Good morning. It's Friday, May 3, and we're covering a fitness company spinning its wheels, an ape's turn to natural remedies, and much more. First time reading? Sign up here. |
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Peloton yesterday announced CEO Barry McCarthy was stepping down and the company was laying off 15% of its staff—around 400 people. Two board members will serve as interim co-CEOs as the fitness company struggles to rebrand and works to refinance more than $1B in debt.
From 2020 to 2021, Peloton’s market capitalization grew from $6B to $50B, driven by a lockdown-fueled spike in demand for at-home exercise equipment, including Peloton’s high-end stationary bicycles and treadmills. Since December 2020, however, the company has failed to turn a profit. The end of lockdown has seen a dive in demand while safety concerns forced Peloton to recall more than 2 million devices. Since McCarthy was hired in 2022, he worked to pivot the company from reliance on hardware to software, including prioritizing a fee-based fitness app.
Yesterday’s announcement came as Peloton revealed revenue dropped 4% since last year. Shares dropped 12% on yesterday's news. |
A wild male orangutan in Indonesia was observed applying a medicinal paste to a scrape on his face, according to new research. It's the first documented example of an animal self-medicating a wound using a plant with healing properties.
Roughly 14,000 orangutans inhabit the northwest portion of Indonesia's Sumatra island. In 2022, the 35-year-old, named Rakus, was seen plucking and chewing leaves of the anti-inflammatory Fibraurea tinctoria plant—also known as yellow root and commonly used by humans to treat illnesses like malaria and dysentery—later applying both the juice and bits of leaf to the scape like a bandage. The wound healed after eight days. Scientists suspect Rakus may have observed the skill from orangutans outside the national park he was observed in.
Orangutans feed on over 400 types of plants in the biodiverse region, though rarely yellow root; no other individual has been seen self-medicating in the region. Researchers have noted the species increasingly learns socially when food is abundant. |
The Kentucky Derby will take place at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, tomorrow, marking the 150th "Run for the Roses." The race carries a record purse this year of $5M—$2M more than last year—with tomorrow's winner taking home $3.1M. The runner-up will receive $1M and third-place $500K. Coverage begins at 2:30 pm ET on NBC, with Derby post time at 6:57 pm ET.
The oldest continuous sporting event in America, the Derby features 3-year-old thoroughbred horses born in the Northern Hemisphere racing a 1.25-mile track. This year's top contenders include Fierceness (5-2 odds as of this writing), who is coming off a win at the Florida Derby, and Sierra Leone (3-1), both hailing from Kentucky. However, the race is known for upsets: A favorite hasn't won since 2018, and Rich Strike won in 2022 with 80-1 odds. (How are odds calculated?)
The Derby serves as the first leg in horse racing's Triple Crown series. Preceding the Derby this evening is the Kentucky Oaks (5:51 pm ET), showcasing 3-year-old fillies or young female horses. See Derby predictions here. |
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Sports, Entertainment, & Culture |
> TikTok to bring back millions of songs to its platform after settling dispute with Universal Music Group over royalty payments and AI policies; deal includes TikTok’s assurances to remove AI-generated music and better credit UMG artists (More) |
> Duane Eddy, Grammy-winning guitarist and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, dies at 86 (More) | Peter Oosterhuis, six-time Ryder Cup participant and longtime golf analyst, dies at 75 (More) |
> Screen Actors Guild signs deal with Nielsen to provide viewership data for streaming content (More) |
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> China set to launch Chang'e 6 lunar mission to retrieve rock samples from the far side of the moon early this morning (More) | Samples were collected from earlier lander; see what makes the far side of the moon interesting to scientists (More) |
> Scientists pinpoint cells in the brainstem that help regulate the body's immune system response; findings shed light on the brain's role in inflammation and may lead to new therapies for autoimmune diseases (More) |
> Researchers recreate the face of a 75,000-year-old Neanderthal woman after reassembling skull fragments found in an Iraqi cave (More) |
From our partners: Your personal info is all over the internet. Your information can trade hands for just a few bucks and scammers are all over that—but they’re not the only ones. Data brokers sell everything from your address to your Social Security number, to anyone willing to pay. Enter Incogni. They scrub your personal info from the web. Get your data off 180+ data brokers' and people-search sites with Incogni. Get 55% off with code 1440DAILY. |
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> US stock markets close higher (S&P 500 +0.9%, Dow +0.9%, Nasdaq +1.5%) as investors look ahead to today's US jobs report (More) | Apple announces $110B share buyback—the largest in the company's history; also reports 10.5% year-over-year drop in iPhone sales amid headwinds in China (More) |
> Sony Pictures, Apollo Global extend $26B all-cash offer to buy Paramount Global, marking Apollo's second bid to buy the entertainment giant; Paramount currently weighing merger with Skydance Media (More) | Nvidia-backed CoreWeave raises $1.1B in funding, valuing the cloud-computing startup at $19B (More) |
> US weekly jobless claims hold steady at 208,000 for the week ending April 27; figure matches number of weekly jobless claims from prior week, which has been the fewest since mid-February (More) |
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> At least 2,000 people reportedly arrested so far at dozens of US colleges over pro-Palestinian protests; crew begins cleanup at University of California, Los Angeles, campus, where at least 200 people were arrested (More) | See updates on the Israel-Hamas war (More) |
> Rescue teams recover and identify body of fifth construction worker who died in the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge in March; one construction worker remains unaccounted for (More) | See previous write-up (More) |
> Brood XIX cicadas begin to emerge in Arkansas, one of 17 states expected to see trillions of cicadas in a double brood event this year (More) | What is a cicada double brood event? (More) |
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> Sacred Space for Sale
America | John W. Miller. What's the right way to repurpose a shuttered church? The largest real estate owner in the world, the Catholic Church, has developed some guidelines for your town's next brewery, skate park, and more. (Read)
> Brittney Griner's Story
New York Times Mag | J Wortham. Over two years since she was imprisoned in Russia for bringing cannabis oil into the country, the basketball star recounts her 10 months in prison—and how she's recovered since returning home. (Read) |
> A History of Forks
Noiser | Ruth Goodman. (Podcast) Just a few centuries ago, forks were condemned as blasphemous replacements for human hands. How did it become the third most common eating utensil in the world? (Listen)
> Airplane Mode, Explained
Answer in Progress | Taha Khan. The evidence behind the need for airplane mode is pretty inconclusive, but phones emit just enough electromagnetic radiation that airlines have opted to prohibit their use during takeoff and landing. (Watch) |
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Editor's note: More than 10 million monthly clicks can't be wrong. Here are the most popular stories we ran in April. Enjoy!
(4/9/24) What do the abbreviations AM and PM mean?
(4/26/24) Why South Dakota is the best state to retire.
(4/22/24) A resurfaced photo captures the iceberg that sank the Titanic.
(4/12/24) "HELP" message leads to remote island rescue.
(4/3/24) The best of this year's April Fools' Day pranks.
(4/27/24) A boy's heart beats again after stopping for 14 hours.
(4/11/24) Who pays the most (and the least) in federal income taxes.
(4/29/24) Dumbphones are making a comeback.
(4/9/24) United flight diverts after dog stinks up plane.
(4/8/24) How an eclipse 3,000 years ago changed the ancient world.
(4/11/24) Stunning new frescos discovered in Pompeii.
(4/4/24) Ranking America's healthiest and unhealthiest cities.
Historybook: Philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli born (1469); Boxer Sugar Ray Robinson born (1921); Musician James Brown born (1933); Margaret Mitchell wins Pulitzer for "Gone with the Wind" novel (1937); First bulk spam email is sent (1978). |
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"To be a champ, you have to believe in yourself when nobody else will." |
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