Good morning. In this edition:

• 👶 Childcare costs are soaring
• 🍿 PG vs. PG-13
• 🎨 How a nun became a revolutionary pop artist

…and much more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~3.75-minute read (998 words).

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“If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy, and inspires your hopes.”

–Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919)

American families are increasingly facing a childcare conundrum: either pay a massive daycare bill, or stay home with the kids and sacrifice the paycheck that covers it.

• Prices have ballooned in recent years, pushing many parents to the brink and threatening both household budgets and workforce participation.

By the numbers: Sending a single child to daycare for five years carries a median cost of ~$44,000 across the US, which accounts for ~22% of parents’ annual household income on average, according to recent Wall Street Journal and Care.com reports.

These figures are much higher compared to just a few years ago. Families also spend $20,745 on essentials in a baby’s first year, up from $15,775 in 2022, per parenting website BabyCenter.

Driving the trend

Analysts point to several interconnected reasons to explain rising childcare costs:

• Many daycare centers are required by law to meet strict child-to-teacher ratios, meaning they have to hire lots of staff.
• Rent, utilities, liability insurance, and educational supplies make running a center expensive and push tuition costs higher.
• The American Rescue Plan—a massive 2021 federal stimulus package—included $24 billion in childcare subsidies, along with $15 billion to help expand access to childcare. Most of this funding expired in 2024, leading to dozens of daycare closures and higher costs across the board.

Solutions are up for debate

Some analysts and policymakers argue that childcare should be treated as an essential infrastructure, similar to education or transportation, where the government is heavily involved in its funding due to the widespread public benefits it provides.

• Other experts counter that broad government subsidies could raise taxes and lead to even higher childcare prices—instead arguing for market-driven solutions like reducing or eliminating child-to-teacher ratios, encouraging employer-led daycare programs, and expanding child tax credits, moves that are framed as preserving parental choice and limiting government overreach.

Big picture: Rising costs associated with childcare may be contributing to the falling US birth rate, which currently sits at an all-time low, according to a March brief from the US Department of Health and Human Services.

📊 Flash poll (long-form): In your opinion, what’s the best solution to sharply rising childcare prices across America? The most thought-provoking and insightful answers will be featured in Monday’s newsletter.

• Click here to leave a response.

Mike Milan spent years as a dishwasher, busboy, and bartender. Most people would call those jobs worthless. Mike disagrees—he credits them for building 14 successful businesses and generating $50 million in client cash flow.

Travis Chappell's Make More Money Newsletter recently featured Mike's story and why so-called "useless" jobs are actually entrepreneurship boot camps. Stop undervaluing your experience—learn how to leverage it instead.

Here are five stats from this past week that made our team go “whoa.” Hopefully you will, too.

📚 Reading for pleasure in the US fell by 40% between 2003-2023, per a study published this week.

🚫💼 The share of unemployed Americans who are new to the workforce currently stands at 13.4%, its highest mark in 37 years. AI AI AI Ay, ay, ay.

💰 The bottom 50% of Americans held 2.5% of all wealth in the country as of Q1 2025, according to Federal Reserve data.

🤖💕 Nearly one in five US adults (19%) has chatted with an AI system meant to simulate a romantic partner, per a recent BYU study.

🍿 In 2024, PG-rated films earned a higher share of the domestic box office than PG-13 films for the first time in 30+ years (36.8% vs. 32.6%). Both categories are roughly even so far in 2025.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 📉 Walmart misses analysts’ expectations for earnings, but beats on revenue; retailer’s stock closes down 4.5%. | Cracker Barrel unveils new logo design for the first time in 48 years as part of brand refresh; company’s stock closes down 7.2%.
• 🗣 Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to give annual policy speech today in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. | FedWatch pegs the odds of a September rate cut at ~70% ahead of Powell’s speech, down from ~92% last week.
• ⚖️ Delta and United face lawsuit alleging they knowingly sell “windowless window seats.” | FTC sues operators of LA Fitness over accusations that the gym chain makes canceling memberships excessively difficult.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

in partnership with Dunhill Travel Deals

• 🏟️ WNBA breaks single-season attendance record set in 2002, with ~2.5 million fans so far this season (and three weeks still remaining). | The SEC will expand its football conference schedule by an additional game (to nine total), starting in 2026.
• 🏆 Morgan Wallen declines to submit latest album I’m the Problem for Grammy consideration.
• 📺 Apple TV+ raises monthly price from $10 to $13; it marks the service’s first price-hike since 2023.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🤖 Meta freezes hiring in its AI division, after spending months signing 50+ researchers and engineers to lucrative contracts; a company spokesperson characterized the freeze as “basic organizational planning.”
• 🚁 Chipotle is teaming up with drone delivery firm Zipline to test autonomous food delivery in the greater Dallas area.
• 🦠 Ceres, a dwarf planet between Mars and Jupiter, may have the right types of molecules needed for microorganisms to exist, per NASA; however, there’s currently no evidence life ever existed there.

US, WORLD & POLITICS

• 🧑‍⚖️ New York appeals court throws out ~$500 million fine in President Trump's civil fraud case, ruling it’s too big to justify; judgement still leaves Trump liable for fraud; the case is expected to reach New York’s Supreme Court. | Federal judge disqualifies acting US Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba from participating in criminal cases, ruling her appointment by Trump wasn’t legally valid; decision is expected to be appealed.
• 💥 Italian authorities arrest the alleged leader of the Nord Stream pipeline sabotage at Germany’s request.
• 🏛️ California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signs legislation sending redrawn congressional map to voters for approval; move comes after Texas Republicans advance their own redrawn map to pad their House majority.

☝️ A 6.5-foot-wide Lego Death Star is currently on display as part of the LEGO Star Wars Exhibition at the Melbourne Museum. The model—which at 183,652 bricks marks the ultimate force of construction—contains 105 distinct rooms, 429 humanoid minifigures, and 57 different types of droids.

🤔 Did you know? Cats have a built-in “righting reflex,” which allows them to almost-always land on their feet by twisting their flexible spines in mid-air. Kittens show the first signs of this reflex by just three weeks old.

📰 Worth a read: The three lenses through which to weigh any decision

🖱️ Clickbait: How a nun became a revolutionary pop artist

The Tastemaker Tours from Modern Adventure go deeper than dining or traditional vacation packages—they reveal how food and craft embody cultural identity. With expert-curated access, you'll enter private kitchens and exclusive spaces that never appear on maps.

You'll experience:

• Intimate workshops with celebrated chefs
• Behind-the-scenes access to master artisans
• Private meals with local families who share their culinary traditions

How well did you pay attention this week? Find out here.

🕷️ Not scary at all: A parasitic fungus is creating zombie spiders.

✍️ Explore: Leonardo da Vinci’s flying machine recreated from a 500-year-old drawing.

💧 H2Wow: The best water, according to water sommeliers.

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*A message from our partners

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

☝️ Recipe #1:

• Boneless beef chuck roast, cubed
• Garlic powder
• Salt & pepper
• Four
• Onions
• Green bell pepper
• Celery
• Garlic cloves
• Beef broth
• Diced tomatoes
• Hot sauce
• Worcestershire sauce
• Bay leaves
• Dried thyme & basil
• Parsley leaves

✌️ Recipe #2:

• Angel food cake
• Cherry pie filling
• Vanilla instant pudding mix
• Half and half
• Sour cream
• Froze whipped topping
• Almonds

3️⃣ Recipe #3:

• Banana bread
• Eggs
• Milk
• Flour
• Cinnamon
• White sugar
• Vanilla bean extract
• Salt
• Butter
• Sliced banana
• Pecans
• Sugar
• Confectioner’s sugar

🥳 A "happy birthday" is in order for Ethel Caterham—the world’s oldest living person and the oldest British person ever—who turned 116 yesterday. 

☝️ Recipe #1: Grillades

✌️ Recipe #2: Heaven on Earth cake

3️⃣ Recipe #3: Banana bread French toast