Good morning, and a warm welcome to all our new subscribers. In today’s edition:

• 🚗 US enters new EV era
• 🚫 Israel rejects Gaza peace plan
• 🧠 The opposite of déjà vu

…and much more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~3.96-minute read (1,054 words).

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“How you think when you lose determines how long it will be until you win.”

–Gilbert K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

For years, the road to owning an electric vehicle in the US came with plenty of financial help.

The federal government offered thousands of dollars in tax credits, automakers rolled out hefty discounts, and some dealerships even offered EV leases for less than $100/month, giving some drivers a car payment that looked more like a phone bill.

But many of those perks have now disappeared, leaving the market in a much different place.

Here’s where things stand today

New EV sales and leases fell 20.5% year-over-year in Q2 following the expiration of the federal government's $7,500 EV tax credit last September, according to new data from Kelley Blue Book.

The loss of tax credits has also driven up leasing costs. Average EV lease payments rose from $538/month to $707/month over the year-long period ending June 2026, and are now ~$100 higher than the average non-EV lease payment.

Even before the credits expired, EV interest was already slipping. Sales fell 6.2% year-over-year in June 2025 as high prices, driving range, and charging infrastructure remained major concerns for potential buyers.

Ford, GM, and Stellantis have collectively written off $50+ billion from their EV investments, reflecting money poured into factories, technology, and other projects that are no longer expected to pay off as originally planned.

There are a few bright spots

Some buyers are finding a middle ground in hybrids, which accounted for 22.1% of new-car sales in California during the first half of 2026—vs. 15.9% for EVs. It marks the first time in four years that hybrids outsold EVs in America’s largest EV market.

• Things are also looking up when it comes to used EVs, which saw sales rise 20% year-over-year in June.
• That demand is also pushing up prices, a notable shift for vehicles known for steep depreciation.

Bottom line: The overall trend of EV adoption in America has slowed in recent months, as affordability increasingly becomes the biggest obstacle for prospective buyers following the expiration of federal tax credits.

📊 Flash poll: What type of vehicle do you personally want for your next purchase?

• Gas-powered
• Hybrid
• Fully electric

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BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 💼 US economy lost 23,000 jobs in July, below economists’ expectations and lower than the 20,000-job gain reported in June, per new federal jobs report.
• 🏛️ White House launches new effort to remove Fed Gov. Lisa Cook over mortgage fraud allegations, which she has called baseless; Supreme Court in June blocked Trump from firing Cook without meaningful legal scrutiny, a standard which his new attempt appears to be aiming for.
• 📲 Verizon confirms cell service has been restored following hourslong outage starting Saturday afternoon.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏈 Pro Football Hall of Fame officially enshrines five men—QB Drew Brees, RB Roger Craig, LB Luke Kuechly, WR Larry Fitzgerald, and K Adam Vinatieri—into its halls Saturday.
• 🍿 Spider-Man: Brand New Day leads the domestic box office with $145 million in its second weekend; Tom Holland-led film also becomes the second fastest film ever to reach $1 billion worldwide (12 days); The Odyssey earns $31.5 million domestically in its fourth weekend, bringing its global total to $1.1 billion (a Christopher Nolan record).
• 🎶 Ariana Grande earns seventh #1 album on the Billboard 200 chart, with her new album petal debuting atop the list.

Charles & Keith proves accessible luxury isn’t a contradiction. Premium-looking design without the premium price tags, made for women who want it all in one bag .

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🦠 Louisiana health officials urge residents to take precautions against Vibrio vulnificus, a flesh-eating bacteria infection, after 2026 death toll climbs to five, compared with a decade-long average of ~1/yr; all reported cases this year linked to wounds exposed to seawater in people with underlying conditions.
• 🐋 Baby humpback whale birth captured in the open ocean using drone photography for the first time, with exhibition filmmaker Alexander Forrest nabbing the shot off Australia’s coast in late July.
• ☄️ Perseid meteor shower is ongoing, with peak activity expected Wednesday night into Thursday morning; a rate of at least several meteors/hour is expected all week (assuming clear skies).

US, WORLD & POLITICS

• 🌍 Iran issues new demands for Strait of Hormuz to reopen, including the US permanently ending its war with Iran and its armed allies in the region, lifting its naval blockade, lifting sanctions, and “unconditionally” releasing Iran’s frozen assets; UAE also reports an Iranian missile attack on one of its ships. | Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu rejects US-backed plan to establish permanent peace in Gaza, which calls for Israel to gradually withdraw troops from the Strip in tandem with Hamas laying down its arms. | Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan sign joint defense agreement similar to NATO, where an attack on one Sunni Muslim-majority state will be treated as an attack on all three.
• 🏛️ Senate confirms Todd Blanche, President Trump's former defense lawyer, as attorney general in a 50-49 vote nearly along party lines; GOP Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski join all 47 Dems in voting against.
• 🧑‍⚖️ Federal appeals court blocks Trump’s White House ballroom project from moving forward without approval from Congress; ruling is temporarily on hold to allow Trump to appeal to the Supreme Court, which he pledges to do.

☝️ A South Korean satellite captured the first images of the Moon’s newest crash site, where a stray SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket became just the second known rocket to unintentionally crash into the lunar surface last Wednesday.

🤔 Did you know? Human beings get the least amount of sleep of any primate ever studied, at less than 7 hours/night on average. That’s noticeably lower than our closest living relative, the chimpanzee (9.5 hours/night), and significantly below other primates like baboons (10 hours/night) and tamarins (13 hours). Scientists theorize that humans evolved to sleep less after transitioning out of the relative safety of the trees to live on the ground instead.

📰 Worth a read: Who are the least-contacted people on Earth?

🖱️ What we’re clicking:

• The opposite of déjà vu exists—and it's even stranger
• There's a man living inside a billboard in Hollywood
• 5 career ‘rules’ from your parents that are working against you

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On Friday, we covered a Senate committee’s vote to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress, after the former top US infectious disease official repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right during testimony.

❓ Our question to you: In general, do you support or oppose the recent increased congressional scrutiny of Dr. Anthony Fauci’s actions during the Covid pandemic?

• Support: 30%
• Oppose: 64%
• Unsure/other: 6%

Read some of the most thoughtful longform responses.

+Note on sample size: We received 781 votes and 151 longform responses.

Monday: National S’mores Day

Tuesday: Primary elections in AL, CT, MN, SC, VT, WI

Wednesday: Consumer Price Index for July; Partial solar eclipse to occur across much of northern North America, Europe, and Africa; Reacher Season 4 debuts on Prime Video

Thursday: PGA Tour FedExCup Playoffs tee off with St. Jude Championship

Friday: The End of Oak Street starring Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor hits theaters; Phoebe Bridgers releases third album Lost Weekend; July retail sales data

Guess the definitions of the following Greek/Latin root words:

1. Botan
2. Dino
3. Hem
4. Lumin
5. Patr

(keep scrolling for the answers)

🐎 A 15-year-old horse named Milo is well on his way to becoming a dressage champion, despite losing his sight two years ago to a devastating eye condition. Milo and his owner have since adopted a form of equine “braille” to help the blind horse navigate competition rings and courses like a pro. 

1. Botan = Plant (e.g., botanical)
2. Dino = Terrible (dinosaur)
3. Hem = Blood (hemoglobin)
4. Lumin = Light (illuminate)
5. Patr = Father (patriarch)

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