Good morning. We're kicking off the newsletter by highlighting an awesome initiative by our colleagues at Sidekick, the Brew’s twice-weekly newsletter with recs to help you live smarter.

They asked readers from around the country for the best sandwich shops on major college campuses, and ended up with a list of 60 that will make you so hungry you’ll forget whether you call it a sub or a hoagie. 

Check out the full list. 

— Jamie Wilde, Matty Merritt, Neal Freyman

CRYPTO

The SEC’s “Really Sketchy Behavior”

That’s how Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong described the SEC’s latest crypto crackdown. According to Coinbase, the Wall Street regulator has sent the crypto exchange a “Wells notice” regarding its upcoming lending product, Lend.

• Wells notice = a threat to take legal action. In this case, the SEC says they’ll sue Coinbase if and when it launches Lend.
• Lend would let Coinbase users earn interest by lending digital assets (specifically, a stablecoin called USD Coin) to others.

In a blog post and a nowadays-mandatory Twitter thread, Coinbase executives said they don’t understand what grounds the SEC is suing them on, and that the SEC has refused to loop them in.

Here’s what they do know: The SEC considers Lend’s offerings a “security,” meaning a contract of investment such as a company’s stock or government bonds. The agency has built its case against Coinbase based on that categorization, citing two Supreme court decisions that outline rules around securities.

Coinbase contends that Lend doesn’t involve securities and called that assumption “strange.”  

Why crack down on cryptocurrency now?

Just last month, SEC Chair Gary Gensler called crypto the “Wild West,” saying it’s “rife with fraud, scams, and abuse in certain applications.” Gensler thinks the government needs to add some guardrails to protect individual investors.

Going after Coinbase, the US’ biggest cryptocurrency exchange, would set an example for every other company in the space...especially those rolling out their own digital asset-lending products.

Zoom out: Crypto proponents hoped that Gensler, who became SEC chair in April, would bring clearer regulation to the industry, but they have so far been disappointed by what they consider the SEC’s confusing and overly harsh actions. – JW

ENERGY

Lorde’s Not the Only One Thinking About Solar Power

The US Energy Department said that solar energy could power 44% of the country’s electricity by 2050, up from 3% currently, in a major report released yesterday. 

Big picture: US solar installations grew a record 43% from 2019 to 2020, which means that 20% of the country’s entire solar capacity was installed last year alone. But it’s still no match for coal and natural gas, which currently provide 60% of the country’s electricity.

To achieve a net-zero carbon grid by 2035, the US would need to quadruple its solar use—and that will require enormous investments.

• The government, businesses, and consumers would have to spend about $562 billion over the next 30 years to replace old energy infrastructure with a fresh coat of solar paint.
• Another barrier: the US solar industry's dependence on China. The Biden administration still has tariffs on Chinese construction materials, making solar deployment more expensive.

Looking ahead...the Energy Department is acting as the coach drawing up a play during halftime. It will ultimately be up to Congress to put this plan into action. – MM

ENTERTAINMENT

The Pop Culture Legacy of 9/11

Leading up to the anniversary of the September 11 attacks this Saturday, we’ll feature stories that explore the economic impact of 9/11, 20 years later.

Today we’ll try to cram into 200 words a topic that people have written entire books about: How 9/11 influenced Hollywood.

Before September 11, 2001, movies like Independence Day and Armageddon gleefully depicted the annihilation of American cities. 

In the aftermath of 9/11…that stuff was #toosoon, and Hollywood scrubbed visuals that would remind viewers of the attacks. Lilo and Stitch (released in 2002) swapped out a sequence of Stitch in an airplane weaving through buildings with the little guy in a spacecraft flying among mountains.

• During the 2000s, the fantasy (Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter) and superhero (The Dark Knight, The Avengers) genres took over the box office, providing viewers with escapism and the comfort that people in capes would save us from incomprehensible evil.

Some, but not much, TV and film directly referenced the attacks, from United 93 (2006) to Zero Dark Thirty (2012). And a few post-9/11 shows, most notably 24, have been criticized for glorifying and legitimizing torture in the pursuit of counterterrorism. 

Now, with monsters once again razing cities in films like Godzilla vs. Kong, it appears that 9/11 imagery has become “subtext instead of text,” Vox wrote.  

Conversation starter: Given that we’re living through another traumatic event right now (Covid-19), are you observing similar patterns in current pop culture? How long will it be before a director pitches a pandemic film? — NF

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GRAB BAG

Key Performance Indicators

Stat: NBC is selling Super Bowl ads for up to $6.5 million, a record high and a significant bump from the $5.6 million average a year ago. If you want to snag a spot, call up your local television exec now—there are fewer than five 30-second slots left and word has it the Oatly CEO just learned how to play the accordion. (Side note: The NFL season starts tonight.)

Quote: “When you view the world through a dirty lens, everything looks dirty. When you consider all of the facts through a clean lens you will see a different picture. The reality of what happened at Theranos is far, far more complicated than what you’ve heard so far.” 

Lance Wade, a lawyer for Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, made his pitch during opening arguments for the blockbuster fraud trial captivating Silicon Valley.

Read: In the Afghan countryside, the endless killing of civilians turned women against the occupiers who claimed to be helping them. (New Yorker)

RETAIL

The Jeans Comeback Is Overblown

Lululemon, the brand known for expensive athleisure apparel we tell ourselves is an “investment,” said that business is so good it’s expecting to surpass its 2023 revenue target by the end of this year. 

• Shares popped more than 13% in extended trading after the company topped Q2 estimates and announced a major hike to its full-year outlook.

Big picture: The earnings beat shows that the pandemic-era boom in athleisure hasn’t slowed down as we enter month No. 18 of this thing. In fact, the only thing that’s slowing down for Lululemon is its supply chain, which has experienced hiccups in Vietnam due to Covid-related factory closures. 

Looking ahead...what do you do when you hit your revenue goals two years ahead of schedule? Double down on becoming a "tech" company. Lululemon has already integrated Mirror, the at-home fitness company it bought last year, into 150 of its brick-and-mortar stores. And recent patents show Lulu could be exploring wellness products that use biometric monitoring technology.

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• The US could default on its debt in October if measures aren’t taken to raise or suspend the debt ceiling, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned yesterday.
• Bill Gates’s Cascade Investments is taking control of the Four Seasons hotel group with a stake worth $2.2 billion.
• Howard University in Washington, DC, canceled classes for a second day following a ransomware attack.
• The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will return in its full IRL glory after going mostly virtual last year.
• A deep dive on all the clickbait ads that are drowning out news websites.

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BREW'S BETS

DIY docs: How to make a Netflix-style documentary about literally anything.

Party crasher: If America had six political parties, which would you belong to? The NYT will help you find out. 

Internal clocks: Learn about how risk tolerance changes throughout the week.

GAMES

The Puzzle Section

Brew Mini: Warm up for Saturday's full-sized crossword with a confidence booster from the Mini. Solve it here.

Three Headlines and a Lie 

Three of these news headlines are real and one is faker than your landlord’s promise to fix your ceiling. Can you guess the odd one out?

1. Judge bans Elizabeth Holmes lookalikes within 3-mile radius of courthouse, saying it was far too hot to be wearing black turtlenecks.
2. Opposition politician Boris Vishnevsky says two lookalikes with the same name as him are running in a St. Petersburg election in a bid to confuse voters.
3. Female octopuses throw things at males that are harassing them.
4. Spanish bishop quits after falling in love with woman who writes Satanic-tinged erotic fiction.

ANSWER

There were in fact Elizabeth Holmes lookalikes at the courthouse yesterday, but a judge didn't ask them to move.