Good Morning. Something happened between 2020 and 2025 that had never happened before in history. Plus, Chris Bumstead’s diet rules, Zuck’s secret White House call, and Labor Day travel times (first time? Join 523,000 Betterists here).
Yesterday’s most clicked link: War is raising the price of money.
TOP STORY TODAY
More Seniors Than Babies
People over 65 now outnumber children under five worldwide, for the first time in recorded history. The Census Bureau put the crossing between 2020 and 2025, and projects it to widen for decades.
The 65-and-over population goes from 853 million to 2 billion by 2060, more than half of all net population growth on Earth. The US ages too, but falls from 48th-oldest country to 110th.
On the bright side: the cause is fewer deaths in infancy and midlife, one of the last century's real achievements. That said: the report projects life expectancy rising faster than healthy life expectancy. Why the report calls this an asset.
Zuck’s White House Call
A senior White House official says Mark Zuckerberg told President Trump he opposed a plan for a national AI regulator, on a private call the week of August 17. Meta declined to comment.
The plan would create an industry-funded body modeled on the securities regulator FINRA, testing advanced models before release. Google's Demis Hassabis proposed it in July. Zuckerberg wrote in August that any delay costs ground against China.
The idea survived the call and remains under consideration, alongside a lighter version modeled on the movie ratings board. Sam Altman and Elon Musk have both called the original proposal a reasonable starting point. His rivals are not with him.
Ford’s $30K EV Truck
Ford's electric pickup, the Fathom, starts at $28,350 plus a $1,595 destination charge, or $29,945 delivered. A gas Maverick runs $28,840 delivered, so the electric version costs about $1,100 more.
Every one comes BlueCruise capable, meaning the hands-free highway hardware is standard rather than a trim upgrade. It seats five, has a frunk and a bed, and Ford says more passenger room than a RAV4. Ford’s spec sheet.
Ford has not published range, battery size, charging speed, towing, or payload. Pre-orders open in early 2027, with deliveries later that year, from a Kentucky plant backed by about $5 billion. What is confirmed and what isn't.
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The Trip You Take at 80 Isn't The One You Take at 25
Most people save the hard trips for retirement. That is backwards.
20s: Backpack Europe. Hostels and night trains are only fun before your back hurts.
30s: Japan. Your first trip where nothing is familiar, including how to order lunch.
40s: Peru and Bolivia. Machu Picchu and the world's largest salt flat.
50s: Iceland. One week covers the whole island. Short flight, enormous landscape.
60s: South Africa. Kruger for the safari, Cape Town for the wine.
70s: A Danube river cruise. Somebody else handles every logistic.
80s: Rocky Mountaineer, Banff to Vancouver, all of it under a glass roof.
Sort your list by what your body can do, not by what your calendar allows. The order matters more than the destinations. Read more on each location here.
Mr. Olympia’s Diet Advice Isn't About Food
Chris Bumstead won six Olympia titles on a diet he describes as starvation. He does not recommend anyone copy it, including himself. What he does recommend is three things that cost nothing.
Sleep first. Lose an hour and your willpower drops. He says the harder the goal, the more your sleep decides whether you reach it.
Then systems over discipline. In prep he knew exactly what he was eating and when, every day. Removing the decision meant he needed less willpower to make it.
Then a ten-minute walk after every meal. Blood sugar, cravings, cortisol. He says most people spend those ten minutes on their phone.
His own warning: a diet too hard to follow is worse than an easier one you actually finish.
Also in the video: why he napped every morning during prep (5:07), the hotel floor that smelled like fish for a week (8:31), and the one thing he says makes cheat meals backfire (10:46).
TRENDING
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▲ $11M dollars separates Apple's CEO from the man who used to be | What a chairman usually gets
▲ Gloria Steinem died at 92, six decades after going undercover as a Playboy Bunny | The story that made her famous
TOGETHER WITH CASHAPP
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Fun Links
Best / worst times for Labor Day travel [Blog]
Some one-star airport reviews [Blog]
Tinfoil dinner for campfire cooking [Recipe]
7 grooming rules you can break [List]
How do record players actually work? [Blog]
Michael B. Jordan as Thomas Crown [Trailer]
…vs. Pierce Brosnan vs. Steve McQueen
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