Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 🗳️ Democratic Party’s future
• 🙏 Sen. Lindsey Graham’s death
• 🤖 Can you spot an AI deepfake?

…and much more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~3.91-minute read (1,041 words).

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In Thursday’s edition, we reported the wrong number of US states with official nuts. There are four other states—AL, AR, CA (x4), and OH—with a state nut, in addition to Oregon.

Apologies for the confusion, and thanks to Butch for writing in.

“Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit.”

–Vince Lombardi (1913-1970)

Michigan’s Senate race is shaping up as a bellwether for the direction of the Democratic Party, amid a recent power struggle between its progressive wing—led by democratic socialists—and moderate establishment in primary elections across the US.

Abdul El-Sayed, a physician and progressive Democrat backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, has emerged as the leading challenger to establishment Democrat Haley Stevens in Michigan, one of America’s most competitive battleground states.

Some quick background: Candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)—a decentralized org that operates as an activist group, rather than a standalone political party—have made notable election gains in recent months.

• In Colorado, 29-year-old Melat Kiros defeated 15-term incumbent Democrat Diana DeGette in a House primary, while fellow DSA member and Pennsylvania state Rep. Chris Rabb won a May primary for US House.
• Political newcomer Graham Platner, who aligned himself with many DSA ideas, also defeated the Democratic establishment in Maine’s Senate primary, before withdrawing due to scandal.

A battle for the party’s future

The recent wave of progressive victories has highlighted a growing divide over what the Democratic Party should look like moving forward.

Many supporters of the Democratic establishment say the party is strongest when it builds broad coalitions that can compete in swing states. They generally favor expanding existing government programs, working within established political institutions, and nominating experienced candidates they believe can appeal to moderates and independent voters.

On the flip side: Many progressives and DSA members say the party should pursue more sweeping changes aimed at addressing affordability and economic inequality.

Members primarily work within the Democratic Party to advocate for working-class power, systemic reforms, and an eventual transition to an economy and society controlled by the working people.

• They support policies such as Medicare for All, expanded childcare, stronger labor protections, higher taxes on the wealthy, and reducing the influence of money in politics.
• DSA members also advocate for an eventual transition from a capitalism-based economy to democratic socialism.

Reality check: With races still unfolding across the country, the full picture of the movement's electoral performance is still developing. The DSA has endorsed ~150 candidates across federal, state, and local races this election cycle, including a handful of House races—but they haven’t officially weighed in on any US Senate contests.

Thus far, 35 of DSA-endorsed candidates have won their primaries or advanced without opposition, 34 have lost, and the others have yet to face voters, per a Washington Examiner tally.

Looking ahead: Michigan's Democratic Senate primary is set for August 4, with the winner advancing to the general election to replace retiring Sen. Gary Peters. A recent poll found El-Sayed and Stevens statistically tied, with ~20% of Democratic primary voters still undecided.

📊 Flash poll: In general, do you support or oppose the recent emergence of the Democratic Socialists of America as a potential challenger to the Democratic Party establishment?

• Support
• Oppose
• Unsure/other

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BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 📱 Apple sues OpenAI and two former employees alleging a coordinated effort to steal its designs and manufacturing processes to benefit the ChatGPT-maker’s foray into hardware.
• 🚘 Volkswagen is cutting the number of models it offers by up to half, citing efforts to reduce costs and better compete with Chinese automakers.
• 📈 SK Hynix raised ~$26.5 billion on Friday in largest-ever US IPO by a foreign company; shares rose 13% in first day of trading, giving the South Korean chipmaker a ~$1.2 trillion valuation.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• ⚽ World Cup semifinals are set; star-studded final four features France v. Spain and Argentina v. England. | 🎾 Wimbledon: Linda Nosková, 21, wins first career Grand Slam title in all-Czech final against Karolína Muchová; world #1 Jannik Sinner wins second straight Wimbledon title over #2-seed Alexander Zverev.
• 🏈 Seattle Seahawks to be sold for record-breaking $9.6 billion to a group led by 49ers minority owner Vinod Khosla, who will divest his stake in San Francisco.
• 🎥 Disney’s live-action Moana leads domestic box office with $43 million in its opening weekend, well below studio expectations of $60 million-$65 million.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🌊 Scientists observe creation of new seafloor for the first time, new Nature study reveals; 2024 incident saw a series of earthquakes abruptly add 3+ feet of new seafloor to the Indian Ocean.
• 🌌 Some black holes in the universe (~14%) may be second-generation black holes that formed from the previous merging of two smaller black holes, rather than originating from the death of a star.
• 🪞☀️ FCC approves plans by startup Reflect Orbital to test a satellite that uses a 60-foot mirror to reflect sunlight back to Earth after dark; startup says it wants to eventually launch as many as 50,000 such satellites.

US, WORLD & POLITICS

• 🙏 Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a longtime Republican senator and former presidential candidate, died Saturday evening, likely due to complications from cardiovascular disease, per his office; Graham, a strong supporter of Ukraine in its war with Russia, had been in Kyiv on Friday to meet with President Zelensky.
• 💥 Iran war: US military launches strikes against Iranian targets near the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday and Sunday in response to an Iran missile attack on a commercial cargo ship; Iran retaliates by launching fresh strikes on Jordan, Qatar, and the UAE.
• 📰 Trump admin issues subpoenas to NY Times reporters who reported on security concerns involving a Qatari-gifted Air Force One jet, which Trump opted not to use when leaving last week’s NATO summit in Turkey.

☝️Pokémon GO celebrated its 10th birthday by turning Times Square into a real-life battlefield, where 1,500+ trainers teamed up to take down Mega Mewtwo Y in one of the game's biggest in-person raids ever. A decade after launch, the mobile hit is still catching plenty of success, raking in $1+ billion in revenue last year alone.

🤔 Did you know? Voyager 1, the first human-made object to enter interstellar space, has been speeding away from Earth at 38,000 mph for nearly 50 years. On November 18, it'll hit a major—but also relatively minor—milestone: one full light-day from Earth, or ~16.1 billion miles traveled through space.

📰 Worth a read: The universal nostalgia for “Take Me Home, Country Roads”

🖱️ What we’re clicking:

• Can you spot an AI deepfake?
• How to actually 'regulate' your nervous system
• 5 historical figures who didn’t actually exist

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Monday: MLB Home Run Derby

Tuesday: Consumer Price Index for June; World Cup semifinal #1 (France v. Spain); MLB All-Star Game; JPMorgan, Goldman, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, BoA all report earnings

Wednesday: Producer Price Index for June; World Cup semifinal #2 (Argentina v. England); Johnson & Johnson, Morgan Stanley, ASML report earnings

Thursday: Weekly unemployment claims; TSMC, Netflix report earnings

Friday: Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey hits theaters

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

1. Bibl
2. Clar
3. Dur
4. Meg
5. Phor

(keep scrolling for the answers)

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1. Bibl = Book (e.g., bibliography)
2. Clar = Clear (clarity)
3. Dur = Hard (durable)
4. Meg = Great (megaphone)
5. Phor = Carry (metaphor)

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