👋 Hello there,
Welcome to another edition of the Stellar Recap, a weekly newsletter where I share interesting content you may have missed. This issue features 61 bullets.
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📊 Business, Economics & Personal Finance
The number of OnlyFans creators increased 29% YoY to 4.1M. The number of users grew 28% to 305M. Users spent $6.6B on the platform, up from $5.6B a year ago.
15 UPenn alumni are CFOs at Fortune 500 and S&P 500 companies this year, the most of all US schools. ~10% of all sitting CFOs came from public universities, edging out the Ivy League.
The median US household earned ~$80.6K in 2023, up 4% from 2022. The bottom 10% saw a 6.7% rise in real income compared to 4.6% among the top 10%, which means that income inequality fell.
The share of global applications on Workday’s HR platform grew 31% YoY in the first half of 2024. Applications grew 4x faster than hiring demand.
As of Sep. 11, Walgreens stock shed 63%+ of its value this year, making it the worst performing stock in the S&P 500.
According to data from Indeed, 1-in-10 skills mentioned in US job postings is an elementary technical skill and ~1-in-5 postings mention basic computer literacy. Communication is the most in-demand skill.
New findings suggest that a dearth of contractors can drive up the cost of road construction. On average, 1 additional bid for a road project is associated with 8.3% lower costs which translates to an average savings of $30K per lane-mile and $460K/project.
33K Boeing factory workers went on strike last Fri., after the company rejected a proposed contract that would have raised wages by a 25% over 4 yrs.
In 2023, the price of the famous bearskin hats worn by the guards of Buckingham Palace increased by 30% YoY to £2,040. The Ministry of Defense has spent £1M+ on these hats over the past 10 yrs.
The US Tennis Association made $12.8M in revenue from its Honey Deuce cocktails during the 2024 US Open, up 26% YoY. The drinks probably accounted for ~2% of overall revenue from the tournament.
New survey data from AAUP showed that 27% of educators at universities in the South applied for 1+ academic job in a different state since 2022. ~49% reported that fewer people applied for positions within their department or institution due to changes to tenure, contracts, and academic freedom in their state.
🧘 Health, Healthcare & Safety
The CDC confirmed the 1st human case of bird flu (H5N1) this year in Missouri. The individual had no known animal exposure.
Factors associated with pregnancy complications rose from 28.4% in 2020 to 34% in 2023. These factors include obesity, diabetes, births at older ages, and mental health disorders.
The personally identifiable information of ~946.8K Medicare beneficiaries in Wisconsin were potentially stolen between May 27-May 31, 2023 in a cyberattack.
At least 65 people in 9 states were sickened by salmonella linked to recalled eggs as of last weekend.
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission warned against using “universal” ebike and escooter chargers after receiving 156 fire and thermal incident reports between Jan 2023 and May 2024.
A new study found that tubal sterilization procedures increased by 39% in states that banned abortion (🔒NYT).
Out of all OECD countries, South Korea had the highest estimated suicide rate per 100K people for both men and women in 2021, with 34.9 and 15.2 out of 100K people, respectively.
The NHTSA is investigating Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator vehicles (model years 2021-2023) after receiving 9 complaints of engine fires when the ignition was off.
35% of US counties don’t have maternity care, according to a new March of Dimes report.
The US has launched 3 national suicide prevention strategies since 2001 but, despite these efforts, suicide rates have increased most years since then. The most recent data from the CDC showed that deaths by suicide grew 3% YoY in 2022.
The watercress is the healthiest vegetable, according to the CDC.
A new report showed that a Black mother in New Jersey was ~20% more likely to have her baby via C-section than a white mother (🔒NYT) with similar medical histories who saw the same doctor at the same hospital. ~30% of babies in the US are delivered via C-section, which is ~2x the proportion deemed appropriate by the WHO.
New research linked a common chemical used in many personal care products to early puberty. The compound, musk ambrette, is a synthetic form of fragrance, found in products like cosmetics, air fresheners, detergents, and soaps.
New CDC data showed that 35%+ of US adults had obesity in 23 states in 2023. Zero states had a 35%+ prevalence of obesity before 2013.
There were ~2.3K heat-related deaths in 2023, up from ~1.7K in 2022.
🎓 Lifelong Learning
Why cynicism is bad for you (58 min. podcast).
How producers make cheap avocado oil (aka “refined” avocado oil; 🔒WP).
🌴 Lifestyle & Travel
Best small towns in the US, according to Travel + Leisure.
Japan is on track to open its 1st casino by 2030. The project is projected to bring in $3.6B in annual revenue.
The most expensive tasting menus in the US, according to Infatuation.
Hawaii is the happiest state in the US, according to WalletHub.
The TSA proposed extending the deadline for requiring Real IDs to board an aircraft to May 2027. Only 56% of IDs in circulation were Real ID compliant as of Jan.
🗳️ Politics, Security & International Affairs
Insurance company Reliance Partners estimated that ~7.8K transportation truck hijackings took place on 1 of Mexico’s highways in 2023. Another company, Overhaul, estimated there were 21K hijackings. ~150 drivers were murdered. 87% of hijackings occur in Mexico state, Puebla, or Michoacan.
60% of all projects that are funded by the Inflation Reduction Act are located in Republican-held congressional districts. All congressional Republicans opposed the bill.
According to the FBI, cryptocurrency scams increased 45% YoY in 2023 and cost Americans $5.6B.
Source: NYT (🔒) New data from the NYT/Siena College poll suggests that enthusiasm for Kamala Harris among likely voters may be waning (🔒). Donald Trump is ahead 48% to 47%. The poll was conducted before the debate.
Pakistan launched a firewall in Jul. to monitor and regulate content on the internet. The firewall has caused internet speeds to drop by up to 40% in the country.
The European Court of Justice ordered Apple to pay a $14.4B tax bill and upheld a $2.6B antitrust fine against Google.
Bets on Polymarket began favoring Kamala Harris to win the presidential election after her debate with Trump.
During the first half of this year, 599.6K babies were born in Russia, which was 16K fewer than during the same period in 2023.
Through a scam known as draining, fraudsters are secretly stealing codes for physical gift cards sold in retail stores and using the cash once someone loads them. An estimated 1%-5% of gift card purchasers have been defrauded this way.
⏩ Pop Culture, Art, Sports & Entertainment
The US Open doled out $75M in prize money this year, the most total prize money ever offered in a tennis tournament. That purse represented a 15% increase from 2023.
Bluey is the most-watched show in the US in 2024, amassing 35B minutes in view time.
The game Roblox turned 18 yrs old and has fueled ~$1.2B in economic activity from 2017-2023. It has 79M daily active users. Players spend ~6B hrs per mon. on the game.
Eminem’s 2005 greatest hits album, Curtain Call: The Hits, is the 1st hip-hop record to spend 700 wks on the Billboard 200.
The UFC paid $20M to host Noche UFC at the Las Vegas Sphere (🔒Bloomberg). That’s 8-10x more than what the UFC usually spends on its matches. Just before the event, tickets cost $1.7K, on average, on resale sites.
Of the top 100 female US athletes monetizing their name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights, ~66% are in basketball or gymnastics. Gymnast Livvy Dunne is worth the most with a projected valuation of $4M for the next 12 mo.
🏡 Real Estate
In Q2, nonluxury home sales fell 12.6% YoY in Jacksonville, FL (🔒WSJ) while luxury home sales increased 20.9%. Luxury homes are defined by Redfin as those that are priced in the top 5%.
🌎 Society
The share of incoming Black students at Harvard was 14% (🔒NYT), down from 18% in 2023, before the Supreme Court ended affirmative action in college admissions. Asian American enrollment was the same (37%) and Hispanic enrollment increased by 2 pts to 16%. The share of students who did not disclose their race or ethnicity doubled to 8%.
An average of ~22% of first marriages in the US end within the first 5 yrs due to divorce, separation, or death. The share increases to 36% by 10 yrs; 45% by 15 yrs; and 53% in 20 yrs. Note that this data is retrospective. More recent marriages may reveal different trends.
Americans (who use Evite) are throwing celebrations for personal events that aren’t traditionally celebrated such as paying off debt, vasectomies, and divorce.
🧪 Science, Climate, Environment & Technology
This summer is on track to be the most humid in 85 yrs of data (🔒WP).
There have been at least 85 breaks along the 12.5 mi Transcanyon Waterline, which brings potable water to the South rim in the Grand Canyon. The waterline was built in 1970 and has a 30-yr design life. The Grand Canyon has a backlog of $823M worth of maintenance and repair projects.
iPhone sales accounted for 52% of Apple’s revenue in 2023 but ~1 in 3 iPhone users have had their phone for 3+ yrs.
Ford submitted a patent application for targeted in-car advertising that can be displayed on a screen or delivered through speakers based on info it learns about the driver and its passengers.
Huawei debuted the world’s 1st trifold phone. The phone is only available in China and prices start at ~$2.8K. Huawei has received 3.7M preorders despite the steep price tag.
The asteroid 99942 Apophis was ranked as a 4 (out of 10) on the Torino impact hazard scale, which is the highest rating on record. The next time that the asteroid is expected to pass close to Earth is in 2029. The probability of it striking us is 10–8.
Americans used 100.1T MB of wireless data in 2023 which was ~2x the amount in 2021 and more than the amount used from 2010 to 2018 combined.
19 people are currently orbiting Earth right now, marking a new record. The previous record of 17 was set last year.
Scientists filed a class action lawsuit against 6 of the world’s-largest for-profit publishers of peer-reviewed scholarly journals, alleging that they conspired to unlawfully appropriate billions of dollars that would otherwise have funded scientific research.
Wishing you a good week
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