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Showing posts with label Morning Brew. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Morning Brew. Show all posts
Thursday, December 4
Headlines
Photo by Adam GRAY/AFP via Getty Images
Wednesday, December 3
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Tuesday, December 2
Headlines
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Monday, December 1
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Sunday, November 30
CULTURE
The surprisingly poignant origins of kidults

Fotos International/Getty Images
You may think kidults are a distinctly 21st-century phenomenon, but GI Joe sold over $1 billion worth of action figures by 1989, and Snoopy became the first beagle on the moon (kind of)—thanks to some serious adults of yesteryear believing character merch could represent more than just playthings.
The term “Kidult” dates back to at least 1960, when the television industry coined the portmanteau to describe shows like Flipper and The Flintstones that were meant to appeal to adults and kids alike.
Around the same time, perfectly respectable adults began buying children’s toys for themselves, sometimes for heart-wrenching reasons:In 1964, Hasbro released the first GI Joe action figure, which was 12 inches tall and featured articulated body parts. Vietnam War veterans collected the dolls, according to pop culture historian Roy Schwartz, to “reconnect with their Army days” once they were home.
In 1967, Hasbro debuted the first talking GI Joe, voiced by Bill Corsair, who went on to fight in Vietnam in 1969. This helped solidify the doll’s reputation as something more than a children’s toy.
Good grief
The 1960s also heralded the golden age of Charles Schulz’s Peanuts comic strip—which flipped the kidult script by featuring kids with a distinctly adult outlook.
As Charles Schulz biographer David Michaelis wrote, “Children are not supposed to be radically dissatisfied…Schulz gave these children lifelong dissatisfactions, the stuff of which adulthood is made.” But that was part of their charm, and their broad appeal:Sports writer Luke Epplin compiled Peanuts cartoon strips about Snoopy’s and Woodstock’s fruitless attempts to find their lost mothers, which echoed Schulz’s own mother dying of cancer while he was being shipped off to World War II. Such adult themes may have helped grownups reading the newspaper seek them out.
The TV special A Charlie Brown Christmas came out in 1965, cementing the franchise as an American institution. And a lucrative one—the show’s massive success led to surging demand for Peanuts merchandise. By 2010, the franchise’s merch was responsible for $2 billion in global sales annually.
The Peanuts are still flying the kidult flag: You likely know at least one septuagenarian who will shamelessly buy themselves a Snoopy doll. That’s no surprise, since the brand has been dialed into the adult market for a long time. In 1967, it already had merch meant specifically for adults, like this felt banner of Lucy Van Pelt screaming, “I’M FRUSTRATED, INHIBITED AND NO ONE UNDERSTANDS ME!”—HVL
Fotos International/Getty Images
You may think kidults are a distinctly 21st-century phenomenon, but GI Joe sold over $1 billion worth of action figures by 1989, and Snoopy became the first beagle on the moon (kind of)—thanks to some serious adults of yesteryear believing character merch could represent more than just playthings.
The term “Kidult” dates back to at least 1960, when the television industry coined the portmanteau to describe shows like Flipper and The Flintstones that were meant to appeal to adults and kids alike.
Around the same time, perfectly respectable adults began buying children’s toys for themselves, sometimes for heart-wrenching reasons:In 1964, Hasbro released the first GI Joe action figure, which was 12 inches tall and featured articulated body parts. Vietnam War veterans collected the dolls, according to pop culture historian Roy Schwartz, to “reconnect with their Army days” once they were home.
In 1967, Hasbro debuted the first talking GI Joe, voiced by Bill Corsair, who went on to fight in Vietnam in 1969. This helped solidify the doll’s reputation as something more than a children’s toy.
Good grief
The 1960s also heralded the golden age of Charles Schulz’s Peanuts comic strip—which flipped the kidult script by featuring kids with a distinctly adult outlook.
As Charles Schulz biographer David Michaelis wrote, “Children are not supposed to be radically dissatisfied…Schulz gave these children lifelong dissatisfactions, the stuff of which adulthood is made.” But that was part of their charm, and their broad appeal:Sports writer Luke Epplin compiled Peanuts cartoon strips about Snoopy’s and Woodstock’s fruitless attempts to find their lost mothers, which echoed Schulz’s own mother dying of cancer while he was being shipped off to World War II. Such adult themes may have helped grownups reading the newspaper seek them out.
The TV special A Charlie Brown Christmas came out in 1965, cementing the franchise as an American institution. And a lucrative one—the show’s massive success led to surging demand for Peanuts merchandise. By 2010, the franchise’s merch was responsible for $2 billion in global sales annually.
The Peanuts are still flying the kidult flag: You likely know at least one septuagenarian who will shamelessly buy themselves a Snoopy doll. That’s no surprise, since the brand has been dialed into the adult market for a long time. In 1967, it already had merch meant specifically for adults, like this felt banner of Lucy Van Pelt screaming, “I’M FRUSTRATED, INHIBITED AND NO ONE UNDERSTANDS ME!”—HVL
Saturday, November 29
Headlines
LUXURY
Shred the gnar at the Netflix founder’s private resort

Powder Haven
Netflix won the streaming wars by being the first to deliver entertainment to the masses, its vast library offering something for everyone as it scaled toward global domination. That’s made co-founder Reed Hastings a billionaire, but the philosophy behind his latest venture—a private, high-end ski community in the Utah wilderness—is less Netflix and more HBO.
New kind of mile-high club
Months after retiring as Netflix’s CEO in 2023, Hastings bought Powder Mountain for an undisclosed sum and has since invested hundreds of millions of dollars to turn it into the world’s most bespoke ski destination. The hope is that it can serve as a quieter alternative to the overcrowded mass-market slopes you see all over Instagram each winter.
“This isn’t about exclusivity for its own sake,” Hastings told The Hollywood Reporter last year. “It’s about creating a sanctuary for people who love this mountain as much as we do.” Here’s how the unusual public-private resort works:Memberships, which cost $25,000 annually (plus an initiation fee), give skiers exclusive access to 2,700 acres of pristine powder. The remaining 5,300 acres are open to the public.
To become a member, you must purchase real estate in the resort’s residential community, Powder Haven. Lots start at $2 million, and membership is capped at 650 families.
Real estate sales will help pay for improvements to the public side, including new chairlifts, to make sure it doesn’t get too crowded, either.
Demand is high. The first phase of development (39 lots) sold out in a few months, based solely on renderings and before roads were even paved, according to Robb Report. A 73,000-square-foot lodge with restaurants, pickleball courts, a gym, a pool, and a spa is under construction, per SFGate.
But not everyone’s thrilled. Some are worried that Hastings’s elite winter wonderland will price locals out (public pass prices have already increased). Others say that the changes threaten Powder’s mom-and-pop feel, which had set it apart from most mountains in the area. The Financial Times suggested the Netflix billionaire is “walking a gentrification tightrope.”—AE
CLIMATE TECH
The cannons keeping ski towns afloat

AscentXmedia/Getty Images
When you tell your grandkids that you used to go bombing through dumps, the most unbelievable part of the story might be that there was ever so much fresh snowfall. Shorter, warmer winters are becoming more common, and most ski towns increasingly count on an imperfect fix—snow machines—to fill a growing void of white.
Cold time is money: To cushion lighter snowfall at the beginning and end of winter, the Aspen Snowmass resort upgraded its snowmakers this summer as part of a broader $80 million development project, for example. Without the tech, subpar skiing conditions can threaten not just resorts but also surrounding restaurants, hotels, and rental services.
But…the pressurized cannons dotting ski trails typically work in tandem with local weather, so there’s usually only so much that they can do:Basic snowmakers shoot out high-pressure water and condensed air, meaning they’re useless if it’s not cold enough outside. Some Colorado ski resorts had to switch off their snowguns at the beginning of November, when temperatures got into the 60s.
A resort’s snow machines can take days to weeks to cover the slopes, depending on how much natural powder
there is already. At the extreme end, it required nearly two months, almost 400 snowguns, and an estimated $60 million to completely blanket barren mountain venues for the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
Conundrum: Newer snow machines can work in up to 80-degree weather, but they cost as much as $500,000, compared to $15,000 to $30,000 for traditional models, according to the Washington Post. They’re also energy-intensive, which exacerbates the core issue facing ski towns: snowmakers are “pretty much using the cause [of climate change] to find a solution,” a spokesperson for TechnoAlpin, a leading snowmaking company, told the outlet.
Looking ahead…based on current greenhouse gas predictions, lower-altitude ski towns could see 80% less snowfall by 2100.—ML
Shred the gnar at the Netflix founder’s private resort
Powder Haven
Netflix won the streaming wars by being the first to deliver entertainment to the masses, its vast library offering something for everyone as it scaled toward global domination. That’s made co-founder Reed Hastings a billionaire, but the philosophy behind his latest venture—a private, high-end ski community in the Utah wilderness—is less Netflix and more HBO.
New kind of mile-high club
Months after retiring as Netflix’s CEO in 2023, Hastings bought Powder Mountain for an undisclosed sum and has since invested hundreds of millions of dollars to turn it into the world’s most bespoke ski destination. The hope is that it can serve as a quieter alternative to the overcrowded mass-market slopes you see all over Instagram each winter.
“This isn’t about exclusivity for its own sake,” Hastings told The Hollywood Reporter last year. “It’s about creating a sanctuary for people who love this mountain as much as we do.” Here’s how the unusual public-private resort works:Memberships, which cost $25,000 annually (plus an initiation fee), give skiers exclusive access to 2,700 acres of pristine powder. The remaining 5,300 acres are open to the public.
To become a member, you must purchase real estate in the resort’s residential community, Powder Haven. Lots start at $2 million, and membership is capped at 650 families.
Real estate sales will help pay for improvements to the public side, including new chairlifts, to make sure it doesn’t get too crowded, either.
Demand is high. The first phase of development (39 lots) sold out in a few months, based solely on renderings and before roads were even paved, according to Robb Report. A 73,000-square-foot lodge with restaurants, pickleball courts, a gym, a pool, and a spa is under construction, per SFGate.
But not everyone’s thrilled. Some are worried that Hastings’s elite winter wonderland will price locals out (public pass prices have already increased). Others say that the changes threaten Powder’s mom-and-pop feel, which had set it apart from most mountains in the area. The Financial Times suggested the Netflix billionaire is “walking a gentrification tightrope.”—AE
CLIMATE TECH
The cannons keeping ski towns afloat
AscentXmedia/Getty Images
When you tell your grandkids that you used to go bombing through dumps, the most unbelievable part of the story might be that there was ever so much fresh snowfall. Shorter, warmer winters are becoming more common, and most ski towns increasingly count on an imperfect fix—snow machines—to fill a growing void of white.
Cold time is money: To cushion lighter snowfall at the beginning and end of winter, the Aspen Snowmass resort upgraded its snowmakers this summer as part of a broader $80 million development project, for example. Without the tech, subpar skiing conditions can threaten not just resorts but also surrounding restaurants, hotels, and rental services.
But…the pressurized cannons dotting ski trails typically work in tandem with local weather, so there’s usually only so much that they can do:Basic snowmakers shoot out high-pressure water and condensed air, meaning they’re useless if it’s not cold enough outside. Some Colorado ski resorts had to switch off their snowguns at the beginning of November, when temperatures got into the 60s.
A resort’s snow machines can take days to weeks to cover the slopes, depending on how much natural powder
there is already. At the extreme end, it required nearly two months, almost 400 snowguns, and an estimated $60 million to completely blanket barren mountain venues for the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
Conundrum: Newer snow machines can work in up to 80-degree weather, but they cost as much as $500,000, compared to $15,000 to $30,000 for traditional models, according to the Washington Post. They’re also energy-intensive, which exacerbates the core issue facing ski towns: snowmakers are “pretty much using the cause [of climate change] to find a solution,” a spokesperson for TechnoAlpin, a leading snowmaking company, told the outlet.
Looking ahead…based on current greenhouse gas predictions, lower-altitude ski towns could see 80% less snowfall by 2100.—ML
Friday, November 28
Headlines
GROCERY
The coupon’s not dead yet

Andersen Ross/Getty Images
An American-born shopping strategy may be in the midst of a mini comeback. The days of couponing so hard that you get on a TLC show are over, but post-pandemic grocery inflation has ushered in a new wave of deal fiends.
Although coupon use plummeted to an all-time low in 2022:Redemptions ticked up in 2023 and 2024, mostly driven by digital offers rather than traditional newspaper inserts, according to Inmar Intelligence.
More than 25% of US adults are using more coupons because of the state of the economy, up from 18% in mid-2021, according to a 2024 survey by the National Retail Federation.
Rebound: In September, Kroger reported a “lift” in the number of products sold after the grocery chain reintroduced paper coupons. Bargain shoppers also logged a win in August, when Bed Bath & Beyond Home opened its first store under its new banner and brought back its legendary 20% coupon. This time around, though, it can’t be used with other offers.
The deals aren’t what they used to be
Gone is the era of combining enough coupons to save 75% at checkout (or even be owed money by the store):Walmart, ShopRite, and Target don’t let shoppers use more than four of the same paper coupon in one day anymore.
Many retailers have also stopped giving cash back on coupons of a higher value than the purchase price.
To limit fraud risks, some stores don’t allow printouts from Coupons.com—or any coupons that aren’t on their master list, even if they’re legitimate.
Where the Extreme Couponers are now: Many stars of the 2011–2012 TLC show moved on from coupon-clipping to maxing out their 401(k) and IRA contributions and racking up hotel loyalty points for cheaper travel. They told the Wall Street Journal that this offers higher returns for a drastically lower time commitment. Probably fewer paper cuts, too.—ML
PERSONAL FINANCE
Are all of these loyalty schemes programs worth it?

Francis Scialabba
You’re just six more purchases from a free coffee. You’re four more hole punches from a free sandwich. If you amass 500 more points, that airline will let you fly the plane.
Maybe that last one isn’t real (yet), but loyalty programs have become ubiquitous. As of 2016, long before the current loyalty gold rush, Accenture reported that 90% of companies already had programs that gave you “free” stuff for making purchases.
But these plans can come at a cost.
Loyalty being punished?
If you’ve noticed the perks aren’t as perky as they were when you first joined a given club, you might not be imagining things. The Washington Post looked into potential loyalty paranoia and instead found that Starbucks and other companies might use your info to cut back on your deals through surveillance pricing:Former FTC officials Samuel Levine and Stephanie Nguyen told the outlet that some companies will use AI and your personal data to charge higher prices to specific patrons.
A study from the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator and the University of California at Berkeley’s Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice also found that these programs can invert the idea of loyalty, benefiting companies more than customers.
Data concerns: Ask that app not to track all you want, but some are still able to gather enough data in other ways to determine things like your income and how much money you’re willing to fork over. The author of the WaPo story requested and received his data report from Starbucks, which showed every drink and snack he had bought, every offer he had received, and every tap he made in the app. That kind of data could be shared with dozens of tech firms that specialize in tailoring prices.
Open investigation: The FTC began investigating surveillance pricing in July 2024, but when the Trump administration took office, it halted the probe. Levine and Nguyen said they’d like to see it resume. Noting that in some cases loyalty programs may be the only path to a discount, Levine told WaPo, “We shouldn’t be put in a position where we have to decide between affording our groceries and protecting our privacy.”—DL
The coupon’s not dead yet

Andersen Ross/Getty Images
An American-born shopping strategy may be in the midst of a mini comeback. The days of couponing so hard that you get on a TLC show are over, but post-pandemic grocery inflation has ushered in a new wave of deal fiends.
Although coupon use plummeted to an all-time low in 2022:Redemptions ticked up in 2023 and 2024, mostly driven by digital offers rather than traditional newspaper inserts, according to Inmar Intelligence.
More than 25% of US adults are using more coupons because of the state of the economy, up from 18% in mid-2021, according to a 2024 survey by the National Retail Federation.
Rebound: In September, Kroger reported a “lift” in the number of products sold after the grocery chain reintroduced paper coupons. Bargain shoppers also logged a win in August, when Bed Bath & Beyond Home opened its first store under its new banner and brought back its legendary 20% coupon. This time around, though, it can’t be used with other offers.
The deals aren’t what they used to be
Gone is the era of combining enough coupons to save 75% at checkout (or even be owed money by the store):Walmart, ShopRite, and Target don’t let shoppers use more than four of the same paper coupon in one day anymore.
Many retailers have also stopped giving cash back on coupons of a higher value than the purchase price.
To limit fraud risks, some stores don’t allow printouts from Coupons.com—or any coupons that aren’t on their master list, even if they’re legitimate.
Where the Extreme Couponers are now: Many stars of the 2011–2012 TLC show moved on from coupon-clipping to maxing out their 401(k) and IRA contributions and racking up hotel loyalty points for cheaper travel. They told the Wall Street Journal that this offers higher returns for a drastically lower time commitment. Probably fewer paper cuts, too.—ML
PERSONAL FINANCE
Are all of these loyalty schemes programs worth it?
Francis Scialabba
You’re just six more purchases from a free coffee. You’re four more hole punches from a free sandwich. If you amass 500 more points, that airline will let you fly the plane.
Maybe that last one isn’t real (yet), but loyalty programs have become ubiquitous. As of 2016, long before the current loyalty gold rush, Accenture reported that 90% of companies already had programs that gave you “free” stuff for making purchases.
But these plans can come at a cost.
Loyalty being punished?
If you’ve noticed the perks aren’t as perky as they were when you first joined a given club, you might not be imagining things. The Washington Post looked into potential loyalty paranoia and instead found that Starbucks and other companies might use your info to cut back on your deals through surveillance pricing:Former FTC officials Samuel Levine and Stephanie Nguyen told the outlet that some companies will use AI and your personal data to charge higher prices to specific patrons.
A study from the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator and the University of California at Berkeley’s Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice also found that these programs can invert the idea of loyalty, benefiting companies more than customers.
Data concerns: Ask that app not to track all you want, but some are still able to gather enough data in other ways to determine things like your income and how much money you’re willing to fork over. The author of the WaPo story requested and received his data report from Starbucks, which showed every drink and snack he had bought, every offer he had received, and every tap he made in the app. That kind of data could be shared with dozens of tech firms that specialize in tailoring prices.
Open investigation: The FTC began investigating surveillance pricing in July 2024, but when the Trump administration took office, it halted the probe. Levine and Nguyen said they’d like to see it resume. Noting that in some cases loyalty programs may be the only path to a discount, Levine told WaPo, “We shouldn’t be put in a position where we have to decide between affording our groceries and protecting our privacy.”—DL
Wednesday, November 26
Headlines
Tobias Schwarz/Getty Images
Tuesday, November 25
Headlines
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images
Monday, November 24
Headlines
Fabrice Coffrini/Getty Images
Sunday, November 23
America’s oldest sport is drawing up new plays
Evan Bernstein/Getty Images
Best known to some as the sport the teen wolves play in Teen Wolf, lacrosse is not (yet) considered among the giants of professional team sports. But it’s much closer today than it was six years ago.
The Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) was founded by brothers Paul and Mike Rabil in 2019 as an upgrade to Major League Lacrosse (MLL), which had long been criticized for low player salaries and inconsistent media exposure. “Our goal was to fix professional lacrosse,” Paul, a former legendary midfielder at Johns Hopkins and perhaps the sport’s most recognizable name, told Morning Brew.
“Innovation has always been our engine.”
The early returns have been generally positive: ESPN was so happy with its media deal that it bought a minority stake in the league, and PLL reports that viewership and ticket revenue are climbing from their modest beginnings. The MLL no longer exists—the PLL absorbed what was left of it in 2020.
Still...most players don’t make a living on their PLL salaries alone. Many have full-time jobs or supplement their PLL income by coaching and running camps and clinics. A future in which “lacrosse player” is a lucrative career path wouldn’t have seemed possible a decade ago, but now, you don’t have to strain super hard to see the potential.
Looking ahead: The Brothers Rabil and the PLL have been instrumental in securing lacrosse’s return to the Olympics competitively for the first time in 120 years at the 2028 Games in LA. But a major question looms about whether the IOC will allow the Haudenosaunee people from present-day New York and parts of Canada—who created the first version of lacrosse almost 1,000 years ago—to compete under their own flag.—AE
- With the backing of investors like Alibaba co-founder Joe Tsai, the PLL made a handful of bold moves:Player equity: Every player has an ownership stake in the league—a model adopted by a number of upstart leagues (like Unrivaled).
- Touring model: The league plays all of its games in one city each weekend (think: the WWE), though plans eventually call for moving to a traditional home-and-away schedule.
- Broadcast experimentation: The PLL mics up its players (and refs) and has them analyze plays on the sideline in a “Breakdown Booth” right after they happen.
The early returns have been generally positive: ESPN was so happy with its media deal that it bought a minority stake in the league, and PLL reports that viewership and ticket revenue are climbing from their modest beginnings. The MLL no longer exists—the PLL absorbed what was left of it in 2020.
Still...most players don’t make a living on their PLL salaries alone. Many have full-time jobs or supplement their PLL income by coaching and running camps and clinics. A future in which “lacrosse player” is a lucrative career path wouldn’t have seemed possible a decade ago, but now, you don’t have to strain super hard to see the potential.
Looking ahead: The Brothers Rabil and the PLL have been instrumental in securing lacrosse’s return to the Olympics competitively for the first time in 120 years at the 2028 Games in LA. But a major question looms about whether the IOC will allow the Haudenosaunee people from present-day New York and parts of Canada—who created the first version of lacrosse almost 1,000 years ago—to compete under their own flag.—AE
Saturday, November 22
Headlines
Sean Gallup/Getty Images
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