• Coney Island has been a popular destination for the Fourth of July since the early 20th century.
• Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest has been held on July 4 since the 1970s.
• Vintage photos of the Fourth of July on Coney Island show crowded beaches and the hot-dog contest.

No place does the Fourth of July quite like Coney Island, from its annual Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest to its iconic boardwalk and firework displays.

Coney Island has been a destination for Fourth of July celebrations for over a century, and the seaside neighborhood is still popular for New Yorkers who want to escape the city for the day.

Since the 1930s, throngs of tourists have gathered at Coney Island to lie on its beach and soak up the summer weather. Today, people still walk along the boardwalk, enjoy some rides, and eat a hot dog or two — or many more. 

These vintage photos show what Coney Island's Fourth of July celebrations have looked like through the years.

Fourth of July marks one of the busiest days of the year in Coney Island.

In a black-and-white aerial photo from 1920, you can see thousands of people gathered on the boardwalk and Coney Island Beach on the Fourth of July.

In the 1930s, Coney Island exploded as a popular destination for beachgoers and families on the Fourth of July.

This photo, taken on July 4, 1938, shows crowds of people gathered on the beach. There are so many people that you can hardly see the sand.

Thirty years later, revelers still visited Coney Island Beach to celebrate Independence Day.

In this photo, a pair of unidentified men in shorts pose for the camera.

The beaches were also popular in the mid-'90s.

In a 1995 photo, children can be seen running and playing in the water while their parents look on.

Coney Island has continued to experience growing visitor numbers in the years since. The reopening of Luna Park, an amusement park on the boardwalk, in 2010 also helped buoy visitor numbers.

People also came to Coney Island to shop on the boardwalk.

In this photo from July 4, 1968, customers shop inside a Coney Island store that sells tobacco-related products, candy, and portable radios.

The first Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest was held in the 1970s.

The first official contest was held in 1972, CNN reported.

Nathan's had once claimed the tradition started in 1916, but PR professionals Max Rosey and Mortimer Matz, hired by Nathan's, later told The New York Times they had fabricated the legend about it starting that year.

The first official winner of the contest was a woman named Melody Andorfer.

The Coney Island History Project reported that she ate 12 hot dogs in five minutes and won a paper crown as her prize.

In this photo from 1961, an unidentified man eats a Nathan's Famous hot dog outside the iconic restaurant.

Edward Krachie was the 1995 champion of the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest.

He's pictured holding up his trophy after winning the 1995 annual contest.

The New York Times reported that he won after eating 19 and a half hot dogs in 12 minutes and beating the defending champion by just half a dog.

The record for the most hot dogs ever eaten at the contest was set more recently, in 2021, when competitive eater Joey Chestnut ate 76 in 10 minutes.

The contest has been successful ever since, drawing thousands of in-person attendees and even more online viewers each year.

Here, three unidentified contestants pose with plates of hot dogs prior to the 1987 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest.

Nathan's was and still is a popular establishment in Coney Island to grab a cheap dog on the Fourth of July or any other summer day.

In this circa 1968 photograph, a couple eats hot dogs in front of Nathan's Famous fast-food restaurant in Coney Island.

• This post originally appeared in the BI Tech Memo newsletter.
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For this special holiday edition of AI Playground, I asked ChatGPT and Anthropic's powerful new Claude 4 chatbot for recommendations for my Tahitian trip. I'm on vacation with my wife and a group of friends to celebrate the birthday of one of our oldest friends, Theresa. We're staying in Moorea for about seven days. There are four couples ranging in age between roughly 50 and 60 years old. I requested suggestions such as activities during the day and evenings, along with restaurant and bar recommendations. Finally, I asked what would be the best event and location to celebrate Theresa's birthday.

Then, I asked Theresa and another friend, Lisa, to review the AI responses. My buddies had already spent a ton of time planning this vacation, so they immediately knew whether the chatbots had done a good job, or not. Here's what they thought:

Theresa, the birthday girl:

Both chatbots gave similar recommendations, such as a cultural tour, 4x4 rentals, a lagoon cruise plus snorkeling, and what I hadn't even thought about: a sunset cruise on my birthday. ChatGPT recommended three restaurants that we booked: Rudy's, Moorea Beach Cafe, and the Manava Polynesian show. Claude recommended one place we booked, Cocobeach. Both recommended Holy Steak House, but it's a 40-minute taxi ride from our hotel, which seems not worth it when there are so many other restaurants nearer. I preferred the ChatGPT format of a day-by-day itinerary. Claude's seemed like it was too heavily focused on marketing from the Cook's Bay hotel.

Lisa:

ChatGPT's answer was more comprehensive, listing a sample daily itinerary with pricing estimates and source/reference links. There was overlap, but ChatGPT offered more options and parsed its suggestions in an easy-to-read bullet format. The icons were a bit gimmicky, or maybe just overused. The response from Claude was easier to read, and I preferred its visual layout, but it proposed a smaller selection of activities, restaurants, and other things to do. Neither site mentioned scuba diving as a possibility, despite the fact that there's excellent diving around Moorea and many of us are doing this on the trip. (She gave ChatGPT 4.5 stars out of 5. Claude got 3.5 stars from her.)

• This post originally appeared in the BI Tech Memo newsletter.
• Sign up for the weekly BI Tech Memo newsletter here.

Big Tech just won big in the battle over data and copyright. The implications for business, publishing, and the future of the web are profound.

Two recent US court rulings, including one in favor of Anthropic's use of millions of books for AI training, have nudged the legal consensus closer to this reality: All content published online is now fair game. Companies such as Google, Meta, OpenAI, and Microsoft may never have to pay for the text, images, or video they ingest to power their AI tools.

This is a huge win for Big Tech and the new AI economy. But it could upend the web and the creators who keep it vibrant. If AI can repackage all digital knowledge in milliseconds, the value of the written word, and probably other content, plunges. For now, judges seem unpersuaded by the US Copyright Office's argument that this flood of new content undermines the market for the original material. For now, fair use appears to protect the AI giants.

Cloudflare, which runs one of the largest networks on the web, is pushing back with a new tool to make AI pay-per-crawl, shifting the paradigm from opt-out to opt-in. Publishers including The Atlantic, Ziff Davis, and Time are on board.

These rulings could drive a deeper shift. Now that the content-scraping shackles are off, creators may rethink how and where they share knowledge online. Bloomberg keeps its news stories inside the Terminal. Tech blogger Ben Thompson uses newsletters and stays firmly behind a paywall. And Microsoft's new "Signal" magazine? Print-only.

In a world where AI bots roam freely, the most valuable ideas may move offline or go dark. A new era of scarcity, privacy — and maybe even paper — may be just beginning.

• Beans are packed with nutrients, including fiber and protein.
• A new study suggests consuming one cup per day can also lower low-grade inflammation in the body.
• Here are the recipes participants used to get it done.

Beans, beans, the magical fruit. The more you eat, the more you … can cut down on dangerous, chronic low-grade inflammation.

Researchers at Illinois Institute of Technology recently discovered just how much black beans can help lower inflammation in a remarkable trial.

They gave roughly two dozen people with prediabetes a three-month supply of canned beans. The directions were simple: incorporate one cup of black beans into your diet, every single day for 12 weeks. (In a control group, participants ate white rice instead).

Some people mixed their beans into soups, others topped their salads with black beans. Each person in the bean-eating group just had to ensure they were eating a cup per day.

It's something that people living in the longevity Blue Zones around the world already do automatically, through force of habit. With this study, there's fresh evidence that their technique can help anybody who is at risk of developing chronic diseases improve their health and longevity.

Black beans owe their dark, deep hue to plant chemicals that may also help fend off inflammation

In this small study, eating black beans had a big impact on people's levels of a protein called interleukin-6 (IL-6) which is a key marker of inflammation. During the course of the study, black bean eaters reduced their average IL-6 levels from 2.57 picograms per milliliter to 1.88, a significant decrease.

Lead researcher Indika Edirisinghe, a professor of food science and nutrition at IIT, says he suspects a big part of the reason why black beans are so great at lowering chronic, low-grade inflammation has to do with the chemicals that give them their rich, deep black coloring.

"They have something called polyphenolic compounds," Edirisinghe told Business Insider. "The polyphenolic compounds are bioactive, and they have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity."

Just in case participants were stumped on how to start incorporating more black beans into each day, they were given a lifeline: Edirisinghe and his team offered participants several mouthwatering bean recipes, including one for black bean brownies, a chicken and black bean chili, a bean "caviar" snack dip, and a colorful bean salad in a jar.

"There's no rocket science," Edirisinghe said. "It's very simple, and there's a great opportunity here to become healthy."

Here are 4 of the easy — and tasty — black bean recipes patients used during the study

Taco salad in a jar

Ingredients:

• 1 15-oz. can of black beans, rinsed and warmed up
• 1 lb. ground turkey
• 2 cups of frozen corn, thawed and warmed up
• 1 head of romaine, chopped
• 1 cup of shredded pepperjack cheese
• 1 cup of diced tomatoes
• 1 tbsp. taco seasoning
• 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• Salt

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat
2. Add the turkey and season with taco seasoning and salt
3. Cook the turkey, breaking it up with a spoon or spatula, until it is golden and cooked through, about eight to 10 minutes. Then set it aside for five minutes to let it cool.
4. Using six mason jars, layer the turkey, then black beans, corn, romaine, cheese, and tomatoes
5. Refrigerate until ready to eat. (Makes a great lunch!)

Black bean brownies

Ingredients:

• 1 15-oz. can of black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup of oats
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 tbsp. cacao powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips, plus extra for topping

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350F
2. Combine all the ingredients except the chocolate chips in a food processor, and blend until very smooth. (If you don't have a food processor, a blender can work, but the consistency won't be as smooth.)
3. Stir in the chips
4. Pour into a well greased 8x8 pan
5. Sprinkle extra chips on top, if you like
6. Cook brownies for 15 to 18 minutes
7. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting
8. If they still look somewhat undercooked, put them in the fridge for an hour to firm up

Chicken, quinoa, and black bean chili verde

Ingredients:

• 1 15-oz. can of black beans, rinsed
• 1 rotisserie chicken, shredded
• 6 cups of chicken broth
• 1 cup of quinoa
• 1 16-oz. jar of salsa verde
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 tbsp. of canola oil
• 1 tbsp. of ground cumin
• Salt
• Sour cream and cilantro, for serving

Directions:

1. In a large pot over medium heat, heat up the oil
2. Cook the onion and garlic until tender, about six minutes
3. Add the cumin, and season with salt
4. Add the beans, chicken, and salsa verde and stir until combined
5. Add 5 cups of the chicken broth and quinoa and bring to a boil
6. Reduce the heat and let it simmer until the quinoa is tender, about 20 minutes
7. If the quinoa absorbs most of the liquid, add the extra cup of chicken broth
8. Serve with sour cream and cilantro

Cowboy caviar

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of black beans
• 1 cup of corn
• 1 cup of cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 1 small red onion, finely chopped
• 2 orange bell peppers, chopped
• 1 avocado, chopped
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1/3 cup of lime juice
• 1/3 cups of extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tbsp. of chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tbsp. of hot sauce
• Tortilla chips for serving

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, lime juice, cilantro, hot sauce, cumin, and salt
2. In a large bowl, combing the remaining ingredients, except the chips
3. Pour the dressing from the small bowl into the large bowl and toss until well combined
4. Serve it up with the chips

• This post originally appeared in the Business Insider Today newsletter.
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Good morning. Happy 249th birthday, America — not that we're counting! — with warm regards from London.

As the BI Today team is off for the holiday, I'm bringing you an abbreviated version of the newsletter.

In today's big story, why Fourth of July celebrations may be more muted than you're expecting — and why the situation next year could be even worse.

Also, don't forget to subscribe to BI's Defense Flash, your new weekly guide to the latest in warfare innovation, defense tech, and more. Subscribe!

If this was forwarded to you, sign up here.

The big story

The surprise guests at your barbecue: tariffs

Could you imagine the Fourth of July without fireworks? Well, we aren't quite there yet, but you may be seeing fewer in the sky this evening.

That's because many Americans have discovered their sparklers now come with a surcharge. From fireworks to backyard barbecues, President Donald Trump's tariffs are threatening to rain on America's birthday parade.

The trade war with China has driven up the price of many of America's favorite pyrotechnics.

Meanwhile, higher tariffs, coupled with stubbornly high inflation and a historic low in the American cattle supply, have jacked up the price of everything from beef to ice cream.

Although I've never personally celebrated a Fourth of July (my lot was on the other side), those all strike me as crucial components for a quintessentially American celebration.

Northwestern University's Medill Spiegel Research Center, which tracks consumer behavior, predicts a 5% drop in Independence Day celebrations this year, largely thanks to those higher prices.

BI spoke with Americans who feel like they're being forced to scale back on parties this year — with one discovering that the tariffs will push them $2,000 over-budget.

Perhaps even more alarming is the impact the tariffs could have on next year's celebrations.

It'll mark the 250th birthday of the US — meaning Americans will likely do it big.

Demand for fireworks is expected to surge for the momentous anniversary, but due to long lead times (shipments from China are usually ordered a full year in advance) and uncertainty around where the China tariffs will end up, industry watchers say there's a real risk of significant product shortages and higher prices.

In other news

• Congress has passed Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill.' Here are 4 ways it could impact your wallet.
• Trump's tax plan won't help Tesla, but 2 other EV companies got a stock boost.
• Diddy could get a 20-year prison sentence but the reality probably won't be anything close to that.
• The NCAA settlement is a big win for football players. For other athletes, the picture is murkier.
• This company is requiring employees take PTO this summer — and is offering some a $1,000 vacation stipend.
• 'I don't trust it, I don't like it': Lawmakers sound off on why they don't use AI.
• Robinhood is known for its meme-stock and crypto traders. Its CEO says users are embracing passive investing too.
• The CEO of a key SpaceX rival says customers are drawn to his company because it's 'even-keeled'.
• 'Love Island USA' star Elan's brother is running his Instagram. He told us he's 'not doing this for the clout.'

What's happening today

• Samsung Electronics issues Q2 pre-earnings guidance.

• Nathan's Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest.

  ---

  Hallam Bullock, senior editor, in London. Grace Lett, editor, in New York. Akin Oyedele, deputy editor, in New York. Amanda Yen, associate editor, in New York. Lisa Ryan, executive editor, in New York. Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York (on parental leave).

• I upgraded to Eurostar Plus for an extra $34 on a work trip to Paris.
• It wasn't as luxurious as premium economy, and the meal was mediocre.
• But cheap upgrades are frequent, and the extra space is ideal for a solo traveller.

I might be an aviation reporter, but I always prefer taking the Eurostar over a flight to Paris.

Security is much more efficient, and the journey times aren't too different, given that the train stations are in the city centers.

On a work trip from London to the French capital last month, to report from the Paris Air Show, I had the opportunity to upgrade to Eurostar Plus.

Business Insider paid $130 for this journey, only $34 more than the standard class on the same train.

I definitely preferred the extra legroom and having no seat next to me. However, the mediocre meal and lack of lounge access assured me that I wouldn't go out of my way to upgrade.

While the top class, Eurostar Premier, offers lounge access and better food, prices are typically above $300.

Compared to an airline, I'd say Eurostar Plus isn't quite as luxurious as flying premium economy. I think I felt more benefits as a solo traveler, so I would only look to upgrade again for a similarly good price.

It isn't that rare to see Eurostar Plus offered at a small upgrade from standard.

The online booking process was straightforward, without any of the pop-ups or add-ons you find with a budget airline.

Each passenger is allowed two pieces of luggage plus one piece of hand luggage. Eurostar Premier allows a third piece of luggage too.

I found the journey, 2 hours and 15 minutes long, less stressful than flying.

A flight between London Heathrow and Paris Charles de Gaulle takes about 1 hour and 20 minutes. But there's a further commute to the airports than to the train stations, plus a longer wait at security, not to mention the lack of a chance to take in views of the English and French scenery.

Going under the Channel Tunnel is entertaining too.

On the one hand, it's just like a regular tunnel, albeit 31 miles long. However, the Channel Tunnel is a remarkable feat of engineering.

It took six years before it opened in 1994, with boring machines starting from either side, meeting underneath the sea.

I arrived just over an hour before departure, and found checking in to be smooth and efficient.

I last took the Eurostar from London St. Pancras station almost exactly two years earlier, for the previous Paris Air Show. Back then, the lines were enormous and snaked through the concourse, but this time I barely had to queue.

Unlike the French side, I didn't have to remove my laptop from my bag, which made security quicker. Neither station requires you to remove liquids, like most airports.

Boarding began after a short wait, and I was impressed to see a staff member guarding a velvet rope by the Eurostar Plus car at the back of the train.

He checked off my name on an iPad, directed me toward my seat, and the nearest luggage rack — a small touch of luxury which elevated the experience.

For me, the biggest highlight was the seat itself.

The Eurostar Plus car is arranged in a 1-2 layout rather than the usual 2-2. Since I was traveling by myself, this was ideal as it gave me much more space and privacy than usual.

Unlike most airlines, you don't need to pay extra to choose your seat.

However, many of them have a limited window view, so it helps to book well in advance.

There were plenty of accessories that added to the comfort, too.

On the left, you can see a flip-down cup holder and a small light. There was another reading light to my left by the window, two seatback pockets, and a small mirror at the top.

Plus, there was more legroom and the ability to recline.

The seat reclined within its shell, which meant I didn't have to worry about irritating the passenger behind me.

However, I found the meal to be underwhelming.

Two staff members came down the aisle with a trolley, with a vegetarian or a meat option. I went for the chicken with chickpeas, peppers, and broccoli.

Dessert was a small popcorn and chocolate affair, and I found the chocolate was almost too rich.

I would've preferred a hot meal, like what's available in Eurostar Premier. Also, I was a bit surprised that I was only given a 150ml (5 fl oz) can of Coca-Cola.

I didn't have huge expectations, but the service wasn't as good as premium economy on a flight.

Still, it was a benefit that I didn't have to get up from my seat. Although I did miss the fun experience of walking to and ordering from the onboard café.

Shortly after, everyone was offered tea or coffee, and the service ended less than an hour after departure.

From then on, I enjoyed the comforts of my seat, reclining and taking in the views of the French countryside.

The benefits of Eurostar Plus became clearer on my return journey in the standard class.

My economy seat still had a footrest, but it was harder to use, with less space and no recline.

Having somebody sit next to me also felt a bit claustrophobic, especially on a hot summer day where temperatures exceeded 90 degrees.

The table was also a bit smaller, but I was still able to relax better on the train than on a plane.

I bought a soda in the waiting area before boarding. After a busy week of work, I spent most of the journey back to London reading a novel.

Overall, I'd always recommend the Eurostar over a plane, and to keep your eye out for a cheap upgrade.

If there's a conveniently timed train where Eurostar Plus is just a few extra bucks, it's worth booking it, especially if you're on your own. The free meal may also mean you save a bit of money.

Although if I were traveling in a couple or as a family, I think the benefits of space would feel less valuable.

As well as Paris, you can also take the Eurostar from London to Brussels and Amsterdam.

• President Franklin D. Roosevelt maintained a lifelong connection with Springwood, his family home.
• He was raised at the property in Hyde Park, New York, and hosted dignitaries there as president.
• Measuring about 21,000 square feet, Springwood has 49 rooms and eight bathrooms.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt's estate in Hyde Park, New York, is the only place in the US where a president was born, maintained a connection throughout his life, and is buried, according to the National Park Service.

Widely regarded as one of the most influential US presidents, Roosevelt was elected in 1932 and led the country through the Great Depression and World War II. Known for expansive government programs such as the New Deal, he died in office while serving an unprecedented fourth term in 1945.

Roosevelt's 21,000-square-foot family home, an Italianate-style villa known as Springwood, is open to the public as part of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park. Everything inside is original to the home.

I visited Springwood in June 2024. Take a look inside the historic site.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt's home, known as Springwood, is in Hyde Park, New York.

The Vanderbilt family's 45,000-square-foot Gilded Age mansion is also in Hyde Park, which is about 95 miles from New York City.

It's located on the grounds of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.

The National Park Service operates both the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum and the Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site, while the National Archives manages the library's collections.

The National Park Service offers 40-minute guided tours of Springwood from May through October. Tickets cost $15 each and are sold in person on a first-come, first-serve basis.

As I began my walk to Springwood, I passed bronze statues of Roosevelt and his wife, Eleanor Roosevelt.

The statues were modeled after a 1933 photograph of the Roosevelts at their Hyde Park home.

A park ranger told me to follow the sign for the stables to reach Roosevelt's home.

Further along the path, I began to see signs for Springwood, which is located next to the stables.

The stables still featured the names of the Roosevelt family's horses.

Roosevelt was an avid equestrian and continued riding even after his legs became paralyzed due to polio.

The tour started outside Springwood as a park ranger spoke about the history of the home and the Roosevelt family.

Roosevelt's father, James Roosevelt, was a Harvard-educated lawyer who earned his fortune as a businessman for various railroad and coal companies. He purchased the original farmhouse on the property in 1867 and named it "Springwood."

In 1915, Roosevelt and Eleanor added two stone wings and most of the third floor to make more room for their six children.

The guide also pointed out a front portico that resembled the South Portico of the White House.

"Perhaps a little political foreshadowing?" he said.

The Entrance Hall was decorated with prints from Roosevelt's naval collection and editorial cartoons from the 18th century.

Roosevelt served as assistant secretary of the Navy under President Woodrow Wilson. His fondness for Navy ships was evident in the decor throughout Springwood.

The Entrance Hall also featured Roosevelt's boyhood bird collection and a bronze statue of him at age 29.

As a child, Roosevelt collected birds and had them stuffed in order to study them up close.

The bronze statue depicts Roosevelt in 1911 when he was serving his first term in the New York State Senate.

In the Dining Room, Roosevelt sat at the head of the table in the seat pulled out on the left.

The small round table in the back of the room was the kids' table.

After dinner, guests would move to the Dresden Room, which functioned as a sitting room.

The room is named for the Dresden chandelier and sconces that Roosevelt's father brought back from Dresden, Germany.

A foldable ramp made the stairs leading into the Library accessible for Roosevelt's wheelchair.

At 39 years old, Roosevelt was diagnosed with polio and became paralyzed from the waist down. He didn't want people to know that he used a wheelchair, so the ramp could be folded up and hidden away when guests were present.

When Roosevelt took business meetings at Springwood, his aides positioned him in an armchair and put a stack of papers in his lap to give him a plausible reason not to stand when his guests arrived.

In the Library, Roosevelt met with world leaders and dignitaries.

Roosevelt's famous guests included King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother), Prince Frederik and Princess Ingrid of Denmark, Prince Olav and Princess Martha of Norway, and Winston Churchill.

The room also featured a portrait of Roosevelt painted by Ellen Emmet Rand.

Roosevelt sat for the portrait after he was elected to his first term as president in 1932.

The tour continued upstairs with the Pink Room, which functioned as a guest room.

King George VI and Winston Churchill slept in this room during their visits to Hyde Park.

Another guest room was used by his political advisors.

Louis Howe and Harry Hopkins, two of Roosevelt's close political advisors, stayed in this room.

The Chintz Room was also used as a guest room for important visitors.

Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, Russian pianist Madam Knavage, and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, stayed in the Chintz Room during their time at Springwood.

Roosevelt was born in the Blue Room on January 30, 1882.

His father, James Roosevelt, wrote in his diary on the night of Roosevelt's birth that he was a "splendid, large baby boy" who weighed 10 pounds. Everything in the Blue Room is original, including the mattress Roosevelt was born on.

James and his wife, Sara Roosevelt, slept in the Blue Room. After James' death, Sara moved into another room down the hall when the home was renovated in 1915, bringing her furniture with her. The Blue Room was then redecorated and repurposed as a guest room.

Sara requested that the original furniture be moved back into the Blue Room after her death to restore it to the way it looked when Roosevelt was born.

Growing up, Roosevelt slept in this bedroom until he married Eleanor in 1905.

When the Roosevelts had children of their own, the oldest son living at home slept here.

The hallway leading to the primary bedrooms included a unique piece of decor: a mirror mounted on a 45-degree angle.

The Secret Service used the mirror to monitor activity down the hall and around the front of the house.

Roosevelt's mother, Sara Roosevelt, slept in a bedroom at the end of the hall.

Roosevelt's father, James, died in 1900, while Sara lived for another 41 years. She moved from the Blue Room into this room after the home's 1915 renovation.

Eleanor moved into a smaller bedroom connected to Roosevelt's room after he became sick with polio.

The space was originally intended to be a morning room.

After Roosevelt's death in 1945, Eleanor moved to Val-Kill, a cottage she built with friends Nancy Cook and Marion Dickerman. Located around 2.5 miles from Springwood, the property is now known as the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site.

Roosevelt's bedroom windows featured views of the Hudson River.

Roosevelt would often spend early mornings in his room reading the paper or meeting with one of his secretaries.

Beside his bed, a designated phone provided a direct, secure line to the White House.

Having direct communication with Washington was state-of-the-art technology at the time, and proved crucial as his health began to fail towards the end of his life.

Our tour guide ended his presentation with a surprising detail: the clothes hanging in Roosevelt's bedroom closet.

"The clothes that are in that room on display, FDR handpicked for you to see," our guide said. "He knew you were coming."

Eleanor turned Springwood over to the National Park Service in 1945, shortly after Roosevelt's death, and spoke at its dedication as a national historic site in 1946.

"I think Franklin realized that the historic library, the house, and the peaceful resting place behind the high hedge with flowers blooming around it would perhaps mean something to the people of the United States," she said at the event, author Olin Dows wrote in his 1949 book, "Franklin Roosevelt at Hyde Park," according to the National Park Service. "They would understand the rest and peace and strength which he had gained here and perhaps learn to come, and go away with some sense of healing and courage themselves."

As I exited Springwood through the south lawn, I was greeted by stunning views of the Hudson Valley.

Roosevelt planted many of the trees on the property as part of his forestry experiments and conservation efforts.

Visitors could also pay their respects at the Roosevelts' burial site in Springwood's rose garden.

Roosevelt wrote that he wanted to be buried where the sundial stood in the rose garden on his Hyde Park estate, according to the National Park Service.

Roosevelt's legacy lives on in his presidential library and museum, the construction of which he oversaw himself.

The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum was dedicated in 1941.

He was the first US president to establish a library to house papers and artifacts from his political career, a model that every president since has followed.

When I visited my first presidential library, the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, I bought a passport to fill with stamps from all 15 presidential libraries nationwide. I was delighted to find a desk with stamps to add to my booklet just outside the gift shop.

Springwood remains a meaningful historical site memorializing one of America's most prominent presidents.

Nearly 10,000 people visited Springwood on the first day it was open to the public in 1946, and they haven't stopped visiting since.

• Bloomberg recalculated Bill Gates' net worth on Thursday to reflect recent philanthropic giving.
• The change lowered his net worth by 30%, sending him seven places down Bloomberg's rich list.
• Gates now sits in 12th place, behind his former assistant, Steve Ballmer, in fifth.

Bill Gates lost about $52 billion or 30% of his wealth on Thursday. But don't feel bad — his net worth was simply recalculated to reflect the Microsoft cofounder's charitable giving.

The recalculation shrank Gates' fortune from over $175 billion to $124 billion, sending him from fifth place to 12th on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His former assistant and successor as Microsoft's CEO, Steve Ballmer, replaced him in the fifth spot with a $172 billion net worth as of Thursday's close.

Gates also trails Alphabet cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and longtime friend and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett in the rankings.

Bloomberg says that it lowered the appreciation rates used in calculating his wealth to "better reflect Gates' outside charitable giving and the wealth estimate" that Gates provided in a blog post in May.

In that blog, Gates pegged his fortune at $108 billion and pledged to give away virtually all his money through the Gates Foundation over the next 20 years. He estimated the organization would spend more than $200 billion before closing at the end of 2045.

According to the Gates Foundation website, Gates and his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, have gifted a total of $60 billion to the organization as of December's close, and Buffett has donated $43 billion.

Gates owns around 1% of Microsoft and has received upward of $60 billion in stocks and dividends from the company, according to his Bloomberg page. Most of his fortune is now housed within Cascade Investment, a holding company that invests in assets from real estate and energy to private and public companies.

Ballmer's loyalty paid off

It's striking that Ballmer is now richer than Gates, given that employees are usually worth much less than successful founders.

He's an exception in part because, when he joined Microsoft in 1980 as an assistant to the president, he agreed to a $50,000 base salary plus 10% of the profit growth he generated, but his compensation became so high that the company offered a sizable equity stake instead.

Ballmer succeeded Gates as CEO in 2000 and stepped down in 2014 with a 4% stake in Microsoft. He now owns the Los Angeles Clippers.

Microsoft stock has soared more than 10-fold over the past decade to nearly $500 a share, making it the world's second-most valuable company, after Nvidia, with a $3.7 trillion market cap.

Ballmer recently told the "Acquired" podcast that Buffett's late business partner, Charlie Munger, asked him publicly why he held on to his Microsoft stock while the company's two cofounders, Gates and Paul Allen, diversified their investments much more.

"Steve, I'm wondering why you held onto your Microsoft stock when your partners over there didn't," Ballmer recalled the famously frank Munger saying. "I know you're not that smart."

"No, Charlie, but I'm that loyal," Ballmer replied.

• The average American needs to spend 44.6% of their income to afford a median-priced home.
• Only three major metro areas are affordable for median earners without topping 30% of their income.
• As homebuying costs outpace salaries, Americans will have to stretch their pockets to buy a home.

Buying a home this year? You'll be spending an even bigger chunk of your paycheck.

Data from Realtor.com shows that the median-priced home in May was $440,000. To afford a home at that price, the company found the typical American household would need to spend 44.6% of its income, far above the 30% that experts generally recommend for housing costs.

(Realtor.com based its income calculation on a scenario in which a buyer purchases a median-priced home ($440,000 as of May) in the US with a 20% down payment, has a 6.82% mortgage rate, based on Freddie Mac's May 2025 average, and has an annual tax and insurance rate of 1.72%.)

That 30% rule, which the Department of Housing and Urban Development suggested starting back in the 1980s, exists for a reason: It ensures households have enough room in their budgets for essential living expenses like groceries, utilities, childcare, and life's inevitable surprises, such as medical bills or car repairs.

But with today's high housing costs and sluggish income growth, that benchmark is no longer a realistic expectation for many households.

"Home prices have leveled off, but remain near historic peaks in much of the country," Hannah Jones, a senior economic research analyst with Realtor.com, told Business Insider. "Mortgage rates have hovered between 6.5% and 7% since last fall. Altogether, this means that for many households, buying a home today would be a stretch financially."

Especially since "home prices have accelerated faster than wages over the last 5-plus years," Jones added.

Many Americans aren't convinced that buying a home is smart

In 2023, the most recent year with available US Census data, median household income rose to $80,610 — the first annual increase since 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Census data, the national median home price surged by 33% since the first quarter of 2019.

While home prices have begun to fall in some US cities, many Americans still aren't convinced that buying a home is a smart decision.

In June, Fannie Mae — which backs the majority of mortgages originated in the US — released its monthly housing survey, which polls 1,000 Americans, older than 18, each month on their views about renting, home buying, household finances, and the broader economy. May results showed that 74% said it was a bad time to buy.

You may especially feel that way if you live in coastal cities like Los Angeles, New York, and Boston. These cities already have the reputation of being expensive, but if you're making the median salary or lower, buying a home there will deeply cut into your take-home pay, according to Realtor.com. Data from the company shows that metro areas for those cities require a 104.5%, 66.9%, and 64.3% share of your income, respectively.

As for cities where you can budget more effectively, they're all closer to the middle of the map.

"The Midwest is the most affordable region in the country, and is the only region with large metros where the typical household can afford to buy the typical home," Jones said.

Only three of the top 50 metros made the cut:

• In May, the St. Louis metropolitan area's median list price was $299,900, which required only a 30% share of income to afford;
• Detroit's metro required a share of 29.8%;
• Pittsburgh was the most affordable. It only required a 27.4% share of income.

• I'd like to spend less money on ordering coffee at cafés, chains, and drive-thrus.
• So, I tried store-bought vanilla-flavored iced coffees to see if any could replace my to-go order
• Starbucks and Cafe Bustelo had my favorite drinks, though International Delight also impressed me.

Like most of us, I know making coffee at home could save me money.

However, if doing so takes too much time and the results aren't even that delicious, are those savings even worth it?

So, I tested out five premade vanilla iced coffee drinks from the grocery store in hopes that at least one could be a worthy replacement for my drive-thru habit.

To see how much I could actually save, I compared the cost of a 12-ounce cup of each to what I usually pay for roughly the same thing while out. For reference, a 12-ounce iced coffee with vanilla syrup and milk is about $3.75 at my local Starbucks.

Here's how the coffee drinks stacked up.

I liked the price of Coffee Mate's French vanilla iced coffee, but I wouldn't get it again.

I've had Coffee Mate's creamers before, but this was my first time trying its iced coffee.

The French vanilla iced coffee rang up at $4.49 for 50 ounces, about $1.08 per 12-ounce serving, making it one of the least expensive options I tried.

The vanilla flavor tasted a little unnatural and a bit too artificial to me, and the coffee left an almost chalky aftertaste in my mouth. This was my least favorite coffee of the bunch.

I wasn't super impressed by the Dunkin' iced coffee.

The French vanilla Dunkin' iced coffee was only available in single-serve bottles at my local Walmart.

One 13.7-ounce bottle was $2.98 — based on the price per ounce, a 12-ounce pour would cost about $2.64. Of the coffees I tried, this cost the most per ounce, though it's worth noting this price may have been lower if I'd been able to find a larger bottle.

I appreciated that this coffee had real milk in it, but I felt it also had a slightly artificial vanilla taste. I wasn't particularly impressed by the price or the flavor.

International Delight's vanilla iced coffee had a good coffee flavor.

In terms of price per ounce, the least expensive option I sampled was International Delight's vanilla iced coffee.

I paid $4.86 for a 64-ounce carton, so a 12-ounce serving cost about $0.96. I'd be able to drink four cups of this for the price of just one vanilla Starbucks iced coffee, which felt impressive.

The vanilla flavor wasn't overwhelming, and this coffee didn't taste as sweet as some of the other options. I appreciated the subtle flavor, and I'd drink this again, especially at this great price point.

I loved that I could add my own milk to Cafe Bustelo's vanilla iced coffee.

Cafe Bustelo's vanilla iced coffee cost me $5.99 for 40 ounces, or roughly $1.80 per 12-ounce serving. This was the only option I tested that didn't have milk or cream in it.

In my opinion, the coffee didn't have much of a vanilla flavor. This may be because the base seemed to be more concentrated (espresso) than some of the other drinks I tried. However, I prefer a subtle vanilla flavor over an overwhelming one, so this was a win for me.

The coffee was smooth, and I really liked that I could control how much milk or cream to add to it — or that I could drink it black. I'd absolutely buy this again.

Starbucks' vanilla Frappuccino chilled coffee drink tasted like I could've ordered it from the drive-thru.

A four-pack of Starbucks vanilla Frappuccino chilled coffee drinks cost me $7.78. Each bottle was 9.5 ounces, which would make a 12-ounce serving about $2.40.

Although Frappuccino is in the name of this drink, this isn't a milkshake-like beverage like the ones at Starbucks locations. It's more of a milky iced coffee.

And, in my opinion, this vanilla coffee drink tasted the best by far.

I don't think I'd be able to tell the difference between a cup of this and a vanilla iced coffee from my local Starbucks. This was my favorite pick, and it felt like the best compromise — it really tasted like something I'd ordered from a barista, not poured at home.

Although Starbucks was my winner, I'm glad I found several iced-coffee options I like — now, I'm confident I can still have a great drink at home for a lower cost.

• Mark Cuban has said that AI could create the world's first trillionaire.
• He said the technology, as it rapidly develops, could make "just one dude in a basement" mega-rich.
• Cuban said he uses AI extensively for work and in his personal life.

Mark Cuban said artificial intelligence could make "just one dude in a basement" the world's first trillionaire.

The 66-year-old billionaire said in a recent episode of the "High Performance" podcast that we haven't yet seen "best, or the craziest" that AI can achieve.

"It's just the very beginning, right, you know, we're still in the preseason," Cuban said, adding that, as it becomes more advanced, we'll find more ways to make our lives better and more interesting.

"Not only do I think it'll create a trillionaire, but it could be just one dude in the basement. That's how crazy it could be," he said.

Cuban compared the push for AI to the early days of computers and smartphones. He said people hesitated to make the shift but would now struggle to live without the devices.

Someone who can come up with a way that makes AI as essential "will make a lot of money," Cuban added.

"Most people condemn things when they first happen," he said. "But then, when you see people using it and you realize the value, that's when people come around."

The former Shark Tank investor told the podcast it was "insane" how much he has been using AI.

He said that he uses AI for writing software and its text-to-video function for work. In his personal life, Cuban said he recently used ChatGPT to track his medicine and exercise habits.

"I'm not here to tell you it's going to replace everyone's job — it won't," he said, but the technology is incredible, whether you're innovative or just feeling bored.

The world's richest person, Elon Musk, has a total net worth well short of $1 trillion, at around $360 billion, per the Bloomberg Billionaire Index.

His net worth peaked in December at around $439 billion as Tesla shares soared.

• We owned a stunning house in a lovely UK village, and the boys were happy with school and friends.
• We left all of that behind and moved to Argentina, my home country.
• It's been nine months — nine crazy and intense months. We're still adapting, but I'm glad we did it.

Being an immigrant can be hard. This wasn't the case for me.

I didn't have to flee my country because of life-threatening reasons. I chose to leave Argentina to pursue a Master's in Creative Writing in Madrid.

While I was living there, I traveled to London for the weekend and met a nice guy in a pub, whom I married a couple of years later. Not long after, I was pregnant.

We had our first son and lived in London for another two and a half years, until our second son was born. We needed more space and help with the kids, so we moved to Wales, where my in-laws were 20 minutes away and a nursery was around the corner.

I was able to carry on working remotely. My husband left his job in London and found a new position close by. Life went on. We were fine.

In fact, we were more than fine — we had a stunning house in a lovely village, the boys were happy with their school and friends, and although we didn't have our dream jobs, we were able to pay the bills and had a good work-life balance.

That's why I don't think anyone expected us to announce a move to Argentina.

It was a difficult decision, but we were determined

When we broke the news to friends and family, they understandably wondered if we were sure about our decision.

Of course, we weren't. Who on Earth can be sure of such a move? We'd have to sell our dream home and everything in it, find a new home and new school for the kids, and quit our jobs and find a new way of living halfway around the world.

Not to mention, we lived in a first-world country. Argentina is not first world. We'd be throwing everything away to start a new life in an economically unsteady country. We were determined, however.

I wanted to give my sons a chance to make the most of being part of a multicultural family. They had to experience both heritages in the flesh. They deserved to know what living in their mom's country and speaking Spanish was like.

It was an emotional nightmare at first

The kids weren't happy about the move. The eldest literally said, "You're ruining my life." There was no turning back, though.

Preparing for the move meant we were completely swamped with the logistics of estate agents, removal companies, Facebook Marketplace postings, and video calls with schools in Buenos Aires.

The amount of things we collected as years went by was insane, and because the house was big we kept them all: strollers, teddies, high chairs, rocking chairs, bottles, breast pumps, bicycles, scooters, puzzles, keyboards, microphones, blankets, books, you name it. Not to mention the piano and every single piece of furniture.

My husband drove back and forth from the garbage dump so many times, and each time he came back, his face spoke to me: I'm exhausted, this is hard. We gave things away, too.

I remember the tears every time I put baby clothes in a bin bag and every time I dropped something meaningful at a charity shop. What am I doing? Am I crazy? I remember those thoughts, too.

Despite the doubt and hardship, we kept going.

We've been in Argentina for 9 months

Having my husband's support was what really made the move happen. Even though the move seriously affected his career and finances, he went along with it anyway, for which I'm extremely grateful.

In Argentina, there are no more gardens, mountains, or sheep on our way to school.

We now live in an apartment on the outskirts of the city, the boys share a bedroom, and we drive past three different schools on our way to school.

There's traffic, horns, bikes, buses, and lots of people. When we first got here, my youngest would cover his ears. Yes, son, city life is loud.

It's been nine months now — nine crazy and intense months. We're surviving and still adapting.

Things are looking up

My husband and I no longer have corporate jobs. I work as a contractor interviewing candidates for different clients and also make a living out of my podcast and artistic workshops. My husband works a remote job with fewer hours than in London, which gives him more time to do what he loves: engage with the kids.

When I'm a bit sad, I go to my sister's or arrange to see my friends: they know how to make me laugh. My husband has made some friends through football. And the kids are not asking when they'll be going back to the UK as much.

They like their school and the fact that we have a swimming pool in the building. They enjoy hanging out with my siblings and their little cousin and having lunch with their grandma once a week. And they speak Spanish now.

As much as I loved their British accents, I hated that they couldn't roll the "r" or say anything in Spanish apart from "Hola", "cómo estás". Now they can communicate, for real, and that's truly awesome.

We still don't know how long we'll be staying here, but we know it was right to come, no matter the suffering. We may not have a fixed income, but we have a feeling that no one can take away from us. We feel alive.

• Marc Andreessen says the US must lead in AI-era robotics — or risk a flood of Chinese machines.
• Manufacturing has plunged as a proportion of the US economy since the mid-20th century.
• Andreessen called for "alien dreadnought" factories to reindustrialize and fuel future growth.

Marc Andreesen believes America is at a profound turning point — and it can either lead the next industrial revolution powered by AI, or fall behind in a world dominated by "Chinese robots."

In a conversation at the Reagan Library's Economic Forum on Thursday, the billionaire venture capitalist and Andreesen Horowitz cofounder argued that the path to future growth lies not in nostalgia for old factory jobs but in reindustrializing America around next-generation manufacturing, especially in robotics.

"I think there's a plausible argument — which Elon also believes — that robotics is going to be the biggest industry in the history of the planet," Andreesen said, referring to CEO Elon Musk. "It's just going to be gigantic."

"There's going to be billions, tens of billions, hundreds of billions of robots of all shapes, sizes, descriptions running around doing all kinds of things, and those robots need to be designed and built."

But if the US doesn't take the lead, he warned, it risks "living in a world of Chinese robots everywhere."

Manufacturing's long fall

Andreesen's case comes amid a long-term decline in the importance of manufacturing to the American economy.

In 1947, manufacturing made up over 25% of the US GDP. By 2017, it had plunged to under 12%, according to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis shared by the American Enterprise Institute.

Employment figures are even more stark. Manufacturing accounted for nearly 33% of all US jobs in 1947, but had dropped to about 8% by the end of 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Tariffs have been the Trump administration's preferred solution to this decline, but industry experts and Wall Street have said that won't be enough.

A May report from Wells Fargo estimated that the US needs $2.9 trillion in capital investment to regain 1979 manufacturing job levels, calling it an "uphill battle."

Goldman Sachs analysts echoed that sentiment in June, warning that tariffs can't overcome China's advantages of cheaper labor and government subsidies. Only a surge in technological innovation, they wrote, can reverse the "long-run stagnation" in productivity.

Meanwhile, US manufacturers are struggling to fill the roles already available. In an April 2024 report, the Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte found the US could need 3.8 million new manufacturing workers by 2033, but half of those jobs could remain unfilled due to skill shortages.

Build what's next — or be left behind

Andreesen proposes a different vision: use AI to transform what manufacturing means.

Rather than bringing back low-cost labor, he called for massive investment in "alien dreadnought" factories — hyper-automated factories producing robotics, drones, EVs, and AI-enabled machines that he believes could revitalize rural America and make the US the leader in embodied AI.

"We shouldn't be building manufacturing lines that have people sitting on a rubber mat for 10 hours screwing screws in by hand," he said.

"We should be building what Elon calls alien dreadnought factories," he said.

Elon Musk has repeatedly used the term, including in 2016 and in 2020, to describe his vision for highly automated, roboticized Tesla factories, particularly for Model 3 production.

Andreesen argued that this reinvention would not only reverse decades of deindustrialization but also help solve broader problems, from national security to wage stagnation to the urban-rural divide.

"We have to do we have to do this because it's necessary from a national security standpoint. We have to do it because we need the economic growth. We have to do it because we need an answer for the entire population of the country, not just the cities," he said.

"And we have to do it because if we don't do it, China's going to do it — and we don't want to live in that world."

• The US Army is taking a hard look at what systems and platforms it doesn't need for future conflicts.
• The Army secretary and a top general gave BI some insight into this process.
• The service is undergoing a major transformation initiative after a directive earlier this year.

US Army leaders say Humvees and Robotic Combat Vehicles aren't useful for future fights, but the Infantry Squad Vehicle is.

Ongoing decisions about what stays and what goes are part of a larger transformation initiative that has the Army reviewing its force structure and cutting certain programs it deems no longer necessary for the kinds of wars the US military wants to be ready to fight should worse come to worst.

Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll and Gen. James Rainey, the commanding general overseeing Army Futures Command, talked to Business Insider about some of what is getting axed and why.

Driscoll pointed to the Robotic Combat Vehicle, or RCV, program, which launched in 2019 with the goal of integrating autonomous and remotely operated capabilities into the Army's ground systems. Three versions were initially planned — an expendable light variant, a durable medium variant, and a lethal heavy variant designed for combat against an enemy armored vehicle.

But the development of the RCV hit snags. "We know we need autonomy, we know that we need the ability to move things in a way that is not controlled by human beings," Driscoll said.

But the requirements the Army put together for it ended up making it just this "incredibly large, incredibly heavy, incredibly expensive, relatively exquisite tool," he said. By the time the Army went to purchase them, the threats to the RCV, like small, hostile drones, had grown substantially. In Ukraine, slow, heavy, expensive vehicles have been prime targets for cheap exploding drones.

"It might have been there in the beginning and we got it wrong from the very beginning," he said, "but at a minimum, by the time it came due for us actually purchase a lot of these and get them into formations, it just no longer made sense anymore."

He called the move to end the program "a hard decision."

The Humvee, or High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, is also being phased out. "It's 40 years old. It was useful in its time," Rainey said. "If you look at the ubiquitous sensing drones just in Ukraine and Russia, the survivability of a wheeled vehicle is very low."

The Army also recently ended the M10 Booker Mobile Protected Firepower program just before it was set to go into full-rate production and after spending well over a billion dollars on the project. The decision was made in response to ongoing global conflicts "and in support of the strategic objectives outlined in the Army Transformation Initiative," according to a memo issued by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth earlier this year.

The memo outlined the focal points, timelines, and priorities of the Army going forward, including reducing and restructuring attack helicopter formations and augmenting them with unmanned aircraft, putting thousands of drones into the hands of soldiers, and focusing on the Indo-Pacific theater and China.

The efforts in the directive are estimated to cost around $36 billion over the next five years and represent one of the largest Army overhauls since the end of the Cold War. Army officials have said it's designed to increase lethality and readiness in the service and is focused on the needs of individual warfighters.

In the interview with BI, Driscoll and Rainey identified one platform that represents what it wants more of. "We have a requirements and acquisitions success story with the Infantry Squad Vehicles," Rainey said.

The relatively new M1301 Infantry Squad Vehicle entered service in 2020. Rainey said that the platform was designed well and requirements were useful and thoughtful. "We went fast, but we iterated with soldiers continually through the process. We ended up with a very useful vehicle," he said.

Driscoll said that in conversations with soldiers, the Army learned that they wanted a vehicle to prioritize speed and all-terrain driving over protection.

It speaks to, the service secretary said, the Army "trying to build a menu of offensive and defensive solutions." For some missions, something like the Infantry Squad Vehicle will be more effective. And for others, a heavier, more armored platform could still be valuable and available.

Much of what Driscoll and others say they're focused on comes out of efforts to be smarter and more cost-effective in Army purchases.

"We feel a large enough existential threat, and it is important enough that we can no longer make decisions simply based off where jobs might exist or what private companies may benefit from our decisions," he said. "Instead, we have to optimize for soldier lethality in the fight ahead."

Lethality is a guiding principle for the US Department of Defense under Hegseth and the Trump administration. It was a core objective for the Biden administration and first Trump one, as well as past administrations, though the interpretations were different. Generally, it serves as a subjective measuring stick for DoD programs and projects, the aim being to be able to effectively defeat an enemy.

Right now, that long-standing Pentagon buzzword is the deciding factor for what the Army and other services prioritize.

• My mother-in-law and I connected immediately, but a trip to Morocco recently made us even closer.
• My husband and I bought a house in Italy, and we all went to Morocco to buy accents to decorate.
• She and I enjoyed shopping together and had plenty of deep conversations.

I first met Kathy, the woman who would later become my mother-in-law, on a small island in the Pacific Ocean thousands of miles from where I, she, or her son grew up.

My future husband, Uriah, and I were living on Kaua'i at the time, and he had the brilliant-yet-terrifying idea that we should have both our moms out to visit at the same time so everyone could get to know one another. The week before everyone arrived, I was a jumble of anxiety. I was conscious of Uriah's strong bond with his family and eager to make a good impression.

It turned out that all of my sleepless nights were for naught. Kathy welcomed me into the family with the warmest embrace, both figuratively and literally. She and I clicked immediately, and I couldn't believe how comfortable I felt around her.

A trip to Morocco made our relationship even stronger

It was September 2023 when we first met, and we saw each other again the next month for a few days in Colorado, Uriah's home state. Then, when we got married in Sicily in May the next year, we all spent a week in Sicily together.

Despite having spent a cumulative total of less than three weeks together, we had already established a close rapport. But it wasn't until we traveled together to Morocco this past February that our bond truly solidified.

Uriah and I had just bought a house in Italy, and Kathy traveled with us to Sardinia for the closing. Neither of us had ever owned a house before, and I had the wild idea of flying to Morocco to shop for embroidered bedspreads and other unique accents to make it our own.

I had memories from a trip 10 years earlier of all the gorgeous, colorful textiles and rainbow mosaic lamps casting textured light over the chaotic medina. I sent Kathy a cheap flight I'd found from Milan to Marrakesh and asked if she was up for it. She agreed without hesitation.

When we first stepped out of the taxi in downtown Marrakesh, the teenage daughter of our Airbnb host met us to guide us to our apartment. As I rushed to follow her through the labyrinthine medina, I realized Kathy and Uriah were getting swallowed into the crowd, and I gestured to our host that we should let them catch up.

I felt a touch of trepidation when I saw their nervous faces among the throng of people, and I wondered briefly if I'd made a mistake taking them somewhere that could pose such a sensory overload. I was relieved when we were all safely in our Marrakesh apartment.

Over the next few days, Kathy and I pored over fabrics in stall after stall with endless bolts of silk jacquard, cotton, wool, and tightly-woven berber in every color imaginable. Uriah would lose interest and leave us to our own devices, while we looked at dozens of textures and patterns before choosing our favorites and arranging to have them cut and hemmed.

We open up to each other and have shared beautiful memories

The next week, in Essaouira, we spent more time one-on-one as the 20th place we'd stopped to look at throw pillows proved to be the final straw of Uriah's house-shopping patience.

Leaning back on cushions in a café overlooking the ocean, we spoke not as mother- and daughter-in-law with all the fraught, implied complications those relationships often hold, but as two women sharing stories of love, loss, and heartache. Uriah would find us sometimes, swept up in these discussions, and groan, "Are you two crying again?"

Somewhere in the magic of Morocco, between a crowded medina in Marrakesh and a crimson sunset over a beach in Essaoira, Kathy and I shared experiences that were ours alone. We packed them with us like souvenirs when we flew our separate ways, but the memories we'd woven together were in patterns far more intricate and colorful than the textiles we chose. Like the postcards Kathy always buys but doesn't send because they're too beautiful, we'd keep them with us always.

• Some boomers want to pass down an early inheritance to help their millennials kids.
• However many struggle due to financial uncertainty and taboos about money, financial planners said.
• The planners said families should have open conversations and get their own finances in order.

Two financial phenomena are happening at once: Millennials are increasingly putting off having kids, or having fewer than they'd prefer, due to financial reasons. At the same time, boomers are expected to pass down the greatest wealth transfer in history.

So what happens when millennials get an inheritance after it's too late to really change their lives' trajectory?

"There are people right now who are just not having families because they worry about the money, and then someday they're going to be 55 and inherit a shitload of money from their parents. The time to have a family will be over, and they'll be wildly rich," Adam Harding, a financial planner based in Arizona, told Business Insider, calling it a "sad development" but not a surprising one.

Boomers have increasingly expressed interest in passing down an earlier inheritance to their children. Several who have done it previously told BI that they felt their adult kids could use the money now, while they are still in the earlier phases of building a family and career. Others are open to the idea but may not know how to start or if they're in a financial position to do so, and their adult children are too afraid to ask.

A Senior Living survey published in February that included over 2,400 American adults found that 70% of parents expected to leave an inheritance to their children when they die. Of that group, 76% indicated they'd be open to considering passing down that inheritance early. Despite the interest in passing on wealth prior to their death, only 8% of respondents said they had actually done it. Meanwhile, only 4% of adults said they had asked their parents for early inheritance.

Financial planner Stoy Hall told BI many Americans who would like to pass on wealth just aren't sure if they can actually afford to do it. They're trying to make sure they have enough to live on without knowing what their future costs might be, while also trying to figure out what they can pass down.

Compounding the problem, he said, is that "we don't talk about money enough in America." Because talking about money is so taboo, he said parents and their adult children struggle to understand how the other is doing financially and what their needs look like.

"Most kids don't know how much their parents do have or don't have," he said, adding that "makes it harder."

Harding said part of the reason baby boomers are hesitant to part with their wealth is that for much of the generation, it did not come quickly to them but was saved over a lifetime. They were also raised by Depression-era, cost-conscious parents.

"They grew up prudent and they got rich a little bit at a time," he said. "They're just so accustomed to always seeing the number get bigger that they feel uncomfortable seeing it go the other direction."

For boomers who want to help their kids but struggle to part with their wealth, he said getting a clear hold on their finances can help. A third party, like a financial planner, can help assess how much they're able to give, even factoring in the potential costs of assisted living and other expenses.

Adult kids need to get their own finances in order first

Harding agrees that families need to have more open conversations to address these discrepancies between what parents have and what their adult kids need. But in addition to the parents, their children need to understand their finances as well.

He said it's a lot easier for someone to ask for help from their parents if they've got their own finances in order, as opposed to someone who's a spendthrift.

"Get your own house in order without having received help first," he said.

That doesn't necessarily mean getting your student loans or mortgage fully paid off, but rather demonstrating that you have a plan for paying them off, a plan for saving, and specific financial goals that you are actively working toward.

What the boomers don't want to do, he said, is gift $20,000 just so their adult kid can go to Europe a few times a year. Instead, they should have a detailed financial plan that lays out how much they are trying to save and for what purpose, whether it's to own a home or afford to have another baby.

While parting with wealth can be psychologically challenging, Harding recommends parents think about why they have focused on accumulating wealth in the first place. For many of his clients, the reason is to provide for their family, so why not provide when the money will do the most good?

And even from a selfish standpoint, he said, giving early so you can have another grandchild seems like a pretty good way to spend your money.

Do you have a story to share about passing down or inheriting wealth? Contact this reporter at [email protected].

• Nike is trying to regain dominance with a new CEO, strategies, and sports-focused initiatives.
• Collectors and analysts emphasized the importance of using exclusivity to boost Nike's appeal.
• Nike's partnerships with athletes and innovation are keys to its comeback efforts.

Nike's biggest fans have some tips for the retail giant.

The sportswear brand is on a journey to regain its footwear dominance.

Although its $46 billion in annual sales are ahead of smaller competitors like On Running, longtime rival brands like Adidas are nipping at its heels when it comes to mindshare.

Nike's sales fell 10% during its last fiscal year. In October, as growth was stalling, the company brought on a new CEO, Elliott Hill, to get the business back on track. He's been slashing promotions, prioritizing wholesale relationships with major retailers, and putting sports back at the brand's forefront.

Many avid shoe collectors, sometimes called sneakerheads, have followed the brand through its ups and downs over the years. Business Insider spoke with two loyal customers and an analyst who follows the company closely. They had mixed perspectives on the Nike of 2025.

Here's what people who know Nike well have to say about the wins and losses of its comeback efforts.

Nike needs to get better at knowing what to stock and when

Lamar Stewart, a 32-year-old collector who estimates he owns over 100 pairs of shoes, said his love of Nike goes back to his teenage years. Lately, though, he's found some of the brand's drops underwhelming.

Part of the problem is Nike's inventory strategy, including knowing when to limit or increase the quantity of a sneaker. Take the classic University of North Carolina Jordan 1 that Nike reimagined and released in May, Stewart said. Though he and other sneakerheads he knew were hyped for the famous blue and white shoe drop, the company released so many that Stewart saw them "sitting on shelves" in stores and online.

"When they have a lot of stock, people aren't feeding into it," Stewart said.

It's an issue Nike is addressing behind the scenes. Hill, the former president of consumer and marketplace who returned to the company as CEO, is helping Nike lessen its reliance on retro styles, such as Air Force Ones, Nike Dunks, and Air Jordan 1s. Nike has been collaborating with some of the WNBA's biggest stars on new styles and reviving its focus on running, for example.

Some analysts are optimistic that Hill can help manage this "tug-of-war between scarcity and distribution," BMO Capital Markets analyst Simeon Siegel said.

Exclusivity is necessary

Nike did better anticipating demand with the Neon Air Max 95. It's "one of the most legendary Air Maxes," Stewart said, and collectors went crazy for the April release.

Stewart said the drop drummed up feelings of the old days for sneaker collectors like himself, recalling the excitement of waking up early to stand in line for a coveted shoe. It may have been frustrating for those who couldn't get their hands on them, but complaints about not enough shoes are good for the apparel giant. It's better to leave customers wanting more.

Hill said during Nike's earnings presentation last week that the company saw promising results in the fourth quarter with "reintroducing the Air Max 95 to a new generation."

Siegel said creating exclusivity is key to appeasing sneakerheads. Recreational shoe collectors want what their peers can't easily get their hands on. That's part of why the company mixes in drops exclusive to its SNKRS app.

"Nike needs to have many shoes that are hard to get," Siegel said.

Innovation is tricky

Innovation is also critical to Nike's efforts to move beyond its retro styles.

Shu Cheng sells many Nike styles at .IMAGE, the New York City sneaker consignment store he cofounded.

He said he does his best to educate Jordan-obsessed customers about Nike's new technologies, like the Nike x Hyperice Hyperboot, which heats up and massages ankles. His shoppers are more interested in retro styles, though.

"We want to give our customers Nike's innovation, but they're not coming in and asking for it," Cheng told BI.

Still, some of Nike's more innovative shoes have sold well. WNBA star A'ja Wilson's A'One sneaker sold out in under five minutes in May's online release. The A'One was made with Nike's cushioning technology called Cushlon ST2 foam.

"I think where Nike went wrong in recent years was losing focus on what has made the company great for so many years, which is innovating and designing really cool products and telling marketing stories that gets the consumer excited about those products," Jim Duffy, a Nike analyst for Stifel Institutional, previously told Business Insider.

Such innovation comes from putting their "ear to the streets" and listening to consumers, Stewart said. Smaller rivals are flourishing by "giving the people what they want," he said.

Running brand Hoka, for example, has been a leader in the ultra-cushioned shoe trend among athletes. To catch up, BMO analysts suggested Nike take a leaf out of its old playbook and be a "fast copier" of what's working for Hoka.

Nike, which released its cushioned Vomero 18 running shoes in February, is already following the trend.

What's next for Nike

Nike's renewed sports-first approach is smart, Cheng said. Instead of focusing on celebrities — like competitors Puma and On have done with Rihanna and Zendaya — collaborating with athletes leans into Nike's image as a sportswear brand.

However, there's no denying the connection that sports style has with streetwear. The Air Jordan 1 started off as a basketball shoe and grew into a cultural phenomenon and its own brand under Nike Inc. The sportswear company is no stranger to partnering with luxury brands and A-listers like Jacquemus or Travis Scott, either.

Nike is cooking up a unique collaboration with Kim Kardashian's Skims. The launch was recently delayed but is expected to be released in 2025, analysts said. Cheng said it's a good play to continue attracting female customers — something he said is missing from his shop.

"We used to sell a lot smaller sizes, and now less and less females come in," Cheng said. "It might bring back that customer base."

Winning over women is another brick laid in the groundwork of Nike's journey back to the top. Its first Super Bowl commercial in decades starred female athletes, and it's the popularity of the WNBA.

"Nike, the business, still dwarfs the competition," Siegel wrote in an analyst note.

• Slate Auto has quietly removed the "under $20,000" expected price tag for its electric pickup truck.
• Trump's huge tax bill is set to scrap federal EV incentives, which Slate had hoped to qualify for.
• Slate's website now says it expects its modular pickup to be priced in the "mid-twenties."

Slate's plan to sell its no-frills electric pickup for under $20,000 appears to have hit a speed bump.

The Jeff Bezos-backed EV startup previously said its modular Slate truck was expected to start at under $20,000 after federal incentives, but has now changed its website to say the electric truck will be priced in the "mid-twenties."

Slate's website featured the "under $20,000" expected price as recently as Wednesday, according to Internet Archive screenshots viewed by Business Insider. TechCrunch first reported the change.

It comes as the US House of Representatives passed a final version of President Donald Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill," which is expected to kill the $7,500 tax credit for new US-built electric cars from September.

When it unveiled the utilitarian truck in April, Slate said it would cost $25,000. However, the company had been banking on federal incentives, such as the $7,500 discount, to push the price of its first EV under the $20,000 mark.

The company did not respond to a request for comment from BI, sent outside normal working hours.

A lack of affordable options has hampered EV adoption in the US, and Slate Auto's CEO previously told BI the company aimed to help fill that gap.

The startup made a big splash with its first vehicle, with the back-to-basics pickup truck amassing 100,000 refundable reservations in its first three weeks on sale.

Although the base version of the truck, which is set to be built in Indiana with deliveries beginning in 2026, will lack frills such as screens, radios, or power windows, Slate says it will be heavily customizable.

Buyers will be able to buy over 100 accessories, ranging from personalized wraps to an "SUV kit" that transforms the Slate truck into a five-person people carrier.

The average price of an EV in the US is already almost $10,000 more expensive than its combustion-engine equivalent, and experts have warned that the scrapping of the $7,500 tax credit will make electric cars even more unaffordable.

A report by Harvard University's Salata Institute in March found that removing the tax credit would result in a 15% hit to expected EV sales by 2030, and 20 million metric tons extra of CO2 emissions over the same time period.

• The billionaire social calendar for the summer includes more than Sun Valley and the Hamptons.
• It increasingly includes a few high-profile weddings each summer.
• This season is punctuated by the weddings of Alex Soros, Jeff Bezos, and Eve Jobs.

The traditional soundtrack of the billionaire social calendar — the Allen & Company Conference in Sun Valley, the Hamptons, a yacht trip around the Med — has been interrupted by wedding bells.

Over the past couple of years, billionaire weddings have become must-attend events for those who want to see, be seen, and mingle with their fellow masters of the universe.

Last year, the wedding of the summer was undoubtedly that of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant. Billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, and Rihanna, who also performed at a pre-wedding bash, attended.

The previous summer, Ari Emanuel, superagent and then-CEO of entertainment business Endeavor, wedded fashion designer Sarah Staudinger. Elon Musk and Tyler Perry were among the billionaires on the guest list.

2025's billionaire wedding season is gearing up to be the biggest yet.

It kicked off in June when Alex Soros, son of hedge fund investor George Soros, married Huma Abedin, the political strategist and former Hillary Clinton aide. Photographed for Vogue were guests like supermodel Karlie Kloss, the wife of billionaire investor Josh Kushner, and fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg, the wife of media mogul Barry Diller.

Next down the aisle were Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos, who wed in Venice a couple of weeks later.

Billionaires from the worlds of tech (Bill Gates, Sam Altman), media (David Geffen, Oprah Winfrey), and fashion (Kim Kardashian, François-Henri Pinault) rubbed elbows to celebrate the third-richest man on Earth.

Next on the agenda: Eve Jobs, daughter of late Apple cofounder Steve Jobs, will wed Olympian equestrian Harry Charles in the Cotswolds sometime in August.

The question is: Will it be before or after Burning Man?

• Heather Torres first started accessorizing her porch with seasonal decor as a hobby.
• After winning a local Best Yard award, the pandemic hit, and she decided to turn it into a business.
• Since Porch Pumpkins was born, it has scaled to a six-figure business, and she's franchising.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Heather Torres, the owner of Porch Pumpkins, a Texas-based seasonal decor delivery company. It has been edited for length and clarity.

Shortly after my youngest son was born, I went crazy with pumpkins.

I'd always admired the beautiful seasonal decorations that the Dallas Arboretum displays each year, and when he was little, I decided to start trying my hand at creating pumpkinscapes at home as a way to keep him — and myself — busy.

It wasn't long before I got good at it. Really good at it. I won a local award for Best Yard in 2013 and just kept trying to one-up myself. Eventually, my friends started asking me to create displays at their houses, and I got the idea that maybe people would pay for professional pumpkin displays during the fall season, the way they do for Christmas lights.

The idea stayed in the back of my head for a few years while I was busy as a stay-at-home mom raising my children. But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and everyone was stuck inside, it felt like the right time to try to make it a small business to earn a little money and use my talents. I decided I could bring the pumpkin patch to you!

I previously worked in the restaurant industry and knew I didn't want to make one-off custom designs. I wanted things to be super simple, so I created four different packages at different price points for customers to choose from.

The most popular package is the smallest display, which costs $325 and includes about 30 pumpkins of varying sizes. Our biggest package is for the true pumpkin lover, and it includes two 50-pound pumpkins, bales of hay, and all kinds of decorative extras for $1,350. We offer delivery and removal services. You can set up your own display, or we can do it for you.

We just celebrated our fifth birthday, and I never could have imagined how things would take off.

It used to be just me and my husband doing deliveries. Then I started hiring other moms I knew to work as part-time display designers and delivery drivers. I hired three people in my first year, and we completed just over 250 displays.

Now, we have over 20 people on our team, and we completely sold out in 2024. My goal was to decorate 1,000 porches, and we ended up doing 1,052.

It has worked out so that, now, I'm busy from August to December, but then I'm pretty much done in the spring and can be fully present to volunteer at my kids' school and do all the things a mom does, like try to cook dinner each night.

This year, it became increasingly evident that people were gravitating toward this business and were really interested in my approach. I get emails all the time asking to pick my brain, so in March, I started coaching other entrepreneurs about how to start their own seasonal pumpkin businesses.

I charge $4,500 for two hourlong sessions teaching you all the lessons I've learned along the way — from sourcing pumpkins to creating the decorative displays — and in just the few months since I launched that service, I've helped 12 people, mostly women, launch their own pumpkin businesses across the US.

We had the foresight to trademark our name and logo, so all the other pumpkin businesses popping up have different names. But we're also beginning to franchise, so soon, there will be official Porch Pumpkins locations across the country.

The whole process has really been a gift for my family. I'm just so excited to see how much we can grow from here.

Do you have a unique side hustle or small business, or has your side hustle replaced your full-time job? Email Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert at [email protected].