Morning Brew - ☕ Drying up

The Starbucks union is going on strike...
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June 24, 2023 View Online | Sign Up | Shop 10% Off

Morning Brew

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Good morning. We’ve been waiting such a long time for today...to tell you we’ve had “Saturday in the Park” stuck in our heads all week.

Great song. Hope you find your way to a park today. Or the indoor equivalent of a park if it’s supposed to rain like it is here. Maybe a bowling alley. Or laser tag.

Matty Merritt, Molly Liebergall, Sam Klebanov, Abby Rubenstein, Neal Freyman

MARKETS

Nasdaq

13,492.52

S&P

4,348.33

Dow

33,727.43

10-Year

3.741%

Bitcoin

$30,625.91

GSK

$36.38

*Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 8:00am ET. Here's what these numbers mean.

Markets: Stocks fell yesterday as interest rate hikes around the world got investors worried about a possible global recession again, causing all three major indexes to snap multiweek streaks in the green. (Happy Saturday!)

Stock spotlight: GSK shares surged on both the London and New York exchanges after the company settled what would have been the first case against it to go to trial in the US claiming its heartburn drug Zantac causes cancer. It would have been a high-profile test case since thousands of similar cases have been filed.

 

HEALTHCARE

Roe v. Wade reversal: 1 year later

Abortion protestors in front of the Supreme Court. Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

A year ago today, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and erased the nearly 50-year-old federal protection for abortion access. And even with a leaked draft alerting the country of the decision a month before it came down, how exactly abortion access would change around the country was still an open question.

Now, a year in, here’s where we’re at:

Restrictions started immediately…25 states have passed new abortion restrictions in the past year. And of those, 13 have passed near-total or total abortion bans, some with no exceptions for rape or incest.

On the flip side…20 states have passed laws protecting abortion rights. But being a safe haven for abortion seekers can come with its own challenges. Planned Parenthood of Illinois saw a 54% spike in patients over the last year, and one clinic in Kansas City has received so many out-of-state patients that it’s only able to help 10%–15% of people seeking abortions at its facility.

If it feels hard to keep track of what’s legal where, it’s because it is. Since the beginning of 2023, 700 bills concerning abortion (about half aiming to restrict it and half hoping to protect it) have been introduced in state legislatures, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

What’s next?

Possibly another major SCOTUS ruling: The battle over mifepristone, a pill used in medication abortions—which have become more common since the court’s decision, is currently making its way through the courts and will likely end up with SCOTUS, along with a few other abortion-related cases.

More attention from politicians: A Gallup poll from last week shows public support for first-trimester abortion has never been higher, reaching 69%, and when new restrictions have been part of ballot initiatives, voters have shot them down—even in Republican-controlled states like Kansas and Kentucky. So, you can expect Democrats to make it a key issue in the 2024 election. In 2022 midterm ads, abortion was mentioned 500% more than in 2020 presidential election ads, according to Bloomberg.—MM

     

SPONSORED BY SQUARE

Seeing kiosks…everywhere?

Square

There’s good reason for that. In-store kiosks are on the rise due to their low-cost ability to deliver an enhanced customer experience in both retail and restaurant settings. They’ve even inspired a few hilarious memes—the universal sign that you’ve really arrived.

The pandemic and ensuing labor crunch sped up the adoption of a lot of consumer-facing tech, and kiosks rest near the top of the list. So how do businesses use kiosks most effectively? Square is glad you asked:

  • ordering and payment
  • product info
  • store wayfinding
  • loyalty check-in

These are just a few of the ways retailers and restaurateurs use kiosks. And if you wanna tap into any of these customer experience enhancements, Square has the tips and tools to get you started.

WORLD

Tour de headlines

Yevgeny Prigozhin Russian Defense Ministry/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Russia’s military is fighting itself. Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose Wagner paramilitary group has been fighting for Russia in Ukraine, said his troops entered Russia yesterday and seized control of the country’s Southern military headquarters in the city of Rostov. How did we get here? Prigozhin accused the military of conducting a deadly strike on his troops and vowed an armed campaign he dubbed “a march of justice” against the perpetrators. Top generals accused Prigozhin of trying to mount a coup, issued a warrant for his arrest for mutiny, and called on his soldiers to turn on him. The uprising is considered a threat to the power of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who called it “a stab in the back of our country and our people,” per the NYT.

🛣️ Repaired I-95 reopens in Philly. In a possible first for a US public works project, the repair of the collapsed section of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia is ahead of schedule. The roadway reopened to traffic yesterday, just 12 days after it collapsed. Three lanes are now open in both directions, which should make life much better for commuters as construction of a permanent replacement bridge continues. The city’s sports mascots got the first ride across the repaired bridge, and with enthusiasm usually reserved for an Eagle’s win, Gov. Josh Shapiro stated: “When we work together, we can get s*** done here in Pennsylvania.”

Orcas’ latest target: A boat race near Spain. In the latest in a in a series of attacks on boats by killer whales, at least three orcas slammed into a yacht competing in the around-the-world Ocean Race as it neared the Strait of Gibraltar. Although the team’s skipper described the encounter with the aggressive orcas as “a scary moment,” no one was injured during the incident. Scientists suspect that the recent spate of orca-on-boat assaults in the area (there were 20 last month) could be the result of the animals learning the behavior after just one had a traumatic encounter with an ocean vessel.

LABOR

Starbucks workers strike for Pride decor

Starbucks workers say managers took down Pride decor or never put it up. NurPhoto/Getty Images

Starbucks baristas at more than 150 stores plan to take a break from spelling people’s names wrong to walk off the job in protest of recent incidents where managers allegedly banned rainbow flags and other Pride decorations.

The strike kicked off yesterday at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Seattle, and over the next week, 3,500 unionized workers are expected to join in.

Starbucks has completely denied any bans and accused union leaders of spreading misinformation to sway contentious contract negotiations.

But the Starbucks Workers United TikTok account has posted several videos and messages from workers claiming that their managers either took down Pride decorations or didn’t let them put any up.

This is about LGBTQIA+ representation and better working conditions: Some of the participating locations didn’t have any Pride decor issues—they’re protesting in solidarity and to put pressure on Starbucks for better worker pay and benefits. Since the first location voted to unionize in late 2021, Starbucks has fought hard against the union, which now claims the company has stalled their already lengthy contract negotiations by refusing to bargain remotely via Zoom.

Zoom out: The dispute over decor comes during a tense Pride Month in which retailers like Target and Kohl’s have faced backlash for selling rainbow merch.—ML

     

SPONSORED BY UPWAY

Upway

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INTERNATIONAL

Panama Canal is drying up, restricting traffic

Container ship LUIS ACOSTA/AFP via Getty Images

The Panama Canal is getting shallower than the life goals of a typical TikTok influencer.

Okay, perhaps not that shallow…but a historic drought has been emptying the vital trade waterway since January, and the Panama Canal Authority says El Niño could exacerbate the situation. The lack of rainfall has forced the canal operator to lower the maximum depth of ships allowed through, threatening to snarl international commerce.

  • Starting tomorrow, ships with hulls extending further than 43.5 feet below the water’s surface will be required to shed some kilos to pass.
  • The limit has been incrementally lowered from the usual 50 feet to avert another Suez Canal debacle where one grounded ship blocked $10 billion worth of daily trade.

The restriction could slow traffic through the busy connector of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, which services 3.5% of global trade, according to Quartz. The canal is a major throughway for international container shipments and especially for US liquefied natural gas exports to Asia. Some cargo might have to be dispersed across multiple vessels, potentially creating traffic jams.

Get used to it…the Panama Canal Authority notes that such droughts used to occur every five years but are now becoming more frequent.—SK

     

GRAB BAG

Key performance indicators

Gollum and the One Ring Lord of the Rings/New Line Cinema via Giphy

Stat: Lord of the Rings fans know that coveting an object above all else turns you as dark as darkness, but that hasn’t stopped some of them from entering a bidding war for the best offer to the person who finds the one-of-a-kind card depicting the One Ring from Hasbro’s new Tolkien-themed Magic: The Gathering sets. So far, the top offer for the card to rule them all sits at $2.2 million. But getting your hands on this precious will be more difficult than a trip to Mordor: Hasbro puts the odds of finding it in your pack below 0.00003%.

Quote: “Fight with words only. In armchairs. 4 feet apart. The funniest person wins .”

Elon Musk’s mom, Maye Musk, has entered the chat (via Twitter, obvs) to implore her son and his fellow tech billionaire Mark Zuckerberg to keep their hands to themselves after Elon challenged Zuck to a cage match and Zuck accepted. She’s got good reason to try to keep Elon out of a physical spat: Sportsbooks are officially giving jujitsu champion Zuck an 83% chance of winning if the two CEOs duke it out in the Vegas Octagon. But most don’t share Musk’s mother’s reluctance to watch the brawl—UFC president Dana White told TMZ the bout could bring in over $1 billion from pay-per-view.

Read: Why Reddit’s CEO never saw the backlash coming. (Slate)

NEWS

What else is brewing

  • Facebook and Instagram won’t allow news on their platforms in Canada after the government passed a law forcing tech companies to pay fees for using domestic media content.
  • Oddity, which runs the makeup brand Il Makiage, has filed paperwork for an IPO.
  • SpaceX is offering to sell select buyers shares at a price that values the private company at ~$150 billion, Bloomberg reports.
  • Bitcoin hit its highest price in a year, signaling that a thaw has come in the crypto winter.
  • Rihanna stepped down as the CEO of Savage X Fenty, the lingerie brand she started in 2018.

RECS

Saturday To-Do List graphic

A matter of perspective: Don’t stand next to Victor Wembanyama and expect to look tall.

How does a rubber stamp store stay open in NYC? Our video team finds out.  

 Must be all the Sachertorte: Vienna was ranked the world’s most livable city. See what other cities you should start stalking on Zillow here.

It’s too hot to turn the oven on: Here’s what to make for dinner so you don’t have to.

Healthy investments: Despite a VC slowdown in 2022, healthcare firms raised $61.1 billion in investments. Want to know how VCs decide which healthcare startups to fund? Read more here.

Skip the waiting room: Talk to a therapist, fill prescriptions, and more 24/7 with the Caraway app. Lock in limited-time pricing of $180/year with your first 30 days free.*

*This is sponsored advertising content.

GAMES

The puzzle section

Brew crossword: There’s a rumor going around that the Brew crossword has replaced cartoons as America’s favorite Saturday morning pastime. Join the craze here.

Open House

Welcome to Open House, the only newsletter section that believes Target home decor should cost millions. We’ll give you a few facts about a listing and you try to guess the price.

Beachfront home in MichiganZillow

Today’s home is in New Buffalo, Michigan, and it’s just a quick walk down a private staircase to one of Lake Michigan’s beautiful beaches. The house’s architect really popped off trying to make as many different-shaped roofs as they could. Amenities include:

  • 6 beds, 8 baths
  • 4-car heated garage
  • Private pool if you think lakes are gross

How much to have the cheapest-looking house in the most beautiful location?

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AROUND THE BREW

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ANSWER

$5.5 million

         

Written by Abigail Rubenstein, Sam Klebanov, Matty Merritt, Molly Liebergall, and Neal Freyman

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