Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 🗳️ The key issues on state ballots in 2024
• 🎶 Gen Z and millennials are driving a classical music resurgence
• 🇷🇺📺 Russia is fining Google more money than exists on Earth

… and more.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.87-minute read (1,297 words).

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"Success is more permanent when you achieve it without destroying your principles."

–Walter Cronkite (1916-2009)

The 2024 election is in full swing, with Election Day right around the corner.

And, while tons of attention has been paid to the neck-and-neck presidential and congressional races, ballots across the country will also contain a slew of contentious ballot measures across several major topics.

Abortion is on the ballot in 10 states. Florida, Arizona, Colorado, and Nebraska are among the ten states that’ll vote on ballot measures seeking to add the right to abortion in their state constitutions. On the flip side, Nebraska is also the only state that’ll vote on potential abortion restrictions, with the state ballot measure proposing a ban on the practice after the first trimester (~13 weeks of pregnancy).

Eight states, plus DC, are considering election overhauls. Statewide ballot measures to establish ranked-choice voting will be decided in six states plus Washington DC, while four of those states – and an additional two others – will vote on proposals to change their primary election processes.

A trio of states are weighing whether to legalize recreational marijuana. Voters in Florida, North Dakota, and South Dakota will consider whether to legalize recreational marijuana, while a fourth state (Nebraska) has a ballot initiative to legalize medical marijuana. Florida Amendment 3 is the most expensive marijuana-related ballot measure election in US history, with a combined $122+ million in contributions to campaigns for and against the ballot measure.

Big picture: As of yesterday, Americans had cast 51+ million early votes in this year’s election, with a roughly 50-50 split between mail-in ballots and in-person votes, per the University of Florida's Election Lab. Available data shows registered Democrats lead Republicans by a 39.1%-36.3% margin based on votes cast thus far.

📊 Flash poll: Which candidate are you planning to vote for in the 2024 election?

• Former President Trump
• Vice President Harris
• A third-party candidate
• Not planning to vote/Too young to vote
• Unsure/other

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🤖🎻 In a likely world first, a robot played cello in a symphony orchestra performance. Researcher and composer Fredrik Gran programmed a pair of industrial robotic arms to play the cello alongside the Malmo Symphony Orchestra in Sweden earlier this month. The complex technological feat was accomplished by one of the arms guiding the bow across the cello’s four strings, while the other arm used a custom appendage to manipulate its fretboard.

🇨🇳🛰️ China provided a rare glimpse into its secretive new Tiangong space station. Chinese astronauts on board Tiangong gave an extensive tour of the station, in an uncommon and surprisingly detailed new video posted by Chinese state-owned news agency CCTV. In less than two years, China has assembled three modules of its new space station, which came about after the country was excluded from the ISS in 2011. Tiangong’s construction comes as the aging ISS is slated for deorbit in 2030.

⚾ World Series: The Yankees staved off elimination last night in Game 4 vs. the Dodgers. The Yanks earned their first 2024 World Series victory last night, behind a grand slam from shortstop Anthony Volpe (and despite some…rather involved fan interference on a Mookie Betts catch☝️). The Dodgers now lead the best-of-seven series 3-1 heading into Game 5 in NYC tonight.

Classical music may be the new “it” girl. Thanks to the genre's rise in pop culture, Gen Z and younger millennials are significantly more likely to listen to classical music than their older counterparts.

Researchers say the trend began in 2020, when pandemic lockdowns forced the world inside and onto our phones. Classical music took over TikTok, offering a peaceful escape from reality at a time of uncertainty.

Per a 2022 study of 2,000 people by the UK’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra:

• 65% of people under 35 years old listened to orchestral music on a regular basis (a 6% increase from 2018), compared to 57% of those over 55 who said the same.
• Common times people under 35 listened to the genre: when cooking (the most common), working, exercising, in the bath, going to sleep, and/or waking up.

It’s everywhere: In addition to TikTok, Spotify and Apple Music have made classical music more accessible. And the genre has bled its way into popular shows, such as Bridgerton and Squid Game – which may be fitting given the drama its resurgence has caused.

• Some artists are frustrated with this neoclassical wave, claiming the pieces being composed for media and TV are oversimplified and not accurate to the art form.

🖐️ But… This may be exactly why it's so attractive to young listeners. According to Miller’s Music: “[Neoclassical] may be suited to a generation known for having multiple sources of media playing at once, and who famously are developing a shorter attention span.”

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“I’m very confident [with its release] we’ll enjoy significant step change in demand for…our complete product portfolio.”

In a twist of irony, Lucid is betting on Gravity to lift it up. The Saudi-backed EV maker yesterday announced the price range of its upcoming SUV model, called the Gravity, whose release is expected to boost sales.

• The top-end of the model line, the Grand Touring, will retail starting at $94,900. It’ll offer 800+ horsepower and a projected electric range of ~440 miles.
• Other models are expected to follow, including an entry-level $79,900 Touring trim late next year.

There’s a lot riding on Gravity’s release. Shares of Lucid have been under pressure this year, down ~40% as EV demand has been slower than expected. Overall, the EV-maker’s stock is down ~95% from its 2021 peak.

But, according to CEO Peter Rawlinson, Gravity is a key cog in the company’s turnaround. The new model line is expected to outsell its first and only product released so far, the Air sedan, by a 6-to-1 ratio. Lucid delivered 2,781 vehicles in Q3, beating analysts’ expectations and up from 2,110 in the three months prior.

👀 Looking ahead… Customer ordering for the Gravity will be available starting November 7.

• ☝️ A rare fossil that was preserved in iron pyrite – aka fool’s gold – has revealed a newly identified species of arthropod that dates back 450 million years.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Cornbread Hemp

• 💰 US markets closed mixed (S&P: +0.2%; Dow: -0.4%; Nasdaq: +0.8%); the Nasdaq ended the day at a record high. | 📊 Trump Media shares rose ~8% in a volatile day that saw trading halted multiple times.
• 🍔 McDonald's posted strong Q3 results; however, the recent E. coli outbreak has dented traffic and sales in recent weeks. | 🌯 Chipotle reported quarterly results that beat expectations on earnings but missed on revenue. | ☁️ Alphabet posted strong quarterly results powered by cloud growth.
• 🤖 Elon Musk’s xAI is reportedly in talks to raise capital at a $40 billion valuation.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏀🤝 Duke freshman Cooper Flagg, the projected #1 pick in next year’s NBA Draft, became the first men’s college basketball player to sign an NIL deal with Gatorade.
• 🎶 A lost waltz believed to be written by famed composer Frédéric Chopin was recently discovered in the vault of a New York museum, nearly 200 years after it was first written. | 🤠⛰️ Apple is currently developing an action-comedy movie adaptation of popular video game The Oregon Trail.
• 🚫📰 The Washington Post has lost 250,000+ subscribers, or 10% of its entire base, following its decision to forgo endorsing a presidential candidate in the 2024 election, per NPR’s David Folkenflik.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Caliber

• 🐦‍⬛ Crows can hold grudges for up to 17 years, per an experiment from University of Washington professor John Marzluff.
• 🐸 A tiny species of toad that was recently discovered in Brazil is the second-smallest known vertebrate species on Earth; at 0.27 inches in length, the “toadlet” is smaller than several ant species.
• 🌳 More than one-third of the world's known tree species are at risk of going extinct, per a new global analysis.

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MISCELLANEOUS

• 🗣️ Vice President Harris delivered a campaign speech last night at the Ellipse near the White House, where she drew a contrast between her vision for the country and former President Trump’s. | ⚖️🗳️ The Supreme Court rejected a request from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to have his name removed from the ballot in two key swing states (Wisconsin and Michigan).
• 🪖 The US military is running low on a sought-after type of missile called interceptors, per a Wall Street Journal report.
• 🇮🇱 Israel’s Parliament approved legislation to cut ties with the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA); the move prevents the agency – which is leading the humanitarian response in Gaza – from operating in Israeli territory, and forbids interaction with Israeli state authorities; Israel has long criticized the UN agency for alleged anti-Israel bias and for having Hamas members on staff. ​​ | ⛪📝 A Vatican commission on sexual abuse by Catholic Church clergymembers issued its first report yesterday; it features a series of findings and recommendations, including a call for greater transparency from the Vatican’s sex abuse office.

CLICKBAIT

• 🥶😎 Why 60 degrees feels cold in the fall and warm in the spring.

🤑 Stat of the Day: Google will need a billboard-sized check to fit all of the zeros in its latest penalty from Russia. According to multiple reports, the tech giant has racked up ~$20 decillion worth of fines in Russia, after years of refusing a court order to restore the accounts of 17 pro-Kremlin and state-run media outlets (for reference, here’s that number written out: $20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000).

• Google reportedly began accumulating daily penalties of 100,000 rubles (~$1,000) in 2020, with that figure doubling every single week since.

The fine will almost certainly never be repaid, as it represents ~30 quintillion times more money than the combined global assets of everyone in the world (~$663 trillion). At the current rate, it’ll take around four years before Google owes $1 googol, or a 1 followed by 100 zeros.

🤔 Did You Know? Sloths are a goldmine of incredible facts: they poop one-third of their body weight in one go, it takes them ~30 days to digest a single leaf, and they can starve to death on a full stomach if they get too cold. Learn more about these slow-moving marvels here.

📰 Worth a Read: After Decades of Searching, Are Physicists Closing In on Dark Matter? → (Smithsonian Magazine)

You're looking at Tiquatira Linear Park in São Paulo, Brazil. The park, which began with a single tree planted by Helio da Silva in 2003, is now home to 40,000+ trees and 45 different species of wild birds.

🌱 How it started... When Helio retired from his career as a successful business executive, he wanted to give back to his community by planting a few trees to fix up a formerly dilapitated area of the city – and he hasn't stopped since.

• “My motivation comes from the trees themselves because trees give us flowers and fruits, absorb rainwater, attract birds, and provide us with wonderful shade and fresh air,” he told Common Earth.
• The 73-year-old hopes to reach 50,000 trees before stopping.

Can you name the three highest-grossing horror films of all time, not adjusted for inflation? (Hint: Two are from the same series)

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1. It (2017); $701 million
2. The Sixth Sense (1999); ~$673 million
3. I Am Legend (2007); ~$585 million

Source: Wikipedia