Billionaire spacewalk

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Happy Wednesday, party people. While it feels like we’ve been saying “Google that” for most of our lives, that phrase is starting to fall out of trend with younger people, at least according to Bernstein Research. Gen Z is instead choosing to actually say “searching” instead of “Googling.” As the tech giant faces yet another antitrust battle, it may also be facing a cultural one, too…

DAILY TOP TRENDS

SpaceX Sends Regular People On a Spacewalk

The private Polaris Dawn mission aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket took off yesterday after days of delays from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, sending astronauts to the furthest reaches they’ve traveled to since the last Apollo mission 50 years ago.

The Big Picture: Not only will the mission provide NASA and SpaceX invaluable data about the effects of space travel, it’s also the first step toward potential interplanetary travel.

Behind the Curtain: Shift4 Payments billionaire founder Jared Isaacman, retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Scott “Kidd” Poteet, and two SpaceX employees, engineer and astronaut trainer Sarah Gillis and mission control director Anna Menon, are now in orbit.

• They’ll be reaching a distance of 870 miles from Earth, where they’ll be able to gather data on how space radiation affects humans (there’s more radiation at higher altitudes).

• Isaacman and Gillis will conduct the first-ever commercial spacewalk (floating outside the capsule), while wearing SpaceX’s newly designed spacesuits.

• The mission will also test WiFi communication between the Falcon and Starlink’s constellation of satellites (Netflix and Orbit, anyone?).

The Future. These tests are crucial for future missions to the moon and Mars, and it’s wild the responsibility has been placed on non-governmental astronauts. But, we guess that’s what happens when space-enthusiast Isaacman has the willingness and the money to make it happen. If all goes according to plan, prepare for SpaceX to try to beat NASA to the moon.

Go Further: Elon Musk says that SpaceX plans to launch its first Mars mission in 2026. Take that with a big grain of salt, but here’s what the company is planning for its future colony.

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Yogurt Wants to Give Your Brain a Detox

Dairy brand Stonyfield is opening the lid on a promo called the “Toxic-Free Election Challenge” that will reward 100 customers with $1,000 if they commit to staying off social media for the month of October — a stunt to make the world a little less toxic.

Why It Hits: Buzzy marketing stunts are a dime-a-dozen, but the rise of paid challenges feels like the evolution of MrBeast’s effect on culture.

Between the Lines: So, how do people get their spoonful of this delicious cash?

• Participants can sign a pledge to stay off social media for all of October on the brand’s site. The company will then randomly select 100 people to give $1,000 to.

• No, Stonyfield won’t be monitoring your progress, opting instead for an honor system (because tracking a person’s social media usage would be next to impossible).

• Why October? Because it’s the month before the presidential election. While social media is always toxic, Stonyfield argues that the month before the election will likely be extra toxic. Full-fat toxicity, if we do say so ourselves.

The Future: Why does Stonyfield care about internet toxicity? The brand says that it’s a natural extension of its de-toxifying efforts overall. Fast Company notes that Stonyfield has spent a good deal of money removing pesticides and other toxins from playgrounds and public parks across the US for decades. In an era when authenticity is key, companies who creatively align products with activism (authentically, of course) may be the best at breaking through the noise.

Go Deeper: How toxic is social media, really? The US Surgeon General is calling on Congress to slap a warning on them.

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DEEP DIVES

• Read: Bloomberg explores how one product, the iPhone, allowed Apple to become the biggest company in the world… and how Apple is looking for its next revolutionary product.

• Watch: Complex’s Idea Generation profiles podcaster Joe Budden about how he became the defining voice in hip-hop media.

• Listen: WSJ discusses what it would look like for the US to have a sovereign wealth fund similar to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the country with the biggest of them all — Norway.

76.3% of you voted No in yesterday’s poll: Are you a Shopify user?

“Not even sure what it is (or does).”

“It’s easy and cuts through shopping hassle.”

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QUICK HITS

→ Entertainment / Media

📺 Disney wanted to give DirecTV customers the ability to watch yesterday’s presidential debate amid the companies’ carriage fight… but DirecTV rejected the free pass.

👔 CEO Lachlan Murdoch says that Fox is on the hunt for M&A targets five years after slimming down in a deal with Disney.

🎮 PlayStation debuted the price and release date for its next console, the PS5 Pro… which will have no disc drive.

→ Fashion / E-commerce

👗 Givenchy has hired Sara Burton, famous for outfitting everyone from Kate Middleton to Beyoncé, as its new creative director.

🎤 Luxury fashion houses are snapping up K-pop stars as their newest brand ambassadors.

🌷 Unilever is testing whether unsold flowers can be used as a replacement for chemicals in its brands’ fragrances.

→ Technology

🚗 BMW and Toyota are still bullish on bringing hydrogen-powered cars to market by 2028.

📱 Australia is considering bringing forward legislation that would ban anyone under the age of 16 from accessing social media.

💰 Whoops: X has to pay a former employee $600,000 after it dismissed him for not clicking yes on Elon Musk’s infamous “hardcore” email.