Good morning. In this edition:

• 💼 WFH is hanging on
• ☄️ Nuking an asteroid
• 🇺🇸 Wackiest US town names

…and much more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~3.26-minute read (867 words).

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“Happiness is only real when shared.”

–Christopher McCandless (1968-1992)

Major corporations across the US economy are increasingly ordering their employees to return to the office more often. But so far, workers have largely resisted the pressure to upgrade from pajama chic to business casual.

State of play: Last Wednesday, the New York Times ordered opinion and newsroom staffers to come into the office at least 4 days/week by November (up from three), according to a new Wall Street Journal report.

And the organization isn’t alone:

• Both Paramount and NBCUniversal have recently told staffers to commit to 4-5 days/week in the office, or take a buyout.
• Microsoft told most Pacific Northwest employees to increase their in-office attendance to at least three days/week starting in February
• Amazon, Dell, and JPMorgan have also increased office-attendance requirements this year.

Overall, the number of days required in office by US companies has increased 12% since the start of 2024, per data from Flex Index.

But…The amount of days employees have actually spent working in the office has increased by just 1% over the same period, according to a monthly federal survey of 10,000 Americans on the topic.

Driving the trend

Analysts say a sizable portion of managers tasked with bringing workers back into the office…aren’t enforcing those requirements very harshly.

They cite several reasons for this lax enforcement, including a desire to keep workers happy, to shield top performers so they’re less likely to leave, and the fact that many managers would prefer not to be in the office themselves.

This also applies on a company-wide scale, with many businesses forgoing the effort of closely tracking badge swipes, Wi-Fi connections, time-off schedules, and other attempts to catch workers who violate back-to-office policies.

Big picture: While return-to-office ultimatums at large companies get outsized attention, data shows most businesses have settled into a routine of allowing at least some remote work. Americans currently spend ~75% of their working time at the office and ~25% at home, according to new federal data.

📊 Flash poll: In your opinion, what’s the ideal amount of time the average US worker should be required to spend at the office in jobs where WFH is doable?

• 0 or 1 day/week (4 or 5 days/week WFH)
• 2 days/week
• 3 days/week
• 4 days/week
• Full-time at the office

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BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 🏦 Fed Chair Jerome Powell, in prepared remarks, described the central bank’s interest-rate stance as “still modestly restrictive” after last week’s cut; analysts say the remarks imply further interest-rate cuts are potentially on the table this year.
• 🤖Stargate Project—a $500 billion joint venture created by OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle, and investment firm MGX—brought its first and flagship AI data center online in Abilene, Texas.
• 🛻Ford is reportedly offering lower interest rates on F-150s in order to sell more vehicles by the end of the quarter (September 30).

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 📺 Nexstar and Sinclair, two of the largest owners of broadcast TV stations, say they won’t air the return of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show on the ABC affiliate stations they operate; both companies have plans to seek merger approval from the FCC, whose commissioner threatened to revoke broadcast licenses over Kimmel’s recent comments regarding Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
• 🚫 YouTube is reinstating creators previously banned for spreading misinformation about Covid and elections.
• 🏰 Disney to raise prices for many of its subscriptions by $2 to $3 per month, effective October 21.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🌕 Artemis II, a 10-day mission representing NASA’s first manned trip to the Moon since 1972, could launch as soon as February; the mission aims to send four astronauts to the Moon and back to test systems ahead of Artemis III’s historic lunar landing.
• 🦴 New breakthrough treatment that was found to strengthen bones in mice could be used to reverse osteoporosis.
• ☢️ Nuking asteroid 2024 YR4 could be the solution to avoiding a ~4% chance it will collide with the Moon in 2032, per a new study; a lunar collision would add considerable space debris to Earth’s orbit, endangering spacecraft and astronauts.

US, WORLD & POLITICS

• 📵 US Secret Service dismantle hidden telecom network that could have jammed cell phone service and 911 operations across NYC ahead of the UN General Assembly.
• 🎓 U.S. News & World Report unveils 2026 edition of its controversial college rankings, with top-three spots remaining the same as the previous year (Princeton, MIT, Harvard).
• 🏛️ President Trump delivered the first address of his second term to the UN General Assembly; his speech lasted nearly an hour, marking the longest UN address by any US president. | Trump says for the first time that Ukraine could regain all of its territory lost to Russia in lengthy social media post.

☝️🐻 It’s bulking season in Alaska: Fat Bear Week 2025, held at Katmai National Park, kicked off yesterday. The March Madness–style bracket pits chunky brown bears against each other as they pack on the pounds for winter. Fans can vote on matchups daily from noon to 9 pm EST through next Tuesday.

🤔 Did you know? There is a town in South Carolina simply named "North." Despite its name, it is in the center of the state—over a hundred miles from another SC community called Ketchuptown. Check out more of America’s wackiest town names here.

📰 Worth a read: The semicolon, 'the most feared punctuation on Earth,' is in decline; does it matter?

🖱️ Clickbait: Scientists may have found signs of a hidden universe on the ocean floor

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How it works: We provide an incorrect stat. Your challenge is to guess whether the actual number is over or under the given value.

1. 🦜 500: How many words a trained African grey parrot can mimic
2. 🌎 100: Earthquakes detected worldwide every day
3. 🎩 20 feet: Height of Abraham Lincoln’s statue in the Lincoln Memorial

🥤 Meet the engineering student who successfully figured out a way to turn red Solo cups into clothing, in the ultimate sustainability initiative. 

1. 🦜 Over; up to 1,000 words
2. 🌎 Under; ~55 earthquakes/day
3. 🎩 Under; 19 feet