Good Morning. The World Cup has come to an end. Plus, can AI force universal basic income?, kayak vs superyacht mindset, and the science behind thunder (forwarded this email? Join 523k readers).
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TOP STORY TODAY
Spain Wins
Spain beat Argentina in extra time last night at MetLife Stadium to win the 2026 World Cup, their second title. Substitute Ferran Torres scored the winner in the second half of extra time (best photos from World Cup).
Argentina played the end of the match down a man after a red card reduced them to 10. The defending champions didn't register a shot attempt until the 117th minute, falling short of becoming just the third nation to repeat.
The loss may close Lionel Messi's World Cup career at 39, one title in six tournaments. Spain now holds the European and world crowns simultaneously, and attention shifts to 2030, co-hosted by Spain, Portugal, and Morocco.
America vs. AI
Two years after Elon Musk built his Colossus AI data centers in Memphis at record speed, the backlash has gone national. New York enacted a one-year moratorium on new AI data center construction this week.
The Memphis sites, now owned by SpaceX, run on natural gas turbines that nearby residents describe as torturous to live beside. New Jersey passed legislation forcing operators to pay their fair share of electricity costs instead of shifting them to residents.
The numbers explain the tension: renting capacity at Colossus brings in up to $2.32 billion monthly from Google and Anthropic, while a Gallup poll found seven in 10 Americans oppose local data centers.
Universal Basic Income
Nouriel Roubini, the economist nicknamed Dr. Doom for calling the 2008 crash, told Bloomberg TV Friday that universal basic income is inevitable. His reasoning: AI and robots will replace a large chunk of workers within 20 to 25 years.
Asked how to fix Social Security before its trust fund runs dry in 2032, Roubini said raising the retirement age won't cut it. He predicts AI-driven GDP growth hitting 6% by 2040 and 10% by 2050, with governments taxing the winners to fund everyone else.
The wilder part: he says governments may take stakes in tech firms directly, noting OpenAI has discussed handing over 5%. He calls all this optimistic.
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Matt Damon’s Workout for The Odyssey
Matt Damon is playing Odysseus in Nolan's The Odyssey, and the shirtless set photos broke the internet. Shredded at 54, with a bad back and a chronic shoulder problem.
Here's what most people miss: Damon doesn't lift heavy. His longtime trainer Jason Walsh built every transformation, from Bourne onward, on calisthenics. No barbell squats. No deadlifts. Weighted pull-ups, push-ups, single-leg squats, bear crawls, planks, and sprints on a VersaClimber.
The benchmark workout: 100 total pull-ups, two or three times a week, in as few sets as possible. Damon got to 30-plus per set.
The lesson for guys with old injuries and full calendars: you don't need a loaded bar to look like a Greek king. You need bodyweight mastery and brutal consistency.
The Control You're Chasing Doesn't Exist
Most of us are running the same quiet program: get the income right, get the systems right, get the kids' schedules right, and eventually life will feel like standing at the helm of a superyacht. Total command. Smooth water.
Writer Oliver Burkeman has a better metaphor. You're not captaining a yacht. You're in a kayak. The river is moving whether you like it or not, you don't control the current, and the only real skill is steering.
That sounds bleak until you realize it's a release. If control was never on the table, you can stop postponing your life until you achieve it. The dinner with your kids doesn't have to wait until the business is "handled." The business is never handled. Nobody's is.
The kayaker's advantage: he's paying attention to this stretch of river, right now, because that's the only place steering works. The imaginary yacht captain is always scanning the horizon and missing the water in front of him.
This is 1 of 28 daily ideas in Meditations for Mortals, a short book about acting before you feel ready.
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Fun Links
In a AI world, be different [Blog]
Why is thunder so damn loud? [Blog]
Death of the public sandbox [Blog]
Scroll until you fall asleep [Website]
“Elvis has left the building” [Origin]
Are robot umpires less biased? [Blog]
10 questions that make people like you [List]
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