Good Morning. Jeff Bezos is betting Americans want a $24,950 electric truck so basic it has crank windows and no screen. We break down the cheapest new truck in America.
We also include a quieter Fed, Carnival's rough quarter, and the loudest shout ever recorded (forwarded this email? Join 523k readers).
TOP STORY TODAY
Jeff Bezos’ Cheap EV
Slate Auto, the EV startup backed by Jeff Bezos, on Wednesday priced its bare-bones electric pickup at $24,950 and opened preorders, making it the cheapest new truck on sale in America.
The two-seater is deliberately stripped down, with crank windows, optional speakers, and a phone mount instead of a screen (spec sheet). It is shorter than a Toyota Corolla, and the average new U.S. car now costs roughly double.
More than 180,000 people have lined up, now converting reservations into $300 deposits, with deliveries due by year-end. The timing is tough: EV sales fell 20% in May after a $7,500 tax credit expired. First look > video.
Walmart’s Ad Bet
Walmart on Tuesday announced it will buy Vibe, a French connected-TV advertising firm, for $1.4 billion, its largest acquisition in two years as it races to grow its advertising business.
Vibe specializes in helping small and medium advertisers run connected-TV campaigns, a fast-growing market (WSJ). The deal includes $1.2 billion in cash plus about $180 million for top executives, who must stay four years.
The move sharpens Walmart's fight with Amazon for ad dollars. It is the retailer's biggest buy since it acquired TV maker Vizio for $2.3 billion in 2024, which it turned into a store brand.
Best Summer Binges
Streaming platforms are stacking July with buzzy new summer series, the kind built for beach and poolside binging. The lineup leans hard on star power and familiar titles getting fresh reboots.
Highlights include a "Legally Blonde" prequel with Reese Witherspoon producing (July 1), an Elin Hilderbrand Nantucket adaptation starring Jennifer Garner (July 9), and a Will Ferrell golf comedy (July 16).
The slate spans nostalgia and noir, from a higher-budget "Little House on the Prairie" remake to crime thrillers with Anya Taylor-Joy and Emmy Rossum. Most land across Netflix, Prime Video, Apple, and Hulu.
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The $10,000 problem hiding in your gutters
Your house is the most expensive thing you own, and it is quietly falling apart on a schedule. The catch is that almost every big repair starts as a small one you might miss:
The clogged gutter ignored in Fall sends water down the foundation all Winter.
The dryer vent nobody cleaned is the most common house fire there is.
The AC you never serviced dies in the first July heat wave, when every repair guy is booked.
None of this is hard. It is just easy to forget, because each job only matters once a season and then disappears from your mind until something breaks.
So the fix is not effort. It is a calendar. An hour a season beats a lost Saturday and a contractor's invoice every time.
Underrated summer trips on our radar
Travel expert Mark Ellwood went on TODAY with a trick he calls dupe destinations. Same logic as a skincare dupe: skip the famous, overpriced spot and book the lookalike that delivers most of the experience for a fraction of the cost and the crowds.
Here is where he is sending people to avoid the crowded, summer mark-up:
Grand Junction, Colorado (instead of Moab and Arches): Rattlesnake Canyon holds the second-largest concentration of natural arches in America, plus desert sunsets and bike jump tracks
Fredericksburg, Texas (instead of European wine country): old-world charm like the British countryside, a walkable downtown, and roughly 100 wineries across Texas Hill Country
Lake Charles, Louisiana (instead of Las Vegas): resort pools, tall towers, name-brand acts like Gladys Knight and Babyface, and a Gordon Ramsay Steak, all with a Cajun-Creole overlay Vegas can't touch
Shenandoah Valley, Virginia (instead of Napa): an official wine destination with about 20 wineries, bright acid-forward wines, lower prices, and far fewer crowds
TRENDING
5 Stories
▲ Mortgage rates could rise a quarter-point as the Fed pulls back its market guidance
▲ Carnival stock drops 7.3% after the Iran war disrupts European cruise bookings
▲ Town crier crowned world's loudest person, yelling "now" at 122.4 decibels
▲ Bill Gates names three women he had affairs with in Epstein testimony to Congress | Previous write-up
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John Mulaney on fatherhood, sobriety [Video]
Top 100 NBA players right now, ranked [List]
The great moon hoax of 1835 [Blog]
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