| | Good morning. In this edition: - 🍿 OpenAI’s animated movie
- 📱 New iPhone Air
- 🎤 Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping on immortality
…and much more. Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~3.38-minute read (900 words). Did someone forward you this email? Subscribe here for free. |
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💬 Daily Sprinkle | “Knowledge is different from all other resources. It makes itself constantly obsolete, so that today’s advanced knowledge is tomorrow’s ignorance." –Peter Drucker (1909-2005) |
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🗣🌐 Dose of Discussion: A 360° Look at a Hot-Button Issue |  | America’s report card delivers a failing grade |  Image: Ralf Geithe | America’s latest report card is in—and let’s just say, nobody’s putting this one on the fridge. According to new results from a congressionally mandated exam widely regarded as America’s gold standard, teen students across the US have fallen even further behind in the years following the Covid pandemic. The test scores from the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) are the first of their kind to be released since 2019. What they found: All three categories covered under the latest NAEP graded out poorly in 2024. - 8th-grade science: 38% of students scored below “basic,” meaning they likely can’t remember fundamental facts like reproduction being essential for population survival, or that plants need light to grow. That’s the highest such figure since 2005.
- 12th-grade reading: The overall average score stood at its lowest level since at least 1992, with 32% of students lacking basic reading skills—meaning they probably couldn’t determine the purpose of a political speech, or identify a story character’s motives.
- 12th-grade math: Nearly half of students (45%) scored below the basic level and probably haven’t mastered skills like using percentages to solve real-world problems, marking the highest level since at least 2005.
Diagnosis unknownWhile the pandemic has played a large role in falling test scores across the US in recent years, analysts say the issue is part of a bigger trend in education that can’t be solely blamed on Covid-related disruptions like school closures and higher absenteeism. - They cite other potential underlying factors like increased screen time, and shortened attention spans among kids.
- Additionally, the dip in reading scores has appeared alongside a recent nationwide shift in how English language arts is taught in schools, with more emphasis placed on short texts or book excerpts, and less on reading full-length novels or writing longer essays.
And it’s not just kids: A recent paper from researcher Nat Malkus indicates performance declines have also been recorded in tests of adults’ skills, suggesting the problem could lie outside the classroom. In particular, Malkus cites the unprecedented amount of screen time for both children and adults in recent years. Looking ahead…Studies have established a relationship between a student’s test scores and their later earnings/economic activity, implying that a decline in academic performance could lead to the US economy losing trillions of dollars over time. 📊 Flash poll (long-form): Calling all 25,000+ classrooms using the DONUT: What do you think is needed to get America’s students back on track? The most thoughtful answers will be featured in tomorrow’s newsletter. |
| | See a 360° view of what pundits are saying → | |
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🍩 DONUT Holes | | BUSINESS & MARKETS- 💼 The US economy likely created 911,000 fewer jobs over the year-long period ending in March than previously estimated; this preliminary data will be finalized in February.
- 📈 Oracle reported earnings and revenue that narrowly missed analysts’ expectations; the company’s stock rose 28% in after-hours trading, following a 359% annual boost in remaining performance obligations, a measure of contracted revenue that’s not yet recognized (now $455 billion).
- 🧑⚖️ SCOTUS agrees to hear President Trump’s challenge to a lower-court ruling that invalidated many of his global tariffs; the case will be heard on a fast track basis, with oral arguments set for early November.
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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENTin partnership with SuperMoney - 🎶 Sabrina Carpenter scores her second debut at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart with Man’s Best Friend.
- 🏈 Eagles DT Jalen Carter fined $57,222 and suspended one game for spitting on Cowboys QB Dak Prescott—though the NFL ruled his ejection from Thursday’s game counts as the suspension.
- 🍿 OpenAI is lending its tools and computing resources to the creation of a new animated feature-length movie made largely with AI; the film aims to debut at next year’s Cannes Film Festival in May ahead of a global theatrical release.
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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH- 🧑⚖️ Anthropic’s record-breaking $1.5 billion settlement of an AI copyright class-action lawsuit filed by authors was put on hold by a federal judge due to concerns with its terms.
- 🦟 CDC publishes report warning that deadly “kissing bug” disease, also known as Chagas, may be becoming endemic in the US; human cases have been reported recently in eight states.
- 💬 Former WhatsApp employee files lawsuit claiming that the messaging service neglected major security and privacy flaws, resulting in 100,000+ accounts/day being hacked; Meta spokesperson says the suit relies on “distorted claims.”
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US, WORLD & POLITICSin partnership with Tuft & Needle - 🌆 Department of Homeland Security announces launch of new immigration enforcement operation in Chicago; Operation Midway Blitz will target unauthorized immigrants with criminal records living in and around the city, US officials said.
- 🌍 Israel carries out air strike targeting Hamas’ senior political leadership in Qatar; Hamas said its primary leaders survived, but five members were killed.
- 🏛️ Missouri House approves new congressional map aimed at flipping one of the state’s US House seats from Democrat to Republican control.
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🧠 Tidbits | |  Image: Apple | ☝️ Apple pulled back the curtain on its latest gadgets yesterday, headlined by the ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air. At just 5.6 mm thick (not counting its raised rear camera), the new model is so slim it makes Flat Stanley think about going on Ozempic. Check out all the Apple release details—including new iPhones, Apple Watches, and AirPods—here. 🤔 Did you know? For a hot second, New York City wasn’t “New York” at all, but “New Orange.” The Dutch introduced the citrusy rebrand in honor of William III of Orange after taking the city from the English in 1673. But the change didn’t last: by 1674, the Treaty of Westminster handed it right back to England. 📰 Worth a read: What is AI slop? A technologist explains this new form of online content 🖱️ Clickbait: Taco Bell rethinks AI drive-thru after man orders 18,000 waters |
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🤗 Daily Dose of Positive | | 🐶 Eight-year-old William Kay received the surprise of his life when a police officer hand-delivered his missing stuffed toy, Dog, whom he had lost on the way home from vacation. |
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🤔 Trivia |  | Over/under | How it works: We provide an incorrect stat. Your challenge is to guess whether the actual number is over or under the given value. - 🐝 2 weeks: Average lifespan of a worker honeybee in summer
- 🍫 1,000: Number of cocoa beans needed to make a pound of chocolate
- 🏟️ 175,000: Capacity of the world’s largest stadium
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✅ Recs | | |
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🤔 Answers | | - 🐝 Over; they live 5-7 weeks on average
- 🍫 Under; about 400 beans
- 🏟️ Under; North Korea’s Rungrado 1st of May Stadium can hold up to 150,000 people
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