Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 🗳️ Midterms are fast approaching
• ✈️ New search for Earhart’s plane
• 🦇 The “Batman effect”

…and much more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~3.79-minute read (1,009 words).

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“Truth is the offspring of silence and meditation.”

–Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727)

Sunday marked exactly 100 days until Americans head to the polls for the 2026 midterm elections. While plenty can change between now and Election Day, races across America are beginning to take shape as party primary results keep stacking up.

Here’s the lay of the land

Republicans currently hold a razor-thin majority in the House, with 218 seats compared to 212 for Democrats, alongside one independent and four vacant seats, meaning just a handful of races could determine which party controls the chamber next year.

Republicans also hold a slim majority in the Senate, with 53 seats, while Democrats hold 45 seats as well as support from the chamber’s two Independent senators.

What do the polls say?...An estimated 49% of registered voters currently favor a Democratic candidate for Congress, while 44% favor a Republican candidate and the remaining 7% are undecided or support a third party, per RealClearPolitics’ polling aggregator.

Why Democrats are encouraged: Party officials and lawmakers say their chances are boosted due to recent polling that shows the economy and cost of living continue to rank among Americans' top concerns, with ~30% of voters identifying these as the most pressing issues for congressional candidates to address.

• Democrats are hoping frustration over rising costs, higher gas prices, and concerns surrounding the conflict with Iran will translate into support at the ballot box.
• The party has also pointed to strong performances in recent special and state elections as an early sign that voters could be receptive to Democratic candidates this fall.

Why Republicans are encouraged: The GOP sees the 2026 electoral map as one of their biggest advantages, with Democrats needing to outperform their 2024 national results by ~4.9 percentage points to win back the House following recent GOP-led redistricting efforts.

• In the Senate, Democrats would need to flip four GOP-held seats to regain control of the chamber, with victories needed in at least two states where President Trump won the 2024 election by double digits.
• Maine has emerged as one of the races to watch, with incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R) facing former state Senate President Troy Jackson (D) after previous Democratic nominee Graham Platner withdrew amid sexual assault allegations

Looking ahead...The campaign season is far from over, with 18 states still scheduled to hold congressional primaries. Delaware, the final state primary, won't vote until September 15, just weeks before the November 3 general election.

📊 Flash poll: If the 2026 midterm elections were held today, which political party’s candidate would you support for US Congress?

• Democrat
• Republican
• Third party
• Unsure/other

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BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 🤖 Anthropic releases Claude Opus 5, which the AI startup says is designed to handle many tasks almost as well as Fable—its most powerful model—at half the price.
• 🏘️ Average 30-year mortgage rate climbs to 6.58%, its highest mark in nearly a year, per Freddie Mac.
• 🏛️ Trump admin sued by two small businesses over its newly imposed tariffs on 80+ countries over allegations of failing to prohibit the use of forced labor.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏟️ LeBron James is taking his talents to Philadelphia, signing a 2-yr, $8 million deal with the 76ers for his record-extending 24th NBA season. | WNBA All-Star Game: Team Spoon defeats Team Coop 129-122 behind 22 pts/13 reb/8 ast from game MVP, NY Liberty C Jonquel Jones. | MLB Hall of Fame: 2B Jeff Kent, OF Carlos Beltran, and OF Andruw Jones were officially inducted to the 2026 Hall of Fame class on Sunday.
• 🍿 The Odyssey earns $87 million at the domestic box office, marking a decline of just 30% in its second weekend.
• 🦸 Marvel announces Ryan Gosling will star in upcoming Ghost Rider film directed by Shawn Levy; studio also casts David Jonsson as the MCU's new Black Panther.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🏥 US measles cases climb above 2,300 so far this year, eclipsing 2025 as the worst year for measles since 1991.
• 🗣️ Humans spoke tens of thousands of languages between 1,000–3,000 years ago, new study finds; this “golden age” of languages ended with the rise of large states and empires, researchers say.
• 🧑‍🚀 NASA astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts return safely from 241-day stay aboard the International Space Station.

US, WORLD & POLITICS

• 💥 Iran war: President Trump on Friday paused US military airstrikes in Iran after nearly two weeks of daily attacks; Iran has also halted its attacks, with the pause still holding as of late Sunday.
• 🏛️ White House Correspondent’s Dinner took place Friday night, where President Trump delivered a ~1-hour-long speech; it came three months after a gunman upended the original dinner.
• ✈️ New search for Amelia Earhart's plane, led by the Archaeological Legacy Institute and Purdue University, to begin in October; Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared 89 years ago while trying to circumnavigate the globe.

☝️ Giant metal roosters are popping up across Ogunquit, ME, after the town ordered a family to remove the colorful lawn ornaments that help comfort their 6-year-old autistic daughter. Neighbors responded by decorating their own yards and businesses with the giant cock-a-doodle-doodlers in a show of support for the family, with just a healthy dash of rebellion.

🤔 Did you know? A 2025 study published in Nature documented the “Batman effect,” where random passengers on trains in Milan, Italy, were nearly twice as likely to give up their seat to a pregnant woman if an experimenter dressed as Batman was present on the train (67% vs. 38%).

📰 Worth a read: The strange story of Einstein’s brain

🖱️ What we’re clicking:

• Why everyone is “maxxing” their diets
• Millennials are trying to make minivans cool again
• Killing trees to save the forest

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On Friday, we covered America’s landmark 30-year nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia in which the US agreed to help establish a commercial nuclear power industry in the kingdom—as well as President Trump’s later condition that the agreement only move forward if Saudi Arabia joins the Abraham Accords and normalizes relations with Israel.

❓ Our question to you: In general, do you support or oppose the Trump admin’s new nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia?

• Support: 24%
• Oppose: 54%
• Unsure/other: 22%

Read some of the most thoughtful longform responses.

+Note on sample size: We received 517 votes and 44 longform responses.

Monday: President Curtis, Dan Harmon-led Rick and Morty spinoff, debuts on HBO Max following Adult Swim premiere

Tuesday: Late Sen. Lindsey Graham honored with memorial service and funeral in Washington, D.C. (South Carolina services on Wed.); SK Hynix, Visa, Coca-Cola report earnings

Wednesday: Federal Reserve widely expected to hold interest rates steady in latest decision; Microsoft, Meta report earnings

Thursday: Two meteor showers peak together overnight into Friday; Apple, Amazon report earnings

Friday: Spider-Man: Brand New Day debuts in theaters; Ariana Grande releases new album Petal; Shaboozey drops new album The Outlaw Cherie Lee & Other Western Tales

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

1. Cord
2. Gust
3. Myth
4. Oper
5. Prav

(keep scrolling for the answers)

🐘 After nearly 40 years of performing, Portugal’s last circus elephant, named Julie, has finally traded the big top for a 1,000-acre sanctuary. Her arrival at the new Pangea Elephant Sanctuary marks the end of wild animals in Portuguese circuses, and the start of a well-earned retirement filled with mud baths and open space.

1. Cord = Heart (e.g., cordial)
2. Gust = Taste (gusto)
3. Myth = Story (mythical)
4. Oper = Work (operate)
5. Prav = Crooked (depravity)

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