“I don’t want to put in eight, nine, 10 hours and go out and have a beer—and talk about work for another four hours.”—Michael Trotter to the Wall Street Journal on why Americans are breaking up with their work friends

“I just went down to Michaels…I love it there. Oh my God, and World Market. You can f*****’ get some great things there.”—Adele to Elle Magazine

“Buy a go-cart.”—Emmitt Bailey, aka “Mullet Boy,” on what he’d buy if he won the USA Mullet Championship

—Rohan Anthony

Four months ago, the last episode of the Apple TV+ series WeCrashed aired. In it, Adam Neumann (played by Jared Leto) stepped down as CEO of WeWork after years of erratic behavior and questionable use of company money. In real life, Neumann left the company with a $1.7 billion exit package, despite personal and professional antics worthy of a portrayal by Leto.

Now Neumann is getting a second chance. On Monday, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) announced its largest single investment—roughly $350 million—in Neumann’s new company, Flow. The details are vague but a16z says the mission is “bringing every aspect of the living experience together.”

The announcement raises a series of questions, but perhaps the most obvious one was raised by startup founder and CEO Allison Byers in a recent Bloomberg interview: “What is a major, prestigious investment house doing backing fraud a second time?”

But it also raises questions about the current housing market—where rents have soared—and who has access to housing in American metros. Recent data shows that rents in the second quarter were 23% higher throughout the country than they were in 2019. And that’s everywhere, not just traditionally expensive rental markets like New York City.

Neumann’s Flow will use over 3,000 apartments that he’s purchased across Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Nashville, and Atlanta. What Flow seems to be offering—a unique experience via “amenitized” apartments—isn’t novel, said Sam Chandan, professor of finance at NYU Stern School of Business and director of Stern’s Center for Real Estate—“particularly for higher-quality properties.”

A commonality among these markets is “rapidly rising rents and deteriorating affordability,” noted Chandan. The Miami metro area (which includes Fort Lauderdale) experienced the highest rent hikes in the US this year.

Large institutional investors are acquiring workforce housing—a type of “small-A affordable housing” priced between affordable and luxury housing—in order to reposition it for higher income tiers, which can exacerbate affordability issues, as Chandan explained. If that’s what Flow offers, it is unlikely to provide any relief to renters, even though Andreessen Horowitz’s announcement claimed it was a solution to the housing crisis.

“It’s critical to recognize that the most severe affordability challenges we face are not necessarily in the upper strata of the rental market,” Chandan said.

Chandan was struck by the VC firm’s classification of renters and homeowners in its announcement, which describes renting as a “soulless experience” where inhabitants aren’t engaged with their surroundings. “Part of this idea that renters are disengaged is rooted in, or traces its history to, these being more income-constrained communities, and often communities of color,” Chandan explained.

If anything, the Flow investment is the latest in mixed messages about “building” from one of the world’s largest VC firms.

—Ashwin Rodrigues

Ben Patrick is kind of like the DJ Khaled of the fitness world: a beam of positivity with an underdog mentality. He always seems to be working. He’s been shouted out by WWE icon Diamond Dallas Page and has trained professional athletes like MMA legend Georges St-Pierre.

You might know Patrick better as “Knees Over Toes Guy.” And you might even be one of his 1.3 million Instagram followers. If you don’t know of him directly, then you might have noticed his influence at your local gym: Maybe they cleared an area for sled pulling or put up a sign begging members to stop walking backward on treadmills. Yep, that’s probably Patrick’s impact.

His credibility comes from dunking a basketball from a complete standstill, a flashy testimonial to compel his viewers to commit to tedious exercises like tibialis raises and split squats, which, Patrick insists, can pay big dividends, like an impressive vertical jump. But that’s his thing: mobility. Instead of cosmetic enhancements, Patrick’s company, Athletic Truth Group (ATG for short, which is also an acronym for “ass-to-grass,” shorthand for a full range-of-motion squat), promises the elimination of knee pain.

As a 30-year-old with freakish flexibility and athleticism, Patrick looks more like a personal trainer than a physical therapist. And for good reason: He’s not a physical therapist. Injury prevention and rehabilitation isn’t new, but it’s typically aimed at people closer to retirement than college graduation. But he’s bringing mobility and pain-free movement to a much younger audience with a regular stream of straightforward videos. Despite the stereotype of achy joints being a sign of age, knee pain is one of the most common complaints for Americans of all ages, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Mobility doesn’t sound that sexy in an online world of fitness influencers where some perform circus-like strongman routines to grab attention, like squatting bleachers. But for every person who wants abs and arms that make off-the-rack clothing an impossibility, there are dozens more who exercise simply as a way to feel better and move better. And that’s who Patrick’s earnest videos with clear explanations appeal to.

Want to finish a half-marathon without your knee aching? Patrick is your guy. Want to get back to lifting after an injury sidelined you? He says he has the solution for that, too. Just read the comments on his Instagram; they’re filled with people who swear by Patrick’s method. “ATG saved my life, athletically and mentally,” reads one recent comment among many like it.

A whole army of believers swear that Patrick’s emphasis on split squats and Nordic hamstring curls have improved their workouts. They follow him on YouTube, Instagram, or his new custom coaching app, which costs $49.50 per month. (Patrick declined to provide ATG’s number of paid customers. “I mean, we coach thousands of videos every day. So someone could probably use their imagination from there,” he said.)

Like Peloton, Knees Over Toes Guy was bolstered by the pandemic, when many experienced physical and financial lockout from traditional exercise and physical therapy resources. An endorsement from Joe Rogan didn’t hurt, either, but Patrick’s ideas about mobility were made long before Americans were stuck inside, with time to reconsider the long-held orthodoxies about squats.

Before he was a household name, he was busy screwing up his own knees. He told Morning Brew that he was dead set on becoming a professional basketball player as a kid. His morning routine would start at 5:30, when he dribbled two basketballs through his neighborhood while wearing ankle weights.

By the time Patrick was at Largo High School in Florida, he said he earned the nickname “The Old Man” because he required so much extra warm-up time before he’d be ready to hoop. He’d later need multiple surgeries on his left knee, which led him to develop what would become the Knees Over Toes program. Continue reading this story on Ben Patrick’s influence by Ashwin Rodrigues.

Writer Ali Hazelwood scored a surprise bestseller in 2021 with her first novel, The Love Hypothesis, which spent more than 30 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. That alone would be a pretty impressive accomplishment, but Hazelwood isn’t your average novelist: She also has a PhD in neuroscience and is a college professor, which she describes as “terrifying.” Like The Love Hypothesis, her new book, Love on the Brain, explores what she knows best: women in STEM who have a deep streak of geek. Think brilliant scientists who know a ton of Star Wars trivia. Love on the Brain follows a neuroscientist who lives her life according to one important and probing question: What would Marie Curie do? It will be published on August 23.

What’s the best advice you ever received?

Wear sunscreen.

What’s the most embarrassing song you’ll admit to liking publicly?

I have jammed to “Friday” by Rebecca Black and I’m only partially ashamed.

What fictional person do you wish were real?

Spock from Star Trek.

What real person do you wish were fictional?

Elon Musk. I mean, he feels fictional, right?

How would you explain TikTok to your great-grandparents?

Don’t try to understand. Just sit down and enjoy this wondrous sea-shanties-to-closet-reorganizing-to-pimple-popping ride.

What always makes you laugh?

The relative insignificance of humanity within the vast swell of the unobservable universe. And this video.

If you were given a billboard in Times Square, what would you put on it?

PLEASE WATCH CRASH LANDING ON YOU IT’S THE BEST SHOW IN THE HISTORY OF TELEVISION YOU CAN FIND IT ON NETFLIX.

—Interview by Stassa Edwards

Brew mini: A Sunday crossword that nods to the news of the week. Play it here.

Quiet quitting for everyone but these guys: Ever thought to yourself, “Hey, I should have more than one full-time job”? Us neither, but that’s exactly what the “overemployed” do. Sidekick caught up with members of r/overemployed to figure out what motivates them. [Sidekick]

Love Island goes Factor 50 for pre-loved clothing. The UK’s trashiest and most addictive reality import is leaving behind the fast fashion that’s almost synonymous with the show’s aesthetic and embracing more sustainable fashion, including previously worn clothing. Former contestants have criticized the show for its love of all things cheap and lycra, pointing out that fast fashion exploits laborers and isn’t exactly environmentally friendly. The clothes might be getting an upgrade, but the fake tans and chiseled abs are here to stay. [Marketing Brew]

You might be melting in the summer heat, but pumpkin spice latte season persists. It will be here soon—some are guessing August 30—but in the meantime, Money Scoop has everything you need to know about the CPI…that’s the consumer pumpkin index, in case you didn’t know. [Money Scoop]

TIL what the “fraud triangle” is. Motivation, opportunity, and rationalization—those are apparently the three things that drive employees to commit occupational fraud like embezzlement, bribery, and making fake invoices. Though it might sound fun to you thrill-seekers, it costs workplaces an estimated $4.7 trillion. [CFO Brew]

Confessions of a spendaholic: In her latest episode, Katie Gatti traces her transition from “Spendy McSpenderson to Sally Saver.” Things get deep. [Money with Katie]

The best thing we read this week: Esquire’s profile of Kid Cudi. Even if you don’t feel it deep in your bones every time Kid Cudi raps “I am happy, that’s just the saddest lie,” this smart and stylishly written profile of one of music’s most interesting performers is worth your time. [Esquire]

And this, too: Who’s using your data? The answer might surprise you. [Bloomberg]

Fab collab: Bestselling sneaker brand Cariuma teamed up with Peanuts to create 7 limited-edition designs. And don’t miss the sustainable and stylish OCA Low Canvas, just restocked in 15+ colors. Save 20% with code MBAUG20.*

^{*This is sponsored advertising content.}

—Sherry Qin