After reviewing your thousands of responses to our community survey, Roca is hitting the road this week. Max T and intern Julian are heading to Georgia and Alabama for the first of many Roca Roadtrips this summer. To our readers in the Peach State and *checks Wikipedia* Yellowhammer State: Send recs for places, stories, or people to cover. The stranger, the better.

In today's edition:

• Bud Light dethroned as top beer

• I-95 bridge collapses

• Church Man

 🔑 Key Stories

Headset Wars

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg criticized Apple’s new headset at a company meeting on Thursday, Verge reported

• Meta controls 80% of the VR market through its “Quest” headsets, which sell for $300 to $1k

• On Tuesday, Apple unveiled “Vision Pro,” a $3.5k headset with eye and motion control; adjustable immersion; 3D video; and more

• Zuckerberg said Vision Pro is too expensive and anti-social. He said that in “every demo” of Vision Pro, people are sitting “on a couch by themself.” “That could be the vision of the future of computing, but…it’s not the one that I want,” he said

Unabomber Dead

Ted Kaczynski – the “Unabomber” – died on Saturday at age 81

• Kaczynski [kah-ZIN-skee] was a gifted student who attended Harvard at age 16. He went on to receive a Ph.D in math and work as an assistant professor

• He moved to a cabin in Montana, and from 1978 to 1995, he mailed 16 bombs across the US, killing 3 and injuring 23 others. He targeted businesspeople, academics, and random civilians; and wanted to cause society to collapse

• The FBI arrested Kaczynski in 1996 after identifying him through a manifesto published jointly by The Washington Post and The New York Times

• He was found unresponsive in his cell at 12:25 AM on Saturday. The cause of his death is being reported a suicide

Dig Deeper

• Kaczynski titled the manifesto “Industrial Society and Its Future.” It criticized technology, saying it made life unfulfilling, caused massive psychological suffering, and upended human society

• We’ll have a full Wrap on him soon

Miracle Colombian Survival

Colombia’s military rescued 4 Colombian children after 40 days lost in the Amazon rainforest

• On May 1, a small passenger airplane crashed in the Amazon. All 3 adults aboard died, but 4 children – ages 13, 9, 4, and 11 months – were missing

• Colombia’s military initiated a hunt to find them. Colombia’s president announced last month that they’d been found, but later said that was a mistake

• On Friday – 40 days after the crash – the military found all 4 children alive. They were near the crash site and said they survived by eating flour found on the plane and fruits the 13-year-old recognized in the jungle. All 4 are in good health

Dig Deeper

• The children are members of an indigenous tribe native to the Amazon. An indigenous advocacy group attributed their survival to their familiarity with the forest and survival skills that are “practiced from a very early age.” A Colombian official also credited the 13-year-old’s ​​“leadership and courage” for their survival

Bud Knight Dethroned?

In May, Modelo Especial surpassed Bud Light as the US’ best-selling beer

• AB InBev, the world’s largest beer company, sells Bud Light – the US’ best-selling beer for decades

• Bud Light has been facing a months-long boycott over a marketing campaign it ran with Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender influencer, earlier this year. That has caused its sales to plummet 20%+

• Per new data, in the 4 weeks ending May 28, Modelo Especial – sold in the US by a rival beer company – sold $333M worth of beer, up 15% from a year earlier. Bud Light meanwhile sold $297M, down 23% from 2022

Dig Deeper

• Data show that Bud Light is still this year’s best-selling beer in the US. The summer months – when beer sales usually peak – will likely determine whether it keeps that position or not

Give Dad the Gift of Skincare this Father's Day

Together with Jackfir

Choosing the right skincare products from the abundance of existing options can feel overwhelming. People want products that work. Plain and simple. Enter Jackfir:

• Charlie Razook founded Jackfir after he became fed up with trying to find effective men’s skincare products that were not filled with junk

• He noticed many skincare brands use chemicals — such as phthalates, sulfates, parabens, and synthetic fragrances — to help lower costs and extend shelf lives

• Fortunately, Jackfir is now shaking up men’s skincare and providing an alternative to the old-school, chemical-heavy skincare products

Dig Deeper

• Give dad a WORRY-FREE gift this Father's Day! Jackfir products are effective and free of harmful chemicals. Use code POPS20 for 20% off your order through June 18th

🍿 Popcorn

ICYMI

• Feel the Burnie: UFC legend Conor McGregor sent the Miami Heat mascot to the ER after punching him during a halftime promotion during the NBA Finals

• 23 and me: Novak Djokovic won the French Open, giving him his 23rd Grand Slam title. He now holds the record, having passed up Rafael Nadal’s 22

• City of combustible roads: A section of northbound I-95 in Philadelphia collapsed after a tanker caught fire underneath it. The overpass could take months to repair 

Wildcard

• Slant Francisco: The Millennium Tower in San Francisco is currently leaning more than 29 inches on the northwest corner. Engineers are trying to level the sinking skyscraper

• Are you not injured? 6 crew members for the Gladiator sequel are in the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after a stunt set them on fire

• Mermaid Man? A biomedical engineer named “Dr. Deep Sea” has emerged from the ocean after spending 100 days in an underwater hotel

👇 What do you think?

Today's Question:

What was the highlight of your weekend? Pictures are always welcome!

Reply to this email with your answers!

See yesterday's results below the Wrap! 

🌯 Roca Wrap

Pat Robertson had politics in his blood – and would change how American politics were done.

Robertson was born in Virginia in 1930. His father spent 33 years in Congress, 13 in the House and 20 as a Senator.

Robertson grew up in a conservative home, but wasn’t conservative himself: He drank, played poker, and had numerous girlfriends. He married a Catholic against the wishes of his evangelical parents – and when the marriage happened, she was already 6 months pregnant.

After graduating from college and serving as a Marine in Korea, Robertson graduated from Yale Law School. He failed the bar exam and gave up on law, though, opting for religion instead. While working on the 1956 Democratic candidate’s presidential campaign, Robertson experienced a revelation that led him to become a Baptist minister in Virginia.

In the 1950s, US media coined the term “televangelist” – a blend of the words “television” and “evangelist.” It referred to evangelical preachers who spoke to audiences over television. In the early 1960s, Robertson had the idea of creating a TV channel specifically for that.

Robertson bought a local Virginia TV station and rebranded it to the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN). The US’ first Christian television network, it featured him and others preaching.

The network struggled, though, and in 1966, Robertson made a plea to the audience: CBN needed $7,000 to operate. Would 700 people pledge $10 a month?

That event marked the start of “The 700 Club”: A weekday TV show that combined religious content with current events discussion.

As the show grew in popularity, Robertson grew rich – and CBN expanded.

The network moved into satellite broadcasting and Robertson struck deals to broadcast around the world, including in African countries in exchange for mining rights. He also founded a university, produced dozens of videos and books, and started a humanitarian organization.

Robertson developed a loyal audience – and many critics.

He criticized homosexuality, spoke harshly of non-Christians, predicted armageddon, and more. Millions of people watched him daily, though, 3M of whom signed a petition asking him to run for president in 1988.

Until that point, evangelical Christians were not a unified political force in US politics. But when Robertson launched his campaign in Iowa – the first primary state – he specifically targeted evangelical voters.

He called for a government run by “spirit-filled Christians,” saying, “I don’t think being a Christian means just spending time in the confines of the church, behind stained-glass windows, singing hymns.”

Robertson finished second in the Iowa caucus but dropped once it became clear George H. W. Bush would get the nomination. Yet his impact was felt: Evangelicals would be a political force from that point forward.

In the early 1990s, Robertson organized evangelical voters into the “Christian Coalition.”

Claiming 4M members and a $25M budget, it proved vital in helping elect a Republican. Congress in 1994, the first time that had happened in decades. Republicans have courted the evangelical vote in all elections since.

Robertson left the Christian Coalition in the late 1990s and focused on media. In 1997, he sold a Christian family TV network to Fox for $1.9B – netting his family $227M. That network later became ABC Family and eventually Freeform.

Robertson continued to attract both a devout following and heavy criticism.

Many evangelicals celebrated him for his preaching, role in politics, and humanitarian work. Critics blasted him for his opinions, such as calling homosexuality an “abomination,” saying feminism “encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians," and claiming 9/11 was punishment for American sinfulness.

Robertson died last Thursday at age 93. His life had an impact far beyond his own.

If you have thoughts, let us know at [email protected]!

 🌊 Roca Clubhouse

Yesterday's Poll:

What is the best way to 'read' a book?
Physical book: 73%
Digital book: 16%
Audiobook: 11%

Yesterday's Question:

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🧠 Final Thoughts

Roca Nation, we hope you had wonderful weekends. For those of you in Georgia and Alabama, please get in touch with us. We want to learn as much about your states as possible, and deliver some stories from them to our riders across the world.See you tomorrow!

—Max and Max