misunderstanding between Network Rail and London Underground as to which company was responsible for its upkeep.

On 4 March 2024, unit 450092 was derailed at Walton on Thames station when it struck an obstruction on the line whilst travelling at a speed of 90 mph (140 km/h). No-one was injured and the train was safely evacuated.

## Fleet details

### Illustration

### Named units

Some units have been named:

- 450067 - Key Workers - given a special livery aswell

- 450100 - Transport Benevolent Fund CIO

- 450114 - Fairbridge Investing in the Future (Denamed in January 2023.)


Dash Shaw

# Dash Shaw

## Abstract

Dash Shaw is an American comic book writer/artist and animator. He is the author of the graphic novels Cosplayers, Doctors, New School, and Bottomless Belly Button, published by Fantagraphics. Additionally, Shaw has written Love Eats Brains published by Odd God Press, GardenHead published by Meathaus, The Mother's Mouth published by Alternative Comics, and BodyWorld published by Pantheon Books.

Shaw's comic short stories have appeared in many different anthologies, newspapers and magazines. His square-sized short stories were collected in the 2005 book GoddessHead published by Hidden Agenda Press. His comics are known for their emphasis on emotional, lyrical logic and innovative design. He was named one of the top ten artists to check out at the 2002 "Small Press Expo" when he was 19 years old. He also writes lyrics and plays with James Blanca in the weirdo pop band Love Eats Brains! and has co-written and acted in various short film projects.

Shaw is the director of the animated features My Entire High School Sinking into the Sea (2016) and Cryptozoo (2021).

## Early life

Shaw studied at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, graduating with a BFA in Illustration in 2005.

## Career

Throughout college and since, Shaw has published sequential art short stories in a variety of publications in the United States and abroad, plus numerous magazine illustrations.

Shaw's Bottomless Belly Button was published by Fantagraphics in June 2008. His BodyWorld webcomic was bought by Pantheon Books and published in a single printed volume in April 2010.

Bottomless, an exhibition of Shaw's original drawings, storyboards, color background overlays and a new video animation, was on display at Duke University 's John Hope Franklin Center from September 25 through October 31, 2008.

In the years following Bottomless Belly Button, Shaw published numerous short stories in comics form, and serialized the science-fiction story BodyWorld on dashshaw.com. It received an Eisner Award nomination for Best Digital Comic in 2009.

Late 2009 saw the release by Fantagraphics of The Unclothed Man In the 35th Century A.D., a collection of short stories that Shaw had previously published in MOME, along with several pages of storyboards and other ephemera from his animated shorts for IFC.

In 2010, Pantheon Books released the collected chapters of BodyWorld in the form of a graphic novel,

In 2013, releases from Shaw included the zine-style mini-comic New Jobs (Uncivilized Books), the comic-book length shorts collection 3 New Stories (Fantagraphics), and Shaw's next graphic novel, New School (Fantagraphics). New School takes place on an island preparing for an influx of English-speaking tourists upon the completion of a massive theme park depicting periods throughout history. It follows two brothers, one who has taken a job teaching English to island locals and another who has come to retrieve his sibling. In the course of the book, both brothers experience alienation from their surroundings and conflicts with the locals. NPR called New School "striking and enigmatic," while Publishers Weekly described the book as "an unusual combination of bildungsroman, travelogue, and intellectual thriller."

Shaw produced the three-part miniseries Clue: Candlestick for IDW comics in 2019.

## Technique and materials

Shaw employs a combination of hand drawing, animation techniques and Photoshop to produce his artwork. Shaw started working on acetate sheets while studying at the School of Visual Arts. Pointing to pre- Photoshop comics that were colored via clear celluloid containing the black line art, under which would be placed a board with the painted colors, Shaw explains that he took this process and combined it with animation -style use of celluloid, where the backs of the acetate are painted with gouache and laid over a painted background, in addition to color separations where black line art is used to mark the different colors. In addition to using hand-drawing media such as crow quill pens, colored pencils, and markers, Shaw incorporates collage, Photoshop, and painting directly over photocopies, though he does not work with a separate line art layer, preferring to treat black as simply another color, and not a separate or more important element. On BodyWorld, for example, Shaw did the color separations by hand, used the paint bucket tool in Photoshop to color the shapes, and then printed it out and painted over the photocopy, before scanning it again and making final adjustments in Photoshop to achieve the final art.

Shaw explains that his key motive is combining what he likes about hand drawing with the processes available in Photoshop. He has stated that he does not own a drawing tablet, and that his actual knowledge of Photoshop is limited, compared to most mainstream colorists who rely on it exclusively, explaining, "that coloring leaves me cold."

## Animation

His animation influences include Winsor McCay, Osamu Tezuka (in particular his work on Astroboy), and other 60s anime shows like Speed Racer, the 1973 cult films Belladonna of Sadness and Fantastic Planet, limited animation (including A Charlie Brown Christmas), Ralph Bakshi and Suzan Pitt.

Shaw's first animated feature film My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea had its world premiere at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September 2016 and was also shown at the New York Film Festival (NYFF). It features the voices of Jason Schwartzman, Lena Dunham, Reggie Watts, Maya Rudolph and Susan Sarandon.

He was also responsible for the "comic book" scenes in John Cameron Mitchell 's 2010 film Rabbit Hole and the animated dream sequence on an episode of the controversial Netflix series 13 Reasons Why alongside Jane Samborski.

### Cryptozoo

His next feature Cryptozoo, about 1960s San Francisco zookeepers trying to capture a mysterious creature, was released in early 2021 at the Sundance Film Festival where it won the NEXT Innovator Award. It was also nominated for the John Cassavetes Award at the 37th Independent Spirit Awards.

## Works

### Graphic novels

- Bottomless Belly Button (Fantagraphics, 2008)

- BodyWorld (Pantheon Books, 2009)

- New School (Fantagraphics, 2013)

- Doctors (Fantagraphics, 2014)

- Cosplayers (Fantagraphics, 2016)

- Clue: Candlestick (IDW Comics, 2019)

- Discipline (New York Review Comics, 2021)

- Blurry (New York Review Comics, 2024)

### Mini-comics and story collections

- GardenHead (Meathaus, 2002)

- Love Eats Brains! A Zombie Romance (Odd God Press, 2004)

- GoddessHead (Hidden Agenda Press, 2005)

- The Mother's Mouth (Alternative Comics, 2006)

- Virginia (Ça et Là, 2009)

- The Unclothed Man In the 35th Century A.D. (Fantagraphics, 2009)

- Doctor Strange story in Strange Tales II #1 (Marvel Enterprises, 2010)

- New Jobs (Uncivilized Books, 2013)

- 3 New Stories (Fantagraphics, 2013)

- A Cosplayers Christmas (Fantagraphics, 2016)

- Courier (Bomb Magazine, 2024)

### Covers only

- Go-Bots #1 Cover C (IDW Comics, 2018)

- Go-Bots #2 Cover B (IDW Comics, 2018)

- Go-Bots #3 Cover B (IDW Comics, 2018)

### Short animations

- The Unclothed Man in the 35th Century A.D. (IFC.com animated series, 2009)

- Blind Date 4 (2011)

- Wheel of Fortune (2012)

- Seraph (Sigur Rós music video, cowritten with John Cameron Mitchell, 2012)

### Films

- My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea (2016)

- Cryptozoo (2021)

### Other work

#### As illustrator

- My Beautiful Despair: The Philosophy of Kim Kierkegaardashian (Gallery Books, 2018)