Good morning and welcome to Thursday. As a wise person once said: “To rise and shine is fine, but I’d rather end my day with wine.” (Us. It was us who said it.)

Some other things you’ll know after reading this email:

• 📺📈 Which demographic is powering the streaming industry’s growth
• ⌚️✈️ The length of the world’s longest unmanned flight
• 🍕 How many people eat pizza in the US each day

… and more.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news takes 3.57 minutes to read.

P.S. This week's big announcement #4 is that there are no announcements today... tune back in for two more tomorrow!

“Those who are not contented with what they have, would not be contented with what they would like to have.”

–Socrates (470 B.C.–399 B.C.)

US inflation rose 9.1% in June compared to the previous year, according to the Consumer Price Index published yesterday, the highest annual rate since 1981.

💰 A deeper dive… The numbers appear to counter the narrative that inflation has peaked, since price gains were seen across a variety of categories, per CNBC.

• Energy prices increased 7.5% in June, largely thanks to an 11% jump in the price of gasoline. The two categories have risen 42% and 60%, respectively, over the past year.
• Shelter costs, which make up ⅓ of the entire CPI, increased by 0.6% last month and were up 5.6% annually. Rental costs saw their largest monthly increase since 1986 (+0.8%).
• Medical costs rose 0.7% in June, driven by the largest monthly increase in dental prices on record going back to 1995 (+1.9%).

🧐 A couple bright spots (if you squint really hard): Airline fares dropped 1.8% in June, though they’re still up more than 34% on an annual basis. Similarly, prices for meat, poultry, fish, and eggs fell 0.4% for the month but are still nearly 12% higher than last year.

👀 Looking ahead… The Fed is expected to raise interest rates by 0.75%–1.0% after its next two-day policy meeting, which starts July 27.

+Blast from the past: Take a look at our most recent 360° view on inflation.

People aged 50 and up accounted for 39% of all US streaming watch time in May, per new Nielsen data shared exclusively with the WSJ, a 10%+ increase from the previous year. And what’s more, 50–64 year-old Americans spent more time Netflix and chilling over that month than those aged 35 to 49… for the first time ever.

📈 Driving the trend: Increased exposure and cancel culture (not the one you think). Many baby boomers and Gen X’ers are cutting the cord and parting ways with their cable services, all while gaining more access to streaming services via new smart TVs and set-top boxes, the WSJ reports.

• Overall, US streaming usage increased by 21% over the 12-month period ending in May, but that growth came disproportionately from older audiences. The share of viewing by every age group below 50 actually decreased during that time.

📺🤝 In other streaming news: Netflix announced yesterday it’ll partner with Microsoft for its upcoming ad-supported streaming tier, which is rumored to be made available by the end of this year.

BMW has begun charging customers roughly $18/month for heated seats in several countries, including the UK, Germany, New Zealand, and South Korea. It’s not clear when this started, but news outlets began publishing reports this week after it was spotted in South Korea.

🤑 A deeper dive… Carmakers have always charged more for high-end features… that part is nothing new. But in recent years, some companies have focused on delivering those products via software, rather than hardware. (Think of it like in-app purchases for your car.)

• Take BMW for instance. Since 2020, the German automaker has placed many of its features behind subscriptions for international drivers, including automatic high beams, adaptive cruise control, heated steering wheels – and now, heated seats.
• For the heated seats, customers can subscribe for a year ($180), three years ($300), or pay for “unlimited” access for $415.

🤔 One interesting thing: A heated seat subscription isn’t currently an option in the US… which makes a lot of sense, when you consider only 25% of car buyers would actually think about purchasing one. BMW actually tried charging its American buyers $80/year for Apple CarPlay in 2018 before walking it back a year later due to consumer backlash.

🚘 Zoom out: Other automakers currently experimenting with a FaaS (features as a subscription) business model include Toyota, Porsche, Cadillac, Volkswagen, Audi, and Tesla.

🤯 Did you know?… because it's Amazon Prime Week, a whopping 88% of Americans will consider shopping on Amazon???

However, on average, Amazon earns 25% of any revenue generated from its sellers and brands. Possibly even more when considering that Amazon's Product Advertising Business is the third largest behind Google and Meta.🚛💵💰

What we’re getting at here, is that Amazon has a huge market share of just about everything – but, luckily for you, there are brands that will reward you for supporting small businesses!🙌

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The Zephyr S, a solar-powered plane developed by Airbus, just broke its own record for the longest unmanned flight in the world: 27 days and counting, according to flight-tracking data.

☀️✈️ More deets… The remote-controlled aircraft – which glides at an altitude of 70,000 feet, above any weather and conventional air traffic – is designed to provide imagery like a satellite. But there are a few key differences.

• For instance: The craft doesn’t have to orbit Earth, so it can remain in one position and provide constant updates. And the whole not having to go to space thing also means it’s able to return to the ground as needed for upgrades or repairs.

😂 One fun thing: The plane’s operators have taken some… creative liberties with its record-setting flight pattern. As shown in the pic above, Zephyr has been used to spell out the letters ‘USA’ and ‘UK,’ as well as draw rough outlines of Stonehenge and the contiguous United States.☝️

📸 The big picture: Tim Robinson, editor-in-chief of Aerospace magazine, told the BBC that Airbus’ most recent test flight opens the door for practical uses of the Zephyr S, such as military espionage or disaster relief.

• ☝️💶💵 The euro officially fell below parity with the dollar yesterday for the first time in almost 20 years.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 🇬🇧 London’s Heathrow Airport is capping the number of departing passengers at 100,000 per day for the rest of the summer, amid struggles with staff shortages and surging demand.
• ✈️ Spirit Airlines postponed its shareholder vote over a potential merger with rival discount carrier Frontier for the fourth time yesterday; the vote is now set for July 27.
• 🪙📉 Crypto corner: Celsius filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday, a month after halting customer withdrawals. | Embattled crypto fund Three Arrows Capital’s remaining assets were frozen by a NY judge; the whereabouts of both co-founders still remain a mystery.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 📝 Medium founder Evan Williams is stepping down as CEO after ten years.
• 🍿TV & movies: Season 6 of Black Mirror will include Aaron Paul, Zazie Beetz, Paapa Essiedu, Josh Hartnett, Kate Mara, and more. | Top Gun: Maverick became the 12th film ever to pass $600 million at the domestic box office.
• 🏈🚢 Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder has reportedly parked his yacht overseas to prevent being served with a subpoena to testify in front of the House regarding a workplace harassment investigation.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• ​​🧬 Researchers from Verve Therapeutics successfully gene-edited a patient’s liver to produce less cholesterol.
• 🌕 An ongoing supermoon, the biggest and brightest of the year, will hang in the sky through tomorrow night.
• 🦠 The FDA granted emergency use authorization for Novavax’s two-dose Covid vaccine yesterday. | The omicron BA.5 subvariant is now the most dominant strain in the US, per the CDC.

EVERYTHING ELSE

• 🐶 4,000 beagles have been rescued from a Virginia breeding facility accused of animal welfare violations.
• 🇬🇧 Six Conservative Party candidates survived the first ballot to replace UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday.
• ⚖️ An ex-CIA software engineer was convicted yesterday on federal charges accusing him of the biggest theft of classified information in agency history (which was later released by WikiLeaks in 2017).
• 🍕📈 Want to invest in the company disrupting the Pizza industry? Piestro’s robotic kiosks TRIPLE pizzeria profit margins by reducing labor/real estate costs. Learn more about investing in Piestro (open until July 27th)!*

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💬 Quoted… ​​“Poor people are collateral damage…”

A recent nationwide investigation of state lotteries by the Howard School of Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland found that lottery retailers are disproportionately clustered in lower-income communities in nearly every state.

• However, the investigation found the state lotto proceeds end up disproportionately benefiting college students and wealthier school districts located far from the poorer neighborhoods, where a majority of tickets are sold.

Dive deeper.

💰 Stat of the Day: College athletes earned ~$917 million during the first year of NIL, according to estimates from Opendorse.

🌎 Around the World: Sri Lanka's prime minister told the country’s military to do "whatever is necessary to restore order" after protesters stormed his office yesterday, hours after he was appointed acting president by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who has fled the country. (Background)

🤯 Did You Know?... Roughly 13% of the US population eats pizza on any given day (42.8 million people).

📖 Worth a Read: A US Recession Can't Officially Happen Unless Eight People Say So → (The Motley Fool)

📊 Poll results: Yesterday, we asked what you all thought about Arizona’s new law banning citizens from filming law enforcement within an 8-foot radius.

• 25% of y’all agreed with the move, 65% disagreed, and 10% were unsure or had a more nuanced opinion.

See the full 360° view here.

💔 It’s that unfortunate time of year when we have to selflessly let our besties get whisked away by some significant other.

But, even though we may resent them for not placing friendship above all else, we do owe them a proper send-off, complete with gifts.🙄

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When Brazilian grandfather João Stanganelli retired, he took up a new hobby to pass the time: crocheting. After quickly falling in love with the calming pastime, he began to crochet the little dolls seen above for his grandchildren.

His creations are no typical dolls, however. João has vitiligo, a condition that affects the pigmentation of his skin, so he wanted to create dolls to celebrate the diverseness of the human body.

• He started out regularly crocheting dolls with skin differences, and has since branched out to cover limb differences and other physical disabilities.

💬 What he's saying: According to João, his journey with vitiligo has ultimately helped him find acceptance. "I think it is necessary first [to accept] that you have vitiligo," he said. "After this acceptance you choose what you want to do. I still quote Benjamin Disraeli: ‘Life is too short to be small!”

+Note: This story first appeared on May 3 in Positive DONUT, a weekly newsletter delivering awe (and awww) inspiring stories you won't hear in the news. Sign up for free here.

Can you name the numbered African countries?

(keep scrolling for the answers)

👆 Check out the referral prizes you can get just for introducing people you know to little old us. 

What to do: Copy your unique link below, then send it to anyone you think would like the DONUT.

1. Algeria
2. Libya
3. Egypt
4. Sudan
5. Chad