• I stick to a $200 weekly grocery budget to feed a family of five.
• I use store apps to clip digital coupons, watch for sales, and plan our meals.
• By keeping a list and buying in bulk when it makes sense, I waste less and save more.

For me, grocery shopping is more of a game of strategy than a chore.

With a family of four, plus one more when my oldest daughter comes home on weekends, I stick to a weekly food budget of $200. There's a little wiggle room, but definitely nothing over $250. If something doesn't fit into this week's budget, it simply gets bumped to next week's list.

That kind of discipline helps me stay in control and avoid unnecessary stress. These days, prices are high, so I've had to get smarter about how and where I spend my money.

I always monitor weekly sales, clip digital coupons, and plan meals ahead of time. I've started treating grocery shopping like some follow the stock market: I look for patterns in sales, plan my moves, and try not to let emotion lead the way.

Tracking coupons for different stores helps

I have memberships at both BJ's and Sam's Club, but my mom and I split the cost to make it more affordable. They each have their place in my routine.

BJ's is great for finding digital coupons. Their app tracks what you buy most often and offers coupons on those items. That saves time and money. Before each trip, I go through the app and load the deals I need right into my account.

Sam's Club is where I grab all my paper goods like toilet paper, paper towels, and facial tissue. Their store brand has become a staple in our household. I've tried switching it up for cheaper options before, but the quality is solid and worth the price.

Aldi will always be my spot for produce. I don't need bulk amounts of fruits and veggies, so I shop there for just what we need: celery, lettuce, tomatoes, and fruits. Their prices are reasonable, the quality is consistent, and because I'm buying smaller quantities, I don't end up tossing spoiled food later in the week.

Planning meals ahead of time helps me avoid waste

Every week, I ask my family what they want to eat. That keeps everyone happy and gives me a clear direction when I sit down to plan meals. I always cook enough to have leftovers, which helps for the next day's dinner and cuts down on extra cooking.

I also buy extra of things we use a lot, especially when they're marked down. If chicken thighs are on sale, I'll grab a few packs and freeze them.

But I don't believe in hoarding. I've learned that if you buy too much of something just because it's cheap, you can end up tossing it later. Plus, I can't stand clutter. I aim for a healthy middle ground: enough stored to be prepared but not so much that it turns into waste. There's real value in being stocked, not stuffed.

Lists keep me focused and help me avoid spending extra

I never shop without a list. Before each trip, I go through what we have, check what's on sale, and write down exactly what we need. That list is what keeps me from grabbing extras that weren't in the plan.

And I don't play about being in a store too long. I actually map out my route in the grocery store in advance based on what's on my list. If I don't need paper goods, I'm not walking through that aisle. There's no point in wandering just to "see what's there." That's how people blow their budget.

I move through the store with intention and purpose. Aimlessly browsing aisles might work for people with no budget, but I've got a household to feed, and every dollar matters.

This routine helps our budget and meals go further

This shopping method has helped me stretch our budget without sacrificing the kinds of meals we enjoy. I'm not just saving money, but I'm also being more intentional about how I feed my family.

The best part is, we all have a say. Asking my family what they want to eat takes some of the stress off me and helps avoid wasting food no one asked for. It's also easier on the budget when I'm not guessing.

We keep a shared shopping list so everyone can add what we're running low on. It turns grocery planning into more of a team effort, and it's made us more intentional about where our food budget goes.

• Archrivals Elon Musk and Sam Altman may have found something to bond over.
• The two tech billionaires are both disenchanted with US politics.
• Both posted about their political frustrations on X this Fourth of July.

Forget fireworks and cookouts: Elon Musk and Sam Altman are spending their Fourth of July sharing their frustrations about US politics.

The rival tech billionaires each celebrated Independence Day with social-media posts in which they vented about the state of the 50 states.

Musk rekindled his idea of starting a new political party called the "America Party" in an X post. This comes after a falling out between the Tesla CEO and his former ally, President Donald Trump.

"Independence Day is the perfect time to ask if you want independence from the two-party (some would say uniparty) system!" Musk wrote on X.

Musk's musings may have been prompted by Trump's so-called "big, beautiful bill," which the billionaire slammed as being full of bloat.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also expressed dissatisfaction with politics, specifically with the Democratic Party. Once a Democratic mega-donor, Altman wrote on X that he's now "politically homeless."

Altman's missive started as a love letter to the US. "I'm not big on identities, but I am extremely proud to be American," he wrote. "This is true every day, but especially today — I firmly believe this is the greatest country ever on Earth."

But don't expect Altman to host fundraisers for Democrats anytime soon. The tech mogul said he's a believer in "techno-capitalism," where wealth flows from innovation, entrepreneurship, and education. In his view, the Democratic Party is now out of step with that mission.

"The Democratic party seemed reasonably aligned with it when I was 20, losing the plot when I was 30, and completely to have moved [sic] somewhere else at this point," Altman wrote. The billionaire added that "I care much, much more about being American than any political party."

Altman's shift may come as anti-billionaire sentiment among Democrats, including New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, is on the rise.

"I'd rather hear from candidates about how they are going to make everyone have the stuff billionaires have instead of how they are going to eliminate billionaires," Altman wrote.

Musk is also a former self-identifying Democrat who became alienated from the party and eventually threw his support behind Republicans, culminating in his former leadership role in Trump's DOGE project.

Despite his frustrations, Altman might not join Musk's America Party, given their squabbles.

But if Altman and Musk do squash their beef, it could be because of this Fourth of July — and it won't be because they're grilling.

• The Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest is held annually on July Fourth.
• Every year, people tune in to see competitive eating stars, like Joey Chestnut and Miki Sudo.
• However, it's the underdogs toward the end of the table that we prefer to keep an eye on.

When you picture the 4th of July, most people think of fireworks.

That's "the big show," right?

For some, sure. But for others, it's all about Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, held every year on the Coney Island Boardwalk in Brooklyn, New York.

It's a truly American spectacle, watching people eat for sport — shoving as many hot dogs down their throats as they can, not due to hunger or for taste, but simply out of pure competition.

And while it's impressive to watch men like 17-time winner Joey Chestnut (who ate 70 ½ hot dogs this year), and women like 11-time winner Miki Sudo (who scarfed down 33) eat more in 10 minutes than should be humanly possible, what's more impressive is the competitors near the end of the table. That's right, we're talking about those who are just there for the love of the game.

Every year, the competition puts the men and women who are coming into the competition with the best records — the big dogs, so to speak — in the middle of the table, with, well, the underdogs toward the end. Those are the competitors who are there to try their best, but, barring something unthinkable, aren't likely to unseat someone who's won 10 or more times.

Let's hear it for the underdogs

Take competitor Cherish Brown, for example. The Ohio native earned a wild-card spot to compete in her third consecutive 4th of July contest. Ahead of the event, she told WFFT-TV, "I'm really always looking to improve personally, rather than beat anybody at the table."

Brown added, "I can't really control what they're going to do. If they can eat 15-20 hot dogs, that's great for them, but I'm not going to punish myself if I can't eat that many. I'm just there to have a good time, and try to do better than last year."

She finished this year's competition in 12th place, having eaten six hot dogs in 10 minutes, but we hope that didn't dampen her day.

Later, in the men's competition, Indiana native Cameron Meade made his Nathan's debut, eating 20 ¾ hot dogs to finish in 15th place.

Earlier this week, he told NBC Chicago he was inspired to participate in eating competitions after his friends were impressed by how much he ate at his university's dining hall. And though he came in last in his division, he's positioned well for next year — after all, he can only go up from here.

No, these underdogs didn't win in the end, but we appreciate what they're doing all the same. Underdogs like Brown and Meade are not there because they expect to win, they're just there because they love doing what they do: Eating an ungodly number of hot dogs on a hot day, just because they can. In any sport — including competitive eating — not every player on the field can be the MVP, especially when competing against legends like Chestnut and Sudo.

Watching them is a good reminder that perfectionism, like the leftover buns on the boardwalk, is for the birds, and if you have a dream, you should chase it. You don't have to be perfect, you just have to love what you do.

• Soham Parekh confirmed on a podcast that he worked for multiple AI startups simultaneously.
• Multiple founders told BI that they had hired him before realizing he was also working other jobs.
• Parekh told the "TBPN" podcast he worked 140 hours a week and was in "dire financial circumstances."

A seemingly overemployed engineer has sparked a round of memes and self-reflection in tech this week.

Indian software engineer, Soham Parekh, was accused online by a founder this week of working at three to four startups simultaneously. The founder's X post set off a firestorm in the industry, with other founders chiming in to say they, too, hired — and fired — him.

Parekh appeared on the tech podcast "TBPN" on Thursday and confirmed he had juggled multiple jobs.

"I wanna preface by saying that I'm not proud of what I've done. That's not something that I endorse either," Parekh said. "No one really likes to work 140 hours a week, but I had to do this kind of out of necessity. I was in extremely dire financial circumstances."

Parekh spoke to "TBPN" hosts John Coogan and Jordi Hays about why he chose to work for multiple startups at the same time and how he got hired.

On the podcast, he referred to himself as a "serial non-sleeper." He said that he did not hire a team of junior engineers to help him accomplish tasks at various jobs or use AI to get the work done. He said on the podcast that he worked for many of the companies prior to the boom in AI-assisted programming.

"This was not a business to me. Every company that I've worked with, I deeply cared about," Parekh added.Parekh did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

The brouhaha started when Suhail Doshi, the founder of Playground AI, posted on X on Tuesday about a former software engineer who he said previously worked for his company. He accused Parekh of moonlighting for multiple startups.

Founders of multiple companies confirmed with BI that a man named Soham Parekh had worked for or interviewed with them. Several said they quickly realized he was overemployed and let him go.

Parekh did not discuss being fired on the podcast.

Igor Zalutski, the CEO of Digger, told BI that Parekh passed his interviews "with flying colors" and said the company was "super excited for him to start" before the hiring process was halted on June 30 because of a background check issue. He did not elaborate on the specifics.

"I think he's genuinely a brilliant engineer," Zalutski said, adding, "Soham seemed clearly one of the top 0.1%; anyone can learn to do coding puzzles, but very few can do technical problem solving entirely in their head, while keeping the user and business in mind."

Kevin Wu, the founder and CEO of Leaping AI, told BI that Parekh was employed by the company briefly, but was let go for "his underperformance on the job" and after they found out he was employed by other startups.

A spokesperson for Synthesia also confirmed to BI that Parekh was briefly employed at the company and said that part of the reason he was let go was that it suspected he was working other jobs.

Matt Parkhurst, the CEO of Antimetal, wrote on X that Parekh is "really smart and likable," but he was let go after the company found out about his other jobs. Antimetal did not immediately respond to a request for further information.

Though the timeline of when Parekh worked at which company is not entirely clear, a June 2021 blog post by Meta shows that Parekh was a WebXR contributor working on immersive AR/VR examples through the Major League Hacking (MLH) Fellowship at that time.

In California, where most of these startups are based, there is no law against working for multiple companies simultaneously, even if they are competitors. It's unclear what Parekh had agreed to in his contracts.

His job-juggling has sparked discussion around the phenomenon of similar overemployment.

"There are 1000s of Soham Parekhs we don't know about," Deedy Das, a principal at Menlo Ventures focused on AI investments, wrote on X. "To be clear, this is a complete non-issue if your employment contract is okay with it."

Overemployment grew in popularity during the pandemic, when some workers took advantage of fully remote opportunities to rake in multiple six-figure salaries.

Tech leaders chimed in to offer thoughts, jokes, and memes about the situation. Reid Hoffman, the LinkedIn founder, mused on X, "What do you think Soham Parekh's LinkedIn header is?"

Aaron Levie, the CEO of Box, said in a post Wednesday, "If soham immediately comes clean and says he was working to train an AI Agent for knowledge work, he raises at $100M pre by the weekend."

The memes keep coming, including one shared by Flo Crivello, founder and CEO of Lindy, a San Francisco-based AI company, with a nod to "The Social Network."

The meme read: "You can't get to 500 million jobs without making a few enemies."

Do you have a story to share about overemployment? Contact these reporters at [email protected] or [email protected].

• Jason Noel is the CTO for EY's Americas Consulting division.
• Noel told BI how the firm is helping companies think through AI adoption this year.
• The firm is focusing on the "convergence of digital and human workforces," he said.

The rhetoric around AI in the workplace can be vague: Automation, algorithms, productivity, efficiency, decision-making, up-skilling, the list goes on.

Between rapid technological progress and the lag of adoption, there's continued uncertainty about how AI will reshape the future of work.

Many employees are anxious about their value, for instance. Executives are at once captivated by the potential for profits and worried about keeping up with their competitors. Investors and company boards are frustrated by the losses they've already incurred from not moving fast enough.

Consulting firms are often at the heart of it all. From the outset, at least, they've positioned themselves as the go-to experts to help corporations understand and navigate this latest wave of technology.

Yet their work can often be as unclear as the technology itself. To demystify it, Business Insider spoke to EY's new chief technology officer for its Americas Consulting division on what AI really means for workers in 2025.

First off, are people losing jobs anytime soon?

There have been comments about cataclysmic unemployment rates that are gonna plunge us into the next Great Depression. I mean, I think it's interesting to think about those alternatives. It's just not what I'm seeing.

Broadly speaking, what can we expect to see from AI integration in the next year?

I think over the next year, you're going to see an increasing uptake in these copilots, these tools like the ChatGPTs and the private and public models, and interjecting some AI capability into existing enterprise applications, and increasing productivity and efficiency.

How is EY specifically helping clients integrate AI this year?

We're thinking a lot about what we're calling the next generation of enterprise applications — interfaces that present people with what they need based on their role, offer key AI insights, and let them act. The AI agents generate suggestions, and the human validates and approves.

We're piloting this now with some major clients, and it's been an incredible success. That's how we're thinking about the convergence of digital and human workforces — not just managing them together, but creating systems where AI augments people in a seamless way.

Can you provide an example of these applications in action?

If I'm a cruise director on a cruise ship, there are lots of things that impact how my guests enjoy the ship.

The makeup of the people on the ship, the weather, what day — if you're on a day at sea, or if you're going to a port — all of that stuff. There's data to be found there on what happens and how the guests behave. I mean like their buying activities, where they like to hang out, those types of things.

So, we can harness that information with AI agents to actually understand and predict what's going to happen. We know, for example, that tomorrow's weather is going to be bad, and it's a day at sea. We know historically how all of that affects the movement of people and the consumption of products, whether that be merchandise, food, or beverages.

So, we recommend that you take half of the people from this venue and move them to this venue. We recommend moving around products so you don't run out, because we know what demand is going to look like. We recommend redeploying people to do different things in anticipation of this. The AI will turn around and list out and build out that process automatically.

The human in the loop says, "Okay, that makes sense," or "I want to change this piece."

This is through a very visual, nice interface. They click go, and then there's a chain of orchestration that happens, in which people are notified, leadership is notified, supply chain changes on the ship.

What's the value of up-skilling here? How much do employees need to learn about AI?

They just know that they have a screen and an application that says, "Here's how much stuff you have now of this," and "Here's how many you have coming inbound," maybe. They don't need to know how the technology works. This idea of up-skilling the entire workforce to use AI — I think it's kind of silly.

How are you helping companies think through questions like this?

You need to look at the functions — rethink that. That also dovetails into the people part, right? You're not only just giving them technology that's AI-enabled, you're allowing them to start to rethink how they do their job, and how they can be more efficient at the job, and also provide more overall value and capability.

• "Love Island USA" is a reality TV series where contestants aim to build connections and find love.
• Last night, the islanders got to see what America thinks of them.
• Amaya Espinal, 25, was a clear fan favorite, highlighted for her trustworthiness and authenticity.

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard or seen someone talking about season seven of "Love Island USA."

You know, the show where a bunch of 20-somethings occupy a villa in Fiji without contact with the outside world for weeks on end in the hopes of finding love. Oh, and winning the $100,000 cash prize.

Unlike seasons past, where the prize has seemed to be an afterthought for contestants, this year's islanders seem to be "hyper-aware of their role as entertainers and competitors," Business Insider's Callie Ahlgrim assessed, adding that they're "much too preoccupied with how they're being perceived by an invisible audience to be truly honest and vulnerable with each other."

But just because they're aware America is watching doesn't necessarily mean they're truly self-aware, or have a grasp on how the audience will feel about them — at least until some of the viewer votes start rolling in and actually affect their experience.

That was made especially clear in last night's episode as the audience rallied around fan-favorite Amaya Espinal, fondly known as "Amaya Papaya."

Amaya has received criticism from her fellow islanders

Amaya has been critiqued by her fellow islanders throughout her "Love Island" experience for being "too emotional and affectionate," but her peers finally got to see just how much America's been rooting for her in a challenge called "Hate to Burst Your Bubble."

In the game, contestants were asked to assess fellow islanders based on categories like "Most Trustworthy" and "Most Genuine" and rank each other from most to least. Then, they'd see how America answered the same questions.

When asked to rank the women from most to least trustworthy, the men ranked Amaya third to last. America, however, ranked her first, as the most trustworthy, prompting a raised eyebrow from her former connection, Ace Greene, who commented, "That wasn't in my parlay."

Although Ace and Amaya were previously coupled up, their pairing was a contentious one, filled with miscommunications and tension. A particularly notable exchange that's reverberated throughout the season centered around Ace telling Amaya he wasn't comfortable being called "babe" so quickly. When she tried to explain that she "calls everyone babe," she slipped up and called him the pet name in the process.

Her subsequent connections, Austin Shepard and Zak Srakaew, also expressed similar sentiments in the recent "Stand on Business" challenge.

For the next category, the men ranked Amaya as the second-most genuine, and America voted her first again.

This challenge showed the cast what the viewers see

Finally seeming to catch on to Amaya's popularity with viewers, the islanders collectively ranked her and her connection, Zak, as the couple the audience would most like to go on vacation with, and, unsurprisingly, they were right.

As a viewer who voted for Amaya as one of my favorite islanders, I hope this challenge served as a seemingly much-needed confidence boost for her to continue being her authentic self in her search for love, and a reminder to the other islanders that authenticity — not strategy — is the strength of "Love Island."

• The Ukrainian military said it carried out a drone attack on a Russian weapons-making facility.
• The attack on Friday hit a site that produces warheads for Russia's notorious Shahed drones.
• It marks Ukraine's latest deep-strike operation targeting Russia's war machine.

The Ukrainian military said on Friday that it carried out a long-range attack on a Russian factory producing warheads for Moscow's deadly Shahed drones, marking Kyiv's latest deep-strike operation targeting the Kremlin's war machine.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said it targeted the JSC FNPC Research Institute of Applied Chemistry in Sergiev Posad, a city just northeast of Moscow, more than 500 kilometers (310 miles) away from Ukraine's border.

The attack was carried out by units of the Unmanned Systems Forces and other elements of the military. The USF, a first-of-its-kind branch of the armed forces that was established last year and focuses solely on drone combat, said soldiers of the 14th separate drone regiment were involved in the operation.

The USF said at least one drone struck the facility, causing a fire and heavy smoke, and that an electric substation that provided power to the site was damaged. It shared footage purporting to show the moment of the attack and the aftermath.

Business Insider could not independently verify all the details of the operation. Russia's defense ministry did not acknowledge the attack, although it did report shooting down Ukrainian drones over Russian territory on Friday.

Ukraine said the JSC FNPC Research Institute of Applied Chemistry, part of Russia's state-owned defense conglomerate Rostec, is under international sanctions because of its involvement in the war. The facility develops and manufactures parts for missile and artillery systems, as well as thermobaric warheads for Shahed drones.

The notorious Shahed-136 is an Iranian-designed drone that Russia now produces at home. Historically, these one-way attack munitions could fly at speeds of over 115 mph with a nearly 90-pound explosive warhead, although the team leader for a Ukrainian mobile air defense unit recently told BI that Moscow had modified the Shaheds to make them faster and deadlier.

Shahed drones are traditionally slower and less lethal than cruise or ballistic missiles, although they are much cheaper, allowing Russia to launch hundreds of them in large-scale attacks. On Thursday night, for instance, Moscow launched at least 330 of them into Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

That attack marked one of the largest Russian bombardments of the war. Ukraine said that Moscow launched 550 munitions, including Shaheds, decoy drones, and cruise and ballistic missiles, mainly targeting the capital city, Kyiv. A majority of the threats were intercepted, although at least 23 people were injured.

The attack came as the Trump administration reportedly halted shipments of crucial weapons, including air defense ammunition, to Ukraine. The move could affect Kyiv's ability to protect itself from the Russian bombardments, which have intensified in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump remains entangled in efforts to secure a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, and discussed peace talks in a call with his counterpart, Vladimir Putin, shortly before the huge attack on Thursday.

"Notably, the first air raid alerts in our cities and regions yesterday began to blare almost simultaneously with media reports discussing a phone call between President Trump and Putin," Zelenskyy said.

• EU leaders are pushing for mass drone production in the face of growing threats.
• Europe's slow military mobilization leaves it vulnerable to future conflicts.
• Ukraine's drone success highlights the need for EU collaboration and innovation.

As the prospect of a renewed Russian threat looms over Europe's eastern flank, EU leaders are accepting that the continent is ill-prepared when it comes to the risk of future conflict.

Last week, Andrius Kubilius, the European commissioner for defence and space, called for a sweeping ramp-up of drone production, urging EU nations to produce millions of drones a year by 2030.

Ukraine delivered over 1.3 million drones to its military in 2024, highlighting the gap in Europe's preparedness.

"The fact that European nations need to urgently rearm, and to do so in a way that is relevant to the threat from Russia, is not a new discovery," Keir Giles, senior consulting fellow at Chatham House, told Business Insider.

"What's alarming is that it's being presented as news," he said, adding that this suggests the realization that rearmament is vital "still hasn't sunk in evenly across Europe."

The war in Ukraine has demonstrated the transformative nature of drones in modern combat.

From cheap first-person view drones to advanced loitering munitions and AI-guided strike systems, the war has pioneered new forms of drone warfare, with Ukraine often outmatching Russian capabilities in speed and creativity.

Katja Bego, a senior research fellow at Chatham House, said that "Ukraine's remarkable success with drones has shown it is possible to rapidly ramp up production if the urgency is there. Europe is now learning these lessons."

Currently, however, the EU is still far behind. Both Russia and Ukraine reportedly outproduce the entire EU bloc "by orders of magnitude," Bego warned.

But it's clear that there is increasing interest from EU states to work with and import Ukrainian expertise and systems.

"If European countries are serious about acquiring drones at the pace and scale that is being described, they must do so in and with Ukraine," Giles said.

The latest push for mass drone manufacturing in Europe isn't just about meeting current threats. It's about leapfrogging into the technologies that will define future conflict.

"Europe sees an opportunity to leapfrog," Bego said. "Smaller drones are much cheaper than a lot of traditional weapons and can be produced much more quickly."

However, making the most of this moment requires more than just factories.

"Getting to the scale of relevance for deterrence and defense is more than an issue of defense production," Skip Davis, a senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, told Business Insider.

"It's about the ability to field prototypes, train operators, revise operational concepts, and integrate drones into logistics and manoeuvre formations," he said. "All of that requires a new mindset."

That would involve deeper collaboration between militaries and agile, often non-traditional tech firms.

Davis said that in the current environment, "many of the companies leading innovation are small startups or commercial companies not used to working with militaries."

For Europe to succeed, he said it must grow more comfortable with experimentation and iteration.

Compounding the urgency is the decreasing estimate of when Russia could be ready to attack a NATO country.

The estimate of five years was what we were hearing this time last year, Giles said. "Since then, the timescale has continued to shrink — and the reduction in US support to Ukraine brings the time closer."

This shortening horizon makes the EU's slow progress all the more dangerous.

"Crash rearmament is feasible, if there is sufficient political will," Giles added.

At the same time, experts warn that ramping up drone output is not a silver bullet.

"Policymakers are at risk of seeing small agile drones as a panacea which will solve both their financial and manpower woes," Bego said. But "there is still a need for large platforms like jet fighters, too," she added.

Meanwhile, Europe's vision of "strategic autonomy" in defense risks being undermined by its reliance on foreign tech.

"A lot of critical components in drone manufacturing are still produced in China," Bego said. "Europe must diversify these supply chains or reproduce them within its own borders."

With the clock ticking and Russian production accelerating, the EU's ambitious drone target looks ever more necessary, and could mark a pivotal moment in European defense.

• The Bulwark, a news website that's fiercely critical of President Donald Trump, has grown rapidly.
• Since the 2024 election, The Bulwark has roughly doubled its paid subscriber base.
• Top editor Jonathan V. Last told Business Insider how they've grown, and what's ahead.

If President Donald Trump didn't exist, the staunchly anti-Trump news website The Bulwark might not either.

But the president isn't solely responsible for The Bulwark's success. Instead, its top editor credits email newsletters, podcasts, and YouTube for its impressive growth in recent years.

"We grew consistently, all the way through the Biden administration," Jonathan V. Last, editor of The Bulwark, said in an interview with Business Insider. "That's something I didn't expect."

To be sure, Trump's resurgence has added fuel to the fire that Last and his colleagues were kindling. The Bulwark surpassed 100,000 paid subscribers on Substack in early July, which the company told BI is more than double its total in late October — just before the 2024 election.

The Bulwark also now has 830,000 total subscribers, most of whom get its emails for free. The company said its total count has tripled in the last year and surpassed 500,000 a day after Trump retook office.

YouTube is another key part of The Bulwark's growth. It crossed 1 million subscribers on the platform in mid-February, and that count rose 34% between then and early July, thanks to a healthy mix of short-form snippets and long-form videos.

The news site uses YouTube Shorts, the platform's buzzy, TikTok-esque clips, as a foot in the door for newcomers. But long-form content of all kinds is crushing on YouTube, especially on TVs. The Bulwark's producers have taken note by making most of their videos at least 10 minutes long, and some run well over an hour.

"We no longer think of podcast and video as separate," Last said. "We just think of it all as broadcast."

The Bulwark was perfectly positioned for one of the wildest decades for news in the last century, complete with a pandemic, wars, and Trump's rise, fall, and rebound.

"It's been a crazy eight years," Last said. "People have been forced to pay attention to the news in ways which are reasonably unique, at least in our lifetimes."

Not just 'Never Trump'

The Bulwark has gained much of its notoriety for its sharp criticism of Trump. But when asked who he's writing for, Last said he's not necessarily targeting a certain political group.

"The target audience is people who take ideas seriously and aren't looking for confirmation bias and who think that the moment is important," Last said. He added: "I think of, honestly, our target audience as being indistinguishable from The Atlantic's."

While Last said many Bulwark readers are largely on the center left to the center right, he added that the main common thread among his reader base is a distaste for authoritarianism. To Last, that's synonymous with an unease, or outright disgust, with Trump and many of his policies.

"We're on a team, and the team is democracy," Last said.

However, Last said The Bulwark doesn't have a vendetta against Trump. If the president enacts policies that Last and his colleagues like — such as Operation Warp Speed, which accelerated COVID-19 vaccine development during the pandemic — he said they'll gladly tout them.

"We are not reflexively negative," Last said. "It's not like if Trump comes out and says that 'ice cream is good,' we have to say, 'ice cream is bad.'"

Still, Last's readers know that he sees Trump as a serious threat to American democracy.

"If I had described the events of 2020 to somebody in 2016, they would've said, 'You're crazy — that's "Trump Derangement Syndrome,"'" Last said.

Critics may shrug off The Bulwark's warnings as alarmist, but Last insists he's not crying wolf.

"The fact that people aren't freaked out by just the actual real things that have happened in front of our eyes is mostly a function of the pot being turned up while the frogs are in it," Last said.

Straightforward and direct

Authenticity sells in 2025, both in politics and media. Just look at the most popular podcasters, including Joe Rogan and Alex Cooper of "Call Her Daddy" fame.

Audiences also crave honesty, Last said. That honesty and authenticity, combined with strongly held convictions, have become cornerstones of The Bulwark's popularity.

"A lot of times, we'll sit around arguing with each other, and the argument will end with one of us going, 'Yeah, you guys are right. I got that wrong,'" Last said.

Unlike traditional media organizations, The Bulwark is built on Substack. The newsletter hub has been a huge part of the news site's rapid growth, Last said, since readers of other writers can discover The Bulwark and subscribe in a single click.

"Anything you can do to lower the friction just pays enormous dividends," Last said.

By building its business around newsletters, The Bulwark reaches readers directly, without intermediaries like search engines or social media.

Newsletters and podcasts can also build emotional connections. The Bulwark's publisher, Sarah Longwell, told Vanity Fair in May that "people feel like they are friends with us" since they hear their voices and can even reach their inboxes by replying to emails. This access makes The Bulwark feel fresher than newspapers or cable news channels, Last said.

"That's the sort of thing that you often get from independent media operators, if you're a one-man band on Substack," Last said. "But it's, I think, not as common to see that at an institutional level."

Putting MSNBC and CNN on notice

Although The Bulwark has roughly doubled its paid reader base since the election, Last sees much more room to grow.

The news site recently hired reporters to cover policy, immigration, and Congress, Last said. This can help The Bulwark add value through reporting, instead of just its opinions.

But the biggest potential for growth is YouTube, Last said, given that its subscriber base can scale far faster on the world's biggest video platform than on Substack.

The Bulwark could take its video strategy to the next level by producing shows in the style of traditional TV, Last said. He said his site is open to partnering with a streaming service, similar to The Daily Beast's deal with Netflix that was reported by Semafor.

MSNBC and CNN have been a go-to spot for the anti-Trump TV news audience for years. Last suggested that The Bulwark is willing to encroach on their territory and beat them at their own game.

"Cable news is dying," Last said. "All of the minutes of attention, which gets sucked up by CNN or Fox or whoever, those minutes are going to flow elsewhere. And I think that we should be a place where that attention goes."

Legacy networks like MSNBC may be able to coexist with new media outfits like The Bulwark, especially since its writers regularly go on the left-leaning cable network.

But regardless of who's pushing back against Trump, Last's hope is that American democracy is healthy. He doesn't want chaos, even if it can help his business, but he knows that's mostly out of his control.

"Given the choice between having half of our audience, but living in a normal time, I would absolutely take that," Last said.

• Billionaires continue to set records when major league teams are on the market.
• Guggenheim Partners CEO Mark Walter is reportedly buying the Los Angeles Lakers for $10 billion.
• Here are all the billionaires buying and selling teams in 2025.

Few assets are as exclusive as professional sports teams — just ask President Donald Trump, who tried and failed to buy a National Football League team first in the 1980s and later in 2014.

It's not just the exclusivity that makes ownership attractive.

In the streaming, cord-cutting era we're in, sports remain one of the few events that millions of people still watch live. In turn, top-tier leagues continue to sign lucrative TV rights deals that benefit owners.

It's why when teams do become available, record prices continue to get set.

Here's a look at all the billionaires buying and selling in 2025.

Buyer: Mark Walter

Guggenheim Partners CEO Mark Walter, who is already the primary owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, reportedly bought the Los Angeles Lakers for a record $10 billion in June.

Walter is also a primary owner of an F1 team and the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks.

Forbes estimates Walter is worth $6.2 billion.

Buyer: Bill Chisholm

A Boston-area native, Bill Chisholm made his fortune in Silicon Valley as managing partner of STG Partners. In March, a group led by Chisholm bought the NBA's Boston Celtics for $6.1 billion, a record amount for a North American sports franchise before the Lakers' staggering sale price.

Chisholm and Walker's agreements are still pending approval of the NBA's Board of Governors.

Forbes estimates that Chisholm is worth $3.2 billion.

Buyer: Marc Lore

Wonder CEO Marc Lore and MLB great Alex Rodriguez teamed up to buy the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves for $1.5 billion. The WNBA's Minnesota Lynx were also included in the sale.

The deal dates back to 2021, but talks turned sour after then-owner Glen Taylor tried to nullify it. After four years of back and forth, Taylor decided not to challenge an April arbitration ruling that went in Lore's favor. The NBA approved the sale in June.

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg are also part of the ownership group.

Lore made his fortune in e-commerce, co-founding Diapers.com parent company and Jet.com, which was later sold to Walmart for $3.3 billion in 2016.

Forbes estimates that Lore is worth $2.9 billion.

Buyer: Woody Johnson

Jets owner Woody Johnson bought a 43% in Crystal Palace, an English Premier League team, for a reported $254 million in June.

Johnson, a GOP megadonor and former US ambassador to the United Kingdom, is an heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune.

He bought the stake from John Textor, who is a former executive chairman of FuboTV. The deal is still pending league approval.

Forbes estimates that Johnson is worth $3.4 billion.

Buyer: Tom Gores

Tom Gores, who runs the Beverly Hills-based Platinum Equity, is among a handful of billionaires who will own one of the three WNBA expansion franchises.

Each ownership group paid a $250 million expansion fee, a record amount for a new team in a women's league, according to Sportico. The WNBA has exploded in popularity, largely due to the arrival of Caitlin Clark. The WNBA announced the expansion teams in June.

Gores, who is the sole owner of the NBA's Detroit Pistons, will run a team also based in Detroit.

Forbes estimates that Gores is worth $9.4 billion.

Buyer: Josh Harris

Josh Harris, a cofounder of Apollo Global Management, will share in the ownership of a new Philadelphia WNBA team.

Harris is a cofounder of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, which he created with Blackstone executive David Blitzer. Their group also owns the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL's New Jersey Devils.

Outside of the group, Harris is also the managing partner of the Washington Commanders. In 2023, Harris led a group that bought the NFL team for a then-record-breaking $6.05 billion.

Forbes estimates that Harris is worth $10.2 billion.

Buyer: Dan Gilbert

Dan Gilbert, cofounder of what is now Quicken Loans, will own the future WNBA team in Cleveland, complementing his existing ownership of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers.

Gilbert made headlines in 2010 for writing an open letter that mocked LeBron James after the Ohio native left the Cavaliers for the Miami Heat.

James and Gilbert later made up and celebrated the 2016 NBA title, which capped James' return to Ohio.

According to Forbes, Gilbert is worth an estimated $25.9 billion. He also founded StockX, a resale platform that reached unicorn status in 2019.

Seller: Jeanie Buss and family

Jeanie Buss, controlling owner of the Lakers, is selling the 17-time NBA champion to Walker for a reported $10 billion.

Jerry Buss, Jeannie's father, purchased the team in 1979 for $67.5 million in a deal that included the Forum Arena and the NHL's Los Angeles Kings. Under the Buss family, the Lakers have become one of the world's most valuable sports franchises and won 11 NBA titles.

Last year, Forbes valued the Lakers at $7.1 billion. (Buss herself is not on the billionaires list.) Buss took over the Lakers after her father died in 2013.

In a statement announcing the sale in June, the Lakers said Jeannie Buss will remain the team's governor after the sale is completed.

Seller: Wyc Grousbeck

Wyc Grousbeck, who co-owns the Celtics with his father, Irving, is selling the team to Chisholm for a reported $6.1 billion. The deal was first announced in March.

The Grousbecks led the purchase of the team in 2002. Since then, the Celtics have won two NBA championships. Their 2024 title was the franchise's 18th overall, the most in league history. Last year, Forbes estimated that the team was worth $6 billion and was the 19th-most valuable sports franchise in the world.

Forbes estimates Irving Grousbeck and his family are worth $2.2 billion.

Seller: Glen Taylor

Glen Taylor, founder of a Minnesota-based printing firm, has agreed to sell the Timberwolves to a group led by fellow billionaire Marc Lore for $1.5 billion.

Taylor's initial 2021 deal called for him to retain a 20% stake in the team. ESPN reported that Lore, Rodriguez, and the rest of their group are poised to buy Taylor out completely.

Taylor bought the Timberwolves in 1994 for roughly $88 million, which also prevented the franchise from moving to New Orleans.

Forbes estimates that Taylor is worth roughly $3 billion.

Seller: Jody Allen and Paul Allen's estate

The estate of Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen is selling the Trailblazers. After a lengthy dispute, the NBA confirmed in May that the team was available.

Jody Allen, Paul's sister, has been acting as the team's top executive since Allen's death from cancer in 2018.

The team was official put up for sale in May. In 2018, Forbes estimated that Allen was worth $20.3 billion.

Possible future buyer: Justin Ishbia

Justin Ishbia, the founder of Shore Capital Partners, a Chicago-based private equity firm. In June, the Chicago White Sox announced a deal that could lead to Ishbia becoming the future owner of the MLB franchise.

Ishbia, who already owns a minority stake in the team, will make unspecified cash infusions into the club in 2025 and 2026. As early as 2029, Ishbia could take over the team from Jerry Reinsdorf. There is no guarantee that such a transaction will occur.

Ishiba's brother, Mat, owns the NBA's Phoenix Suns and the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury, which Justin Ishiba also shares in.

Forbes estimates that Justin Ishiba is worth $4.3 billion.

Possible future seller: Jerry Reinsdorf

Jerry Reinsdorf, the longtime owner of the Chicago Bulls and White Sox, has reached an agreement to potentially sell control of the South Side MLB team as soon as 2029.

If they reach an agreement, Reinsdorf could eventually turn over control of the White Sox to Justin Ishbia. Their agreement was first announced in June.

Reinsdorf, who made his initial fortune in real estate, has also overseen a massive increase in the Bulls' value. He and his investment partners bought the NBA team one year after Michael Jordan was drafted.

Forbes estimates that Reinsdorf is worth $2.3 billion.

• My identical twin sons have been fiercely competitive with each other from toddlerhood.
• Their rivalry helped them thrive on the sports field, but brought tension in academics.
• Although they now attend different colleges in the same city, they'll still defend each other.

My identical twins have been competing since they were toddlers. When Thomas took his first steps, Charlie began walking the very next day, determined not to be left behind.

That dynamic never went away. From stopping the use of pacifiers to football goals to final exam scores, each has spent his life measuring himself against the other. Sometimes, this has pushed them to greatness, while other times, it has brought frustration, injuries, and tears.

As their dad, it's been both thrilling and challenging to watch them push each other to their limits.

Their competitive spirit transformed them into fearless athletes

Their competitiveness thrived on the sports field. While they celebrated victories alongside teammates and felt losses deeply, they always maintained their private scoreboard. After every game, one would inevitably tell me, "I scored more goals than my brother today," a sibling rivalry alongside their team spirit.

Although exhausting to witness as a parent who just wanted them to enjoy themselves, this rivalry created an unexpected advantage in Australian football. When other children their age feared being tackled and hesitated to go for the ball, Charlie and Thomas showed remarkable courage, diving for possession with ferocity.

Their talent didn't go unnoticed. At a friend's birthday party, while the kids played casual football in the yard, a local junior coach spotted their skills and their aggressive tackling style.

They had no fear of being tackled, likely because they'd been tackling each other ruthlessly for years. The coach told me that most kids take years to develop that fearlessness. He recruited them on the spot, and they joined his team the very next day.

Intense competition sent us to the emergency room

I tried channeling their competitiveness positively by encouraging them to view themselves as a "twin force" on the field, passing to each other and using their connection as an advantage. I half-jokingly hoped they'd develop some form of twin telepathy to dominate games.

But their rivalry occasionally went too far. After watching the Australian football grand final on television (our equivalent of the Super Bowl), they rushed into the backyard to play a game. Fueled by adrenaline and their unrelenting rivalry, they sprinted straight at each other, like a game of chicken. Neither backed down, and the resulting collision left both boys with gashed foreheads and a trip to the emergency room.

Another incident particularly tested my patience. Both qualified for an athletics tournament — Thomas in the long jump and Charlie in the 100 meters. Charlie checked the schedule and told me the event times so I could drive them the next day.

When we arrived, we discovered the long jump competition had already concluded. Thomas was devastated. Charlie just shrugged and said, "He should've checked the times himself."

Academic competition brought new challenges

As they entered their final years of high school, their rivalry shifted to academics. They focused more on outscoring each other than on their actual grades. Even if one failed an assignment, he'd still celebrate if he outperformed his brother.

This dynamic became particularly challenging during their final year. Thomas took a studious approach, selecting difficult subjects and dedicating countless hours to studying. He skipped parties and social events to prepare for exams. Charlie chose easier subjects and maintained a more laid-back approach.

In Australia, college admission depends entirely on final exam results; there is no formal application process. When the results were released, we were on a flight to Chicago. They opened their phones simultaneously to check their scores, then looked at each other, waiting for the other to speak first.

Despite putting in half the effort, Charlie scored higher than his academically driven brother. Charlie's look of satisfaction contrasted sharply with Thomas's neutral expression. As a parent, I found it challenging to celebrate Charlie's achievement while watching Thomas, slightly disappointed, despite getting a high grade. He'd done everything "right" and still come in second, at least in that moment.

They also protect each other

Parenting competitive twins has meant managing intense rivalry that can be heartbreaking at times. While most siblings compete, few are judged side by side so directly in sports, academics, and nearly every milestone.

I wanted them to strive for excellence, but not at each other's expense. What surprised me most was how quickly they'd transition from fierce competitors to staunch defenders. Despite their everyday battles, they've always protected each other when anyone else threatened either of them.

Fortunately, both got into their first-choice colleges and are now at different campuses. I hope their next phase of life will be shaped more by their own goals and less by their attempts to beat each other.

Though I'm pretty sure they'll still compare grades at the end of each semester. As long as it doesn't send us back to the ER, I'm OK with that.

• 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.
• Sign up for the weekly BI Tech Memo newsletter here.

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.