Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 🏥 Former President Trump survived an assassination attempt
• 🏓 Pickleball is becoming the new golf
• 🖼 Stamp prices are increasing (again)

… and more.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.98-minute read (1,326 words).

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"It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well."

–René Descartes (1596-1650)

On Saturday, at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, former President Donald Trump was the target of what the FBI described as an assassination attempt, with Trump appearing to be shot in the ear – but otherwise unharmed – as a series of gunshots rang out.

• This marks the first shooting of a US president or major party presidential candidate since a failed assassination attempt against President Ronald Reagan in 1981.

More details: Once the shots were fired, Trump appeared to swat at his ear, then was immediately surrounded by Secret Service and hurried to his SUV as he pumped his fist and mouthed the word “fight.” Officials later confirmed the former president’s health was “fine.” They also confirmed that one spectator was killed and two others were critically injured by shots fired at the rally from a single source.

The suspected gunman, who the FBI says acted alone, was shot and killed by Secret Service seconds after he opened fire at Trump. Authorities later recovered an AR-style rifle they believe was used in the shooting, and also found bomb-making materials in the car the suspect was driving, per multiple reports.

• The suspect was later identified as a 20-year-old white male from Pennsylvania. The FBI is investigating the shooting as a potential act of domestic terrorism, though the motive is still undetermined.
• Records show the suspect was a registered Republican, but also donated $15 to a progressive political action committee on the day President Biden was sworn into office.

Leaders of both political parties strongly condemned the shooting. Top Democrats, top Republicans, and former presidents all denounced political violence and urged the country to promote unity in the aftermath of the shooting, including President Biden, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D), House Whip Steve Scalise (R), Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D), former President George W. Bush, and former President Barack Obama.

• Some Republicans blamed the shooting on Biden and Democrats’ recent political rhetoric, while Trump said in a social media post that the attacker’s motive is currently unclear.

Looking ahead… Trump says he still plans to speak at the Republican National Convention, which runs from today through Thursday. Prior to the shooting, Trump was also expected to reveal his pick for vice president sometime this week.

📊 Flash poll (long-form): What are your personal thoughts on the apparent assassination attempt against former President Trump? The best and most thoughtful responses will be featured in tomorrow’s newsletter.

Click here to leave a response.

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⚽🏆 A pair of major international soccer tournaments concluded yesterday. In the afternoon contest, Spain defeated England 2-1 to win its record-high fourth European soccer championship, capping off a perfect 7-0 win-loss record at Euro 2024. Hours later, Argentina beat Colombia 1-0 to win their second straight Copa América and once again claim the title of South America’s best national soccer team.

🇩🇰 Copenhagen is offering freebies to tourists who take up eco-friendly activities. As part of a month-long pilot project starting today, visitors to Copenhagen who participate in approved sustainable activities will be eligible to receive free boat tours, museum tickets, meals, and more from two dozen local businesses. To claim their reward, tourists must show proof of participation in green activities like riding public transportation, picking up trash, or cycling. Copenhagen eventually aims to implement the system year-round to promote Danish tourism and culture sustainably.

🌍 NATO is working on a contingency plan to reroute the internet to space. The military alliance approved a ~$434,000 grant for the $2.5 million project, which aims to provide satellite-based backup internet connectivity in case a foreign adversary damages undersea cables and disrupts communications during military warfare. Nearly all of NATO's internet traffic travels through subsea cables, accounting for ~$10 trillion/day worth of financial transactions.

High-powered execs are increasingly trading in shouts of frustration and hot dogs at the turn for loud thwacks and yells of “You stepped in the kitchen!” Pickleball is starting to replace golf as the corporate sport of choice, according to a new Bloomberg report.

• Corporate bookings at pickleball clubs across the US spiked in June from the previous month, per PodPlay, a sports venue booking platform.
• Pickleballerz club in Chantilly, Virginia, has seen corporate bookings roughly triple since 2021, according to Chief Marketing Officer Greg Raelson.
• New York’s Life Time health club is fielding 10–20 corporate booking inquiries/week – more than 5x last year’s volume.
• Ace Pickleball Club, which has locations in various states, sees a steady flow of corporate gatherings, co-founder Joe Sexton told Bloomberg, with event requests at new locations piling up even before they open.

Behind the trend: As anyone who’s picked up a club can corroborate, golf is both expensive and beautifully frustrating to master (in the water again??). It’s also time-consuming. Pickleball, on the other hand, is cheaper to play (two rounds can cost a firm ~$80 vs. $600-$700 to entertain on the golf course), much easier to pick up, and takes less time.

🏓 Zoom out: Pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in the US, with participation increasing an average of 223.5% over the last three years to reach an estimated 48 million players. For context, ~41 million Americans played golf in 2022.

“He still speaks with the same voice and Boston accent he had prior to the cancer."

• The Mayo Clinic last week reported the results of what they say is the third successful total transplant of a larynx (aka voice box) in US history, and the first ever performed on an active cancer patient. The procedure, which took 21 hours and six doctors to perform, allowed patient Marty Kedian, 59, to regain the ability to speak, swallow, and breathe on his own following laryngeal cancer. Roughly three weeks after the procedure, Kedian was able to speak his first sentence in several years: “how you like them apples?” “hello.” Kedian’s surgery is part of an ongoing 10-person clinical trial aimed at making the procedure available to more patients – especially those with cancer, the most common way to lose a larynx.

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• ☝️ Anant Ambani, the son of Asia's richest person (Mukesh Ambani), officially tied the knot with Radhika Merchant, the daughter of a billionaire pharmaceutical tycoon, in a lavish four-day wedding celebration that cost an estimated ~$150 million.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with People Puzzler by Game Show Network

• 💰 US markets rose on Friday (S&P: +0.6%; Dow: +0.6%; Nasdaq: +0.6%). | 🏦 JPMorgan, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo all reported earnings. Here's what we learned.
• 📝 The Society for Human Resource Management, a top HR lobbying and advocacy group with 340,000 members, is dropping the “E” in DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion); moving forward, it’ll be adopting the acronym “I&D” (inclusion and diversity).
• 📱 AT&T revealed on Friday that hackers stole call and text message records of nearly all its cell customers; the leaked data covers between approximately May 1 and October 31, 2022, and on January 2, 2023. | A Wired report (soft paywall) published yesterday claims AT&T paid a hacker $370,000 to delete all of this data.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🎾 Wimbledon: On the men’s side, Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, 21, defeated Novak Djokovic to win his second consecutive Wimbledon (and fourth Grand Slam); on the women’s side, Czechia's Barbora Krejčíková defeated Jasmine Paolini to earn her second career Grand Slam. | ⚾ The 2024 MLB Draft kicked off last night, with the Guardians selecting Oregon State second-baseman Travis Bazzana at No. 1 overall; rounds 3-10 are today, while rounds 11-20 are tomorrow.
• 🙏 Celebrity deaths: Richard Simmons, the fitness guru known for his unrelenting positivity, passed away at 76; Shannen Doherty, the actress best known for starring roles in Beverly Hills, 90210 and Charmed, died at 53; Dr. Ruth Westheimer, the famous sex therapist and media personality, passed away at 96.
• ⚖️ Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter case related to the October 2021 fatal shooting of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was dismissed with prejudice by a New Mexico judge on Friday; the judge’s ruling, which found prosecutors withheld evidence, means Baldwin can’t be retried.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Dyce Games

• 🦠 The first living organism on Earth emerged as early as 4.2 billion years ago, or ~300 million years after Earth first formed, per a new study.
• 🚀 A SpaceX rocket carrying 20 Starlink satellites failed while in orbit, ending the company’s streak of 300+ consecutive successful launches dating back to 2016.
• 🐔 Three poultry workers at a Colorado farm tested positive for bird flu, with specimens sent to the CDC for confirmation; four other confirmed human cases of bird flu have been reported in the US since March.

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MISCELLANEOUS

• 🚢 An expedition team set sail for the Titanic wreckage on Friday in a quest to capture the most detailed photos of the underwater site to date (via remotely operated vehicles).
• 💰 The IRS says it has collected $1+ billion in past-due taxes from millionaires since launching a new initiative to collect such taxes last year.
• 🇺🇸 How attacks on Presidents and candidates have shaped US history.

CLICKBAIT

• 😬 These are America’s 10 worst states for quality of life in 2024.

✉️ Stat of the Day: The chart tracking the cost to mail a letter in the US would have VCs drooling (up and to the right!). Yesterday, the US Postal Service raised the price of First-Class postage stamps for the second time this year and fifth time in 24 months. The $0.05 increase (to $0.73) ties the USPS record for biggest hike ever.

🤔 Did You Know? Former President Trump is the 11th American president, in or out of office, to be the target of a publicized assassination attempt since the Civil War (including two unsuccessful attempts against Gerald Ford).

📰 Worth a Read: How America’s Fastest Swimmers Use Math to Win Olympic Gold → (Quanta Magazine)

On Friday, we covered a bipartisan Senate proposal that would ban members of Congress and their immediate family from trading stocks, in an effort to prevent profiting from insider knowledge.

❓ Our question to you: Which of the following best describes your opinion on how the financial investments of Congress and their immediate family should be governed?

• They can participate in the market without insider info: 15%
• They can’t own individual stocks, but some other investments are OK: 34%
• They can’t own any market-based financial investments: 42%
• Unsure/other: 9%

Click here to read the most thoughtful longform responses.

+Note on sample size: We received 3,381 votes and 362 longform responses.

Monday: MLB Home Run Derby; Republican National Convention kicks off in Milwaukee; Target stops accepting personal checks

Tuesday: MLB All-Star Game; Amazon Prime Day kicks off (ends Wednesday)

Wednesday: Vegas’ iconic Mirage Hotel and Casino shuts its doors

Thursday: Trump to formally accept GOP presidential nomination

Friday: Twisters hits theaters

A llama named Jeffrey had quite the adventure in Bangor, Maine, last week, when he bolted through his owner's gate in an attempt to escape a teeth cleaning.

Owner Rina Pesner said she had opened the llama's enclosure to let a vet in for his standard teeth cleaning – then the animal made a run for it. 

• Jeffrey headed up the road for a few minutes before he seemingly got bored, turned around, and walked home before rescue services even showed up.

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

1. Ac
2. Cav
3. Cord
4. Dict
5. Heur

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1. Ac = Sharp or pointed (e.g., acupuncture)
2. Cav = Hollow (cavern)
3. Cord = Heart (cordial)
4. Dict = Speak (dictate)
5. Heur = Find (heuristic)