Good morning. It's Tuesday, June 22, and we're covering primary elections in America's largest city, a momentous court ruling for the NCAA, and much more. Have feedback? Let us know at [email protected].

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NEED TO KNOW

NYC Primary

Voters in New York City cast primary ballots today, determining their party's choice to run for mayor in November. Candidates are vying to replace two-term incumbent Mayor Bill de Blasio, who is term-limited and cannot run. 

Eight major candidates are vying for the Democratic nomination. The group includes former presidential candidate Andrew Yang, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, and former de Blasio aide Maya Wiley. Adams, a former police officer running on a public safety platform, leads in the latest polling with 28% of the vote, followed by Yang at 20%. The winner has a leg up in the heavily Democratic city. 

Two Republicans are running, businessman Fernando Mateo and Curtis Sliwa, talk show host and founder of the street patrol group Guardian Angels. Polling suggests Sliwa leads, though 40% of Republican voters remain undecided. 

The elections mark the city's first use of ranked-choice voting for primaries. Voters will choose up to five candidates in order of preference. After the first round—if no one wins 50% of the vote—the lowest candidate is eliminated and voters who chose that candidate as their first choice will have their votes shifted to whomever they ranked as second choice. Watch a video explainer here.

Voters will also choose candidates for many City Council districts, as well as nominees to replace outgoing District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. The general election is set for Nov. 2. 

NCAA v. Alston

The Supreme Court ruled yesterday the NCAA cannot restrict educational benefits provided by universities to student-athletes. The unanimous decision upheld a lower court's ruling that current NCAA regulations violate federal antitrust laws.  

The NCAA, which brings in more than $1B annually, has long been criticized for monetizing students' abilities. Division I and II student-athletes may currently receive full tuition, including room and board, and a cost-of-living stipend. However, schools were barred from providing non-cash educational benefits, which may range from computers to study abroad opportunities and internships. The ruling allows such benefits, but leaves in place a ban on direct payments. 

Supporters of tighter restrictions fear allowing even modest benefits will spark a bidding war between programs for prized recruits. The justices concurred—but found that preventing competition between schools for recruits came at the detriment of the student-athletes. Read the decision here.

Spielberg Goes Streaming

The production company helmed by legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg has inked a deal to produce films for streaming giant Netflix, company officials revealed yesterday. Details of the agreement were sparse, but reports suggest Spielberg's Amblin Partners will produce multiple movies per year for the platform, with the deal specifying no set budget or genre. Amblin will continue to produce theatrical releases for Universal Studios. 

The move is viewed as an effort by Netflix to bolster its lineup with star power as the race for streaming viewership becomes increasingly competitive. While Netflix is the largest global streaming platform with 200 million users, Amazon Prime Video has 150 million users and recently acquired MGM Studios in an $8.4B deal in May (see previous write-up). Disney+ has more than 100 million users as of April, despite only launching in 2019. 

Recent data suggest (Forbes, paywall) streaming accounts for 26% of US viewership, higher than broadcast television, at 25%. 

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IN THE KNOW

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture

Brought to you by The Ascent

> Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib comes out as first openly gay active NFL player (More) | See reactions from around the NFL (More)

> New Zealand officially adds weightlifter Laurel Hubbard to roster, becoming the first openly transgender athlete to compete in Olympics (More) | Tokyo to allow up to 10,000 Japanese fans at Olympic venues (More)

> Television Academy to allow Emmy winners to be recognized as "Performer"  instead of "Actor" or "Actress" (More) | Oscars board of governors adds record number of women to new class (More)

From our partners: Say hello to a one-card wallet. The Ascent's credit card expert personally signed up for this credit card, thanks to its impressive mix of benefits: up to 5% cash back, a big bonus, no annual fee, the list goes on.

Science & Technology

> The surface of Venus is cracked and continuously shifting, possibly due to tectonic activity, new study finds (More)

> Facebook's live audio rooms go live in the US; feature is meant to be a direct competitor to Clubhouse and other social audio networks (More)

> Lab-grown mini-intestines allow study of how epithelial cells—finger-like cells that line the inside of the organ—bend and move; study provides basic insights into celiac disease and cancer (More)

Business & Markets

> US stock markets rebound (S&P 500 +1.4%, Dow +1.8%, Nasdaq +0.8%); Dow sees best day since March (More)

> Bitcoin falls beneath $32K along with other cryptocurrencies after China further limits crypto exposure to its banking system (More)

> Quick service restaurant chain Sweetgreen files for confidential initial public offering; the company, famous for its salads, has raised $670M and was last valued at $1.8B (More)

Politics & World Affairs

> Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, dismisses prospects of restarting denuclearization talks with the US (More)

> Ethiopians begin voting in national elections; Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed seeks reelection amid ongoing conflict in the northern Tigray region that has sparked a humanitarian crisis (More) | What to know about the conflict (More)

> Top-line details of bipartisan Senate infrastructure deal circulated, includes $579B in new spending (More) | Senate Democrats begin process to consider sweeping voting rights bill; package is unlikely to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to break a filibuster (More)

IN-DEPTH

The Lazarus Heist

BBC | Geoff White, Jean Lee. In 2016, North Korea almost hacked its way to stealing a billion dollars from Bangladesh's national bank—only to be thwarted by a last-minute fluke. (Read)

48 Hours

Criminal | Phoebe Judge, Lauren Spohrer. Part one of the shocking true story of Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn, victims of a bizarre armed kidnapping in 2015. When the pair turned to the police for help, they became the prime suspects. (Listen)

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ETCETERA

Eighty years ago, Germany launched Operation Barbarossa. 

Visualizing 150 years of US national debt.

Photos of Turkey's sea-snot disaster. (Atlantic, paywall)

An interactive history of dinosaurs. (Best viewed on desktop)

These power plans let utilities control your thermostat remotely.

Sunday marked America's busiest travel day since the pandemic began.

Inside Tokyo's Olympic Village.

Mind-reading helmet now on sale for $50K.

Clickbait: One proud dachshund. 

Historybook: Department of Justice signed into law (1870); GI Bill is signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1944); HBD Meryl Streep (1949); RIP Judy Garland (1969); RIP dancer Fred Astaire (1987).

"Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else."

- Judy Garland

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