This year’s Burning Man looked a lot like the famously mucky Woodstock.

On Friday, a monsoon began dumping two to three months’ worth of rain on the counterculture fest in the middle of the Nevada desert, leaving 72,000 Burners stranded there over the weekend. Flash flooding and sand turned to mud rendered the only road out of the venue unusable for most vehicles. Yesterday, organizers finally gave folks the greenlight to hit the road en masse.

In the latest sign that Burning Man has gone mainstream, POTUS was briefed on the sitch in the makeshift Black Rock City.

• Organizers told attendees to shelter in place on Saturday and Sunday, urging them to conserve food, water, and fuel. Anyone with enough resources was encouraged to stay true to the communal spirit of the event by sharing with others.
• Local authorities investigated a death that occurred during the rainstorm but said that it wasn’t related to the weather.

Departing while the roads were still washed out involved trudging through miles of mud to take a bus or hitch a ride to the nearest city, Reno, in a bigger vehicle. Among those impatient enough to make the trek were DJ Diplo of the music trio LSD and comedian Chris Rock.

Anyone willing to stick around was ultimately able to witness the postponed burning of “the man,” a giant effigy traditionally set on fire on the festival’s penultimate night. But thousands chose to leave as soon as they got the go-ahead yesterday, creating massive traffic jams.

Big picture: The size of the crowd trapped by the storm shows how much Burning Man has changed from a low-key bohemian bonfire to a can’t-miss event for tech moguls and celebrities. But the transformation is also causing some to question how committed the festival is to its progressive ideals, especially considering the environmental impact of a massive desert rager. Traffic into Burning Man went catawampus at the outset of the festival when climate activists blocked the same road that the climate itself disrupted days later.—SK

Unlocking a $1t+ market: Turn your phone from an expense to a revenue stream. Intriguing concept, isn’t it?

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Weight loss drugs are the new luxury. Not just because of their high prices, but because the company that makes Ozempic and Wegovy, Novo Nordisk, just became Europe’s most valuable, eclipsing luxury conglomerate LVMH. The Danish drugmaker had a value of $428 billion when European markets closed yesterday (compared to LVMH’s $419 billion), putting it on top of the heap. Its share price rose on the introduction of Wegovy into the UK market—where it costs much less than in the US. The company’s success has had a big impact on Denmark’s economy: The nation recently boosted its economic growth forecast for the year as a result.

Ukraine is getting a new defense minister. Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, who had been in charge of the nation’s armed forces since before Russia invaded, resigned yesterday after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced plans to replace him over the weekend. Though Zelensky merely said “new approaches” were needed, the move comes after some called for Reznikov to step down following corruption scandals in the military—even though he wasn’t directly implicated in them. His proposed replacement, Rustem Umerov, will have plenty to deal with: Russia’s President Vladimir Putin plans to meet with North Korea to secure more weapons. Putin also rejected calls to reinstate a global deal allowing Ukrainian grain exports.

It might be time to plan a EuroTrip. Several European airlines have started discounting flights now that the summer demand—evidenced by everyone you know posting pictures of themselves sipping cocktails in charming European cities—has died down. British Airways, Aer Lingus, and reliably cheap EasyJet all announced sales yesterday, and Norway’s Norse Atlantic Airways had round-trip flights between the US and London available for around $300, according to Bloomberg. The airlines are not only concerned about the seasonal slump but also that high prices and potential upcoming airline strikes could keep people from taking to the skies.

Like a flower growing in a sidewalk crack, nature thriving where it shouldn’t is sometimes inspiring <3. Other times, not so much: A United Nations-backed report says 3,500+ invasive plants and animals cost the world at least $423 billion in damages annually.

That’s more than the economic toll of natural disasters last year. And almost no region is safe: Grass seeds have made their way to Antarctica, so rising temperatures could turn parts of its icy tundra into fields of green. Nonnative grasses also fueled the spread of Maui’s fires last month. Around the world, giant snails, bee-killing hornets, spotted lanternflies, and other invaders can threaten local ecosystems, human health, farming, and fishing.

More key findings:

• Economic damages from invasive pests have quadrupled every decade since 1970, partly because 200 more species become invasive each year via ships and planes.
• Right now, the most widespread invasive species is water hyacinth, which overtakes lakes and rivers, blocking boats and sucking up water.
• Invasive species have played a major role in 60% of recorded plant and animal extinctions.

What can we do? Scientists say border control is the best way to combat the worldwide invasion of the biodiversity snatchers. Strategically releasing a pest’s predator also sometimes works.—ML

We missed you, football. The NFL season kicks off Thursday night with a game between the defending champs, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Detroit Lions. Then, we Americans will return to our natural state (sitting on a couch, Ruffles in hand) on Sunday with a full slate of Week 1 games.

The US Open rolls into its final week. And while tennis fans are drooling over a potential Djokovic vs. Alcaraz final, American players are making the NYC crowd proud. Three US men have reached the quarterfinals for the first time since 2005, and 19-year-old Coco Gauff became the first teen to reach consecutive US Open quarterfinal rounds since Serena Williams more than 20 years ago.

Get lost in a new gaming universe: On Wednesday, famed video game publisher Bethesda Game Studios will release its first new gaming universe in 25 years: Starfield. The game’s scope is utterly massive, featuring more than 1,000 environments to play in and 3 million words of dialogue, per NPR.

Everything else…

• The US Senate returns from its August break today, and the House will get back to work next week. On the to-do list: Avoid a government shutdown by the end of the month.
• An impeachment trial for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton begins today.
• Olivia Rodrigo will drop her second album, Guts, on Friday. Good idea, right?
• National Read a Book Day is Wednesday. You know what to do.

Stat: Hollywood’s writers have been on strike for 127 days, and actors joined them on the picket line in July. With no resolution in sight, the shutdown of the film and television industry has already deprived California’s economy of almost $5 billion, according to one recent estimate. The Milken Institute’s Kevin Klowden, who came up with the figure, told the Financial Times it’s because other businesses that serve the industry, like caterers, rental companies, and even dry cleaners, have also taken a hit from the work stoppage. That’s already more than the $2.1 billion the think tank believes the 2007 writers strike, which lasted 100 days, cost the state.

Quote: “Another win! And a nice one, too, as well. That’s a nice stat.”

We try to leave the stats in the section above, but, in this case, we have to agree with F1 driver Max Verstappen that his 10th consecutive victory at the Italian Grand Prix this weekend, which earned the Red Bull team member the record for most wins in a row, yielded a pretty good one. The team hopes to break another record this season by being the first to make it through entirely undefeated, having won all 14 events so far between Verstappen and teammate Sergio Pérez.

Read: The Albanian town that TikTok emptied. (Coda)

Watch: Corgis pay tribute to England’s Queen Elizabeth II outside Buckingham Palace as the anniversary of her death approaches.

Learn: How to tie all kinds of knots so you can be as prepared as any Boy Scout.

Listen: To music from any place and any time with this website that lets you pick a country and a decade to stream songs from.

Discover: The richest billionaire in your state with this map.

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Brew Mini: Ease back into the workweek with today’s puzzle, which solvers of all skill levels can enjoy. Play it here. (We also had a link snafu with the full crossword on Saturday. Here’s the correct puzzle.)

American regional cuisine trivia

Buffalo has its wings and Philly has its cheesesteaks…but how well do you know other American regional cuisines?

We’ll give you a dish, and you have to name the US state most closely associated with that dish.

1. Apizza
2. Green chile cheeseburger
3. Hotdish
4. Sugar cream pie
5. Toasted ravioli
6. Taylor Ham

1. Connecticut (this is New Haven-style pizza)
2. New Mexico
3. Minnesota
4. Indiana (it’s also known as Hoosier pie)
5. Missouri (St. Louis, specifically)
6. New Jersey (you could also controversially call it a “pork roll”)

Inspo for the trivia.

Word of the Day

Today’s Word of the Day is: “catawampus,” meaning going badly or askew. Sometimes it gets used in the form “cattywampus,” and sometimes it’s used to mean a fierce imaginary animal. Thanks to Donna Herto from Bruceton Mills, West Virginia, and the many others who suggested this multifaceted word. Submit another Word of the Day here.