New newsletter platform, who dis? Yesterday afternoon, we made the full migration to a new newsletter platform (shoutout, beehiiv!) that will make your news experience even more engaging and enjoyable. It offers a bunch of cool features, including live poll results, social media shareability, and in-line emojis 🙊. We are super excited, or, shall we say, 🥳!

Also.... from the Roca team to you: HAPPY THANKSGIVING! 

Enjoy the turkey, football, and 5G theories from Uncle Andy. We are so grateful for you, and will see you next Monday 🌊🌊

In today's edition:

• Truly poor execution

• Cup of courtroom bleach

• The first Thanksgiving

🔑 Key Stories

China Locking Down Cities

China is implementing some of its widest-ranging lockdowns yet as Covid-19 cases reach near-record levels

• Chinese leader Xi Jinping has staunchly supported a "zero-Covid" policy, which requires mass testing, vaccination, and lockdowns in response to outbreaks

• The policy has become contentious, though: Many in China say it's taking a major toll on China's economy

• China is now reporting 28,000+ cases a day, just shy of record highs and a number that appears poised to keep growing. Outbreaks have been reported in 3 of China's largest cities, and the government has responded by placing millions under lockdown

Dig Deeper

• On Sunday, China reported 3 Covid deaths – the country's first official Covid deaths since May. While by all indications China has experienced relatively few Covid cases and deaths, the truthfulness of its statistics is a matter of debate

Ronaldo Leaving Manchester United

Cristiano Ronaldo is parting ways with Manchester United

• Manchester United is one of the winningest clubs in the English Premier League, England's top men's soccer league

• Ronaldo — the most-followed person on Instagram — played for Manchester United from 2003-2009, winning the club 3 league titles and becoming a franchise legend. He left in 2009 before returning in 2021

• The team has since struggled, though, and in an interview last week, Ronaldo said he "doesn't respect" the coach and needs a "new challenge"

• On Tuesday, Ronaldo and the club mutually parted ways

Dig Deeper

• It is unclear where Ronaldo, 37, will land. He is currently playing for Portugal's national team in Qatar, which he hopes to lead to the country's first-ever World Cup victory

Alabama Governor: Pause Executions

Alabama's governor called for a pause and "top-down" review of the state's execution procedures

• The death penalty is legal in 27 states and at the federal level, although only 20 states actually use it

• Alabama executes via lethal injection. On Thursday, though, an execution attempt failed after prison staff failed to find a vein before a state-mandated deadline. Officials then called off the execution

• It was Alabama's second failed execution in 2 months and the third since 2018

• "For the sake of the victims and their families, we've got to get this right," Alabama's governor said

Dig Deeper

• “I simply cannot, in good conscience, bring another victim’s family to Holman [a prison that administers lethal injections] looking for justice and closure, until I am confident that we can carry out the legal sentence," Alabama's governor added

Twins Born From 30-Year-Old Embryos

An Oregon woman successfully birthed healthy twins from embryos frozen ~30 years ago

• The births break the previous record for longest-frozen embryos to be born (27 years)

• Embryos are fertilized eggs at their earliest stage of development. These particular embryos were fertilized in 1992 and kept frozen at -200°F (-128°C) before being inserted into the mother's uterus. An anonymous couple donated them

• "It doesn't seem like a sperm or an egg or embryo stored in liquid nitrogen experiences time," a doctor said

Dig Deeper

• "The decision... to adopt these embryos should reassure patients who wonder if anyone would be willing to adopt the embryos that they created 5, 10, 20 years ago," that doctor added

📊 Chart of the Day

No Degree, No Problem

The above are the only undergraduate colleges to have graduated more than 1 president

• Notable presidents who never graduated college include George Washington, Andrew Jackson, and Abraham Lincoln

• Of 46 US presidents, 11 received no degree (2 dropped out), 10 graduated from a public undergraduate college, and 25 graduated from a private college. 21 presidents have received a graduate degree

• President Joe Biden graduated from Delaware undergraduate and Syracuse law school; Donald Trump graduated from the University of Pennsylvania

🍿 Popcorn

ICYMI

• It is Win Day, my dudes: Saudi Arabia's King Salman declared Wednesday a public holiday to celebrate their unlikely win over Argentina in the World Cup

• Straight outta Covid: Ice Cube says he turned down $9M for an acting role that required a Covid vax, saying "I turned down the job cause I didn't want the motherf****ng jab"

• Atta boy, Tiger! Tiger Woods won the top prize in the PGA's "Player Impact Program" again, taking home $15M in cash. He hasn't played a round since July

Wildcard

• Cat's out of the bag: A TSA officer at JFK Airport in New York spotted a cat inside a traveler's luggage as it passed through a security scanner

• Freedom of bleach: A Florida man drank a cup of bleach in a Miami courtroom after the jury found him guilty of armed robbery. He was rushed to the hospital but is now okay

• We'll get you, leprechauns! Thieves stole Celtic coins worth several million dollars from a German museum after disrupting local telephone and internet connections

• Wine o'clock: Sip luxury wines from around the world with Wander + Ivy during the holidays. *This is a sponsored post

👇🏻 What do you think?

Today's Question:

What event in the news shaped your life as you know it?

Reply to this email with your answers!

See yesterday's results below the Wrap! 

🌯 Roca Wrap

Roca co-founder Max Frost's Colombia Roca Roadtrip series will resume on Monday!

On a March day in 1621, a Native American walked into one of the earliest English settlements in North America. To the astonishment of the settlers, he spoke English. His name was Tisquantum, or "Squanto."

Squanto was born around 1580 near present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts. Little is known about his early life, but historians generally agree he was a member of the Patuxet, a tribe in the Wampanoag confederation.

In 1614, Squanto was lured onto a ship and kidnapped by a group of English traders who intended to sell him into slavery in Spain. Spanish Franciscan monks intervened upon his arrival and bought him instead.

After a few years living with the monks, where it’s unclear what he did, he escaped to England. As a native who was much darker and taller than the locals, he became somewhat of a celebrity. He learned English, and befriended a prominent merchant who hired him as an assistant. In 1619, they traveled to modern day Canada, where Squanto met an English explorer with whom he traveled down the coast to his home, in modern day New England.

Upon arrival, Squanto found a tragedy: Plague had destroyed his village. “We arrived at my savage's native country (finding all dead),” the explorer he was with wrote. Between 1616 and 1619, a disease likely introduced by the British had decimated the Native American population.

Squanto ended up a captive of a local native village. After the pilgrims – English Puritan religious separatists – arrived on the Mayflower and settled nearby Plymouth in 1620, the English-speaking Squanto was sent as a translator. He negotiated a treaty on behalf of the local Wampanoag chief that established peace between the settlers and the Wampanoag.

Some natives branded Squanto a traitor who sold out to the British, and for that reason or others, he became even closer with the settlers. He taught them how to use fish for fertilizer, extract sap from maple trees, and plant beans and squash around corn, among other tricks. Reports from the time credit him with helping up to half the original pilgrims survive until spring.

In autumn 1621, after the pilgrims’ first successful corn harvest, the pilgrim governor planned a celebratory feast. He invited native allies, including Squanto, whom he reportedly introduced as the man who saved the settlement. Native Americans outnumbered pilgrims as much as 2 to 1 at the feast, which today we remember as the first Thanksgiving.

The treaty Squanto negotiated on behalf of the local tribes lasted 50 years, although it tarnished him as a traitorous, self-serving politician. He fell out with the natives and died soon after. Nevertheless, without him, Americans may not be celebrating Thanksgiving this Thursday.

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

🌊 Roca Clubhouse

Yesterday's Poll:

Do you prefer fruity gum flavors or minty ones?Fruity: 21.6%Minty: 78.4%

Yesterday's Question:

Who would play you in the movie of your life?

Michael from Texas: "Christopher Mintz-Plasse 'McLovin'"

Steven from Santa Clara: "A high school drama student that was never gonna make it. They wouldn’t be amazing, it would just capture the trainwreck thats my life."

Last week's 20 Q's Responses:

As we're off this Friday, we're showing you the results from last Friday's 20 Q's below. Last week, we did a Thanksgiving ratings edition, where we asked you to rank the following on a scale of 1-10:

1. Mashed Potatoes 8.2

2. Sweet potatoes 6.4

3. Turkey 7.4

4. Ham 5.8

5. Oldest eats first 4.5

6. Youngest east first 3.9

7. Political debates at the dinner table 2.3

8. Expressing gratitude out loud 7.6

9. Stepping outside for a walk before dinner 5.6

10. Pumpkin Pie 6.8

11. Apple Pie 7.1

12. Dressing up for thanksgiving dinner 5.1

13. Eating before 5pm 7.1

14. Falling asleep on the couch after eating 6.9

15. Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade 5.1

16. Clean up duty 5.1

17. Stuffing 7.5

18. Leftovers the next day 8.7

19. The airport the week before Thanksgiving 2.2

20. Reuniting with family 8

🧠 Final Thoughts

On this Thanksgiving, we can't thank you all enough for your support of Roca.

We wrote a similar message 2 years ago – and it went out to 1,000 people. Today's will go out to well over 200 times that. We're beyond appreciative for you all helping us live out our dreams.

Have a great Thanksgiving, go Bills, and see you on Monday.

Max and Max