Hi friends! What a week. We did it … sort of, it’s only Thursday.
But WE ARE BACK for a deep dive into the news stories we covered this week on our hot n ready YouTube channel.
(This newsletter is not brought to you by Little Caesar’s Hot n Ready pizzas. But it could be, potential ad partners).
Chris couldn’t write the newsletter this week. He’s off finding himself like the Incredible Hulk when he flew into space. So the LNI co-founders, myself, Lauren and Micah are here. Together, the three of us have the power of one Chris.
FIRST THINGS FIRST, I talked to my independent journalist mentor Kara Swisher about what’s next for LNI on one of her bazillion podcasts. Listen to that here.
I also spoke to Oliver Darcy for Status. I laid out a couple of guiding principles I’ve been thinking about. These kinds of things will turn into a Style Guide over time and we will share it all with you as it evolves.
Lying is not a mistruth or false statement. It’s a lie.
State abbreviations will just be two letters (not Calif. for example). Yes, this is a funny hill to die on but style guides are inherently funny, in my opinion!
If someone is participating in fascist behaviors, then they’re a fascist. And we’ll say that.
The Gaza-Israeli conflict is undoubtedly complicated. But what’s happening in Gaza right now is genocide. And we will call it that.
🗓️ SAVE THE DATE!
A live subscriber Q&A on August 12th at 8pm ET where I’ll answer your questions about all things LNI and Lola’s favorite dog treats (Lola is a dog).
Local and International members— keep reading for a link to register.
Subscribe to support independent journalism.
Become a member and access premium content.
And now … let’s dive into the videos I made this week.
The European Union. agrees to Trump’s trade deal
The E.U. has agreed to a new trade deal with the Trump administration: a 15% tax on most goods imported to the U.S. from Europe, after months of confusion. That is half the rate Trump had previously threatened.
What will be taxed? Cars and car parts, pharmaceuticals, and semi-conductors, according to the White House.
The administration also says that as part of the deal, “The EU will purchase $750 billion in U.S. energy and make new investments of $600 billion in the United States, all by 2028.”
Some analysts told CNBC that part of the deals seems ‘unrealistic’ for both political and economic reasons.
Most European leaders seem to think the deal is … fine. “It will bring stability,” President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said at a news conference alongside Trump in Scotland after reaching the deal. “It will bring predictability. That’s very important for our businesses on both sides of the Atlantic.”
Not everyone is thrilled with it. Hungarian Prime Minister (and friend-to-MAGA) Victor Orban called Von der Leyen a “featherweight,” suggesting the deal the E.U. got wasn’t so great.
Economists suggest that it won’t do much for growth for either party, and some think it could hurt more than help. The deal doesn’t include new taxes on U.S. goods sent to Europe.
For many European leaders, the deal does keep all sides moving forward on foreign policy issues like the ongoing war in Ukraine. Many European leaders see the U.S.’s involvement on that, and other issues around security, as vital.
How many people fund one person’s social security check?
This video was part of our cool partnership with Free the Facts, a nonpartisan, non-profit organization that empowers young Americans to learn and lead.
If you receive benefits from Social Security, it is because of workers working NOW. But that number has dropped quite a bit due to declining birth rates and people living longer.
Social Security is a benefit you can receive IF …
You are a legal, permanent resident of the U.S. for at least five years.
You pay payroll taxes through a qualified job for at least 10 years.
You are at least 62 years old.
I made a video about this a few weeks ago!
The Trump administration’s Big, Beautiful Bill that just passed could bring changes to the entitlement program. The White House says that most seniors who receive the benefit will pay no taxes on it, a campaign promise from the president.
Some financial experts, though, say the bill doesn’t actually change how Social Security is taxed. It does offer short-term tax deduction to those who are 65 or older.
Amazon paid The New York Times $20 to $25 million to license their content for AI, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The news publisher is granting Amazon’s AI access to its news, cooking, and sports content to train its artificial intelligence models and write those summary things you see on Amazon’s surfaces.
The price tag? The Wall Street Journal describes the deal, (reportedly 20-25 million dollars over several years from Amazon to The Times), as ‘meaty.’ Weird descriptor but ok!
MEANWHILE, The NY Times has sued OpenAI and Microsoft for using their stuff to train their models. That situation is still unfolding in court.
It was another week on the internet for Sydney Sweeney.
Her new ad campaign for American Eagle jeans and people have thoughts! Some have argued that the ad calls on themes around eugenics and the glorification of a ‘physical ideal.’
TMZ reports that the folks at American Eagle seem just fine with the buzz, positive or negative. Their internal polling shows that more than 70% of people they asked find the commercial ‘appealing.’
One expert that studies ads told NPR that the conversation around the jeans/genes play was both intentional and a move AWAY from a more inclusive kind of advertising some brands had been gravitating towards in the last few years.
Charlie Wertzel wrote about the discourse, and the “trajectory of all this is well rehearsed at this point.”
Megyn Kelly weighed in, as did Vanity Fair, even Elon Musk-owned Tesla.
TikTok did too, including Selinatheyapper, who says the ad sets women back 20-40 years and silver.9k who says “not to sound like a lib here or anything, but if you watch the commercial it does kind of feel like the Third Reich posting.”
Those TikTok posts have 4.4 and 2.4 million views respectively, while the original ads from American Eagle’s owned TikTok account clock in at just under those numbers.
Sometimes, it feels like every news story is a distraction from another news story. ICE is kidnapping U.S. citizens! Trump is bullying our allies! Sydney Sweeney has new jeans!
What should we focus on? What’s the right thing to focus on? Is my time better spent thinking about the genocide in Gaza, or the war in Ukraine? What about other, lesser talked about world events? Am I a bad person for not being as informed on some events the U.S. is not involved in?
There’s no answer to this question that will satisfy everyone. Like the ending of The Good Place (sorry, spoilers!), it turns out our modern point system is flawed.
That’s partially what today’s video was about. We’re living in a black and white world most of the time. I think it’s all far more gray than that. This doesn’t mean we should ‘both sides’’ everything. It just means that maybe there are more important things than “winning” an internet argument, if the result is just engagement but no real impact.
Okay, I am stepping off my pedestal.
And now I am stepping onto another pedestal but it’s to shout gratitude for all your feedback in the last week.
Dozens of people messaged me to tell me my silly little newsletter link wasn’t working on Instagram Stories. A user on Bluesky messaged that I should link it in my profile (so I did!), and that maybe there should be a cheaper option for people with tighter wallets (there is now!).
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Become a member and access premium content.
Coming next week: Newsletters Monday and Thursday of course. And every week after that. More updates on our longer format. And of course, the news. Are there topics you would especially like to hear more on? LMK.
BYE!
Dave (and Lauren and Micah)
The TV works!
