🌊 All That Glitters Is Gold

On Today’s Episode of “This Day in History”….

We bring you the Great Fires of 1871. From October 8 through October 10, wildfires claimed thousands of lives and destroyed millions of acres across the upper Midwest. Although the deadliest fire was in Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the most famous one struck Chicago: The Great Chicago Fire claimed about 300 lives while destroying over three square miles of the city, including more than 17,000 buildings. For many years, a cow belonging to a woman named Mrs. O’Leary was blamed for it.

Later it was learned that a reporter made up that story. Jeez, what did Mrs. O’Leary ever do to that guy? Or, hell, what did they cow do? They clearly had… beef.

We feature our new video on forgotten Florida at the bottom of today’s newsletter. Hope you enjoy.

–Max and Max

KEY STORY

Gold Rises Above $4,000

On Tuesday, gold futures surpassed $4,000 per troy ounce (ounce used for precious metals) for the first time, as investors sought safe-haven assets

• Gold traditionally serves as a refuge during periods of economic and political uncertainty. The US government shutdown, which stretched into its second week, deprived investors of crucial economic data needed to assess the economy’s health

• President Trump's trade policies and tariffs contributed significantly to the gold rally throughout the year, with the precious metal gaining approximately 50% since January. Concerns about America's creditworthiness emerged after Moody's downgraded the US credit rating earlier this year

• Goldman Sachs raised its gold price forecast to $4,900 per ounce by the end of 2026, citing continued demand from exchange-traded funds and central banks

Dig Deeper 

• The Federal Reserve’s interest rate cuts and expectations for reductions made gold more attractive, as the metal doesn't pay interest

• Political turmoil in France, where Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu resigned less than 24 hours after forming his cabinet, and uncertainty in Japan’s leadership race further destabilized the global outlook and pushed investors toward gold

• Gold's surge marked its best performance since 1979, when prices doubled during a period of high inflation and Middle East tensions

KEY STORY

Immune System Breakthrough Wins Nobel

Three scientists won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering how the immune system avoids attacking the body’s healthy cells

• Scientists already knew that the thymus – an organ where white blood cells mature – routinely destroys some problematic immune cells; however, this process didn’t explain the complete picture of how the body prevents autoimmune diseases

• On Monday, Shimon Sakaguchi from Japan, alongside American researchers Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell, received the award for discovering regulatory T cells. These cells act as the immune system's security guards, traveling throughout the body to shut down any immune cells that mistakenly attack healthy tissues

Dig Deeper

• The discovery opened up new approaches for treating disease. In cancer, regulatory T cells can prevent the immune system from attacking tumors, so researchers are developing treatments to reduce their numbers

• For autoimmune diseases like type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis, scientists are testing therapies that boost regulatory T cells to stop the immune system from attacking the body. Similar approaches could also help prevent organ transplant rejection

• More than 200 clinical trials building on this research are currently underway

KEY STORY

FBI Agents Fired for Monitoring GOP Reps

The FBI fired multiple employees and disbanded its public corruption unit after revelations that Republican lawmakers’ phone records were monitored during a January 6 investigation

• Former Special Counsel Jack Smith led an investigation called “Arctic Frost” into the January 6, 2021, Capitol riots. During this investigation, Smith's team tracked phone records of eight Republican senators and one Republican representative. The legality of this is unclear and is being debated

• On Tuesday, FBI Director Kash Patel fired multiple employees and abolished the CR-15 squad, which was the FBI's Washington Field Office public corruption unit that assisted Smith’s investigation

• Patel stated the FBI was “cleaning up a diseased temple three decades in the making” and promised to remove those who “weaponized law enforcement for political purposes”

Dig Deeper

• According to FBI officials, investigators accessed metadata showing which phone numbers the lawmakers called, call durations, and general location data, though the actual contents of conversations were not accessed

• Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) expressed "grave concerns" about the FBI spying on Republican senators and called it an "outrageous abuse of power"

• Some defended the investigation as legitimate, with one commentator arguing that Smith had "presented evidence of probable cause" that Republican lawmakers "were involved in a conspiracy to overturn the election"

QUOTE OF THE DAY

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KEY STORY

Conversion Therapy Case in SCOTUS

The Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday about a law banning conversion therapy for minors, with conservative justices suggesting the ban violates free speech rights

• Colorado passed its law in 2019, joining over two dozen states restricting licensed therapists from attempting to change a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity

• On Tuesday, justices heard arguments from a Christian counselor who challenged Colorado's ban, arguing it prevents her from offering faith-based counseling to young patients seeking help aligning their feelings with religious beliefs

• Justice Samuel Alito called the law “blatant viewpoint discrimination,” while even liberal Justice Elena Kagan expressed concern about potential viewpoint discrimination. A decision is expected by next summer

Dig Deeper

• Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson appeared more receptive to Colorado’s arguments, comparing the conversion therapy ban to the court's recent decision allowing states to ban gender-affirming care for minors

• Colorado's solicitor general argued the state is regulating medical treatment, not speech, to protect minors from harmful practices. She told justices that despite 100 years of attempts, no studies have shown conversion therapy works, while research has documented serious harms, including doubled suicide attempt rates

RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office

💰 The White House is considering withholding back pay from furloughed federal employees during the current shutdown, potentially violating a 2019 law that guarantees compensation once the government reopens.

🧑‍⚖️ Texas National Guard troops arrived in Chicago after a federal judge declined to immediately block their deployment, despite Illinois filing a lawsuit against the Trump Administration over its effort to deploy troops to the state.

🛫 The Hollywood Burbank Airport operated with unmanned air traffic control for nearly six hours on Monday as the government shutdown worsened existing controller shortages.

🫘 President Trump said he plans to provide billions in relief to farmers hurt by his tariffs, particularly soybean growers affected by China halting purchases of US crops.

💲 Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met with President Trump at the White House, receiving warm praise but leaving without a trade breakthrough to end tariffs on Canadian goods.

What does Roca Nation think?

🗞️ Yesterday’s Question: Have you heard of The Free Press? What’s your take on them?

🗞️ Today’s Question: Besides Roca, what other news sources do you like? Could be an individual podcaster or an actual outlet.

Reply to this email with your response!

POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour

🪦 When in NOLA…: A New Orleans couple discovered a 1,900-year-old Roman grave marker while clearing undergrowth in their yard, sparking an international repatriation effort.

⚗️ Life Finds a Spray: Scientists have discovered complex carbon-based molecules erupting from Saturn’s moon Enceladus, significantly boosting the likelihood it could harbor extraterrestrial life.

⚰️ Pharaoh’s Fixer-Upper: Egypt has reopened the tomb of Pharaoh Amenhotep III to visitors after more than 20 years of restoration work in Luxor’s Valley of the Kings.

📚 King of the Ban: Stephen King has become the most censored author in US schools, with his books removed 206 times during the 2024-2025 school year, according to a new PEN America report.

🪹 Vintage Vultures: Scientists rappelling into bearded vulture nests in Spanish cliff caves discovered over 200 human artifacts preserved for centuries, including a 750-year-old woven sandal.

ROCA WRAP
Sword and Bagpipes

“Mad Jack” Churchill

A British officer fought World War II with medieval weapons.

John Malcolm Thorpe Fleming Churchill earned the nickname "Mad Jack" for charging into battle during World War II wielding a Scottish broadsword, longbow and arrows, and bagpipes.

Born in colonial Ceylon in 1906, Churchill graduated from Sandhurst military academy and initially served in Burma before leaving the army to work as a newspaper editor in Kenya and briefly as a male model.

After Germany invaded Poland in 1939, Churchill rejoined the military and volunteered for the commandos, Britain's newly formed special operations units. In December 1941, he led troops during a raid on a German garrison in Norway, leaping from landing a craft while playing his bagpipes. His unit overran the enemy position in under ten minutes. Two years later, Churchill commanded forces in Sicily with his trademark broadsword strapped to his waist, a longbow around his neck, and bagpipes under his arm.

During operations in Italy, Churchill and a corporal infiltrated a town and captured a German observation post, taking 42 prisoners, including an entire mortar squad. He personally led the captives back down a mountain pass, with wounded soldiers being carried on carts pushed by German prisoners. Churchill later described the scene as resembling something from the Napoleonic Wars. When he realized he’d lost his sword during combat, he walked back to retrieve it and encountered a disoriented American patrol heading toward enemy lines. After the patrol’s leader refused to turn around, Churchill told them he wouldn’t come back “a bloody third time.”

In 1944, Churchill was captured after a mortar attack in Yugoslavia killed or wounded his entire unit except him. Germans flew him to Berlin for interrogation, apparently believing he might be related to Prime Minister Winston Churchill. He was eventually transferred to a concentration camp before being freed by German army officers who protected prisoners from SS guards in the war’s final weeks.

After the war ended, Churchill enjoyed sailing coal-fired ships on the Thames and building radio-controlled model warships. He lived until 1996, dying at 89 in Surrey. In 2014, the Royal Norwegian Explorers Club recognized him as one of history’s finest adventurers.

For a man who brought medieval warfare to the modern battlefield, he lived a remarkably long and peaceful life.

EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts

We just published our report from the middle of Florida — the part of Florida that nobody ever covers, visits, or even knows about. This was a homecoming of sorts for Max T who used to live just 10 miles from Immokalee (the poor migrant farm town at the end of the video) and played Moore Haven (the city in video whose gym is a barn) in basketball. Hope you all enjoy it and thank you to all of our readers who helped us on the trip!

–Max and Max