Good morning. It's Friday, June 27, and we're covering a Supreme Court ruling on abortion clinics, the end of Anna Wintour's tenure as head of American Vogue, and much more. First time reading? Join over 4.5 million intellectually curious readers. Sign up here. |
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Planned Parenthood Ruling |
The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that South Carolina can lawfully remove Planned Parenthood from its Medicaid program, barring patients from suing to protect their choice of healthcare provider. The 6-3 decision, split along ideological lines, found that while Medicaid guarantees access to any “qualified and willing” provider, federal law does not give patients the legal right to sue the state to enforce that provision.
The state excluded Planned Parenthood from its Medicaid program to prevent public funds from supporting organizations providing abortions. Planned Parenthood—which received more than $792M from government sources in 2023, about one-third of its revenue—offers a range of reproductive health services. The state argued any funding indirectly supports abortion, even if not used for those services. Medicaid covers about one in five Americans. Critics warn the ruling could reduce access for low-income patients and encourage other states to follow suit.
The remaining six decisions from the 2024-25 Supreme Court session will be announced today before the court breaks for the summer. |
Anna Wintour has announced she is stepping down as editor-in-chief of American Vogue after 37 years in the role. The 75-year-old fashion icon will continue to serve as global editorial director at Vogue and chief content officer at Condé Nast. Vogue has not announced a replacement as of this writing.
Wintour worked her way up in British and American Vogue before leading the so-called “fashion bible” in 1988. Her first cover—November 1988—caused a media stir for its breezy, laid-back look with model Michaela Bercu in Guess jeans (see photo). Wintour later became known for celebrity covers, including profiling Kanye West and Kim Kardashian in the lead-up to their 2014 wedding. She has separately organized the Met Gala since 1995.
As the face of fashion media, Wintour’s life has been the subject of multiple books and movies, including allegedly inspiring Meryl Streep’s character in “The Devil Wears Prada.” See a documentary on the making of a Vogue issue here. |
A team of UK-based scientists seeks to write human genetic code from scratch after receiving over $13.7M in initial funding from Wellcome Trust, the world’s largest medical charity.
The Synthetic Human Genome Project was announced yesterday, 25 years after researchers completed the first draft of the Human Genome Project, a 13-year, $2.7B effort to map human genetic information. Since numerous diseases—from cancer to autoimmune disorders—stem from gene mutations, supporters hope the new project will drive advances, like virus-resistant cells to repair organs. The findings could also improve food security by enabling engineered weather-resilient crops. However, critics warn of ethical risks, including misuse of human-made DNA to create enhanced humans or biological weapons.
The lead researcher successfully created an E. coli genome in 2019. Researchers estimate it will take up to 10 years to complete the first human chromosome, with the next five years devoted to making small sections of DNA for testing in human skin cells. |
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Sports, Entertainment, & Culture |
> The 2025 NHL Draft kicks off tonight (7 pm ET, ESPN); see complete first round mock draft (More) | ... and NBA Draft wraps up; see complete draft results (More) |
> Ariana Grande, Kieran Culkin, and Mikey Madison among 534 invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, organizers of the Oscars (More) | Denis Villeneuve tapped to become director of latest James Bond film (More) |
> Kenya's Faith Kipyegon runs fastest-ever mile for a woman but fails to break the four-minute mile barrier (More) | PayPal signs multiyear deal with Big Ten and Big 12 to facilitate payments to student-athletes (More) |
The Beautiful Game: With the US set to host next year's World Cup, tomorrow's 1440 Society & Culture newsletter takes a look at the world's biggest sports tournament. Sign up here to receive! |
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> Meta hires top OpenAI researcher, Trapit Bansal, to help lead new "superintelligence" unit; poaching is the latest in a reported multi-hundred-million-dollar hiring spree by Meta to jump-start lagging AI program (More) | Meta explained (1440 Topics) |
> World's oldest rocks confirmed to be almost 4.2 billion years old; region along Canada's Hudson Bay shore is the only known formation to remain from Earth's Hadean Eon (More) | What was the Hadean Eon? (More, w/video) |
> New study suggests babies born prematurely may feel pain before developing the brain circuitry needed to understand and react to the experience (More) |
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In partnership with Med-X |
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Pesticide bans in Europe aim to reduce chemicals by up to 50% by 2030. But that’s just one example of a much bigger global shift. In total, demand from farmers and businesses for more natural solutions is creating a $17.6B global market opportunity for Med-X.
Their natural pesticide line, Nature-Cide, is already used by professionals and available through Amazon, Walmart, and Kroger. Its success has helped Med-X generate $6.4 million in sales and even secure the Nasdaq ticker: MXRX.
Invest in Med-X before their planned Nasdaq listing.**** |
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> US stock markets close higher (S&P 500 +0.8%, Dow +0.9%, Nasdaq +1.0%); S&P 500, Nasdaq briefly trade above all-time closing highs as White House signals July 8-9 tariff deadlines could be extended (More) |
> The US economy shrank at 0.5% annual rate during the first three months of 2025, faster than previous estimate of 0.2%, per final report; decline was driven partly by slowdown in consumer spending and a surge in imports ahead of tariffs (More) |
> Core Scientific shares close up 33% following report AI infrastructure provider CoreWeave is in talks to buy the bitcoin mining firm (More) | Nike beats Q4 estimates, but reports 12% year-over-year drop in sales (More) |
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> Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei downplays US strikes and warns against further attacks in first public remarks since ceasefire (More) | Iran's centrifuges at Fordo are no longer operational, per UN watchdog's head, citing their susceptibility to vibrations (More) |
> Ukrainian forces stop Russian advance in the northern region of Sumy, per top general (More) | At least 29 students dead, more than 250 injured in stampede following electric transformer explosion in the Central African Republic (More) |
> Ecuador's most wanted man—drug lord Adolfo Macías Villamar—captured in underground bunker beneath luxury home in 10-hour operation; Villamar, also known as "Fito," was the leader of cocaine-trafficking Los Choneros (More) |
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> Scrap Metal or an Alien Spacecraft?
WSJ | Joel Schectman, Aruna Viswanatha. A probe reveals the US military spread disinformation for decades, including doctored photos and fabricated stories about UFOs and alien technology, to conceal secret weapons programs. (Read)
> The Kindness of Strangers
Split Lip | Ella Harrigan. An essay on the generosity of strangers and how we navigate physical and emotional pain—both our own and that of others—highlighting the unseen threads that connect our experiences. (Read) |
> How Babies Learn to Talk
RobWords | Rob Watts. Babies are born linguistic geniuses capable of recognizing language patterns even before birth. Learn how they start speaking by simplifying words and picking up universal sounds like "m" for "mom." (Watch)
> Middle Aged in the Middle Ages
Freakonomics | Stephen J. Dubner. While people often romanticize the Middle Ages, medieval life was physically demanding, risky, and short-lived by today's standards, with middle age typically beginning in one's 30s. (Listen) |
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Please support our sponsors! |
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Best of Etcetera—June 2025 |
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"When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us." |
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*Disclosure: APY means Annual Percentage Yield. APY is accurate as of May 30, 2025. Interest rate and APY may change after initial deposit depending on the terms of the specific product selected.
**New customers only. Earn a cash bonus when you deposit and maintain funds with partner banks on the Raisin platform. Customers will receive $75 for depositing between $10,000 and $24,499, $250 for depositing between $25,000 and $49,999, and $500 for depositing $50,000 or more. To qualify for the bonus, your first deposit must be initiated by June 30, 2025, by 11:59 PM ET, and the promo code BOOST must be entered at the time of sign-up. Only funds deposited within 14 days of the initial deposit date and maintained with partner banks on the Raisin platform for 90 days will be eligible for this bonus. Bonus cash will be deposited by Raisin into the customer’s linked external bank account within 30 days of meeting all qualifying terms. This offer is available to new customers only and may not be combined with any other bonus offers
***Raisin reserves the right to modify or terminate this offer at any time.
National average comparison is based on current FDIC U.S. national average for banks and NCUA U.S. national average for credit unions.
This is a paid advertisement for Med-X’s Regulation A+ Offering. Please read the offering circular at https://invest.medx-rx.com/
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