diff --git a/frontend/src/api.ts b/frontend/src/api.ts
index ae2b1c7..d44e865 100644
--- a/frontend/src/api.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/api.ts
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ export async function fetchTalk(id: string): Promise<any> {
 		headers: getSessionHeaders(),
 	});
 	if (!response.ok) {
-		throw new Error(`Failed to fetch talk: ${response.statusText}`);
+		throw new Error(`Failed to fetch talk: ${response.status}`);
 	}
 	return response.json();
 }
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/ResultsTable.tsx b/frontend/src/components/ResultsTable.tsx
index ab4b79f..c589bf8 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/ResultsTable.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/ResultsTable.tsx
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ export function ResultsTable({ results, exportResults, onLoadMore, nextBatchSize
 				<tbody>
 					{results.map((hit) => {
 						// Always use _id, and strip "speeches/" prefix for routing
-						const talkKey = hit._id?.startsWith("speeches/") ? hit._id.slice(6) : hit._id;
+						const talkKey = hit._id?.startsWith("speeches/") ? hit._id.slice("speeches/".length) : hit._id;
 						if (!talkKey) {
 							console.warn("Result hit missing _id:", hit);
 						}
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/TalkView.tsx b/frontend/src/components/TalkView.tsx
index 68e3710..2cd0641 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/TalkView.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/TalkView.tsx
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ export function TalkView() {
 		const idString = typeof rawId === 'object' && rawId !== null && '_id' in rawId 
 			? (rawId as any)._id 
 			: String(rawId);
-		const result = idString.startsWith("speeches/") ? idString.slice(6) : idString;
+		const result = idString.startsWith("speeches/") ? idString.slice("speeches/".length) : idString;
 		return result;
 	};
 	const previousId = normalizeTalkId(previousTalk);
diff --git a/frontend/src/context/TalkDrawerContext.tsx b/frontend/src/context/TalkDrawerContext.tsx
index 428ec20..c2af952 100644
--- a/frontend/src/context/TalkDrawerContext.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/context/TalkDrawerContext.tsx
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ const TalkDrawerContext = createContext<TalkDrawerContextValue | null>(null);
 
 /** Strips the ArangoDB "speeches/" collection prefix so callers can pass either form. */
 export function normalizeTalkId(rawId: string): string {
-	return rawId.startsWith("speeches/") ? rawId.slice(6) : rawId;
+	return rawId.startsWith("speeches/") ? rawId.slice("speeches/".length) : rawId;
 }
 
 export function TalkDrawerProvider({ children }: { children: ReactNode }) {
diff --git a/frontend/src/utils/markdown.ts b/frontend/src/utils/markdown.ts
index 2286c3c..01c1209 100644
--- a/frontend/src/utils/markdown.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/utils/markdown.ts
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ export const convertMarkdownToHtml = (markdown: string, sources?: ChatSource[]):
             if (raw.startsWith("documents/")) {
                 talkPathByIndex.set(i + 1, `/motion/${raw.slice("documents/".length)}`);
             } else {
-                const key = raw.startsWith("speeches/") ? raw.slice(6) : raw;
+                const key = raw.startsWith("speeches/") ? raw.slice("speeches/".length) : raw;
                 if (key) talkPathByIndex.set(i + 1, `/talk/${key}`);
             }
         });