Whole Lotta Potter

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It’s Wednesday, FutureParty people. We know that many of you were up late last night watching the votes come in, so we propose a new American holiday: Free Coffee Day. Every American should be allowed to trade in their “I Voted” stickers to participating coffee shops for a fresh cup. We all need it.

DAILY TOP TRENDS

Warner Bros. Discovery Wants More Potter Magic

WBD is ramping up a slate of Harry Potter-themed shows, games, and experiences to turn the franchise into a constantly expanding moneymaker for generations to come.

The Big Picture: WBD’s market cap has been on a major downslide for years, thanks to a heavy debt load. So, the company needs hits… and fast. By squeezing every drop of opportunity out of the Potterverse and similar beloved IP, WBD could take a big step towards reversing its fortunes… if audiences show up.

Behind The Scenes: Prepare for a lot of Potter.

• The cooking show Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking, hosted by James and Oliver Phelps (Fred and George Weasley), drops on Food Network and Max next week.

• Several AAA and mobile video games have recently dropped (or are in development), including a sequel to Hogwarts Legacy — the best-selling video game last year.

• A Ministry of Magic world will be a huge part of Universal Studios’ new Epic Universe theme-park expansion, which opens in May.

• The biggest bet is a new Harry Potter series created by Succession alum Francesca Gardiner for HBO that will premiere in 2026. Each season will cover one of the books.

Closing Credits: This isn’t the first time that Warner Bros. has tried to expand the Wizarding World. The J.K. Rowling-penned Fantastic Beasts series sort of fizzled out (the controversial Rowling is informed of new projects, but not really creatively involved anymore). Still, WBD knows there’s a lot of Potter love still out there and hopes that building the IP across its narrative and lifestyle channels will be a winning combination. Prepare for the marketing campaign for the new 2026 show to be the biggest in the company’s history.

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Japan Launches A Satellite Made Of Wood

Japanese scientists sent the first-ever satellite made of wood into orbit on Monday. Its success could revolutionize the space-engineering industry.

Why It Flies: The satellite space race is in full swing, putting more man-made objects into orbit than ever. Finding a way to make satellites more sustainable could be a game-changer for both company checkbooks and the Earth’s environment.

Between The Fibers: After getting the sign-off from NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, the wooden satellite, dubbed “LignoSat,” launched aboard a SpaceX rocket from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center en route to the ISS.

• The small cube-shaped satellite was developed by Koji Murata, a professor of forest and biomaterials science at Kyoto University, in partnership with renowned timber company Sumitomo Forestry.

• It was made of magnolia — a lightweight wood that’s resistant to cracking — in the “sashimono” technique, which uses “intricate joints instead of screws, nails, or glue,” per NYT. It also contains small plastic and silicon parts to hold “an array of electronics.”

• The satellite will be deployed into orbit in early December, where it’ll send data back to Earth on how the wood is responding to the harsh environment — extreme temperature swings, a loss of moisture — before it burns up in the atmosphere after six months.

The Future: Using a material as worldly as wood seems crazy. But, after months of research and testing, wood seems to handle cosmic rays and solar particles pretty well, while not deforming and decomposing as you might expect. That’s great news, because metal satellites release a lot of ozone-damaging pollutants when they burn up in the atmosphere. Wood, on the other hand, just produces water vapor and CO2 — basically breathing. If the LignoSat experiment is successful, logging could become an important industry for interplanetary travel.

Go Woodier: The skyscrapers of the future are even being made of wood.

DEEP DIVES

• Listen: Big Take dives into how the world waits with bated breath to see who wins the US presidential election.

• Watch: Blumhouse founder and CEO Jason Blum undergoes the Hot Ones gauntlet… live, onstage at Bloomberg’s Screentime event.

• Read: NYT delves into the amazingly intricate reproduction of WW2-era London created for Steve McQueen’s upcoming Apple movie, Blitz.

53.8% of you voted Yes in yesterday’s poll: Have you ever leaned on financial support from loved ones for a major purchase?

“Student loans are a hefty thing to handle alone.”

“My parents and my wife’s mom helped us with the down payment on our first house.”

“Literally this year to help with getting a pre-owned car. The prices have gone crazy.”

“At the rate the housing market is going vs. wages, we would never have come close to buying a house without help.”

“But I’m Gen X, and homes and cars used to cost much less. I was also raised to save most of my paycheck.”

Let’s keep the conversation going. Join our Poll Of The Day newsletter so your opinions can shine. Discover how your views line up with your peers’, check out cool insights, and have some fun. It’s data with personality.

QUICK HITS

→ Entertainment / Media

📺 LeBron James’ SpringHill is in merger talks with unscripted giant Fulwell 73, the producer of The Kardashians.

💻 Netflix is deep-sixing all but four of its interactive titles. But, yes, you can still watch Black Mirror: Bandersnatch.

👔 Becoming an assistant in Hollywood is harder than ever.

→ Technology

👓 Apple may enter the AR glasses market to catch up with Meta… and change the narrative from the Vision Pro.

🤖 OpenAI hired Caitlin Kalinowski, the former head of Meta’s AR glasses hardware team, to build out its robotics arm.

🚗 Elon Musk has officially hit the brakes on Tesla ever making an EV that’ll only cost $25,000… unless it’s fully autonomous.

→ Creator Economy

🎥 Sony broke the record for most comments on a single TikTok with a video for its latest release, Venom: The Last Dance.

🎤 Fortnite is collabing with Snoop Dogg to take its concert series to the next level.

📱 Substack is giving out free subscriptions to get people to download its mobile app.