Good morning. We’ll be off the rest of the week for the holiday. Happy Thanksgiving!

In today’s edition:

• 🏐 San Jose State is at the center of transgender athlete controversy
• 🤝 Israel and Hezbollah officially agreed to a ceasefire
• 🏈 The Detroit Lions: A nightmare for sportsbooks

… and more.

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

P.S. It’s the last week to enter free for the chance to win $3,000 in pet prizes, thanks to PupWise!

“Originality is the fine art of remembering what you hear but forgetting where you heard it.”

–Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990)

On Monday, a federal judge rejected a request to prevent an allegedly transgender player on the San Jose State University (SJSU) women’s volleyball team from playing.

What’s going on?... Earlier this month, two SJSU team members and 10 Mountain West Conference (MWC) women’s volleyball players filed a lawsuit claiming the NCAA and MWC are violating their Title IX rights by allowing a transgender athlete to play for SJSU.

The suit comes after five teams forfeited their matches against SJSU in the regular season, stating their refusal “to participate in any match that advances injustice against female athletes.”

• The athlete in question hasn’t commented publicly on her gender identity. Neither SJSU nor the lawsuit’s plaintiffs have confirmed the school has a transgender player, but the suit’s defendants also haven’t disputed that claim.
• NCAA policy allows transgender women to compete on a women’s team after completing a calendar year of testosterone suppression treatment.

The arguments: The lawsuit alleges the MWC’s current policy allowing transgender athletes to participate was only added in September of this year, after the controversy became public. It also alleges SJSU officials violated players’ free speech rights by instructing them not to disclose the athlete’s sex or gender identity outside of the team.

The lawsuit asked for an emergency injunction declaring the SJSU player ineligible for the MWC tournament this week, and for SJSU's wins to be revoked. But a federal judge denied their request in part because the MWC’s policy has been in place since 2022, ruling the plaintiffs’ delay in filing the case was “not reasonable.”

• The judge also said the plaintiffs failed to show a likelihood of success on the merits of their claim that the SJSU athlete’s participation violates Title IX.

Looking ahead… The judge’s decision was upheld by an appeals court yesterday afternoon, meaning the SJSU athlete will be allowed to play in the MWC tournament. But the plaintiffs say they intend to keep pursuing their case.

More broadly, the NCAA is facing an ongoing lawsuit seeking to prevent college sports’ main governing body from allowing transgender athletes to compete against cisgender women.

📊 Flash poll: In your opinion, should transgender athletes be allowed to compete in women’s sports?

• Yes
• No
• Unsure/other

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🏥 The Biden admin is moving to cover obesity drugs under Medicare and Medicaid. Currently, Medicare only pays for anti-obesity drugs such as Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound if an enrollee has diabetes or heart disease, while Medicaid’s coverage varies by state. The White House’s new proposal gets around previous Medicare restrictions by reclassifying obesity as a disease – extending coverage to an additional ~7.5 million Americans, per officials. At the same time, the drugs would add as much as $35 billion in additional expenses to the programs over the next decade, based on list prices of $1,000+/month. However, the incoming Trump admin will need to approve the change – which is a toss-up, per analysts.

🚫💥 Israel and Hezbollah have officially agreed to a ceasefire. The US-brokered deal, which kicks in early this morning, establishes a two-month halt in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah (which began last October). During this period, Hezbollah is required to end its armed presence in a large stretch of southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops must fully withdraw from Lebanon and allow Lebanese and UN security forces to deploy in the area. Analysts say the process of implementing the deal remains a major question mark, with Israel demanding the right to resume military operations if it thinks Hezbollah has violated any terms.

📊 Wall Street reacts to the Trump tariffs. Shares of automakers fell yesterday following the President-elect’s recently announced plan to impose tariffs on products coming from Canada, Mexico, and China on Day 1 of his presidency. Many automakers have major manufacturing presences in Mexico and Canada. GM (-9%) and Stellantis (-6%) went down the most, though Ford (-3%), Honda (-3%), and Toyota (-2%) also fell. Elsewhere: Constellation Brands, maker of Corona and Modelo, saw its shares drop 3%. The brewer manufactures all of its beers, which represent 86% of its sales, in Mexico.

Like the whole plot of E.T. (spoiler alert), travelers around the world are returning to their homelands. The rise in popularity of DNA ancestry testing kits like Ancestry and 23&Me has resulted in the subsequent rise of "heritage tourism," or travel based on reconnecting people with their places of origin (usually somewhere on Earth).

• Heritage tourism is among the fastest-growing segments of the tourism industry, accounting for an estimated 7% of all tourism worldwide.
• It’s also good for local economies. Heritage tourists tend to stay longer and spend more money at local and cultural sites compared to people just on a leisurely vacation; one study showed that a heritage tourist spent as much as 38% more per day and stayed 22% longer overall compared to other kinds of travelers.

All in all, the global heritage tourism market was valued at ~$604 billion in 2024, and is expected to reach ~$778 billion by 2030.

🗺️ Countries are leaning in. In 2021, Kensington Tours partnered with Ancestry.com to create a series of heritage journeys to places like Germany, Japan, and Ghana. Italy and India have also launched programs catering to heritage tourists.

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• ☝️ You’re looking at a map of the world’s 20 tallest countries, based on average height of men and women combined; for context: the global average height of a human is 5’4’’ (at the opposite end of the spectrum, see the world’s shortest countries).

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Tuft & Needle

• 💰 US markets rose across the board (S&P: +0.6%; Dow: +0.3%; Nasdaq: +0.6%); the S&P and Dow closed at record highs.
• 🚘🔌 Rivian is receiving a $6.6 billion loan from the Department of Energy to build an EV factory in Georgia. | 🤖 Intel and the Commerce Department finalized a ~$7.9 billion Chips Act grant.
• 📝 Walmart becomes the latest company to roll back its DEI efforts.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🍿 Moana 2 hits theaters nationwide today; it’s projected to earn $135 million–$145 million through Sunday, which would mark the best ever Thanksgiving-era performance (currently Frozen II at $125 million).
• 🏎️ General Motors is joining Formula 1 as the racing league’s 11th team beginning in 2026; GM will race under its Cadillac brand.
• 🏈 The University of North Carolina fired head football coach Mack Brown in the sixth season of his second tenure at the school.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Thousand Fell

• 🤖👂 Nvidia revealed a new AI model called Fugatto that can “transform any mix of music, voices, and sounds," including creating sounds that have never existed.
• 🧠🦾 Neuralink is launching a study to test whether its brain implant can control a robotic arm via thoughts; if successful, it would be the first-ever wireless brain implant to do so.
• 🪐🌊 Uranus and Neptune may both contain vast underground oceans of water, per a new study published in PNAS.

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MISCELLANEOUS

• ✈️ A Senate committee called on executives from several airlines to testify next week following the publication of its new report scrutinizing seating fees within the industry.
• 🇵🇰 Four Pakistani troops were killed yesterday as thousands of supporters of jailed ex-PM Imran Khan clashed with law enforcement during a protest in Islamabad.
• 🏛️ President-elect Trump’s transition team is reportedly investigating longtime aide Boris Epshteyn over allegations he requested payments from prospective political appointees to promote them. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right) | 🏛️ President-elect Trump selected Kevin Hassett to lead the National Economic Council; Hassett formerly served as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers for two years under Trump.

CLICKBAIT

• 📱🏆 Apple reveals 45 app and game finalists for the 2024 App Store Awards.

🏈 Stat of the Day: To those looking for a fact to toss out while watching football on Thanksgiving Day: The best-case scenario for the Detroit Lions is a worst-case scenario for sportsbooks, who would be on the hook for some big payouts. This season, more bets have been placed and more money wagered on the Lions to win the Super Bowl than on any other team at multiple sportsbooks nationwide, according to ESPN. Even the Lions just reaching the Super Bowl could make a dent in sportsbooks’ pockets; Detroit has attracted more money from bettors to win the NFC than the next seven teams combined at BetMGM.

But Dan Campbell’s team doesn’t just take big shots, they’ll grind you down week- in- and- week- out – as sportsbooks are also learning. So far this season, more bets have been placed and more money wagered on the Lions' money lines and point spreads than any other team at multiple sportsbooks. And they win. Detroit is 10-1 straight up and 9-2 against the spread entering Thursday's game against the Chicago Bears.

One final fact: Since 2021, the Lions are 44-18 against the spread – the best four-year span against the spread of any team in the Super Bowl era, according to ESPN Research. Apparently it pays to take Detroit vs. Everybody.

🤔 Did You Know? Between 1933-1974, it was illegal for US citizens to own all but a small amount of gold coin, gold bullion, and gold certificates without a special license, under a now-repealed law stemming from the belief that hoarding gold was worsening the Great Depression.

📰 Worth a Read: How to forgive, even if they’re unrepentant → (Psyche)

Fifty-nine year old DonnaJean Wilde is a proud grandmother of twelve. And, as of last week, she's also the proud holder of a Guinness World Record.

DonnaJean set the mark for most pushups completed within an hour (female), successfully pumping out 1,575 push-ups in 60 minutes while her grandchildren cheered her on. 

• Funnily enough, the record attempt took place in a senior center. 

🥩 Read: There’s a battle brewing over how much red meat you should eat.

🤔 Pattern spotting: Will the next Domingo SNL sketch be in 4 weeks? One Redditor thinks so.

🔈 The sound of silence Mars: What it sounds like on the Red Planet.

🏀 Whoa: MiLaysia Fulwiley – a name to remember.

🧠 Inquisitive minds only: The Signal covers current events with a spirit of curiosity – ideology-free, and with a diverse slate of global contributors. Sign up for the free newsletter, delivered 2x/week.*

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