Towels, soothing music and even a proper sauna. Amidst all the hustle and bustle, this was the setting for Healthy Start’s ‘Hot Takes’ study. From the 21st to the 23rd of August 2026, this study took place during the Netherlands’ most famous festival: Lowlands. For three days, we explored how we can listen to one another more effectively. Who would have thought that research into polarisation could be so relaxing?

For the regular festival-goer, it’s a familiar concept: Lowlands Science. In this area of the festival site, various research institutes are given the opportunity to conduct research amongst festival-goers over the course of three days. And this year, the Healthy Start Sprint project on polarisation was also present. The project is a collaboration between researchers from the EUR (Erasmus SYNC Lab), TU Delft and the UvA (Hot Politics Lab), together with theatre makers (TIME OUT.) and is based on the findings of previous research into polarisation amongst young people. It turned out that young people do not mind people having different opinions, but they do see it as a problem that people no longer listen to one another. But how do you tackle that problem?

The researchers hope to find the answer to that question in ‘recorded delivery’. In this form of theatre, people are given headphones and listen to an audio clip. Whilst listening, they must repeat what they hear out loud on the spot, including intonations, pauses and stumbles. Can this method help people to listen to one another more effectively? The research concept was developed during several co-design sessions with young people, theatre makers and researchers. After much trial and error, reflection, refinement and further trial and error, the Hot Takes wellness centre was created: a hot place to listen to someone else’s ‘hot take’.

On Thursday 20 August, the wellness centre was set up, and from Friday to Sunday, visitors were welcomed between 12:00 and 19:00 to take part in the experiment. On arrival, visitors completed a questionnaire to gauge their views on various polarising topics. After completing it, they were given a towel – in style with the theme – and proceeded to the warm-up room. After watching an instructional video, they were led to the sauna. What visitors did not know beforehand was that there were two conditions: half of the visitors carried out the recorded delivery themselves in the sauna, whilst the other half sat in the sauna with two actors who performed the recorded delivery. Afterwards, it was time for the cool-down: on two lounge chairs, the visitors filled in another questionnaire and briefly shared their experiences with a researcher. On their way back to the exit, there was a possibility to write down their thoughts or freshen up with wet wipes to ‘wash everything off’. Not an unnecessary luxury at a festival like this.

In the ‘dome’ – a small theatre with a café-style setting right in the centre of the Lowlands Science site – the Hot Takes team also presented a daily programme. On three afternoons, the TIME OUT Foundation staged a performance here to immerse visitors even further in the subject. During the performance, theatre scenes were interspersed with discussions with the audience, and each day a guest speaker was present to provide further insight into the subject: Dr Wouter van den Bos, Prof. Eveline Crone and Dr Bert Bakker.

And anyone who thinks that the average festivalgoer only really comes to life late in the afternoon is mistaken: for three days, the container was packed with people non-stop, and visitors also streamed into the dome every day. The current tally stands at 300 visitors who took part in the research and contributed to science. But what’s next? Now that the data has been collected, the analysis of the data is about to begin! Based on the findings of the research, theatre makers and researchers will develop a performance and a workshop, to put the results into practice. In this way, we bring art and science together to build a bridge between theory and practice. To be continued!