Why are young Americans partying 70% less than they did 20 years ago??

These are the best things I found on the internet this week!

What’s up newsletter friends,

It’s the first newsletter of my 30s! Thanks for the birthday wishes last week, which also doubled as the 7th (SEVENTH!) anniversary of this newsletter. Insane to think it’s lasted this long, and that we’re very close to passing one thousand subscribers. So cool. Thank you to everyone for reading and sharing!

No plans of slowing or stopping our usual cadence, which on Tuesdays means “conversation starters,” a roundup of the best, most interesting and most entertaining content on the internet from the past week. As I encourage every week in my bolded not below, please do send me any items you’re reading/watching/seeing for inclusion in future editions. Until then hope you enjoy!

What’s the coolest story or thing you found on the internet this week? Reply to this email and shoot me a link. Would love to hear from you!

• How did two high school football teammates end up participating in an armed coup attempt in the Congo? New York Mag tells the dramatic tale of the two most unlikely soldiers of fortune ever. It could be a movie, but for now it’s our Long Read of the Week.

• The attempted shooting of Donald Trump in 2024 is an iconic and significant moment in American history, regardless of your political persuasion. But did you know it was a local SWAT operator who may have stopped Trump’s assassination? He tells his story for the first time, to the Washington Post.

• Nobody had a better week than the father of Sem Verbeek, who celebrated his birthday by watching his son win the Wimbledon mixed doubles championship (his first major), then having the entire Centre Court crowd sing him Happy Birthday. Such a touching moment.

• Dan Toomey is always asking the tough questions in his revelatory Good Work reports, like, “What's the point of summer internships?” And in today’s insane job market…it’s a fair question.

• The newest luxury beach resort recently opened in….North Korea. But the country doesn’t legally allow visitors from most countries. And even if they could…who would want to vacation there?

• I hadn’t yet checked out Derek Thompson’s Substack since he left The Atlantic, but this story roped me in — Young Americans today spend 70 percent less time attending or hosting parties than they did at the beginning of the 21st century. Why?

• Here’s the kind of wildly random and interesting content that could only be found on today’s internet: one man tries out famously rotund U.S. president William Taft’s diet for a day (and can’t finish it).

Thanks for reading and sharing! We’re back to the Friday movie grind this week talking Jurassic, Superman and everything else I’ve seen in the past two weeks. Talk to ya then!