Happy Sunday! I've got some goodies this week. This episode covers a wide range of topics that I thought you'd find interesting. If nothing else, it will give you a nice jumping off point for some interesting conversations with others this week.

Alrighty on to the Stir!

The World of Trump vs Biden

News networks are finding other things to talk about besides the residing President. The news networks, both right and left-leaning, were absolutely obsessed with talking about "bad man orange" Trump.

Data from the Stanford Cable TV News Analyzer found that Joe Biden has averaged around 31 hours a month of screen time on cable TV. That's well below Trump, who averaged 55 hours a month when he was President.

The "Trump bump" fades

Readership is struggling in 2021. According to Axios, both right-leaning and left-leaning outlets have seen anything from 15-40% drops in monthly traffic.

The well-documented "Trump bump" that media companies enjoyed for much of the last few years is officially fading. Hate it or love it, Trump garnered lots of attention. It's hard to look away.

I suspect that 4 years of constant news and hysteria around Trump has worn people out so that's why there's a big drop. People are worn out by politics and paying attention to all of the "drama" so there's just not tuning in anymore.

The World of Droughts

This year could be one of the driest ever in California, with officials warning that the state's reservoirs are 50% lower than they really should be for this time of year.

The World of Supersonic Travel

United Airlines has agreed to purchase 15 supersonic airplanes from Boom, the well-funded startup looking to make supersonic travel commercial again. Don't expect to be doing London-New York in 3 hours for a while though — even if all goes well — commercial flights aren't expected to start until 2029.

The World of Marvel Franchise

It's no secret that Marvel movies are humungous blockbusters! But did you know they're now the biggest movie franchise ever?

Disney's $4.2bn acquisition of Marvel in 2009 has paid off big time. They churn out Marvel movies like clockwork (about 2 a year) for the last decade — racking up almost $10bn at the US box office and more than $20bn around the world.

The World of Nostalgia

Remember the old iPod? Get some nostalgia for your old iPod with this emulator that lets you listen to Spotify or Apple Music. The click-wheel still feels oddly satisfying.

The World of Proverbs

"Why do we regard history as of the past and forget we are making it?” - Winston Churchill

End Note

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Live free,

Brennen