🌊 The Great Reading Recession

The State of the Roca Wave.

Five years into its existence, here a few stats that show the scale of the Roca Wave today:

• The Roca YouTube channel now counts 267k subscribers and has raked in over 4M views in the last month;

• The Roca Instagram page has 1.7M followers, including Joe Rogan, Mark Cuban, Katie Couric, Andrew Huberman, and Ryan Reynolds;

• This newsletter goes out to 200k readers daily, while our We The 66 deep-dive newsletter goes out to 270k readers daily;

• And every month our content garners over 100M views, reaching nearly 10 million unique people.

Our mission to deliver nonpartisan news is more important than ever. We hope that Roca continues to lower your blood pressure and reaches millions more people in the years ahead. Thank you for your support. The Wave has only just begun.

–Max and Max

KEY STORY

Reading for Fun in Decline

A new study found that the number of Americans who read for pleasure fell 40% over the last 20 years

• Approximately 79% of US adults possess an adequate literacy rate, while 21% have low literacy skills, including those who are functionally illiterate

• Researchers from University College London and the University of Florida examined data from over 236,000 Americans between 2003 and 2023, finding that reading decreased by 3% annually

• The study defined reading broadly to include books, magazines, newspapers, e-readers, and audiobooks. The decline hit certain populations harder, with black Americans, people with lower education or income levels, and rural residents showing the steepest drops in reading rates

Dig Deeper

• Researchers pointed to competition from digital media and social platforms as likely factors displacing reading time

• The study also revealed that only 2% of adults read with children on an average day, despite 21% of participants having young children at home. "For me, one of the most important takeaways of this study is awareness of how little reading for children is happening," said Jill Sonke, one of the study's lead authors

KEY STORY

Farage Plans Mass Deportations

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage announced plans to deport hundreds of thousands of migrants through “Operation Restoring Justice”

• Britain received over 100,000 asylum applications in 2024, and small boat crossings reached record levels in 2025, with nearly 30,000 crossing since January

• On Tuesday, Farage outlined “Operation Restoring Justice,” which would detain and deport all migrants arriving without permission over a five-year period. The Reform UK leader claimed the party could remove between 500,000 and 600,000 people if it won power, with deportation flights scaled up to five per day

• The plan requires withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights and temporarily disapplying the UN Refugee Convention

Dig Deeper 

• The party would offer migrants a six-month window to leave voluntarily with a £2,500 ($3,370) payment before facing forced removal

• Newly detained migrants would be held at converted air force bases and new detention centers capable of housing 24,000 people within 18 months

• Government officials questioned the feasibility, with one former attorney general warning that courts could block deportations using British common law even without international treaties

QUOTE OF THE DAY

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KEY STORY

Trump vs. Lisa Cook

President Trump moved to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, citing allegations of mortgage fraud, but Cook vowed to fight the removal in court

• Trump has waged a months-long campaign against the Fed, demanding lower interest rates, and has targeted Cook specifically, after officials raised questions about her mortgage applications

• Trump sent Cook a letter on Monday stating he had "sufficient cause" to fire her based on allegations that she made false statements on mortgage loan applications in 2021, before joining the Fed

• Cook stated that Trump “purported to fire me 'for cause' when no cause exists under the law, and he has no authority to do so” and announced she would file a lawsuit challenging the “illegal action”

Dig Deeper

• Cook was appointed by President Biden in 2022, and her term was not set to expire until 2038

• The firing, if successful, would give Trump appointees and Trump-aligned governors a majority on the seven-person Federal Reserve Board, potentially allowing them to outvote Powell on Fed decisions

• Cook's firing would be the first time a president has ever removed a Fed governor from office

KEY STORY

US Offers Ukraine Postwar Support

The US has offered to provide intelligence and air defense support for a European-led security force to protect postwar Ukraine

• President Trump said last week he had ruled out putting US troops on the ground in Ukraine, but stated the US might provide air support as part of a deal to end Russia's war

• On Tuesday, US officials told European counterparts that Washington is willing to contribute intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, command and control, and air defense assets to support any European deployment in Ukraine, four officials told the Financial Times

• The offer represents a significant shift from the Trump Administration's earlier position ruling out any US participation in protecting post-conflict Ukraine

Dig Deeper 

• Officials cautioned that the US support would be contingent on European allies deploying tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine. The offer could still be withdrawn, they warned

• European allies have outlined a rough plan involving a demilitarized zone, potentially patrolled by neutral peacekeeping troops agreed upon by Ukraine and Russia

• NATO-trained Ukrainian troops would defend a more robust border, and a European deterrence force stationed deeper in Ukraine would act as the third line of defense

RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office

🛢️ Cracker Barrel reversed its decision to update its vintage logo after facing significant customer backlash and a stock price decline

⚖️ Former Mexican drug lord Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada pleaded guilty in Brooklyn federal court to leading the Sinaloa cartel for decades alongside imprisoned Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman

🪱 The first human case of flesh-eating “New World screwworm” parasite has been confirmed in the US, involving a Maryland resident who recently traveled to El Salvador

📉 Eli Lilly announced that its experimental weight-loss pill orforglipron achieved targets in a diabetes trial, with participants losing an average of 10.5% of their body weight

🇦🇺 Australia severed diplomatic ties with Iran and expelled its diplomats after accusing Tehran of orchestrating arson attacks on Jewish targets in the country

What does Roca Nation think?

🇺🇸 Yesterday’s Question: What’s a positive trend in the US today? What’s moving in the right direction?

🌊 Today’s Question: What’s an issue you take with Roca’s coverage? Could be poor story selection, inappropriate tone, etc.

Reply to this email with your response!

POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour

⚾ Strike Three: A Tennessee man named George Herman Ruth, the same name as the famous baseball player “Babe” Ruth, faces 91 federal charges for allegedly stealing over $550,000 by impersonating hundreds of deceased and retired baseball players in fraudulent class action settlement claims

📱 Digital Diet Backlash: A Japanese city plans to recommend that residents limit smartphone use to two hours daily outside work or school, though the proposed ordinance includes no penalties or enforcement mechanisms

💬 Message Mixtape: Spotify launched a messaging feature allowing users to chat one-on-one with friends they've previously shared music or podcasts with, aiming to become a more social platform

📿 Bling and Bust: Florida Sheriff Grady Judd wore a drug dealer's seized gold chain and bracelet during a press conference announcing 32 arrests in a year-long trafficking investigation

🎞️ The Fresh Prince of AI-Air: Will Smith faces backlash after sharing a promotional video for his UK tour that appears to heavily use AI-generated footage of cheering fans with distorted faces and extra fingers

ROCA WRAP
Prison Placement Controversy

Germany

A convicted extremist will be housed in a women's prison after changing gender under this country's new self-determination law.

Germany enacted gender identity reforms in 2024 through its Self-Determination Act, allowing citizens to change their official gender and name through declarations at registry offices. The legislation replaced the previously required judicial ruling. Conservative politicians have criticized the law and warned about potential misuse. One recent case has brought those concerns into sharp focus. 

Marla-Svenja Liebich received an 18-month prison sentence in July 2023 from Halle District Court for right-wing extremist incitement to hatred, defamation, and insult. At sentencing, Liebich went by Sven and reportedly belonged to the neo-Nazi group Blood and Honour. After losing the appeal, Liebich transitioned from male to female and changed names in late 2024, utilizing the simplified Self-Determination Act's process.

German media outlets have openly questioned whether Liebich's gender transition represents genuine identity or strategic manipulation. Der Spiegel – a German magazine known for its investigative journalism – wrote that the sincerity of Liebich’s change “is doubtful,” noting Liebich’s history of “queerphobic statements.” Liebich complained, but the German Press Council unanimously rejected the complaint against Der Spiegel, with the outlet reporting the Council found Liebich likely “made the change of civil status in an abusive manner in order to provoke and embarrass the state.”  

A chief public prosecutor confirmed that Liebich will serve out the sentence at Chemnitz women's prison based on Liebich’s official gender status. Liebich announced on X, “I will arrive at the Chemnitz correctional facility with my suitcases” on August 29. Prison administrators retain authority to reassess placement based on security and order concerns, potentially leading to transfer to another facility.

In Germany, changing identity has never been easier – or more controversial.

EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts

Well, we guess bullying works! The old Cracker Barrel logo is back, which is terrible news for Big Minimalism. It seems that Big Minimalism has overtaken the food industry in recent years: Every chain restaurant has the same store design, and the logos keep getting duller and duller. We were pleased to see the Left and Right jointly condemn the Cracker Barrel rebrand, giving us a brief moment of national unity.

Hope you all have a great Wednesday!

–Max and Max