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Hey, speaking of – TODAY’S NEWS…

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news takes 5.17 minutes to read.

“You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.”

–William Faulkner (1897-1962)

Last month, podcast host Joe Rogan held a three-hour interview with Democratic presidential candidate and environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. And one topic from their conversation is stirring up more controversy than the age old question, “is a hot dog a sandwich?”

At issue is the theory, proposed by Kennedy, that two ingredients present in many vaccines – ethylmercury and aluminum – have caused a surge in autism and chronic disease diagnoses over the past few decades.

The Kennedy interview drew backlash from many in the scientific community, who accused Rogan of platforming misinformation. One such critic was Dr. Peter Hotez, a vaccine scientist, professor, and former guest on Rogan’s podcast, who called the Kennedy interview "nonsense" and retweeted a VICE article about the prevalence of vaccine misinformation on Rogan’s podcast.

Rogan responded by inviting Hotez on his podcast to debate Kennedy about vaccines, sweetening the offer with a $100,000 donation to a charity of Hotez's choosing, should he accept. The request drew support from many on social media, including billionaires Elon Musk and Bill Ackman (the latter of whom added another $150,000 to Rogan’s offer).

Hotez refused the invitation, but offered to reappear on Rogan’s podcast without Kennedy there, saying RFK Jr.’s inclusion would “turn it into the Jerry Springer Show.”

• Some people agreed with Hotez’s response – like billionaire Mark Cuban, who argued that Rogan and Kennedy participate in these kinds of debates for a living, while Hotez is busy doing medical research and teaching students.
• Others questioned why Hotez, or another expert, would refuse the chance to correct potential misinformation regarding vaccines.

🗳️ Zoom out: Kennedy is currently polling at just over 14% among Democrats nationally, compared to President Biden’s ~64%. And since the DNC has said there won’t be any debates for the 2024 election season, Kennedy’s campaign is focusing on reaching the American public in other ways.

• His recent media tour has included mainstream orgs like NBC News and Fox News, as well as major podcasts like Bari Weiss’ Honestly and The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast.

📊 Flash poll: Do you think Dr. Hotez – or another vaccine scientist – should agree to debate RFK Jr.?

Yes

Yes, but not on Joe Rogan’s podcast

No

Unsure/other

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🇩🇪🕍 Pieces of a Munich synagogue destroyed by Nazis in 1938 were discovered by construction crews last week. The synagogue, which had been a center of Jewish life and a major Munich landmark for decades, was one of the first that Adolf Hitler ordered to be destroyed after ascending to power in Germany. The building’s rubble was thought to have been lost until last week, when construction crews working on a nearby river dam unearthed 150 tons of stone columns and a tablet bearing the Ten Commandments in Hebrew.

🇦🇺 Australia became the first country to legalize psychedelics to treat depression and PTSD. As of July 1, Australian doctors can prescribe MDMA (aka ecstasy or molly) to patients diagnosed with more serious types of depression, and psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) to patients with PTSD. Both drugs, which are otherwise illegal in Australia, must be taken under supervised conditions alongside therapy.

🇭🇹 Haiti urgently requires international troops to stabilize its spiraling humanitarian and security crisis, per US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. His comments follow a summit with Haitian PM Ariel Henry on Wednesday, and echo similar calls from the UN and Haiti’s own government over the past year. The island country, which is the poorest in the Western Hemisphere, has seen armed gangs take over large parts of its capital city since its president was assassinated in July 2021. The UN says Haiti is rapidly deteriorating on on virtually every front, including sexual violence, kidnappings, migration, and murder.

For anyone suffering from Succession withdrawal, there’s some real-life media mogul drama currently unfolding at Warner Bros. Discovery.

The conflict centers around a GQ profile published Monday titled, “How Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav Became Public Enemy Number One in Hollywood." And it certainly doesn’t make Zaslav look like Mr. Rogers. In fact, it explicitly compares him to Logan Roy.

At least it did – until disappearing from GQ's website without explanation on Monday. A quick play-by-play:

• After the profile was published, WBD complained to GQ about inaccuracies in the article and not being contacted prior to running the piece. Within hours, the piece had disappeared from GQ's website.
• The piece's writer, Jason Bailey, declined to participate in the revision process but allowed the editor to make changes.
• A shorter, revised version gets published. Upon seeing it, Bailey asked for his name to be removed as the author. GQ then unpublished the article altogether.

The profile – which you can read an unedited version of here – details Zaslav being booed during a speech at his alma mater, Boston University. Also included is a list of Zaslov’s major moves since becoming CEO: skipping the theatrical release of HBOMax’s entire 2021 slate and releasing via streaming instead, firing senior executives at Turner Classic Movies, and rebranding HBO Max to simply "Max."

💰 Follow the money: Yesterday, Variety reported that GQ’s editor-in-chief, Will Welch, is currently producing a film at Warner Bros and was directly involved with the decision to remove the profile.

Much like the odometer of someone headed across the country to, "like, find myself, man," US auto sales are going up. According to a new WSJ report, new-vehicle sales totaled about 7.7 million from January to June, a ~13% increase year over year.

🚗📈 Driving (heh) the market… Dealers and car execs point to pent-up demand from shoppers who have been on the sidelines for years, as semiconductor supply chain issues led to industry-wide vehicle shortages. Automakers sold 13.9 million vehicles in the US last year, the worst sales in over a decade.

But now, supply chain issues have eased and more vehicles are being consistently made. Buyers are responding, and sales are bouncing back faster than many analysts had expected, the WSJ reports.

Per a slew of Q2 earnings’ reports released by automakers over the past week:

• Ford’s new vehicle sales for the quarter were up ~10% over the previous year. GM’s were up ~19%.
• Nissan sales jumped ~33%, Hyundai and Kia both rose by ~15%, and Stellantis sales increased ~6% for the quarter.

☝️ One interesting thing: While US new vehicle sales are rising, a relatively small number of the new vehicles purchased are electric. EVs accounted for just 7.2% of overall sales during the January-to-June period (though that’s up from 5.4% over the same timeframe last year).

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💬 Quoted… “...toys for the doggos, grassy lawns, great smells, long dog runs, all fencing secure and strong. Good times for everyone.”

Sniffspot, the so-called AirBnB for dogs, allows people to rent out their backyards as private dog parks across the US. And doggos aren’t the only ones panting with joy – some hosts are making upwards of $4,000/month through the app, which is active in over 3,600 cities.

• On average, prices range from $3 per dog per hour to $20 per dog per hour, depending on whether amenities like pooper scoopers, short grass, and swimming pools are provided.

🍎 Stat of the Day: Since it launched Wednesday evening, more than 57 million people have signed up for Threads, Instagram’s text-based social networking app. That’s equivalent to ~25% of Twitter’s entire active user base as of May 2022.

🤯 Did You Know?... ~91.8% of homeowners currently have a mortgage rate below 6%, according to Redfin. And with today’s rates squarely into/around the 7% territory, the motivation to sell + buy again isn’t very high – the US currently has the lowest quantity of homes available since at least 2012, when Redfin first began tracking this data.

📖 Worth a Read: Obituary for a Quiet Life → (The Bitter Southerner)

• ☝️ You’re looking at the best science images from June 2023, as selected by Nature’s photography team.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 💰 US markets closed down across the board yesterday (S&P: -0.8%; Dow: -1.1%; Nasdaq: -0.8%).
• 💼 Private sector companies added 497,000 new jobs in June, more than double analysts’ expectations.
• 💊 Cost Plus, the online pharmacy owned by Mark Cuban, will start selling a low-cost version of arthritis drug Humira, one of the world’s best-selling drugs.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

in partnership with Lingopie

• 🎾🤖 Wimbledon is using AI announcers for the highlight reels of its tennis matches.
• 🤑 Taylor Swift’s Eras tour is on track to gross $1.4 billion, per a new Pollstar report; the highest-grossing tour ever is Elton John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road ($887+ million), which officially ends tomorrow night.
• ⚾ The MLB Draft begins in Seattle this Sunday, two days before the 2023 All-Star Game.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Slumber

• 🤖💻 ChatGPT's web traffic declined for the first time from May to June.
• 🌿 Cannabis use disorder is linked to mental illnesses including depression and bipolar disorder, per a new peer-reviewed study.
• 🚰 Drinking water from nearly half of all US faucets likely contains “forever chemicals” that may cause cancer and other health problems, per a new US government study.

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MISCELLANEOUS

• 🌬️⚡ The Biden administration approved America’s largest-ever offshore wind power project off the New Jersey coast; it’ll eventually produce enough power for 500,000 homes.
• 🚫🌊 OceanGate, the company that built and operated the submersible that imploded last month and killed five passengers during a Titanic dive, has suspended its operations.
• ⚖️📑 Walt Nauta, an aide to former President Trump, pleaded not guilty yesterday to federal charges relating to his handling of classified documents at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)

CLICKBAIT

• 🇺🇸🌆 The 25 most underrated US destinations.

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Yesterday, we covered the Supreme Court ruling that struck down the Biden administration’s plan to forgive up to $20,000 in federal student-loan debt for over 40 million eligible US borrowers.

❓ Our question to you: Do you agree with the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Biden’s student-loan forgiveness plan?

• 👍 Yes: 47%
• 👎 No: 38%
• 🤷 Unsure/other: 15%

Click here to read the best responses from yesterday’s poll.

+Note on sample size: We received 12,350 votes and 1,153 longform responses.

Last week, a group of 20 grandparents participated in a 40-yard dash at Emerald Downs Racetrack in Auburn, Washington.

• Grandpa Steve Butler came in first place, sharing that he hadn't run in a race in over 50 years.

🤪 Zoom out: Emerald Downs is no stranger to quirky races. The track is also known for its corgi, wiener-dog, and T-rex-suit races, to name a few. 

Below are three lists of ingredients. All you have to do is give us the completed dish they make.

☝️ Recipe #1:

• Ears of corn
• Coconut milk
• Water
• Butter
• Garlic
• Thyme leaves
• Culantro
• Chives
• Habanero peppers
• Salt & pepper

✌️ Recipe #2:

• Ground chicken
• Panko breadcrumbs
• Basil pesto
• Egg
• Salt & pepper

3️⃣ Recipe #3:

• Mild Italian sausage
• Crushed red pepper flakes
• Bacon
• Onion
• Garlic
• Chicken broth
• Heavy cream
• Potatoes
• Spinach

(keep scrolling for the answers)

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☝️ Recipe #1: Trinidadian boiled corn

✌️ Recipe #2: Pesto chicken meatballs

3️⃣ Recipe #3: Zuppa toscana