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Sound More Interesting at Cocktails Memo | June 24, 2022

25 talking points for better conversation at cocktails based on what I found interesting this week.

Global Street Smarts

1. The best bars in America, 2022: From top of the world rooftop bars to subterranean cocktail dens, here are 25 excellent locations for a big night out according to Esquire. Full list here.

2. US to host the APEC summit in 2023 in a push for Indo-Pacific economic pact: Nikkei reports Washington keen to lead rule-setting for trade and tech in Asia.

3. Wolf warrior diplomacy: Roughly 70 percent of South Koreans now see China as the greatest threat facing their nation.

5. UBS sees a 40% chance of US recession over the next 12 months, up from just 2.5% a month ago.

5. Coinbase forms a PAC to steer money toward crypto-friendly candidates ahead of the midterms — The Coinbase Innovation PAC.

6. Rural America shrinks over decade for the first time: The Hill reports the number of Americans who live in rural areas declined in the last decade, the first time in history that the nation's rural population dropped between one US census and the next.

7. Manhattan lost 6.9% of its population in 2021, the most of any major US county.

8. Wall Street bonuses soared to an average of $257,500 last year, a new record for New York City's securities industry and 20 percent above last year's high.

9. Nearly 15% of Americans are struggling to get a good night's rest, according to new data from the CDC.

10. Dartmouth is getting rid of student loans for undergraduates: Bloomberg reports that the Ivy League school's financial-aid packages will replace loans with additional grants.

11. SkyDrive and Suzuki are teaming up to launch a fleet of 'flying car' air taxis by 2025: RR1 reports the high-flying collab would see the aircraft used as part of an air taxi service in the Osaka Bay area.

12. United Airlines looked at selling a minority stake in its MileagePlus loyalty points program, valued in 2020 at $22 billion.

13. Europe needs 65 million electric vehicle chargers by 2035: Bloomberg reports a report from EY and Eurelectric calls for $134 billion in infrastructure investment.

14. Billions for energy bars: Mondelez agrees to purchase energy-bar maker Clif for $2.9 billion.

15. Volvo's commercial truck group is testing out hydrogen fuel cell semis.

16. Tourist friendly North Coast 500 to go electric: Scottish tourism chief Lord Thurso wants to make the world-famous tourist route the preserve of electric vehicles.

17. Amazon announces its first fully autonomous mobile warehouse robot.

18. Kellogg to separate into three businesses: WSJ reports the food company plans to create separate cereal, snack, and plant-based food companies.

19. International Space Station to retire by crashing into the Pacific Ocean by 2031: DW reports that according to NASA's estimates, the space station's operational life will end with a controlled de-orbit in January 2031. Commercial space platforms will replace the hub for scientific research.

20. Alanis Morissette releases an ambient meditation album called The Storm Before the Calm.

21. Snoop Dogg has bought control of Death Row Records, the label where he began his career, from a Blackstone-owned group.

22. Restore the roar: Dan Campbell and the Detroit Lions will be featured on the HBO series 'Hard Knocks' this summer.

23. Women's Sports Network seeks to spotlight female athletes: This summer, LA-based Fast Studios plans to launch the Women's Sports Network, a 24-hour television channel entirely devoted to covering female athletes on and off the field.

24. Esports to be included as a pilot event at Commonwealth Games: BBC reports the inaugural Commonwealth Esports Championships will have separate branding, medals, and organization. But there is hope within the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) that esports could become a part of the whole program by the 2026 Games. Hamilton in Canada, frontrunners for the 2030 event, is also keen on esports being included.

25. Wimbledon expansion: The All England Club wants to expand its current site with 38 new courts and an 8,000-seater stadium.

-Marc

Sound More Interesting at Cocktails Memo | June 17, 2022

25 talking points for better conversation at cocktails based on what I found interesting this week.

Global Street Smarts

1. Robb Report drops a list of the top 50 best bars in North America for 2022:

Here's the top 10:

1. Attaboy - New York

2. Handshake Speakeasy - Mexico City

3. Licorería Limantour - Mexico City

4. Katana Kitten - New York

5. Kumiko - Chicago

6. Café La Trova - Miami

7. Baltra Bar - Mexico City

8. Dante - New York

9. Thunderbolt - Los Angeles

10. Civil Liberties - Toronto

Complete Robb Report list here.

2. Ukraine can only fire 5,000 to 6,000 artillery rounds per day.

3. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky will participate in this year's G7 summit.

5. The Scottish government plans to hold a second independence referendum in October next year, according to its constitution secretary.

5. France has had 15 constitutions since the revolution in 1789.

6. Canada and Denmark finally settled the essentially good-natured "whiskey war" fought for decades with weapons such as flags and bottles of alcohol over a tiny, barren, and uninhabited outcrop in the Arctic. The two sides formally announced a deal to split Hans Island and create the first land border between Canada and Europe.

7. Australia + NATO: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is considering whether to attend the NATO summit in Madrid on June 29-30 as part of a show of support from Asia Pacific partners, including leaders from Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand.

8. India will spend $30 billion to overhaul its tech industry and build up a chip supply chain to ensure it is not "held hostage" to foreign providers, the country's top diplomat to Taiwan told Nikkei Asia in an interview. India aims to produce 85,000 highly qualified engineers in 10 years.

9. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced he joined Donald Trump's social network, Truth Social.

10. GOP 2024 presidential primary: The PredictIt political futures market now has Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) as the frontrunner to win the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.

11. Trump 2024: Several people close to Trump recently told NBC News that they had been asked informally to hold July 4 as a date for a possible announcement for his 2024 presidential campaign.

12. QOTW #1: "Older people go on the internet for a couple of things. For the younger generation, the internet is 'the things.'" -- Payton Iheme, head of public policy for dating app Bumble, explains to the New York Times how different generations use technology

13. QOTW #2: + "Even when adjusting for inflation, gas prices are at levels rarely seen in the last 50 years." -- New York Times' Ella Koeze and Clifford Krauss

14. QOTW #3: "I refuse to believe Matt Damon was wrong about investing advice." -- Aaron Levie, CEO @ Box

15. Lego to build a new $1 billion factory in Virginia: The 1.7 million-square-foot plant is planned for Chesterfield County, south of Richmond.

16. Lime is testing out a new shared electric motorbike in California.

17. Google Maps now estimates toll charges for your journey.

18. Coca-Cola + Jack Daniel's to start selling Jack and Coke canned cocktails.

19. Ferrari will make almost half its models fully electric by 2030: The Italian luxury carmaker will launch its first electric-only vehicle in 2025.

20. In New York, only 8 percent of workers are in the office five days a week, according to the latest Partnership for New York City survey. Currently, 38 percent of New York office workers are at their desks on any given weekday.

21. Sean 'Diddy' Combs to receive lifetime honor at BET Awards.

22. George Washington University will retire its "Colonials" moniker, a name intended to honor its namesake but has long been criticized as a term that glorifies colonialism.

23. Apple announces 10-year deal to stream all Major League Soccer games. MLS has become the most prominent American league to have an all-digital, global agreement.

24. According to Deloitte, England's top 20 soccer clubs generated €5.1bn in the 2019-20 season, some €3bn more than Serie A. Just a decade earlier, that gap was roughly €1bn.

25. FIFA 2026 World Cup host cities:

Vancouver

Seattle

San Francisco

Los Angeles

Guadalajara

Kansas City

Dallas

Atlanta

Houston

Monterrey

Mexico City

Toronto

Boston

Philadelphia

Miami

New York City

-Marc