Good morning. Some weekend fun facts:

• More than 200,000 people saw Barbie and Oppenheimer on the same day.
• An estimated 100,000+ people attended a Taylor Swift concert.
• A little over 120,000 people didn’t receive a DONUT newsletter.

The last one changes now – welcome back and welcome to a new week🥳.

NEWS.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news takes 4.62 minutes to read.

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There is no absolute success in the world, only constant progress.”

–Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)

In January, we wrote about a lawsuit brought by Seattle’s public school district accusing TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook of contributing to an ongoing youth mental health crisis in America.

And when Seattle’s schools made this move, they may as well have been Ron Burgundy calling for his news team to assemble. Because since then, nearly 200 districts and hundreds of individual families across the country have joined their lawsuit.

🗣️⚖️ Their argument: That social media companies intentionally designed and marketed their platforms so millions of young Americans would become addicted.

• Schools say this forces their staff to waste valuable time addressing cyberbullying (as well as other disciplinary problems), adding new training and policies around social media, and counseling students whose addiction leads to anxiety, depression, or suicidal thoughts.

🔀 On the flip side: Social media companies deny these allegations, arguing many other factors could influence the youth mental health crisis – like Covid/remote schooling, political tensions, fear of climate change, less family time, etc. – making it impossible to isolate the impact of social media.

• The companies also claim the case should be dismissed on grounds their conduct is protected under Section 230, a federal law granting internet companies legal immunity for nearly all third-party content on their sites. A ruling on this motion is expected sometime later this year.

🤔 What does the science say?... Short answer: it’s complicated. A 2020 meta-analysis of meta-analyses (aka the gold standard of statistical reviews) found increased use of digital technology led to a small negative effect on well-being, but a causal link between the two was difficult to pinpoint.

📸 Big picture: The CDC’s biennial survey on US high school students’ health and well-being, published in February, found the percentage of girls who reported feelings of persistent sadness or hopelessness rose from 36% in 2011 to 57% a decade later. That figure is nearly double the rate for high school boys, which grew from 21% to 29% over the same period.

📊 Flash poll: Do you think social media companies should be held legally responsible for the recent uptick in US students experiencing mental health problems?

Yes

No

Unsure/other

+IMPORTANT: If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988, or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.

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🇮🇱 Israel’s ruling party announced plans to vote on the first part of its controversial judicial reform bill as early as today. The measure, which is aimed at restricting the Supreme Court’s ability to strike down government or executive decisions on the basis of reasonability, has been the subject of mass protests across Israel since it was first introduced in January (including several demonstrations yesterday). Separately, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is currently recovering in a hospital following an emergency heart procedure yesterday that involved installing a pacemaker.

🇪🇺🛂🇺🇸 Attention US travelers to Europe: All 27 EU countries will require US citizens to obtain a temporary visa prior to entry starting in January 2024. The new online visa application, which costs $7.79 per traveler, will ask for basic information like travel plans, history, and certain security questions. Most US visa applicants should receive approval within an hour, though some may take up to 96 hours for further checks. If an application is denied, EU officials will send a message explaining their decision and how to appeal it. EU lawmakers say the new visa policy for Americans is in response to the US failing to implement visa-free travel for five EU member-countries.

🇪🇸 Spain held its first national election since 2019. While the center-right opposition People’s Party won more seats than any other party (136), they don’t have a clear path to the 176-seat majority needed to elect a new prime minister and form a government. But neither does the center-left ruling Socialists party, which won 122 seats. If neither party is able to secure a majority coalition in the coming months, Spain will be forced to hold another national election.

Over the weekend, the US box office brought in a combined ~$302 million in ticket sales, good for its fourth-largest weekend in history.

Its biggest driver? Barbie and Oppenheimer, which together accounted for more than three-fourths of the entire total. The hype surrounding Barbenheimer, it seems, was real.

🎀 Barbie: The very pink Greta Gerwig-directed comedy debuted to $155 million at the US box office, beating out The Super Mario Bros. Movie ($146 million) to take the title for the largest opening of 2023.

It’s also good for the biggest US opening for a female-directed movie, solo or otherwise. The two previous closest films were Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman ($103 million) and the Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck-directed Captain Marvel ($153 million).

💥 Oppenheimer: Opened to $81 million domestically, well above analysts’ expectations of ~$50 million. This ranks the Christopher Nolan-directed biopic as the third-biggest opening for a biographical film in North America, behind American Sniper ($89 million) and The Passion of the Christ ($84 million).

🧲 Opposites attract: Part of what drove the hype-wheel behind Barbenheimer was how diametrically opposed the two films were – one a fun, pink-themed comedy and the other about the creation of the atomic bomb. Now, we can actually quantify the difference: Barbie is skewing heavily female (68%), while Oppenheimer is attracting mostly males (64%).

💬 Quoted… "And soon we shall bid adieu to the Twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds."

• According to Elon Musk, Twitter is rebranding as “X.” The move, which hadn’t yet happened as of Sunday evening when we were writing this, comes as the text-based social media app is facing competition from Threads, Meta’s newly-launched text-based social media app. More than 150 million people have now signed up for Zuck’s version – around 65% of Twitter’s overall user base – though the Meta-owned app isn’t without its own problems. Daily active users on Threads are down 70%, with time spent on the app down to 4 minutes, less than 20% of the 21 minutes users were spending on it near launch.

📈 Stat of the Day: The average US consumer’s utility bill this summer is projected to be $578 per month, nearly 12% higher than last year, per the National Energy Assistance Directors Association.

🤔 Did You Know?... When The Who drummer Keith Moon passed out in the middle of a San Francisco concert in 1973, the band ended up asking a random person from the audience – 19-year-old Scott Halpin – to come onstage and play drums for the rest of the show.

📰 Worth a Read: Why our voices change as we get older → (The Conversation)

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• ☝️ NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover recently captured this composite image showing a large boulder field scientists say was formed by a "rollicking" and "high-energy river" that previously existed there.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Life Atlas

• 💰 US markets closed mixed across the board on Friday (S&P: +0.03%; Dow: +0.01%; Nasdaq: -0.2%).
• 🪙 FTX’s new management sued founder Sam Bankman-Fried and three other former execs late last week seeking to claw back over $1 billion of company funds.
• 📺 ESPN has reportedly held early talks about strategic partnerships with the NBA, NFL, and MLB that could include the leagues taking an equity stake in the business.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏆 Team USA beat Vietnam 3-0 at the Women’s World Cup on Friday; their next game is on Wednesday against the Netherlands.
• 🏌️ American Brian Harman won the British Open yesterday, claiming the first major title of his career. | ⚽ Lionel Messi scored a game-winning goal in the final minutes of his Inter Miami debut on Friday.
• 🎤🙏 Tony Bennett, the award-winning singer, died on Friday at 96.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Ice Barrel

• 💦 An international team of engineers created a wearable sensor that analyzes people’s real-time health status via sweat and doesn’t require a battery pack.
• ☄️ Three major meteor showers are projected to be visible in the night sky above the US over the next month.
• 🤖📉 The accuracy of ChatGPT-4 has declined sharply in several areas between March and June of this year, per a new study that has yet to be peer-reviewed.

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MISCELLANEOUS

• 🥵 Nearly 78 million people were under heat alerts in the US yesterday evening due to an ongoing heat dome over the Southwest. (Background)
• 🤖 Seven major US AI companies – including Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and OpenAI – agreed on Friday to follow voluntary safeguards on AI development set by the White House.
• ⚖️ Former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial over his alleged mishandling of classified documents is set to begin on May 20, 2024, a federal judge ruled Friday. (Background)

CLICKBAIT

• 💼 The No. 1 soft skill that highly successful people use at work – ‘It’s like having a superpower.’

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On Friday, we covered the congressional testimony from two IRS whistleblowers who allege that officials within the Justice Department improperly interfered in its investigation into Hunter Biden.

❓ Our question to you: In general, does the Hunter Biden situation impact whether you’ll vote for Joe Biden in the 2024 presidential election?

• 👍 Yes: 27%
• 👎 No: 59%
• 🤷 Unsure/other: 14%

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

+Note on sample size: We received 12,045 votes and 1,181 longform responses.

Monday: Futurama debuts its first new season in a decade

Tuesday: National Wine and Cheese Day

Wednesday: The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates to a 22-year high; House holds hearing on UFOs

Thursday: US publishes GDP data for Q2

Friday: Post Malone debuts his new album Austin

Mick Tutton has been delivering milk around his small suburb of Hertfordshire, England, since 1976. 

❤️ More than a milkman.... the 65-year-old is someone of a legend around town. According to a local news publication, Mick is regarded as the community's unofficial security guard, social worker, football pundit, and cheerleader.

• When news spread that Mick's faithful milk truck had broken down and he would be retiring, residents raised £15,282 (~$20,000) for him to live off of before his pension kicks in next year. 

💭 What they're saying: "He was so much more than our milkman," fundraiser organizer Kate Crick told HertsLive. "He looked out for people, especially the elderly, and became a family friend to many of us. Our children have grown up knowing and loving him, and our dogs too."

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

1. Arist
2. Clement
3. Fend
4. Grav
5. Por

(keep scrolling for the answers)

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1. Arist = Excellence (e.g., aristocracy)
2. Clement = Mild (inclement)
3. Fend = Strike (offend)
4. Grav = Heavy (aggravate, gravity)
5. Por = Passage (pore)