🌊 Are Your Groceries About to Get Cheaper?

What a weekend for Roca.

On Saturday night, Ole Miss hosted Florida in front of a packed crowd of 70k, and standing on the field — next to Theo Von and Sketch (for our high school readers) — were Roca’s Max F and video guy Gus. It was Roca’s first game on the field (filming for an upcoming Mississippi mini-doc), and we had a blast. But we do ask: Please don’t check the IDs of the fourth quarter streakers…

Then on Sunday, our new YouTube video on Florida’s remote swamp towns got over 600k views on its first day — a Roca record. Scroll to see that video, today’s news, and some heart-warming words of inspiration from Al Capone.

–Max and Max

KEY STORY

Trump Rolls Back Food Tariffs

Trump removed tariffs on over 200 food products on Friday

• Trump imposed broad tariffs on trading partners in April, setting a baseline 10% levy on imports from all countries with additional duties on specific nations. Food prices rose significantly throughout the year, with coffee up nearly 19% and beef prices reaching record highs by September

• Democrats won major elections in VA, NJ, PA, and GA in November by focusing on affordability and the cost of living, creating pressure on the administration to address grocery prices

• Trump signed an executive order on Friday exempting more than 200 food items – including coffee, fruits, and some beef cuts – from his tariffs, with the changes taking effect retroactively at midnight last Thursday

Dig Deeper 

• The exemptions apply to imports from all countries, not just those that have negotiated trade agreements with the US

• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the exemptions would "bring the prices down very quickly," contradicting earlier administration claims that foreign exporters and retailers bore most of the tariff burden rather than consumers

• However, American cattle ranchers expressed concern that beef exemptions would increase foreign competition and undermine domestic production, while other groups were disappointed that their products remained subject to tariffs, including distilled spirits from the EU and Britain

KEY STORY

Judge to Approve Purdue Pharma Settlement

A judge said he would approve a settlement requiring Purdue Pharma to pay at least $7.4B to resolve lawsuits over the company's role in the opioid crisis

• Purdue Pharma filed for bankruptcy in 2019 while facing more than 2,600 lawsuits from states, local governments, hospitals, and individuals accusing the company of contributing to the opioid epidemic through its marketing and sale of OxyContin

• Under the settlement, the Sacklers will contribute between $6.5B and $7B over 15 years, while Purdue itself will contribute roughly $900M in cash. Most funds will go to state and local governments for opioid treatment programs and addiction services

• Purdue will be dissolved and converted into a nonprofit company called Knoa Pharma to focus on developing and distributing medications that reverse opioid overdoses and treat addiction

Dig Deeper 

• The Supreme Court had rejected an earlier version of the settlement in 2024, forcing Purdue to scale back legal protections for the Sackler family, who had previously agreed to pay up to $6B

• More than 99% of voting creditors supported the settlement plan, though creditors can opt out of waiving their claims against the Sacklers and pursue their own lawsuits instead

• Purdue also agreed to create a public library of internal company documents related to its development and marketing of OxyContin, including emails from Sackler family members

KEY STORY

Trump Breaks with Marjorie Taylor Greene

President Trump withdrew his support for Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) over her push to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein

• Greene served as one of Trump's most vocal supporters in Congress since she first ran for office in 2020. Trump previously called her a "future Republican star" and defended her when she faced criticism for past statements

• The break came after Greene joined three other House Republicans and Democrats in signing a petition to force a vote on releasing Justice Department files related to Epstein. Trump announced Friday that he was withdrawing his endorsement of Greene, calling her "wacky" and saying he could not take calls from a "ranting lunatic" every day

Dig Deeper 

• Trump also attacked Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) on Friday after Massie became a leading figure in the push to release the Epstein files. Trump called Massie a "Republican in Name Only" and mocked him for his recent remarriage, which occurred about a year after his wife of 31 years died

• Greene denied Trump's claims that she had been calling him repeatedly and said his attacks made her a target for threats. She also asked why Trump was fighting so hard to prevent the Epstein files from being released, rather than focusing on domestic issues facing Americans

• On Sunday night, Trump seemed to pivot, writing on Truth Social, “House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide, and it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party, including our recent Victory on the Democrat “Shutdown.” The Department of Justice has already turned over tens of thousands of pages to the Public on “Epstein,” are looking at various Democrat operatives (Bill Clinton, Reid Hoffman, Larry Summers, etc.) and their relationship to Epstein, and the House Oversight Committee can have whatever they are legally entitled to, I DON’T CARE! All I do care about is that Republicans get BACK ON POINT”

ROCA’S SPONSOR
The Hottest Trend in Nutrition for 2,000 Years

Together with Brodo Broth Co.

Rarely do we give personal endorsements for products we advertise, but we started drinking Brodo a couple months ago and legitimately feel healthier and more energized already. 

• In a world that tells you to try the latest supplement or drink the new venture-backed powdery drink, Brodo tells you to drink the broth that grandma made 

• They take zero shortcuts and make staying healthy easy. Try Brodo today to feel better, heal those leaky guts, get rid of that lingering cold, and more

• Visit their shop in the East Village or order online – they ship across the continental US. Save 20% if you order today!

QUOTE OF THE DAY

KEY STORY

Increasing Number of Women Want to Leave US

A poll found 40% of American women between the ages of 15 and 44 said they would like to permanently leave the US if they could

• The share of young women wanting to leave the country has quadrupled over the past decade, rising from 10% in 2014 to 40% in 2025. The trend first began climbing noticeably in 2016, before President Trump's first term in office

• Young women showed the steepest decline in confidence in national institutions of any demographic group, with their trust in government, the judiciary, the military, and election integrity dropping 17 points since 2015

• Young men showed far less interest in leaving the country, with only 19% expressing a desire to emigrate permanently

Dig Deeper 

• Political views were strongly correlated with the desire to leave, with 29% of Americans who disapprove of President Trump saying they wanted to emigrate compared to just 4% who approve. Canada remained the top destination, followed by New Zealand, Italy, and Japan

• There was a 21-percentage-point gap between young men and women, the widest gender gap Gallup has ever recorded on this question across more than 160 countries surveyed globally

WE THE 66
Is AI Really Raising Your Electric Bill?

The AI boom is straining America's electricity infrastructure – and it's only getting worse with AI video apps

• According to MIT, a five-second video on Sora 2 requires roughly 3.4M joules worth of energy – the equivalent of running a microwave for over an hour or biking 38 miles on an e-bike

• To see how the AI video boom will affect you, check out today’s We The 66 deep dive here

RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office

📢 Walmart announced that John Furner will become its next CEO in February, succeeding Doug McMillon, who has led the company for over a decade.

🎞️ The BBC apologized to President Trump last week for a 2021 Panorama episode that edited his January 6 speech, but rejected his $1B compensation demand.

🪧 At least 120 people were injured in clashes during anti-government protests in Mexico City on Saturday, including 100 police officers.

🔫 New York Jets special teams player Kris Boyd is in critical but stable condition after being shot in the abdomen outside a Midtown Manhattan restaurant early Sunday morning.

🚓 Federal Border Patrol agents arrested 81 people in immigrant neighborhoods across Charlotte, North Carolina, on Saturday as part of a crackdown against illegal immigration.

What does Roca Nation think?

🎄 Today’s Question: When is the appropriate time of year to start playing Christmas music and hang up holiday decorations?

Reply to this email with your response!

POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour

🥫 Canned Amnesty: Two Oklahoma institutions are offering residents a chance to clear fines by donating non-perishable food to a local pantry.

🖼️ Artificial Intelli-prank: A mysterious artist secretly hung AI-generated artwork at the National Museum Cardiff, where it fooled visitors for several hours before staff removed it.

🍎 The Big Apple Orchard: A nonprofit is transforming a Midtown Manhattan sample sale store into a pop-up apple orchard, distributing 20,000 pounds of fresh New York apples for free.

🗿 Pharaoh's Homecoming: The Netherlands is returning a 3,500-year-old bust of Pharaoh Thutmose III to Egypt in a good faith gesture after identifying it among antiquity dealers.

🐏 Ewe Shall Not Pass: Around 600 sheep paraded through downtown Nuremberg, Germany, on Sunday as a shepherd herded his flock to winter pastures in an annual urban spectacle.

SPONSORED WRAP
Chef Marco Canora

By his late forties, Marco Canora was falling apart. The acclaimed New York chef behind Hearth – a restaurant built on farm-fresh ingredients and local simplicity in the East Village – was living the opposite of what he preached. “I was drinking five, six quarts of coffee a day, smoking Marlboro Reds, drinking a ton of booze,” he said. “I wasn’t sleeping, I was overweight, I was a disaster in terms of health.”

He knew something had to change. Running a restaurant, raising a newborn, and managing rent hikes had left him “maxed out.” So he made a small switch: Instead of downing coffee all day, he began sipping the same broth he made for cooking – pots of bones, water, and vegetables simmered for hours. “It was at the center of every chef’s kitchen already,” he said. “Savory, calming, hydrating, high in protein, low in calories.”

That simple habit transformed him. His sleep improved. His stress eased. His energy returned. “It was a catalyst for so many good things in my life,” he said. “It fixed my gut, it hydrated me, and it just made me feel… better.”

As his body recovered, an idea began to simmer too. Out front, Hearth had a small, unused takeout window on First Avenue. Canora wondered what he could sell through it – and one day, staring out the window with a steaming cup of broth in hand, the answer appeared. “What if I sold this?”

That question became Brodo, the bone broth window that would launch a national trend. Canora calls it “the hottest trend in nutrition for 2,000 years.”

He’s not exaggerating. “Humans have been boiling bones since we invented fire,” he said. “It’s the most basic, nourishing thing we’ve ever made.”

For Canora, it’s more than tradition – it’s biology. “Glutamine heals a leaky gut,” he said. “And if you don’t have a healthy gut, you don’t have a healthy immune system. When people tell me, ‘Broth healed my IBS, my acne, my joints,’ what I think really happened is, it healed their gut – and that let their immune system work the way it’s supposed to.”

Today, more than a decade after Brodo’s debut, Canora still spends time at the window, serving customers himself. “That’s my happy place,” he said. “When someone comes up and says, ‘What is this?’ I get to tell them – it’s broth in a coffee cup. It’s delicious, it’s craveable, and there’s no downside.”

Twenty-two years after opening Hearth, Marco Canora has built an empire from something as humble as bones and water. For a man once addicted to caffeine and chaos, it’s poetic: The chef who burned himself out found his cure in the slowest thing in the kitchen – a simmering pot of broth.

We genuinely love Brodo and enjoyed meeting Chef Marco, who's not a gimmicky snake-oil salesman. He's selling the opposite, in fact – a product that's been around for thousands of years and is fully backed by science. Max T recently had a bad cold, and Brodo helped cure him. We encourage you to try it – get 20% off your first subscription order at Brodo today!

EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts

Make sure to check out the Everglades City doc if you’re one of the 339,400,000 Americans who hasn’t seen it yet. We absolutely love visiting towns that never get the spotlight. So many of them have fascinating histories and incredible people. Shoutout to Everglades City!

Hope you had a great weekend. See you tomorrow, and feel better by trying out Brodo!

–Max and Max