Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 📝 More details emerge about the UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting
• 🌕 NASA delays the Moon missions
• 🏘️ Mall apartments

… and more.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~5.16-minute read (1,373 words).

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“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.”

–Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC)

The final race of the 2024 US elections was called this week, with Democrats flipping a House seat to narrow their majority in the chamber.

The results mean the GOP will control the House (220-215), Senate (53-47), and White House for at least two years, starting next month.

But there are some roadblocks to enacting their agenda. Democrats are gearing up to challenge many future GOP policies via the Senate filibuster, a procedure used by lawmakers to prevent legislation from being debated or brought to a vote without support from 60 senators, instead of a simple majority. This means anything brought to a vote in the Senate will need to have at least some bipartisan support (seven Democrats siding with all 53 Republicans, for example).

• Additionally, Republicans will have to deal with the smallest House advantage for either party since 1931 – an edge that will be even smaller, just 217-215, until the three House Republicans nominated for roles in Trump’s Cabinet are replaced in special elections (assuming they get confirmed).

Skrrt, skrrt? Republicans plan to use a process called budget reconciliation to address key issues like immigration, energy, and tax cuts. This process would allow the GOP to get around the 60-vote filibuster Democrats will likely use to force bipartisanship on most major legislation.

However, budget reconciliation is limited to legislation strictly related to the budget, like certain bills addressing government spending, tax revenues, and the debt limit.

• The GOP will also try to execute its agenda via presidential executive orders, though they also carry limitations and can be overturned by future presidential administrations.

Looking ahead…Incoming Senate Republican leader John Thune recently outlined a roadmap of top GOP priorities for President-elect Trump’s first 30 days in office. According to Thune, Republicans intend to move forward with a reconciliation bill that addresses policies related to energy, border security, defense, and tax cuts in line with those of Trump’s first term.

📊 Flash poll: In your opinion, how much of their legislative agenda will Republicans be able to enact over the next two years?

• The vast majority
• A good deal
• Not so much
• A small minority

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🏥 More details are emerging about the UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting. The masked gunman who stalked and killed Brian Thompson early Wednesday morning remained at large as of yesterday evening, with a police manhunt still underway. Officials yesterday released photos of a person they said was wanted for questioning in connection with the shooting. Authorities also revealed the gunman used a Sharpie to write words on the ammunition he used, including “deny,” “defend,” and “depose” – echoing the phrase “delay, deny, defend,” which is commonly used by attorneys and critics to describe tactics used by insurance companies like UnitedHealthcare to avoid paying claims.

🚀🗓️ The Man on the Moon will be lonely for at least a little bit longer. NASA is further delaying the launch of its remaining Artemis Moon missions, the space agency announced yesterday. The launch window for Artemis II, a flight that will send four astronauts around the Moon and back, has been postponed from September 2025 to April 2026 at the earliest. As a result, NASA’s Artemis III mission – which aims to put humans on the lunar surface for the first time since 1972 – is now delayed from late 2026 to mid-2027. Officials say the extra time is needed primarily to finish prepping the Orion spacecraft following a lengthy investigation into its heat shield.

🪙 Bitcoin fell after joining the six-figure club for the first time. After surging as high as ~$103,900 early Thursday, prices retreated to ~$97,600 as of 8 pm ET. Bitcoin is now up ~130% in 2024 and ~40% since the election, if you hadn't already heard from a HODL’er near you. Behind its recent rally to $100,000: President-elect Trump announced what’s seen as a crypto-friendly pick to lead the SEC (Paul Atkins), augmenting an already crypto-friendly Congress. In total, voters elected 298 pro-crypto representatives and senators, compared with 134 who are anticrypto, according to a tally and ratings by Stand With Crypto, an advocacy group backed by Coinbase Global.

After the successful launch of Hulu on the Disney+ app earlier this year, Disney has now welcomed ESPN+ to the platform as of Wednesday. Fitting how all of its streaming children have come home for the holidays.

• The new integration provides Disney Bundle subscribers with one place to consume everything they pay $16.99/month for – Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ – without needing to leave the app.

Behind the move: Disney’s reasoning for putting all the content under one umbrella is simple: it wants to attract more people to its Disney+/Hulu/ESPN+ triple-package bundle.

• The trio-bundle logged between 1.8 million–2.2 million US signups in August, 158,000–277,000 higher than July's figures.
• There's currently a 68% retention rate of Disney+ bundle subscribers after six months, meaning fewer cancellations between seasons for the companies.

Disney and ESPN also hope combining the platforms will help attract new audiences to their content, drawing casual sports fans to ESPN programs and vice versa.

📺 Not just Disney: Other streamers offer similar bundle packages to entice customers, like Max, which has launched a live sports add on for $9.99/month and has plans to release a CNN-powered news option in the future. Telecoms and cable TV companies are also birthing their own bundles of joy; ex: Comcast offers a Peacock + Netflix + Apple TV bundle.

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• ☝️Mocha Mousse was named Pantone's Color of the Year for 2025; it's the first time since Pantone began revealing a color of the year 25 years ago that a shade of brown was chosen.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Tuft & Needle

• 📈 US markets fell across the board Thursday, after closing Wednesday at record highs (S&P: -0.2%; Dow: -0.6%; Nasdaq: -0.2%). | 💼 New jobless claims rose by 9,000 to reach 224,000 last week, above the 214,000 analysts were expecting.
• 💵 Dollar General is testing same-day delivery from ~75 stores; the company plans to eventually roll it out to thousands of locations.
• ✈️ Boeing's plea deal tied to two crashes of its 737 Max aircraft was rejected by a federal judge, who cited concerns the Justice Department’s DEI policies would affect the selection of an independent monitor.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏀 The Toronto Tempo will join the WNBA as the league’s 14th team starting in 2026.
• 🎭 Hollywood’s biggest winners and losers of 2024, from Joe Rogan to Kevin Costner.
• ⚾🤝 The Oakland Athletics reportedly signed pitcher Luis Severino to a three-year deal worth $67 million; it’s the largest contract in the notoriously frugal franchise’s history. | 🏈🎓 Bill Belichick, the former Patriots head coach who won an NFL-record six Super Bowls, reportedly interviewed for the University of North Carolina’s head coach vacancy.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Thousand Fell

• 💉🧠 Scientists developed temporary tattoos that can read human brainwaves; they could eventually replace clunky conventional wires.
• ⛽ The presence of lead in gasoline across the US – which was fully phased out in 1996 – is linked to 151 million excess mental disorder diagnoses in America, per a new study.
• 🦣 A mammoth discovery: Researchers presented the first direct evidence that Clovis people – a prehistoric culture in North America at the end of the Ice Age ~13,000 years ago – consumed meat from mammoths and other large animals.

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MISCELLANEOUS

• ⛪🚙 Pope Francis received a one-of-a-kind electric popemobile from Mercedes-Benz.
• 🏥 Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield is reversing its controversial plan to stop paying for anesthesia care if a surgery or procedure goes beyond a particular time limit.
• 📲 FBI and CISA officials are recommending Americans use encrypted messaging apps – aka avoid texting between iPhone and Android – to ensure communications stay hidden from an ongoing Chinese hacking campaign.

CLICKBAIT

• 🤔 52 random and intriguing facts learned in 2024.

🛍️🏘️ Stat of the Day: The combined smell of Abercrombie cologne and Auntie Anne’s pretzels wafting into the living room could soon be a reality for many. As of January 2022, at least 192 US malls planned to add housing to their footprint, and at least 33 had constructed apartments since the pandemic began, CNBC reports. At least a dozen more apartment projects are underway at malls across the country, including in California, Florida, Arizona, and Texas.

With the housing projects, developers are attempting to make use of the ~34 million sq. ft of vacant or off-the-market mall space. But owners of busy malls also see opportunity to cater to those seeking a more convenient way to shop and then drop😴, and are increasingly leaning into residential real estate projects vs. adding more retail space to an already full and bustling mall, per CNBC.

🤔 Did You Know? If spread evenly, the Great Lakes – which contain 20% of all surface freshwater on Earth – would submerge the entire continental United States under ~9.5 feet of water.

📰 Worth a Read: I moved from a country with almost no inflation to the country with the highest → (The Hustle)

Meet Magnum, a sweet-toothed steer who's known and loved around his central Alberta community of Sylvan Lake. 

Last month, Magnum caused quite the stir when he trotted right up to a Tim Horton's drive-through window and hit the order button with his nose.

• Magnum ambled over to the pickup window before accepting a box of bite-sized donuts and heading back down the road with his owner, Kelly.

🎮 Game-cave hibernation preparation: PlayStation just dropped its full-of-binge-plays Game of the Year contenders list.

🤖 College rankings: A group of UC Berkeley students developed a website that ranks the world’s-best AI models. The industry now uses it as a benchmark and to source areas of needed improvement.

🎨 Trash talk: Artist Thomas Deininger transforms discarded materials into jaw-dropping eco-art. Peep his Instagram for a reminder that perspective matters – a lot.

🌟 Discover: The bcc by Letterlist makes finding amazing newsletters effortless. Don’t miss interviews with top writers like Dave Pell and Ann Handley on their refreshed site!*

💡 How you like them apples? Boston sports diehard Danny Healey mixes spicy hot takes, behind-the-scenes athlete antics, and laugh-out-loud life stories in Danny's Diary. It’s like sports talk radio met a diary and had a witty, must-read baby.*

*A message from our partners.

Our weekly news quiz is live. How well did you pay attention this week? Let’s find out.

Below are three lists of ingredients. Your job is give us the completed dish they make.

☝️ Recipe #1:

• Frozen puff pastry
• Berry jam
• Cornstarch
• Egg
• Salted butter
• Powdered sugar
• Half and half
• Vanilla and almond extract

✌️ Recipe #2:

• Flour
• Sugar
• Salt
• Baking powder
• Cinnamon
• Nutmeg
• Eggnog
• Vegetable oil
• Eggs
• Vanilla & rum extract
• Powdered sugar

3️⃣ Recipe #3:

• Chicken thighs
• Olive oil
• Veggies
• Garlic
• Red wine
• Crushed tomatoes
• Olives
• Capes
• Dried oregano
• Crushed red pepper flakes
• Fresh basil & parsley
• Parmesan cheese

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☝️ Recipe #1: Toaster strudels

✌️ Recipe #2: Eggnog bread

3️⃣ Recipe #3: Chicken cacciatore