With the first roadtrip of the summer in the books, we would like to give a shoutout to all Roca Riders who helped us make our way around the great states of Georgia and Alabama. A special shoutout goes to our reader Anna, who gave us a tour of her hometown and then introduced us to a local witch (no joke), who told us the town's ghost stories. Stay tuned for reports from the road and please start making witch connections for our trip to your state!

Also, for those keeping score: Southern BBQ 1, Max T’s desire to get a beach bod 0.

In today's edition:

• Another Titanic disaster?

• Pop star hit by phone on stage

• The grandmother of Juneteenth

 🔑 Key Stories

Blinken Goes to China

Chinese President Xi Jinping said that “very good” progress was made during talks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, however major issues between the countries remain unresolved

• Blinken is the first US secretary of state to visit China in 5 years. He planned to meet with Xi earlier in 2023, but that was canceled after the spy balloon incidents

• Blinken said his conversations with Chinese officials were “candid” and “productive,” while Xi said they “made progress”

• All major issues remain unresolved, however the sides agreed to meet again in the US later this year

Dig Deeper

• During talks with Chinese officials, Blinken reportedly brought up issues surrounding the war in Ukraine, North Korea, Taiwan, human rights, and more. Blinken said the officials promised not to arm Russia and to restore some high-level talks, but refused other proposals, such as direct military-to-military communication to avoid accidents

Titanic Tourist Submersible Missing

A submersible went missing near the Titanic wreck on Monday, setting off a search and rescue operation

• The Titanic sank on April 15, 1912 after hitting an iceberg on its maiden voyage. In 1985, its wreck was found 12,500 feet underwater 370 miles off the coast of Canada

• OceanGate Expeditions is a private company that has led expeditions to the Titanic since 2021. It uses a submersible to take guests to the wreck. It said on Monday that its submersible had disappeared with 5 people on board

• The US Coast Guard is organizing a search and says they have up to 96 hours to find it

Dig Deeper

• Best-case scenario, the submersible is on the ocean surface; worst-case scenario, the ocean's pressure has caused it to implode. Those on board include a British billionaire, the company's CEO, and one of Pakistan's richest men

Spotify’s Royal Beef

A Spotify executive called Harry and Meghan “f*cking grifters” after their contract with the company fell through

• In December 2020, Harry and Meghan signed a 3-year, $20M deal to make several podcast series for Spotify

• The couple released just one series, and last Thursday, they and Spotify announced a “mutual agreement” “to part ways.” They reportedly won’t get paid the full $20M, because they didn’t meet obligations

• On Friday, Bill Simmons – who sold his podcast network to Spotify in 2020 and became the company’s head of podcast innovation and monetization – called the couple “f*cking grifters”

Dig Deeper

• Last week, Spotify’s former chief economist told the BBC that Harry and Meghan likely earned more from Spotify than the Weeknd did from “Blinding Lights,” the platform’s most-streamed song

CBD Found in Shrub

A Brazilian researcher discovered the compound CBD in a Brazilian shrub unrelated to marijuana

• Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of the active ingredients in cannabis. It does not cause a high, however some claim it has physical and mental health benefits

• On Thursday, a Brazilian researcher announced that his team had discovered CBD in a common Brazilian shrub known as Trema micrantha blume. The shrub grows widely and is considered a weed

• The researcher said it could be a cheaper CBD source. He described it as a “legal alternative to using cannabis [for CBD]”

Dig Deeper

• Brazil’s government recently awarded that team of researchers $104,000 to research the plant and CBD’s health effects. That is expected to take at least 5 years. The team hasn’t published its discoveries in an accredited journal yet

🍿 Popcorn

ICYMI

• Make that A-no-ha: New York and Honolulu are the 2 US cities where a $250k salary is worth the least. A new report claims that when adjusting for the cost of living, a $250k salary is worth roughly $82k in both cities

• Me, myself, and OW: Pop star Bebe Rexha was rushed off stage after a fan threw a phone at her. The fan has since been arrested, and Rexha posted that she’s fine

• LeRatings: NBA playoff viewership hit a 5-year high despite lackluster ratings in the Finals. The Miami Heat - Boston Celtics series set records for TNT

Wildcard

• Ahh, that’s where it went: United Airlines workers at San Francisco International Airport made as much as $10k per week stealing pot from checked luggage, according to feds

• Flamin’ hot cheaters? The White House screened a documentary on the origin story of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. The story goes that a janitor invented them, but records suggest it’s a hoax

• Bill to limit the Bills: Norway's government proposed a bill that would require large and mid-size companies to have boards comprised of at least 40% women

👇 What do you think?

Today's Question:

What is one thing you would never pay the cheaper option for?

Reply to this email with your answers!

See yesterday's results below the Wrap! 

🌯 Roca Wrap

The expansion of slavery was among the hottest topics in 1854 US politics. 

The Republican Party was created that year to, among other things, oppose the expansion of slavery. In 1860, an Illinois lawyer named Abraham Lincoln received the party’s presidential nomination. Southern states threatened to secede if he won.

Lincoln did win, and by February 1861, 11 states had seceded and formed the Confederate States of America. Lincoln took power in March; a month later, Confederate forces bombarded Fort Sumter, a Union outpost in South Carolina, starting the Civil War.

Lincoln considered slavery a “monstrous injustice,” but he believed the government only had the right to stop its expansion, not eliminate it where it already existed. Those views shifted during the Civil War, though, and he pursued abolition as a tool to defeat the Confederacy.

On January 1, 1863, Lincoln read the final Emancipation Proclamation: “All persons held as slaves" within the Confederacy "are, and henceforward shall be free". But the Union couldn’t enforce that in territories outside of its control.

The Union emancipated the slaves as it advanced through the South. Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered on April 9, 1865, however rebellions continued elsewhere, including in Texas. On June 19, 1865, Union forces arrived in Galveston, Texas, and brought the news of emancipation to the state’s slaves.

While pockets of slavery continued to exist after that date, June 19th came to commemorate the emancipation of the US’ slaves.

On June 19, 1939 – 74 years after the first Juneteenth – a white mob burned down Opal Lee’s home. Lee was a 12-year-old living in Fort Worth, Texas, where her family had recently moved into a predominantly white neighborhood.

The event had a profound impact on Lee, who would dedicate her life to make Juneteenth a federal holiday. Lee spent her career as a teacher and school counselor. When she retired in 1976, she focused on activism.

She organized Juneteenth celebrations, took officials on tours through Fort Worth’s poorest neighborhoods, and campaigned to make Juneteenth a federal holiday. She was certain she would succeed: "It's going to be a national holiday, I have no doubt about it.” “My point is: Let's make it a holiday in my lifetime.”

To draw awareness to her efforts, Lee began an annual 2.5-mile walk to symbolize the 2.5 years it took for the Emancipation Proclamation to reach Texas.

Her walks drew attention, and in September 2016 – at age 89 – she set out for the White House.

Lee walked 2.5 miles each morning and afternoon. She reached Washington, DC in January, hoping President Obama would make Juneteenth a federal holiday – but he did not.

As protests swept the US in 2020, Lee circulated a petition to make Juneteenth a federal holiday. It received 1.6M signatures, and a year later – in June 2021 – Congress voted to make it a federal holiday.

Lee sat in the front row at the ceremony where President Biden signed it into law. Biden gifted her the first pen he used to do so, saying, “Over the course of decades, she’s made it her mission to see that this day came.”

The 96-year-old is known today as the “Grandmother of Juneteenth.”

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

 🌊 Roca Clubhouse

Yesterday's Poll:

If more than 30 seconds have passed, is it still permissible to say "bless you" after someone sneezes?
Yes: 37%
No: 63%

Yesterday's Question:

Just 20 Qs!

🧠 Final Thoughts

Happy Tuesday, all. We hope you had great, ideally long, weekends. And shoutout again to the Roca Dads – several of whom asked us why the dad jokes we included on Friday weren't funny...

—Max and Max