Good morning. It's Tuesday, Aug. 19, and we're covering a redistricting push in Texas, the return to private ownership for a private social club pioneer, and much more. First time reading? Join over 4.5 million intellectually curious readers. Sign up here.
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Texas Redistricting Effort |
Dozens of Texas Democrats returned to Austin yesterday after a two-week walkout to block Republican-led redistricting efforts. Their return gives the Texas House the attendance needed to vote on a congressional map designed to shift five districts from Democratic to Republican ahead of the 2026 elections.
Gov. Greg Abbott (R) reconvened lawmakers this week, with redistricting a top priority. Civil arrest warrants remain in effect for Democrats who left in early August (see previous write-up), and Republicans have already taken procedural steps to bring the maps back to the House floor for a vote. Meanwhile, California Democrats are advancing a redistricting proposal intended to send five more California Democrats to Washington, effectively offsetting potential Republican gains in Texas.
Redistricting typically occurs at the beginning of each decade to coincide with the census; Texas last redrew its map in 2021 after the 2020 census. Visualize how Texas’ proposed mid-decade changes could reshape its political landscape and the midterms here. |
Hurricane Erin is projected to bring life-threatening surf and rip currents across the US East Coast this week before turning northeastward into the North Atlantic. Erin remains a Category 4 storm as of this writing, passing by the southeastern Bahamas yesterday. The storm has maximum sustained winds of 130 to 156 mph.
Six-foot waves are expected to reach much of the coast today, above which is considered dangerous for swimmers. Eight- to 12-foot waves are predicted to impact the Southeast by tomorrow, from northern Florida and South Carolina to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Hatteras Island and Ocracoke Island have been evacuated amid a coastal flood watch. Track the hurricane's path here.
Erin is the first hurricane of the 2025 Atlantic season and among the most rapidly intensifying storms in history. Storm names are typically recycled every six years, with exceptions for especially severe systems; the last time the US witnessed a Hurricane Erin was Sept. 11, 2001.
See what else 1440 learned about hurricanes here. |
Soho House, a private members club operator, is set to be taken private in a $2.7B deal led by New York-based MCR Hotels, with actor Ashton Kutcher joining the board. The move, announced yesterday, follows a turbulent market run since Soho House's 2021 debut on the New York Stock Exchange.
Founded in 1995 by Nick Jones above his London restaurant, Soho House pioneered a new generation of social clubs by creating an exclusive space mainly for creative professionals (see overview). The company has since expanded globally, operating 46 clubs and several hotel brands across multiple countries. It boasts over 270,000 members, including Prince Harry and Meghan, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Oprah Winfrey. Despite its cultural impact and growth, Soho House has struggled financially, failing to turn an annual profit.
Under the deal, shareholders will receive $9 per share; financing support includes over $700M in debt and equity from asset management firm Apollo Global. Soho House shares closed up nearly 15% on the news. |
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Sports, Entertainment, & Culture |
> MSNBC to change name to MSNOW, which stands for "My Source for News, Opinion, and the World," as part of Comcast's spinoff from NBCUniversal (More) |
> Texas and Penn State lead all schools with three players apiece selected to college football's AP Preseason All-America team, with the regular season set to begin Saturday (More) |
> Final defendant in Matthew Perry's October 2023 drug overdose case, the "Ketamine Queen," pleads guilty to five federal charges, including ketamine distribution (More) |
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In partnership with Motley Fool Money |
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> Tennessee Valley Authority enters a deal with Google and nuclear startup Kairos Power to purchase electricity from a small modular reactor slated for 2030, marking the first US utility offtake agreement with an advanced nuclear plant (More) |
> Surgery-free alternative to LASIK that uses electricity instead of lasers to reshape the cornea proves effective on rabbit eyeballs; initial results suggest the method could be a promising technique for correcting human vision (More) |
> Largest-ever space antenna, spanning 39 feet, deployed to detect changes within fractions of an inch on Earth's surface, such as shifting ice sheets and subtle movements caused by earthquakes, landslides, and volcanoes (More) |
The first spacecraft to Mars: This morning's Science & Technology newsletter looks at the history of NASA's pioneering Viking program. Email comes out at 8:30 am ET—subscribe here for free! |
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> US stock markets close near flatline (S&P 500 -0.0%, Dow -0.1%, Nasdaq +0.0%) as investors await annual policy speech from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at the central bank's Jackson Hole, Wyoming, summit Friday (More) | How the Fed works (1440 Topics) |
> OpenAI employees, current and former, look to sell $6B worth of shares to an investor group in a deal that values the AI company at $500B (More) | Japanese tech giant SoftBank to invest $2B in Intel (More) |
> GoodRx shares jump 37.3% after online pharmacy announces it will begin selling Novo Nordisk's GLP-1 drugs Ozempic and Wegovy (More) | Novo Nordisk shares rise 3.7% following US approval of Wegovy to treat MASH liver disease (More) | Why semaglutides like Ozempic could transform the economy (1440 Topics) |
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> President Donald Trump says the US will help provide security guarantees to Ukraine in the event of a peace deal with Russia, encourages territory swaps; see other takeaways from Trump's meeting with leaders of Ukraine and Europe (More) |
> Cable news channel Newsmax agrees to pay $67M to settle defamation lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems over 2020 election claims (More) | President Donald Trump announces he will sign an executive order to end mail-in ballots (More) |
> Texas declares the end of its measles outbreak, which has sickened 762 people since January, state data reveals; last confirmed case was reported July 1 (More) |
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> Wanna Be Taller?
The Guardian | Ruth Michaelson. Meet the men traveling thousands of miles to have surgeons break their legs and stretch their femurs, all to gain a few inches in height. (Read) |
> Captives Of Social Media
Noema | Mike Mariani. Plato's allegory of the cave may hold lessons for humanity's addiction to social media, growing reliance on AI, and our dissatisfaction with the material world. (Read) |
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