🌊 Madame FLOP

Just a few everyday heroes in Kansas City.

Shots were fired during the Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl parade in Kansas City, Missouri yesterday, killing one and injuring at least 15 others. Amid the horror of the scene, there was heroism from a few everyday people. Two Chiefs fans — Trey Lister and Paul Contreras — tackled one of the two suspects and held him down until the police arrived. With the man wrestling to get away, Trey Lister's wife Carey grabbed the gun off the ground. You've probably seen headline after headline about the tragedy, so we wanted to highlight this bravery, too. Sending prayers to Kansas City!

In today's edition:

And so much more!

–Max, Max, Jen, and Alex

KEY STORY
General Wins Indonesia Election

A former general implicated in kidnapping activists claimed victory in Indonesia’s presidential election

• Indonesia – the world’s 4th-most populous country – became a democracy in 1998 and is now a rising economic power that has sought to balance between the US and China

• Its current president is among the world’s most popular leaders but was limited from running for another term. He endorsed his defense minister, Prabowo Subianto, for the job 

• Subianto – a former general accused in the ‘90s of kidnapping and torturing democracy activists – claimed victory in elections held on Wednesday. Other candidates claimed the race was too early to call

Dig Deeper

• In 1998, Subianto was dishonorably discharged from the military due to credible allegations that he kidnapped and tortured pro-democracy activists. Roughly 13 of those activists remain missing, although Subianto denies any connection to them

• Subianto appointed the current president’s 36-year-old son as his vice presidential candidate, despite him being younger than the minimum age of 40. Last year, the current president’s brother-in-law, a judge, cast the deciding vote allowing his son to run

KEY STORY
Volkswagen Cars Impounded

US authorities have impounded thousands of Volkswagen cars over concerns they include parts produced in China through forced labor

• In 2021, the US limited the import of goods originating from Xinjiang, a region where the US alleges China is forcing Uyghurs to work without pay

• Per the Financial Times, Volkswagen – which owns Audi, Porsche, and Bentley – was recently notified by a supplier that an “electrical component” in its cars may have been sourced from Xinjiang

• Thousands of Volkswagen vehicles are now being held up in US ports as the company is switching out the contest part

Dig Deeper

• In a statement, Volkswagen said, “As soon as we received information of allegations regarding one of our sub-suppliers, we have been investigating the matter”

• Volkswagen is replacing the parts, but the current import backlog may take over a month to clear

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KEY STORY
The US’ “National Security Threat”

House Intelligence Chair Mike Turner (R-OH) called on President Biden to declassify information related to a “serious national security threat”

• Turner didn’t elaborate further, provoking fierce speculation over what the “security threat” could be

• Hours after his announcement, ABC News reported that the threat refers to Russia’s plans to put a nuclear weapon into space. The weapon wouldn’t be intended for use against targets on Earth, sources told ABC, but would instead be used against satellites

• Several lawmakers have backed Turner’s request that Biden declassify the information, although others have downplayed the immediacy of the threat, with one calling it a “long-standing” issue

Dig Deeper

• Officials told Reuters that the alleged nuclear weapon is not currently in space

• Some analysts speculated Turner drew light to the issue to encourage lawmakers to pass a spending bill that, among other things, would give $60 billion in aid to Ukraine

• Russia’s government backed that claim, accusing the US of “malicious fabrication” to “encourage Congress to vote on a bill to allocate money” to Ukraine

KEY STORY
Madame Web’s Flop?

Critics are calling Madame Web, Sony’s Spider-Man spinoff, one of the worst superhero movies ever

• In recent years, Sony has attempted to build a Spider-Man Universe based around spinoff characters and villains. That has had mixed success, although critics called its most recent film, Morbius, one of the worst superhero movies ever made

• Now, critics are saying Madame Web, which debuted Wednesday, is also one of the worst ever. USA Today called it the “worst superhero movie since Morbius”; Rolling Stone called it a “Chernobyl-level disaster”

Dig Deeper

• The movie follows a protagonist, Cassie (played by Dakota Johnson), who uses mysterious psychic spider-powers to protect three women from the movie’s villain, Ezekiel

• As of writing, its critic score is 15% and its audience score is 59% on Rotten Tomatoes

RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office

💰 Jeff Bezos – Amazon’s executive chairman, founder and ex-CEO – has sold 24M shares – $4B worth – of Amazon stock in the past week. He remains Amazon’s largest shareholder, with about 9% of its stock

🏈 Shots were fired near the end of the Kansas City Chiefs’ victory parade in downtown Kansas City, Missouri on Wednesday. At least one person is dead and up to 15 injured – five seriously. Two individuals are in custody

🗽 Democrat Tom Suozzi won former Representative George Santos’s congressional seat. His victory narrows Republicans’ House lead to 219 to 213

🚗 Thousands of Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash drivers went on strike on Wednesday, refusing to complete drives to airports in 10 major cities. The strike was directed against what drivers described as corporate greed

🇮🇱 Israel declined to send a delegation to Egypt to continue peace talks with Hamas, citing the group’s “delusional” demands. Hamas wants the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza in return for the release of all hostages

📈 Over successive days, US chipmaker Nvidia surpassed Amazon and Alphabet (Google’s owner) in market capitalization. Nvidia is now the US’ third-most valuable company by market cap, behind Microsoft and Apple

COMMUNITY
Weekly Debate

Most news companies repress ideas they don’t agree with. We are different. To prove it, we’re making this a place where people can have a free and open debate. Each week we lay out a debate on Monday — read this week’s Roca Votes here — and feature responses here, replies to those the following day, and so on.

This week’s topic:

Do you think there is anyone — past or present — who should inherently be “off limits” from a media interview? 

Here are some reader responses to VB and Joe:

David from Washington, DC: “I disagree with VB regarding Tucker Carlson's interviewing Putin, who left him waiting for 2hrs. There was no Truth but propaganda. This is a dictator leading his country, in which he started, with a war against one of our allies. This softball interview gave Putin a voice to the Western world & this is inherently bad journalism. We must be talking with NATO leaders about the threat of Russia.”

Robert from Richmond, Virginia: “In response to Joe from Canada, While Putin may have access to X and Facebook and the radio, you have to search for his content. And I don’t know of anyone who follows Putin on X. But plenty of Americans follow Tucker, so giving Putin a voice by proxy is the next best thing. I believe that everyone’s voice should be heard. If they say something so profoundly idiotic, let them. Only then will you know they’re dumb. So interview people who you don’t agree with, people you think are dumb. If they can hold their own in debate then reflection of one’s own ideas might be necessary.”

Do you agree or disagree with the responses above? Have more thoughts? Keep the conversation going and let us know and respond by replying to this email! 

More replies below the Wraps.

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COMMUNITY
Treasure Hunt

Today marks the return of the weekly Roca treasure hunt, brought back by popular demand. The rules are simple:

• Every day we give a hint. You get one guess, which you submit by replying to a newsletter with a Google street view screenshot

• Unlock an extra hint each Thursday once you refer five friends

• The first person to guess the answer wins this week’s prize: A free year of Roca premium!

Clue 1: Bill opened his window for the first time

Clue 2: But it wasn't his window that got the diagnosis

Clue 3: C6H12O6

Clue 4: A fateful find for a toilet read

Bonus clue: Unlocked after five referrals!

Know the answer? Send a street view screenshot to [email protected]!

POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour

✈️ Maggots on a plane: A Delta flight from Amsterdam to Detroit returned to Amsterdam after maggots originating from a suitcase with rotten fish in the overhead bin fell on passengers

🏰 Unionest place on Earth: Disneyland performers such as Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy want to join the Actor’s Equity Association, a union that represents an array of performers

🐢 How’d you get there, Fluffy? A British dog walker found Fluffy, an alligator snapping turtle, and took it to the vet. This invasive species is the largest freshwater turtle and has the ability to bite through bone

✌️ Podcast or no podcast? UFC CEO Dana White abruptly left popular TV personality Howie Mandel’s podcast before his interview began, despite Mandel’s initial praise

🚻 That’s enough potty: WestJet removed a traveler from a flight for using the bathroom excessively before takeoff. The passenger – a journalist and author – shared on X that she “had an upset stomach”

⭐️ Cornhole prodigies? Two Colorado high school athletes made history as the country’s first Division I five-star cornhole recruits, earning scholarships to play for Winthrop University in South Carolina

ON-THE-GROUND
Roca in Liberland

We send our co-founder Max Frost to investigate topics around the world and he writes about them here. He’s currently writing from Liberland. Subscribers receive the full stories.

One image from Liberland made the greatest impression on me.

It was that of a 30-something-year-old British man decked out head-to-toe in forestry gear heading into the forest. There was nothing for miles and the man, who asked not to be identified, must have been carrying over 100 pounds of gear. He had come to settle the land, and he was serious about doing so.

He had arrived at Liberland around 31 days prior, but moments after his arrival, Croatian police intercepted him. Because he’s from the UK – which is not in the Schengen Area that lets many European countries’ people work and live freely across the continent – he was eligible for deportation. The police took him to a station in the middle of nowhere, ordered him to leave the country, and left him on the side of the road to walk the miles back to town. To further dissuade him from returning, they gave him a 30-day ban. 

But 31 days later, he was back, and this time he was determined to follow through. 

The man was an ardent believer in decentralization: He won’t use any Big Tech-related products, including anything linked to Google or Facebook. He wants money to be based on the blockchain, minimal government, and decentralized social media and news. The pursuit of that ideal – a world free of government or corporate surveillance and control – led him to Liberland. 

Ironically, after an hour or so of being with him, he told me that he had been recording me the whole time on a video camera built into his glasses. 

He spoke of the “landmarks” around the island like a New Yorker may speak of the Brooklyn Bridge. Among them was “Jefferson Square,” the first Liberland settlement and a testament to Thomas Jefferson, on whose birthday Liberland was formed. This man seemed to envision himself in the same line of freedom-loving settlers to which Jefferson and Liberland’s founder belonged. That feeling was now driving him to spend a month trying to build his own settlement deep in the woods. 

With regards to deportation, I almost ended up like that man.

While we were successfully smuggled into Liberland and evaded all police and border patrol, shortly after arriving at the island a group of police pulled up on a boat. They took everyone’s passports and when they saw mine was American, they demanded to know how I got there. Our smugglers had told us in advance not to say anything if the police arrived. 

“We hitchhiked,” I said. 

“Hitchhiked?”

“Yes.”

“From where?”

“Osijek.”

“With whom?”

“I don’t know.”

“To where?”

“A field. Then I walked using Google maps.”

“You walked here?” They couldn’t believe it.

“Yes.”

They turned to Trey, the American videographer I was with. 

“Where did you get dropped off?”

“A field.”

The police talked among themselves in Croatian. Someone later told me they were trying to understand how we had gotten in: To their knowledge, no one had ever been smuggled into Liberland without their knowing. They pulled our smuggler aside and demanded he tell them what happened but he said he had nothing to do with it. 

In the end, the police gave us our passports back.

“Leave tonight. If you’re here when we come back, you’ll have a problem.”

A few minutes later, we saw the police still standing on the edge of the island talking on the phone, apparently to their boss. In the end they shrugged and walked away. 

The Liberlanders had wanted to escape an annoying and hostile government. Not even on their own island could they pull it off.

ROCA WRAP
Amelia Earhart: Lost or Found? (Part 2 of 2)

Every day we take a deep dive into an interesting story, place, or person. Subscribers get full access.

Nobody knows exactly what happened to Amelia Earhart.

Many researchers, including Romeo, Deep Sea Vision’s CEO, support the “water-landing” theory, which posits that Earhart ran out of fuel over the Pacific and, with no land in sight, conducted an emergency water landing.

Citing the strength of the radio signals that reached operators on Howland Island, that theory’s proponents believe Earhart landed relatively close to the island. The US Navy endorsed that theory, as did many other Earhart researchers who Roca spoke with.

Yet others disagree, arguing that evidence suggests Earhart emergency landed in a different area or on a completely different island. One Earhart researcher told Roca he would have expected the plane to have crashed at a different location around Howland Island than where Romeo’s team claimed to have found it.

Meanwhile, the director of The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) told Roca there is no way Romeo found the plane: “We know what happened to Earhart,” he said.

TIGHAR Director Ric Gillespie argues that Earhart miscalculated her approach to Howland and ultimately landed on Gardner Island, ~400 miles to the south. He bases that claim on an old photograph he claims shows the landing gear of an Electra jutting out of the water near Gardner. A forensic pathologist who examined diagrams of bones found on that island concluded they matched Earhart better than 99% of other individuals.

Gillespie also believes that numerous radio transmissions made in the days after Earhart’s disappearance – which critics claim were hoaxes – were actually from her on Gardner Island.

Gillespie told Roca that beyond his disagreement with Romeo about what happened to the plane, the sonar image has an obvious problem: It appears to show a plane with swept wings, a wing type that connects to the fuselage at an angle. By contrast, Earhart’s Electra’s wings were perpendicular to the fuselage.

He and others argue the sonar image looks more like a World War II or Korean War-era plane than an Electra, although there are no known records of such planes crashing in that area.

David Jourdan, the president of a deep-sea exploration company that has mounted three previous searches for Earhart’s plane, reiterated that concern. He told Roca that although he believes Earhart’s plane crashed near Howland, he is concerned by the fact that the wings appear swept. He added that there are “a few features we’d expect to see but are not seeing” in the sonar image, such as engines.

Romeo acknowledged the sonar image appears to depict a plane with swept wings but said that appearance could be caused by sonar distortions.

To verify that claim, Roca spoke with Larry Meyer, the director of the Center for Coastal & Ocean Mapping and one of the US’ foremost sonar experts.

Meyer explained to Roca that any number of factors, including ocean depth, ocean temperature, and the angle of the AUV to the target could cause sonar distortions. That means that Romeo’s sonar image could theoretically be Earhart’s plane, although it could just as likely be a pile of rocks. Meyer concluded that without further investigations, it’s impossible to establish a clear picture.

Romeo told Roca he and his team plan to return to the alleged crash site later this year or next, possibly with a documentary crew. He has not disclosed the sonar image’s location, saying only that it is “within 100 miles of Howland Island.”

Has Romeo found the long-lost plane, or does the mystery of Earhart’s disappearance remain?

Reply to this email to let us know what you think!

ROCA WRAP
Amelia Earhart: Lost or Found? Part 2 of 2

Every day we take a deep dive into an interesting story, place, or person. Subscribers get full access.

Nobody knows exactly what happened to Amelia Earhart.

Many researchers, including Romeo, Deep Sea Vision’s CEO, support the “water-landing” theory, which posits that Earhart ran out of fuel over the Pacific and, with no land in sight, conducted an emergency water landing.

Citing the strength of the radio signals that reached operators on Howland Island, the theory’s proponents believe Earhart landed relatively close to the island. The US Navy endorsed that theory, as did many other Earhart researchers who Roca spoke to.

Yet others disagree, arguing that evidence suggests Earhart emergency landed in a different area or on a completely different island.

One Earhart researcher told Roca he would expect the plane to have crashed at a different general location near Howland than where Romeo’s team claimed to have found it.

Meanwhile, the director of The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) told Roca there is no way Romeo found the plane: “We know what happened to Earhart,” he said.

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COMMUNITY
Roca Reader Takes

On Monday we asked: Do you think there is anyone — past or present — who should inherently be “off limits” from a media interview? 

Beth from New York: “Those running for public office should be required to be interviewed without exception. It would be their prerogative to answer the questions or not, but the questions should be asked.”

Nicole from Cedar Rapids, Iowa: “In response to Joe from Canada:  Yes, Putin can talk on FaceBook.  He can go on there and tell the entire world whatever it is he wants to.  (Barring any censorship, but that is a separate conversation.) However, human communication is not just the words that people say.  It is the manner in which they say it, including but not limited to: tone of voice, facial expressions, body language.  You cannot tell any of that through a FaceBook post.  Maybe you could if it was a video post.  But also- human communication is through how people respond and interact with others.  Behind a camera, you can craft exactly what you want portrayed and have the luxury of thinking about every single gesture.”

We also polled you to ask: Was it moral or immoral of Tucker Carlson to interview Russian President Vladimir Putin?

Here’s the audience breakdown:

Moral: 53% | Immoral: 30% | Unsure: 17%

With perspectives shared from each side:

Moral: “Regardless of how you feel about Putin, he is the president of Russia. As head of the Russian government, people should hear what he has to say”

Immoral: “Just an ego trip for him. Putin is the enemy and should not be given any air time”

Unsure: “Whether a behavior is moral or immoral is dependent upon the intention of the doer, not the spectator, so the question asked is not useful”

EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts

After reading our two-part series on Amelia Earhart, let us know: Has Romeo found the long-lost plane, or does the mystery of Earhart’s disappearance remain?

We’ll be sure to keep you posted on Romeo’s final conclusion.

See you tomorrow, Roca!

— Max, Max, Jen and Alex