☕ Drugs and dragons

Can HBO bring back Sunday night magic? June 17, 2024 [View Online]( | [Sign Up]( | [Shop]( [Morning Brew]( PRESENTED BY [Miso Robotics]( Good morning. Here’s your Word of the Day right at the top: philatelist, the technical term for a stamp collector. Legendary investor and prominent philatelist Bill Gross, who has cobbled together the most complete collection of US stamps in history, sold more than 100 of his rare stamps at auction this weekend. One of those became the most expensive stamp ever sold—$4.4 million for an 1868 one-cent “Z Grill” featuring Benjamin Franklin. More collecting terms: Someone who collects teddy bears is called an arctophile, and people who collect Star Wars toys are called nerds. —Dave Lozo, Neal Freyman MARKETS: YEAR-TO-DATE Nasdaq $17,688.88 +19.80% S&P $5,431.60 +14.52% Dow $38,589.16 +2.32% 10-Year 4.213% +26.7 bps Bitcoin $66,525.67 +57.40% Oil $78.49 +11.52% Data is provided by *Stock data as of market close. [Here's what these numbers mean.]( - Markets: Even the grumpiest person you know would have trouble complaining about the stock market. On Friday, the Nasdaq closed at a record for the fifth straight day, the S&P 500 is up more than 14% this year, and volatility is near a five-year low. Plus, gas prices are down from last year at this point in the summer given the healthier demand/supply balance in the oil market. Keep calm and carry on.  HEALTHCARE [Feds charge ADHD company with $100m fraud]( [Adderall capsule]( Talotta/Toronto Star via Getty Images The marketing practices of an ADHD telehealth company drew the focus of federal authorities—its top executives were arrested on Thursday and are facing years in prison. Done Global is accused of submitting fraudulent claims for reimbursements and obstructing justice as part of a [scheme]( to arrange for “easy access” to 40+ million stimulant pills. The DOJ said founder Ruthia He and clinical president David Brody targeted potential customers with deceptive ads on social media platforms like Facebook and TikTok on their way to raking in more than $100 million in revenue. Done acted as a bridge between patients and doctors. The DOJ says the company limited patient information available to clinicians and instructed them to provide pills even if the patient didn’t qualify. Done’s consultation structure discouraged follow-up visits, paid practitioners based on how many prescriptions were written, and continued these practices after learning its members had overdosed and died, court documents alleged. How it was made possible During the pandemic, the US government paused enforcement of a law that requires patients to see in-person doctors to receive prescriptions for controlled substances. That opened the door for Done and other telehealth upstarts to conveniently deliver stimulants like Adderall after online consultations with doctors that took less time than most Zoom meetings at your company. A Vox [report]( in 2022 revealed the ease with which people could self-diagnose as having ADHD through TikTok—the hashtags #ADHD and #ADHDTikTok had a combined 18 billion views at the time—and then turn to telehealth companies for access to Adderall and other stimulants. While the TikTok community can provide support for neurodiverse people, experts warned that influencers could be accidentally spreading misinformation and leading people toward an incorrect ADHD diagnosis that does not require medication. The unintended consequences of charging Done: The CDC [warned]( that patients using Done and other telehealth services could experience a disruption in treatment due to the indictment, which coincides with an ongoing shortage of stimulants used to prescribe ADHD treatments. The CDC says the disruptions could impact as many as 30,000 to 50,000 patients ages 18 years and older.—DL PRESENTED BY MISO ROBOTICS [Remember when humans did that?]( [Miso Robotics]( Working the local burger joint’s fryer is tough—so much so that it’s getting harder and harder for fast-food restaurants to staff their kitchens. In fact, ~3m jobs will go unfilled in the US alone. Miso Robotics has the solution: Its AI-powered robot, Flippy, has deep fryers mastered. That’s exactly [why White Castle and Jack in the Box turned to Miso]( to operate their fryers and boost their profits up to 4x. Now Miso’s ready to scale. They’ve even started a [collaboration with NVIDIA](. To fuel their growth, Miso’s opened a funding round for investors who can benefit from the automation of the $1t fast-food market. See why 34,000 investors have already joined them by checking out [Miso’s investment and bonus shares offering today](. WORLD [Tour de headlines](#) [Inside out 2 image]Inside Out: 2/Disney Pixar is feeling pure Joy. The Disney-owned studio snapped out of its yearslong funk with the Inside Out: 2 premiere, which grossed a [gargantuan $155 million]( in North American theaters for the biggest opening weekend of the year. It also marks the second-biggest debut for any animated movie in history, behind only Incredibles 2 in 2018. Pixar regaining its mojo is also a huge relief for sparsely populated movie theaters: They hadn’t had a movie earn $100 million in its opening weekend since Barbie last summer. Two unreported Southwest incidents come to light. In news that only was revealed recently, two Southwest flights involving Boeing 737 Max 8s experienced mishaps, though both were able to land safely without injuries to passengers or crew. According to Bloomberg, the FAA has [opened]( an investigation into an April flight that came within 400 feet of crashing into the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii due to an inadvertent landing attempt that was aborted. One month later, a [flight]( from Phoenix to Oakland sustained damage from “a Dutch roll,” which is when an aircraft’s tail slides side to side with the plane rocking in a way that causes the wings to roll up and down, an event Southwest did not report until two weeks later. The Tony Awards celebrated the best of Broadway. The Outsiders, based on S.E. Hinton’s bestselling novel, [won best musical]( while Stereophonic won best play and the most awards of any show, with five. Hollywood names such as Daniel Radcliffe, Sarah Paulson, and Jeremy Strong also nabbed their first Tony Awards for their acting. Broadway is firmly in its [pop era]( as more than half of the 15 new musicals that opened during the latest season had scores credited to artists in the music business, such as Alicia Keys, Britney Spears, David Byrne, and Sufjan Stevens, the NYT reports. ENTERTAINMENT [Can HBO make Sunday nights great again?]( [Still photo from House of the Dragon season 2]( of the Dragon/Warner Bros. Discovery The second season of House of the Dragon, the prequel to Game of Thrones, premiered last night on HBO—but maybe you already knew that. Videos from a marketing campaign [went viral]( last week showing banners of House Targaryen factions hanging from iconic global landmarks like the Brooklyn Bridge. No, NYC Mayor Eric Adams is not taking sides in the Westeros civil war—many of these banners were CG-generated. You didn’t have to be the Three-Eyed Raven to predict this would spark backlash. Mexican officials [threatened to sue]( HBO when a Targaryen banner was depicted flying from the country’s historic Chapultepec Castle, which did not happen IRL. Big picture: The over-the-top House of the Dragon marketing reflects the show’s importance in [rejuvenating]( HBO’s sputtering Sunday night hit factory, the NYT reports. With an uninspired content slate over the past year, the network is expected to finish third in total Emmy nominations, its worst performance since 1996. Even more crucial for HBO parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, House of the Dragon could bring desperately needed eyeballs to Max, its streaming service. Max accounts for just 1.2% of TV use in the US, way behind Netflix (7.6%) and even behind Tubi (1.7%) and Roku Channel (1.4%), per Nielsen.—NF TOGETHER WITH INDEED [Indeed]( Trevor Noah with a fresh take on equity in hiring. Join him alongside C-suite leaders, industry experts, and other celebrity speakers at the [Indeed FutureWorks event September 26](. Your virtual ticket grants you access to unique perspectives and solutions that help make hiring simpler, faster, and more human. [Register and join for free](. STAT [Prime number](#) [A banner for the Mediterranean restaurant chain Cava is displayed outside of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as the company goes public on June 15, 2023]Spencer Platt/Getty Images When it comes to recent IPOs, fast-casual chain Cava is [bowling over the competition](. After shares popped more than 300% since its public offering last year, the “Mediterranean Chipotle” is worth more than $10 billion—and $33 million per restaurant—according to Bloomberg. That’s an “unprecedented” per-location valuation in the industry, one analyst said, and exponentially higher than Chipotle’s ~$3 million per restaurant. That analyst cut his rating on Cava stock, arguing it’s gotten too expensive. CALENDAR [The week ahead](#) [A dog cools off at a public fountain]Ramin Talaie/Getty Images A heat dome will scorch the US: More than 260 million Americans live in areas where temperatures may [exceed 90 degrees]( between today and Friday, as a dangerous heat wave arrives in the Northeast and expands to the Midwest and Great Lakes. Maine could see heat index values in the low 100s, and Detroit is forecast to have its worst heat wave in at least 20 years. Check out the National Weather Service’s [HeatRisk map]( to see how hot it’s going to get in your city. Boeing’s Dave Calhoun has some explaining to do: The outgoing CEO will have a [first-class seat]( in front of a US Senate panel on Tuesday to testify about the company’s recent stretch of safety issues, sparked by a door panel blowing off a Max 9 operated by Alaska Airlines in January. Senator Richard Blumenthal said Boeing made promises to overhaul its safety practices following fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people but “that promise proved empty.” Calhoun will be departing the company by the end of the year. Sports trophies could be hoisted: The Celtics (NBA) and the Panthers (NHL) are each just one win away from winning their respective championships. Meanwhile, get your second monitor ready because there are Euros [soccer games]( on all day, every day. If that’s not enough soccer for you, Copa América, the South American soccer tournament, begins on Thursday. And Omaha is the center of the baseball world, with the College World Series reaching a climax this week. Everything else… - Juneteenth is Wednesday. Markets will be closed. - Thursday is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, which is not to be confused with what feels like the longest day of the year—the day before you leave for vacation. - Friday is Take Your Dog To Work Day. It’s the one day per year remote workers wish they had an office. NEWS [What else is brewing](#) - [A wildfire]( north of Los Angeles forced the evacuation of at least 1,200 people and grew to more than 16 square miles yesterday. - [President Biden’s]( campaign amassed $28 million ahead of a fundraiser in LA on Saturday that featured George Clooney, Julia Roberts, and Barack Obama. - [Israel’s military]( announced a daytime pause in fighting along a road in southern Gaza to allow for the delivery of more humanitarian aid. But it emphasized this didn’t amount to a cease-fire. - [Bryson DeChambeau]( won his second US Open in a thriller at Pinehurst. Another heartbreak for Rory McIlroy. - [Charles Barkley]( said he would retire from TV following the 2024–25 NBA season. TNT could lose its NBA broadcast rights after next season, and the Chuckster says he’d rather call it a career than go somewhere other than the network. RECS [Monday to-do list image] Look: A tree that [looks like an Ent]( won New Zealand’s Tree of the Year. Pantry basics: Five steps for getting a [more organized kitchen](. Long read: How the [refrigerator changed flavor](. The art of translation: How a translator takes one book [from one language to another](. Bye-bye, bugs: Get 80% automated E2E web app coverage in just four months with [QA Wolf](. With QA cycles complete in minutes (not days), bugs don’t stand a chance. [Schedule a demo]( Summer spending sidekick: Looking for smart [spending strategies]( this summer? Try saying that five times fast, and then, [check out our article]( all about it.* *A message from our sponsor. GAMES [The puzzle section](#) Turntable: You get just two vowels in today’s Turntable—make the most of them. [Play it here](. Mascot trivia Happy National Mascot Day! In today’s quiz, name the brand represented by the following mascots. People who actually pay attention during TV commercials will have a leg-up. - Flo - “Rich Uncle” Pennybags - Red, Blue, Yellow, Orange, Green, Ms. Brown - Bartholomew Richard Fitzgerald-Smythe - Cornelius Rooster - Charlie the Tuna - Chester Cheetah SHARE THE BREW [Share Morning Brew]( with your friends, acquire free Brew swag, and then acquire more friends as a result of your fresh Brew swag. We’re saying we’ll give you free stuff and more friends if you share a link. One link. Your referral count: 0 [Click to Share]( Or copy & paste your referral link to others: [morningbrew.com/daily/r/?kid=4904f90a]( ANSWER - Progressive Insurance - Monopoly - M&M’s - Planters—that’s Mr. Peanut’s real name - Kellogg’s Corn Flakes - StarKist - Cheetos ✢ A Note From Miso Robotics Disclosure: This is a paid advertisement for Miso Robotics’ Regulation A offering. Please read the offering circular at [invest.misorobotics.com](. Written by [Neal Freyman]( and Dave Lozo Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up [here](. Take The Brew to work - Marketers: [Marketing Brew]( - Corporate: [CFO Brew](  [HR Brew]( - Tech: [IT Brew](  [Tech Brew]( - Retailers: [Retail Brew]( - Healthcare: [Healthcare Brew]( Get smarter in just 5 minutes - Money & Career: [Money With Katie](  [Bossy](  [Brew Markets](  [The Playbook]( Interested in podcasts? - Check out ours [here]( [ADVERTISE]( // [CAREERS]( // [SHOP]( // [FAQ]( Update your email preferences or unsubscribe [here](. 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