Good morning. We lost an American hero yesterday. RIP John Lewis.

POLITICS

John Lewis Dies at 80

John Lewis, longtime Georgia congressman and American civil rights legend, died yesterday at the age of 80.  

Lewis announced last December that he had been diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer. “I have never faced a fight quite like the one I have now,” Lewis said, which is saying something because Lewis had been fighting for justice his entire life.

One of those moments: In 1965, Lewis led the famous march of 600 protesters across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, AL, to demand voting rights. Lewis’s skull was fractured by police in what came to be known as Bloody Sunday. He was 25 at the time. 

A few other notes about such a profound life...

• Lewis was the last surviving speaker of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963.
• In 2011, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor. 

Political leaders and business executives mourned Lewis’s death.

• Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: Lewis was “one of the greatest heroes of American history.”
• Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: “Our great nation’s history has only bent towards justice because great men like John Lewis took it upon themselves to help bend it.”

Apple CEO Tim Cook also released a statement on Twitter, saying “John Lewis guided us toward a more righteous world.” 

Bottom line, via John Lewis: “When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have a moral obligation to do something, to say something, and not be quiet.”

+ To learn more...take an hour to watch this clip of the documentary Eyes on the Prize. 

AVIATION

Saying Goodbye to the Queen of the Skies

British Airways said it’ll retire its fleet of Boeing 747s years ahead of schedule due to the collapse in travel. "It is unlikely our magnificent 'queen of the skies' will ever operate commercial services for British Airways again,” said a company spokesperson. 

• British Airways currently has 31 747s, about 10% of its entire fleet. It’s the largest operator of 747s. 

The backstory: For the 747, every day was hump day. The gorgeous double-decker plane took its maiden flight in 1969 and defined international aviation for decades. 

But now, it’s using Facebook while everyone’s on TikTok. Smaller, more fuel-efficient planes like Boeing’s 787 are becoming more popular, and will only increase their presence as passenger traffic remains far below pre-Covid levels. 

Looking ahead...Qantas and Lufthansa have already retired their 747s during the pandemic, and Boeing is set to halt production in just a few years. 

+ While we’re here: Here’s a first-person account of what it’s like to fly the gigantic 747.

ECONOMY

Fed Alumni Association Gives Advice on the Recovery

Gronk is to football as Janet Yellen and Ben Bernanke are to monetary policy—they just can’t stay on the sidelines.

The two former chairs of the Federal Reserve appeared before a congressional panel yesterday, dishing on the pandemic and the ensuing economic recovery. 

How are we doing? In a joint statement, Bernanke and Yellen said the fiscal response to the pandemic has been “quite effective.” They even think rookie QB Jerome Powell is doing a heckuva job, writing the Fed has moved “swiftly and forcefully.” 

There’s still a lot of work to be done, though. To keep the recovery from stalling, Bernanke and Yellen propose three initiatives for Congress to take up:

1. Boost medical research and build out testing capacity. The ROI on this will be huge.
2. Extend the additional unemployment benefits introduced by the CARES Act, but maybe cap total payments at a fixed percentage of total income. 
3. Support local and state governments whose budgets have been depleted by the pandemic.

Bottom line: With interest rates near zero, “we do not believe that concerns about the deficit and debt should prevent the Congress from responding robustly to this emergency.”

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You can. 

(Fine, we’ll give you a little something here: this membership has to do with getting stock picks that can potentially make you a lot of money.)

The lucrative investing membership is right here.

GAMBLING

Eldorado Creates Boardwalk Empire

New Jersey regulators put aside their disagreements on pork roll vs. Taylor ham to approve Eldorado Resorts’s $17.3 billion acquisition of Caesars Entertainment Corp. The new firm, called Caesars Entertainment, will be the world’s biggest casino company.

It did not come easy. Eldorado had to zip around the country appearing before regulatory commissions to calm antitrust fears. Last month, the Federal Trade Commission gave the deal the greenlight only after ensuring the company would sell properties in states like California, Louisiana, and Missouri.

• The debate in New Jersey centered around the new company’s potential stranglehold on the casino market in Atlantic City. 

Zoom out: Even with divestments to appease the trustbusters, the new Caesars Entertainment will be a gambling colossus, with 52 properties across 16 U.S. states. Locations you may already have scars from include Planet Hollywood, Harrah’s Las Vegas, and Flamingo.

RETAIL

This Could Be So Many Things

But we won't keep you in suspense for long. Ikea says it will launch a vegan version of its famous Swedish meatball in August, first in European stores then in the U.S.

What you need to know about the “plant ball”: Ikea says its carbon footprint is 4% that of the original meatball. And you don’t need to hire someone on TaskRabbit to assemble it. 

Zoom out: Ikea sells more than 1 billion meatballs annually at its in-store restaurants—but the food trends, they are a changin.

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said her liver cancer has returned and she’s undergoing chemotherapy. She’ll remain on the court. 
• The FTC is considering taking sworn testimony from FB execs Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg as part of its antitrust investigation, the WSJ reports.
• Georgia local and state officials are sparring over a mask mandate.
• Twitter said about 130 accounts were targeted in this week’s major cyber attack, though the hackers only gained access to a "small subset."
• The MLS will delay its plans to add three out of four expansion teams because of COVID-19.

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BREW'S BETS

Weekend conversation starters:

• What do you think of this Covid-themed Seinfeld episode? 
• Imagine quarantining with the first artist you ever saw in concert.
• Will you miss Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes, or will Taco Bell be better without spuds?

Revisiting emojis: Enjoy learning about emojis yesterday? Here’s an in-depth, visual dive into the topic. 

• If you want to learn about written language instead, scroll through this article that analyzes how men and women’s physical traits are described differently in literature.

FROM THE CREW

Press Send, Land the Job

The cold email. The second most powerful tool for landing a job behind “my dad is the CEO.” 

If you’re not sure where to start, check out this step-by-step guide from the Brew’s Toby Howell. Why should you listen to him? Well, he got this very job by sending a cold email to Morning Brew’s founders. He impressed us so much from that one email we called him up immediately and asked him to get on a bus from Portland, Maine, to NYC. And the rest is history.

To capture the same magic, read Toby’s guide to cold emails.

SATURDAY HEADLINES

We were hungry scouring the web for this week's edition of Saturday Headlines. See if you can spot which of these food-themed headlines are real and which one has artificial flavoring. 

1. "NBC's new streaming service Peacock hid a cake recipe in the terms and conditions"
2. "Cops raid Melbourne party during lockdown after guests put in a 20-meal order with KFC"
3. "Burger King wants to combat climate change by helping its cows be a little less gassy"
4. "Goya releases new 'cake in a can' recipe in response to political boycotts"

SATURDAY HEADLINES ANSWER

Everything is cake these days...but Goya didn't actually release a cake in a can.