Good morning, and welcome back. In today’s edition:

• 🗳️ Biden’s 2024 campaign is facing internal scrutiny
• 🤔 Why sequels and remakes have overtaken theaters
• 🚀 Simulating a mission to Mars

… and more.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.98-minute read (1,325 words).

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“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”

–T.S. Eliot (1888-1965)

In recent days, President Biden has faced renewed calls from Democratic lawmakers and major donors to step aside in the 2024 presidential race following his underwhelming debate performance – though the president shows no signs of backing down.

Biden, who is all-but-certain to remain the Democratic nominee unless he personally decides to drop out, has consistently said he’s still committed to running against former President Donald Trump.

• In his first televised post-debate interview on Friday, Biden blamed his on-stage performance – where he at times appeared to lose his train of thought and delivered rambling answers at low volume – on “a really bad cold.”
• Biden also said he’s currently “in good shape” physically, but declined to commit to a cognitive or neurological exam, saying he essentially has a test every day with his job.

Despite Biden’s reassurances, many Democrats remain worried. On Saturday, a fifth Democratic House member publicly called on Biden to step down as the nominee. An additional ~40 congressional Democrats are considering speaking out or signing letters telling Biden the same thing, according to multiple reports.

• Biden is also facing pressure to step aside from numerous high-profile Democratic donors, including Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, former Paypal CEO Bill Harris, and Disney heir Abigail Disney.

What do the polls say? Three-quarters of American voters say Democrats would have a better shot at holding the presidency in 2024 by putting up someone other than President Biden, per a CNN/SSRS poll last week.

• Overall, FiveThirtyEight’s national polling average shows the race has shifted in Trump's direction following the June 27 debate, changing from essentially a dead heat to a 42.1%-39.8% Trump advantage currently.

Looking ahead… Trump is expected to name his vice presidential nominee sometime before or during the Republican National Convention on July 15-18. The Democratic National Convention, which officially determines the party’s presidential nominee, runs from August 19-22.

📊 Flash poll: Do you think Joe Biden should drop out of the 2024 presidential race in favor of a different Democratic candidate?

• Yes
• No
• Unsure/other

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🇮🇩 The world’s oldest example of narrative cave art was discovered in Indonesia. The 36-inch x 15-inch painting, which depicts three people surrounding a wild pig, was determined to be 51,200 years old, surpassing the previous record-holder by 5,000+ years. Experts say the painting supports the idea that narrative storytelling was a crucial part of human culture from a very early point in time.

🇬🇧🇫🇷 The UK and France held nationwide parliamentary elections. The UK’s Labour Party won 412 of 650 parliamentary seats, marking the government’s first leadership change in 14 years and a record loss for the formerly ruling Conservative Party. New Labour PM Keir Starmer said his plans for this term include scrapping a controversial Rwanda migrant deportation plan, accelerating clean energy projects, and establishing a publicly-owned energy company. Separately, France is facing a hung parliament after early results show its three main political coalitions – representing the left, center, and right – all earned large shares of the vote in Sunday’s elections (though the left earned the top spot), with the country’s PM resigning after his centrist coalition failed to win a majority.

🇮🇱 Israel approved the largest West Bank settlement expansion in 30+ years. Israeli authorities recently approved the appropriation of 4.9 square miles of land in the Jordan Valley, according to documents viewed by the AP – a move watchdog group Peace Now says is the largest single appropriation since 1993. Most of the international community, including the US, considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank as illegal or illegitimate, though Israel disputes their illegality.

Hollywood keeps churning out movies that, similar to marathon runners, have a colon and/or number attached. The latest example being Despicable Me 4, which hit theaters this past five-day weekend and led the US box office with $123 million in ticket sales.

A familiar… scene: Since 2020, 16 of the 20 highest-grossing releases have been sequels, prequels, or reboots.

• This doesn’t include Inside Out 2, which came out three weeks ago – and at $1.2 billion would already place just outside the top-five highest-grossing films of the past three-and-a-half years.

Why does Hollywood greenlight so many remakes? ROI is a major focus when movie budgets routinely surpass $200 million before marketing, and the moneybags behind the flicks showing on big screens view franchises as a more solid investment given there’s already a pre-built audience attached (they’re mostly right).

Not everyone is stoked about this filmmaking approach. According to a March 2024 survey from freemium streamer Tubi and The Harris Poll, 74% of Gen Z and millennials – the most-frequent moviegoers – prefer original films to remakes. This mismatch could be contributing to why the US box office has struggled to match its pre-pandemic numbers.

🔁 Still to come: A reboot of Twisters with Glen Powell (later this month), a new Alien (August), a new Beetlejuice (September), another Joker (October), and another Gladiator (November).

“It’s, to me, probably the most quintessentially American way I can think of to celebrate the 4th of July… You gotta see cars fly."

• Crabcakes and football may be how Maryland does it – but visit Glacier View, Alaska, and it’s cars and a cliff. For the past 20 years, thousands of Alaskans have gathered in the town on July 4th for the signature car launch, where empty vehicles are launched off a remote cliff and tumble down the steep hillside. The tradition reportedly started with a local Alaskan resident who grew tired of fixing his car following a moose collision, and decided to run it off a cliff instead. According to Alaska's News Source, this year's car launch event featured both its largest crowd in history and the most airborne automobiles yet, with a dozen vehicles taking a one-way trip down the rocky bluff.

Spending too much time on devices doesn’t just make you feel worse. It robs you of time spent moving your body (for that fit bod), saying “yes” to a social outing (for connection) and spontaneous summer adventures that lead to tons of fun. IRL.

It’s why our friends at Practice of Life created a science-backed 30-day challenge. In less than 15 minutes a day, you’ll:

• 🤳 Stop the endless scrolling
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Join solo, or bring a friend for The Donut discount of $30 (promo code DONUTBFF).

🪐 Stat of the Day: Wanna know what it’s like to be trapped with coworkers you may or may not like for an extended period of time? Just ask the crew of volunteers who, on Saturday afternoon, re-emerged from NASA’s first-ever simulated Mars mission after spending the past 378 days confined together and completely isolated from the outside world. The four volunteers, who were initially locked inside a 3D-printed habitat on June 25 of last year, lived and worked inside the 1,700-square-foot facility as part of a mission intended to film footage for an Office remake set in space simulate the conditions on future trips to Mars. Among other things, the crew took part in a range of mock outdoor Mars missions, grew and harvested vegetables to supplement their shelf-stable food, and operated under additional stressors a Mars crew will experience (including communication delays with Earth, resource limitations, and isolation). NASA says it plans to carry out at least two additional simulated Mars missions this decade, as the agency prepares for its first manned trip to the red planet sometime in the late 2030s.

🤔 Did You Know? ‘Merica isn’t the only country to have successfully tossed out the occupying Brits. So far, 65 countries have claimed independence from Britain – meaning, on average, a country holds a celebration of its independence from Britain once every 5.6 days.

📰 Worth a Read: Why America’s Berries Have Never Tasted So Good → (WSJ)

• ☝️ This month, a Japanese rail company will begin using a new 40-foot tall humanoid robot for maintenance work on its network; the truck-mounted robot has a human operator who can “see” through the bot’s eyes via cameras and use various attachments for its arms.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with The Motley Fool

• 🛻 Ford sales rose 1% year over year in Q2, led by a 5% gain in trucks. | 💨 GM agreed to pay ~$146 million and forfeit emissions credits to settle allegations that ~6 million of its vehicles release higher pollution than reported.
• 🛍️ Saks Fifth Avenue parent HBC is acquiring Neiman Marcus for $2.65 billion; Amazon and Salesforce will also own a piece of the combined company. | 📺 Paramount Global agreed to a merger with Skydance.
• 👀 Apple reportedly received a board observer seat at OpenAI as part of its partnership with the AI startup.

*From our partners: 💰🤔 Why are mega-rich investors rushing to cash in on this tech trend?... The Motley Fool has found the next batch of companies that will lead the AI revolution. Get the AI picks for 2024.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏀 Caitlin Clark became the first rookie in WNBA history to record a triple-double. | ⚾ The MLB announced the elected starters and full rosters for its All-Star Game next Tuesday.
• 🤼 John Cena announced plans to retire from professional wrestling in 2025 after two decades in the ring. | 🏎️ Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton earned his first F1 victory since 2021 at this weekend’s British Grand Prix. | 🚘🔌 NASCAR showed off a new EV prototype stock car at the Chicago Street Race.
• 🙏 Jon Landau, an Oscar-winning producer best known for his work on Titanic and Avatar, passed away at 63. | 🙏 Khyree Jackson, a 24-year-old rookie cornerback for the Minnesota Vikings, was among three people who died in a car crash early Saturday.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with 120/Life

• ⚛️ The world’s largest nuclear fusion reactor – a ~$27 billion collaboration between 35 countries including the US, EU, Russia, and China – has officially been assembled, but won’t run for another 15 years, project scientists announced.
• 🦠 A human case of bubonic plague, aka the “Black Death” that wiped out 5%-40% of the global population between 1346-1353, has been reported in Colorado; the disease is rare and treatable in the modern era.
• 🥤 The FDA banned the use of brominated vegetable oil – primarily used in citrus-flavored drinks – due to safety concerns.

*From our partners: 🌸🍒 “I haven’t had a headache since I’ve been drinking the juice.” –Stephen N… 120/Life contains superfoods backed by science to lower blood pressure. See lower numbers in two weeks or get your money back. Save 15% on 120/Life with code DONUT.

MISCELLANEOUS

• 🌀 Tropical Storm Beryl is expected to make landfall on Texas’ southeastern coast early this morning as a Category 1 hurricane. | 🥵 A long-running heat wave is expected to persist this week for tens of millions of Americans across the country.
• 🚫🤝 A federal judge temporarily paused the Biden administration’s ban on non-compete agreements from taking effect in September, ruling that the FTC overstepped its authority.
• ✈️ Passenger complaints about air travel surged in 2023 compared to previous years, per a new report from the US Transportation Department. | 🔫 American Rounds has opened ammunition vending machines in Oklahoma and Alabama; the machines use AI and facial recognition tech to verify buyers’ ages.

CLICKBAIT

• 🏄🇺🇸 Mark Zuckerberg dons tux in July 4 surfing video while holding beer and US flag.

Monday: India PM Narendra Modi visits Russia for the first time since the Ukraine invasion; 21st season of The Bachelorette premieres

Tuesday: NATO kicks off a 75th anniversary summit in Washington; jury selection begins in Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial

Wednesday: National Kitten Day

Thursday: Consumer Price Index for June

Friday: Disney’s animated The Lion King returns to theaters for its 30th anniversary

Last Wednesday (our most-recent newsletter), we covered recent data that shows the US economy is still in growth mode, there are also signs that it may be losing some steam.

❓ Our question to you: To all working professionals: would you consider the growth outlook in your industry/sector of the economy to be positive or negative over the next 12 months?

• 👍 Positive: 51%
• 👎 Negative: 49%

🔃 Follow-up question: Which industry/sector of the economy do you work in? (Most common responses listed)

• Positive: Education, financial services, health care, non-profit
• Negative: Real estate, insurance, education, IT/programming

Click here to read the most thoughtful longform responses.

+Note on sample size: We received 2,985 votes and 307 longform responses.

Stephen Bergin has always been a fan of Grey’s Anatomy. After watching the popular medical drama througout his teens, he credits it as his inspiration to go to medical school and become a doctor himself. 

During Stephen's fourth year of residency, he applied to be a medical consultant on the very show that led him to his career – and he got the job. 

• Now, Stephen works as the resident medical consultant on Grey's Anatomy, writing much of the medical jargon in the script and helping coach the actors. 

🥼 A full circle moment... Stephen says it's been a "privilege" to play a "small role in Grey’s Anatomy."

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

1. Arthr
2. Basi
3. Calc
4. Cylind
5. Eu

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

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Start referring.👇

1. Arthr = Joint (e.g., arthritis)
2. Basi = At the bottom (basic)
3. Calc = Stone (calcium)
4. Cylind = Roll (cylinder)
5. Eu = Good (euphoria)