Good morning, and a warm welcome to all our new subscribers. In today’s edition:

• 📉 America’s violent crime decline
• 🚚 Self-driving semi-trucks
• 🤖 Google opens AI slop hell

…and much more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~3.86-minute read (1,027 words).

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“As you grow older you will discover that you have two hands. One for helping yourself, the other for helping others.”

–Sam Levenson (1911-1980)

Many of America’s largest cities are continuing to see a yearslong decline in violent crime through the first half of 2026, according to new data from the Major Cities Chiefs Association.

The data, collected from 66 large US cities, shows the four major categories of violent crime fell by a combined ~8.3% in January-June compared to the same period in 2025, amounting to ~14,200 fewer reported violent crimes.

• Crime declined across each individual category, including murders (-17.2%), robberies (-16.6%), rape offenses (-6.2%), and aggravated assaults (-5.7%).

The drop is particularly striking in cities that have struggled with high levels of violence in recent years.

• Washington, D.C., recorded 46 homicides in the first half of 2026, down 43.9% from the same period last year, while Memphis saw homicides fall 43.7% to 67.
• Houston recorded a 38.3% drop in homicides to 95, while Philadelphia saw a 27.2% decline to 83.

What’s behind the decline?

Pinning down exactly why crime is falling has proven difficult. Researchers point to a range of potential influences, including changes in criminal justice practices, technological advances, and broader societal and cultural shifts. But there doesn’t appear to be a consensus single explanation.

The violent crime decline is also unfolding across cities with different political leadership, economic conditions, policing/prosecution strategies, violence-reduction programs, and levels of federal involvement—making it difficult to credit any single policy or approach.

It’s a stark reversal from earlier this decade. The latest numbers extend a major reversal from the pandemic-era crime surge, when US homicides jumped nearly 30% in 2020, the largest one-year increase since the FBI began keeping records.

The think tank Council on Criminal Justice says the current decline began in the second half of 2022, with homicides across its study cities now 51% below their peak from that year.

Big picture: Other major datasets tell a similar story. Newly released FBI data shows overall violent crime fell 9.3% nationwide in 2025, while homicides dropped 18.1% to tie for the lowest rate since 1900.

📊 Flash poll: In your opinion, which option best describes the current state of violent crime in America?

• An extremely serious problem
• A moderately serious problem
• A not too serious problem
• A not at all serious problem

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BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 📉 US retail sales falls 0.6% in July, down from a revised gain of 0.2% in June and the biggest monthly decrease since May 2025. | US consumer sentiment falls ~8% in August, snapping two-month streak of gains, per monthly University of Michigan survey.
• 🛢️ US Strategic Petroleum Reserve falls below 300 million barrels for the first time since it was filled in the early 1980s, raising concerns about potential damage to its storage caverns.
• 🏦 PayPal Holdings is reportedly in talks to sell to a group that includes Stripe and private-equity firm Advent International.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• ⚾ St. Louis Cardinals rookie OF Joshua Baez became the first MLB player to hit a home run in each of his first three plate appearances in the majors. | 🙏 Tommy John, MLB pitcher who won 288 games across 26 seasons and had a major elbow surgery named after him, died at 83.
• 🍿 Spider-Man: Brand New Day remains atop the domestic box office with $70 million, while The End of Oak Street debuts in third with $21 million; Spider-Man is now the eighth film in history to surpass $2 billion in global ticket sales.
• 🏟️ Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inducts Class of 2026, which includes Amar'e Stoudemire, WNBA icons Candace Parker and Elena Delle Donne, and coaches Doc Rivers and Mike D'Antoni. | Amazon founder Jeff Bezos acquires minority stake in Liverpool Football Club of the English Premier League.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🌌 Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope discover new type of cosmic object called a “black hole star”; it’s likely powered by a black hole at its center, rather than nuclear fusion like a typical star.
• 🚚 Self-driving semi-trucks have begun testing on California roads, after state officials issue first such permits to tech companies Aurora Innovation and Kodiak AI. | Waymo receives regulatory approval to expand its autonomous ride-hailing business across Northern and Southern California.
• 🛰️ UK scientists announce plan to launch suitcase-sized satellite into orbit around the Moon to research what was happening shortly after the Big Bang.

US, WORLD & POLITICS

• 🌀 Hurricane Lala skirted Hawaii’s Big Island on Saturday without making landfall, avoiding the island’s first direct hit in 155 years; one person died in a storm-related car accident, with violent flooding and damaging winds seen across the island.
• ⚖️ Luigi Mangione pleaded guilty on Friday to federal stalking charges in the 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in midtown Manhattan; he faces a max sentence of life in prison; Mangione’s defense team is filing to dismiss state-level murder and weapons charges due to New York’s double jeopardy law.
• 🙏🎓 Jason Arday, the youngest-ever Black professor at Cambridge who resigned this month amid allegations he plagiarized his doctoral thesis and made up parts of his life story, was found dead at 41.

☝️ Meet the red handfish, a critically endangered Tasmanian fish the size of a human thumb that walks along the seafloor on its fins. Its red-lipped frown and punk-rock look earned the tiny fish the honor of becoming the 18,000th species photographed for National Geographic’s Photo Ark, a documentary project now celebrating its 20th anniversary.

🤔 Did you know? The Campaign for North Africa is widely considered one of the most complex board games ever created. One 10-player game takes an estimated 1,500 hours to complete—the equivalent of holding three-hour sessions 2x/month for 20 years.

📰 Worth a read: A glimpse of an American icon: The drive-thru window.

🖱️ What we’re clicking:

• Why do cats yowl?
• Google opens the gates of AI slop hell
• Why everyone suddenly wants to dress like an Italian grandma

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Monday: It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 18 debuts on FXX/Hulu

Tuesday: Primary elections in Alaska and Florida; deadline for SCOTUS to decide on Trump’s White House ballroom construction appeal

Wednesday: Fed publishes minutes from last policy meeting; Little League World Series begins in Williamsport, PA

Thursday: Weekly unemployment claims; Walmart, Alibaba, Deere & Company report earnings

Friday: Weezer and Sam Smith each debut new albums

On Friday, we covered how the ongoing primary season is sending mixed signals about which approach will prove most successful for Democratic Party heading into November’s midterms, with last week’s slate of elections producing different outcomes for progressive and moderate candidates.

❓ Our question to you: Which version of the Democratic Party do you most want to see?

• More centrist/moderate-aligned party: 59%
• More progressive/DSA-aligned party: 30%
• Unsure/other: 11%

Read some of the most thoughtful longform responses.

+Note on sample size: We received 514 votes and 47 longform responses.

Guess the definitions of the following Greek/Latin root words:

1. Bronch
2. Femor
3. Idi
4. Plum
5. Van

(keep scrolling for the answers)

🩺 97-year-old Dr. Westel Creager donned his own white coat to watch his great-granddaughter receive hers at the University of Kentucky Medical School, the same place he graduated from back in 1970. His reaction was priceless.

1. Bronch = Windpipe (e.g., bronchitis)
2. Femor = Thigh (femoral)
3. Idi = Personal (idiom)
4. Plum = Feather (plumage)
5. Van = Empty (vanity, vanish)

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