OVERWORLD:
-Gambling goons are coming for the Paris Olympics-

ONE BETWEEN:
-Tesla’s insane 1-month run-

THE DEPTHS:
-The story behind America’s coolest forgotten monuments-

“I don’t care for sex. I find it an embarrassing, dull exercise. I prefer sports, where you can win.”
— Norm Macdonald

✦DISCOVERY PICKS✦

▶️ YouTube:
First Lesson Taught in Harvard MBA in 18 Minutes

✖️ X:
If you told me 10 years ago Saudi Arabia would allow commercials like this, I would laugh and call you crazy.

❓
Mystery link.

Addict’s delight

Gambling goons are coming for the Paris Olympics

There has never been a better time to be addicted to anything and everything. In the latest chapter of frying your brain: The Paris Olympics!

Yes, sportsbooks and daily fantasy demons are preparing for something big and new; the Summer Olympics in Paris on July 26.

The boop-boop:

✦Aura points✦

Placing bets on a Madison Square Garden basketball game? Pretty cool, but kinda ordinary at this point though.

Spice it up a little: The picturesque Paris backdrop and the opportunity for U.S. viewers to watch live daytime competitions are expected to drive engagement to another level.

Patriotism also plays a significant role in Olympic betting, with US bettors keen on backing their country’s heroes.

✦Sounds handsome and all, but…✦

Slow down, this is all speculation… the Olympics may not cause a betting surge comparable to other sports. Some states have regulations that may limit betting on certain events, and users may only be able to wager on medal competitions.

Womp womp: U.S. viewership has declined in recent years due to time zone differences and the pandemic. This year, while Paris’s time zone is less challenging for American viewers than Tokyo’s, prime-time events will not be live.

✦QUICK HITS✦

✦Business & Tech✦

Crime: Bill Hwang was found guilty on 10 of 11 charges related to the collapse of Archegos Capital, resulting in $10 billion in bank losses. His CFO, Patrick Halligan, was also convicted. Sentencing is set for October 28.

Finally: Apple will allow rivals access to its tap-and-go payment technology, ending a four-year EU antitrust investigation. Apple committed to enabling third-party NFC access, offering key iPhone features to competing wallets, and allowing users to set default wallets.

Elon Musk's Neuralink plans a second human implant soon. The company is addressing hardware issues from its first implant, improving thread stability and skull surface adjustments. The first patient, despite partial functionality, uses the device extensively. Neuralink aims for multiple implants this year.

Chess move: AMD will acquire Silo AI, Europe's largest private AI lab, for $665 million. Silo AI has worked with Phillips, Rolls-Royce, and Unilever. AMD also acquired Nod.ai last year to compete with Nvidia.

✦Fashion & Culture✦

Check it out: Eli Russell Linnetz's debut art exhibition, "Monuments," at Jeffrey Deitch gallery in Hollywood features iconographic American symbols, including a Mount Rushmore sculpture with a functional pizza oven. The exhibition runs through August 3.

Hahaha: Netflix's new docuseries, "The Man With 1000 Kids," faces a slander lawsuit from sperm donor Jonathan Meijer, who claims the documentary falsely portrays him. Meijer asserts he fathered 550 children, not 1,000, and disputes claims of mixing sperm. He stopped donating in 2019 and objects to being labeled a "serial donor." Despite being banned in the Netherlands in 2017, he allegedly continued donating abroad.

✦Hmm… Interesting✦

Insane, and genius: A breakdown of the secret complex design of Pixar’s WALL-E

Cozy 30-second read: If AI chatbots are the future, I hate it

Cozy 5-minute read by Paul Graham: The Right Kind of Stubborn

Watch: Could Kanye West Save Austria-Hungary?

Holy shit: Making My Own Wedding Rings

How I turned seemingly ‘failed’ experiments into a successful Ph.D.

For developers: The Zombie Misconception of Theoretical Computer Science

ONE 

BETWEEN

To the moon, or Mars

Tesla’s insane 1-month run kills the market

Hello, moneymakers. As you may have heard, Tesla Inc. shares are on a wild ride; pumping, throbbing up nearly 40% in one month. Which is nice, but it's also becoming harder to justify the optimism around them.

Last year, Tesla's rally was backed by strong revenue growth. Now, the outlook for electric cars is not as bright. Tesla’s sales are dropping, and profits are down.

What the fuck is going on?

Basically, every rally raises the expectations for Musk's AI promises. On top of that Bond billionaire Bill Gross compared Tesla to meme stocks due to the frenzied buying following a positive sales update on July 2.

Tesla is now one of the most expensive stocks in the S&P 500 Index, surpassing other major tech companies. Despite high prices, the stock is still far from its November 2021 peak of $410.

Danger: The main risk is that Tesla's AI success hinges on solving the complex problem of self-driving cars, which experts believe is still decades away. Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers, notes that Tesla has always traded on future potential rather than current earnings.

THE DEPTHS

Sweet Americana

The story behind America’s coolest forgotten monuments

Have you ever thought to wonder… why the fuck are there 42 giant president heads in the middle of the field in Croaker, Virginia?

These heads are the abandoned dream projects of entrepreneur Haley Newman and sculptor David Adickes. The point, besides looking really cool was to expand on the retelling of monumental American history, all in the flavor of Mount Rushmore.

What’s more interesting is that the project is more or less abandoned — a failed project. They’re supposed to be epic and glorious, but they’re actually kinda sad, in an apocalyptic post-civilization type of way.

✦Sad story✦

The story begins with Presidents Park, an open-air museum in Williamsburg, Virginia, a few miles from Croaker. Newman and Adickes had initially wanted to create a landmark park that told the story of American leadership.

So, as one does, they made 42 realistic, 20-foot, 20-ton statues of every president til 2004.

But the park struggled. Visitor numbers were low. By 2010, it closed. The heads faced demolition. Tragedy.

✦Redemption, kinda✦

Enter Howard Hankins. He helped build the park and couldn't let the heads be destroyed. With cranes and flatbed trucks, he moved all 42 to his farm in Croaker. It was a massive, costly effort.

Now, they sit in a field, exposed to the elements. Rain and wind have weathered them. Cracks and chips add to their eerie charm. They look ghostly, almost alive.

Photographers love them, and so do history buffs and urban explorers. The heads have become a quirky roadside attraction. People actually travel from afar to see them.

Efforts to save them continue; some want restoration, others dream of a new public display. But for now, the heads remain on Hankins' farm, silent sentinels of history.