Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 🤔 What the next era of warfare will look like
• 💻 CNN is making a push into digital
• 🗣️ A new corporate buzzword is here

… and more.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.74-minute read (1,261 words).

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"Life is a succession of lessons, which must be lived to be understood."

–Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

Since the dawn of time, technological advancements have reshaped society’s daily lives.

They’ve also reshaped warfare. And this era is not built different.

Let’s break it down:

• Cheap, abundant drones – worth as little as $500 – are destroying far more expensive systems like artillery pieces, tanks, or ships worth millions of dollars, both on the battlefields of Ukraine and in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen.
• Global militaries are increasingly focused on integrating AI systems into their operations, seeing an opportunity to enhance situational awareness, optimize decision-making, and provide a competitive edge.
• Directed-energy weapons that can destroy electronic systems like drones from long range are beginning to enter the US military’s hands, following years and billions of dollars spent in development.
• Nuclear arsenals across the globe have consistently grown in size and technological capabilities in recent years. At the same time, transparency surrounding those arsenals – especially in non-US-allied countries like China, Russia, and North Korea – has shrunk.

The US military is also facing a potentially existential threat from within. Fewer and fewer young Americans are signing up for the military, with armed service branches lowering their recruiting goals in recent years – then also largely failing to meet those reduced objectives. Even the branches who are meeting their goals say they’re finding it difficult to attract the dwindling number of young folks who meet the military’s physical, mental, and moral standards.

👀 Looking ahead… Analysts say a new military space race will likely intensify in the coming years, as the US, China, Russia, and other major powers compete for dominance in satellite surveillance and communications, space exploration, and colonizing the Moon and Mars.

And the end of that race could affect you far more than you might imagine.

• Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla – “The Magnificent Seven,” as they’re now referred to – averaged an amazing 115% returns over the course of 2023 alone, and now make up a stunning 30% of the S&P 500.
• The problem is when stocks get this big in relation to the rest of the market, you simply reach diminishing returns. For Apple alone to replicate its past success, its market cap would grow to larger than the entire US GDP!

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🇰🇷 Samsung workers in South Korea indefinitely extended their first-ever strike. The strike, which was initially planned to last three days through Wednesday, comes as part of a push by ~30,000 unionized Samsung workers in South Korea seeking better pay and benefits. The indefinite strike threatens to disrupt production of Samsung’s advanced memory chips used in computers, smartphones, and AI systems, though the company says its operations haven’t been affected thus far. Any potential disruptions could have a major impact on South Korea’s economy, as Samsung accounts for ~20% of the country’s GDP.

🇨🇳 Chinese officials are investigating the alleged use of chemical tankers to transport cooking oil. A new report found China’s largest grain storage and transport company uses chemical tankers to transport edible oils without cleaning the trucks first. This is done to cut costs, per the report, which also says the malpractice is an “open secret” in the transport industry. Long-term food contamination in this manner can lead to nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and liver or kidney damage.

🇷🇺 Russia issued an arrest warrant for Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Navalny died in an Arctic Circle prison in February from what Russian authorities say was natural causes, though Navalnaya has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of murdering her husband with inhumane prison conditions. Navalnaya, who now lives in Germany, is being charged in absentia with extremism for her involvement in her husband’s anti-corruption organization.

CNN’s boss is working off the old adage: If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

Two years after the launch (and subsequent fiery crash) of CNN+, the news organization is set to embark upon a renewed push into digital, according to a memo sent by CEO Mark Thompson to employees at the company.

What this digital future looks like:

• Subscription products: CNN will launch its first subscription offering later this year. Details are slim, but according to Thompson it’ll “be significantly built out of CNN.com.”
• New content: The company is launching two new free ad-supported digital offerings, one based on CNN’s original series and productions, and the other based on its Spanish-language service.
• …all generated by a reorganized newsroom. Three separate newsrooms (US news gathering, international news gathering, and digital news) will be merged under one leader. The company will also be cutting ~3% of its workforce.

Driving the moves: Cable TV – CNN’s bread and butter – is in decline. The news org’s ratings have plummeted over the last two years, more so than those of its primary competitors, Fox News and MSNBC. In recent quarters, ratings have sunk to levels not seen for about a decade.

👀 Looking ahead… Thompson previously served as CEO of the NY Times, where he oversaw a digital transformation that increased its subscribers from ~600,000 to over six million. When asked if CNN would be pursuing a subscription bundle similar to what the Times offers, he replied: “It’s a logical possibility.”

Skill testing questions. Fun Categories. Spectacular cash prizes. A MASSIVE interactive bridge. Need we say more? Beat The Bridge is hosted by Cameron Mathison and airs weeknights at 6 pm ET on Game Show Network.

How it works:

• 🤔 Teams of three answer challenging trivia to navigate across the bridge and build their cash prize.
• 🌉 The catch? They need at least one player to make it back across the bridge to win any money!
• 👉 You can watch full episodes FREE on YouTube here.

Watch Beat The Bridge on weeknights at 6 PM ET – only on Game Show Network.

“It’s been something that we’ve talked about for many years since the Simpsons episode first aired.”

• The Simpsons is infamous for predicting real-life events years before they happen – but sometimes, Homer and the gang need a little outside help. Last night, US hip-hop trio Cypress Hill teamed up with the London Symphony Orchestra to reenact a Simpsons joke from 1996, in which Cypress Hill accidentally booked a gig to play alongside the LSO “possibly while high.” Following years of fan pressure, the West Coast hip-hop group struck a deal to perform its most famous songs alongside the LSO – including “Insane in the Brain” and “I Wanna Get High” – in front of a sold-out crowd at London’s Royal Albert Hall.

• ☝️ Andy Florance, founder of the real-estate data provider CoStar Group, recently sold his beachfront Florida home for $28.5 million, representing the most expensive home ever sold on the Florida Panhandle.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with First To Worst

• 💰 US markets closed up across the board (S&P: +1.0%; Dow: +1.1%; Nasdaq: +1.2%); the S&P and Nasdaq both closed at yet another record high. | 🚘🔌 Tesla’s US electric car market share fell below 50% in Q2 for the first time, according to estimates by the research firm Cox Automotive. | 📺 YouTube, if it were a standalone company, would be valued at $455+ billion – more than 50% above Netflix’s market cap – according to analysts at Needham & Co.
• 🪑 Microsoft relinquished its board observer seat with OpenAI due to regulatory scrutiny; Apple, which was also supposed to receive the same role as part of its partnership with OpenAI, will also not have a board observer seat. | 📈 Costco increased its membership fees for the first time since 2017.
• 🚨 Corporate buzzword alert: Execs and analysts dropped “double-click” 644 times in corporate conference calls and events during the first half of the year; that’s up from 139 times in the same period of 2020.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🎙️💬 Spotify is allowing listeners to leave comments on podcasts. | 🎰 The Mirage casino in Las Vegas is giving away $1.6 million in cash prizes before it officially ceases operations on July 17.
• 🧠💼 Severance Season 2 now has a teaser trailer and a release date: January 17, 2025. | 🤠 Kevin Costner‘s period Western, Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2, is postponing its August 16 theater release in hopes of allowing more time to grow the audience for the first film.
• ⚽️ Euro 2024: England beat the Netherlands 2-1 to advance to the championship match; Engand and Spain will face off for the title on Sunday. | 🏀 Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard withdrew from Team USA’s 2024 Olympic squad yesterday due to a lingering knee injury; he’ll be replaced by Celtics guard Derrick White.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Surfshark

• 🌌💍 Samsung held its Galaxy Unpacked event yesterday; the tech giant unveiled new products including the Galaxy Ring (its first foray into “smart rings”).
• 🛰️ The crewed return of Boeing’s Starliner space capsule could occur as soon as the end of July, NASA said yesterday; Starliner’s two crew members have been aboard the ISS since June 6 following a series of delays from their initial June 12 return date.
• 🚀 The European Space Agency said its Ariane 6 rocket experienced an anomaly during Tuesday’s maiden test flight that prevented two of the rocket’s five payloads from deploying.

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MISCELLANEOUS

• 🎓 Michael Bloomberg’s $1 billion charitable gift granting free tuition to Johns Hopkins’ medical students only applies to those whose families earn less than $300,000/year, while those whose families earn less than $175,000/year will also have their living expenses paid for.
• 🏛️ The GOP-led House Oversight Committee subpoenaed three senior White House aides yesterday, demanding they sit for depositions regarding President Biden's health.
• 🗳️ President Biden’s reelection campaign hit new trouble yesterday, with House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi declining to fully endorse his candidacy, and Democratic donor/fundraiser George Clooney calling on Biden to step aside for a different candidate. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)

CLICKBAIT

• 🍎 There’s a Right Way – and a Wrong Way – to Snack.

🚫🏙️ Stat of the Day: Families with young children are increasingly avoiding putting down roots in major US cities, according to a new analysis of census data by the Economic Innovation Group. The analysis found that since April 2020, the population of children under five has fallen by 18% in New York City, 5% in Cook County (which includes Chicago), and 14% in Los Angeles County. Overall, a total ~800,000 Americans moved out of large urban counties last year, or twice the pre-pandemic rate, per EIG.

🤔 Did You Know? The plot to Inception is more realistic than you may think. In a 2015 study, researchers successfully implanted false memories in the brains of sleeping mice, which were used to influence the animals’ behavior when they woke up.

👀 Worth a Watch: The Invisible Tactics Used to Control Crowds and Boost Profits → (WSJ)

We bring you the most unusual, off-the-wall and occasionally laugh-out-loud headlines from this week.

• Texans use Whataburger app to track power outages caused by Hurricane Beryl (San Antonio Current)
• French cyclist Julien Bernard fined after stopping to kiss his wife at the Tour de France (CNN)
• Hippopotamuses can become airborne for substantial periods of time, researchers discover (Sky News)
• Japan declares victory in 'war' on floppy disks (BBC)
• Wawa superfan collects full set of order slips, 0-999 (UPI)

Yesterday, we covered the Republican Party’s 2024 platform, in which the GOP lays out its vision for the next four years should former President Trump win in November.

❓ Our question to you: If the November election was held today, which candidate would you vote for?

• President Biden: 41%
• Former President Trump: 28%
• Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: 11%
• Another third-party candidate: 6%
• Not planning to vote/Too young to vote: 6%
• Unsure/other: 8%

Click here to read the most thoughtful longform responses.

+Note on sample size: We received 3,594 votes and 386 longform responses.

Thomas Dambo has spent his career proving that trash is a treasure; the Danish artist builds giant trolls out of recyclables and hides them around the world for people to find.

🗺️ X marks the spot... You can find a "Trollmap" on Thomas' website, which gives the approximate locations of all his 135 troll sculptures worldwide. His most recent installation just went up in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota.

• Thomas almost entirely uses trash and recycled materials to build his giant sculptures 
• "I go to great lengths to hide them because I want to show us all that trash is a treasure," he shared. 

Can you name the boundary that divides the Pacific and North American tectonic plates?

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The San Andreas Fault