• "Today" host Al Roker says consistency and discipline help him stay fit at 70.
• Roker's routine includes weight training, walking 10,000 steps a day, and not avoiding his favorite foods.
• "Sometimes you have to push yourself to do the things you need to do," he said.

More than 20 years after undergoing gastric bypass surgery and losing over 100 pounds, Al Roker says consistency helps him stay fit at 70.

During an interview with People published on Tuesday, the "Today" host spoke about his workout and diet routines.

"My mantra is 'something is better than nothing,'" Roker told People. "Maybe you'll be running marathons or entering weightlifting contests, but I think most people just want a level of fitness that improves their quality of life."

In the mornings, he does 10 minutes of weight training and 20 minutes on the treadmill. During warmer months, he also takes a 30 to 45-minute walk in Central Park.

"It's not so much to bulk up but to keep your bones strong, keep your flexibility, which is important as you age," Roker said.

He can carry his granddaughter with ease now, but he knows that might not be the case as she gets older.

"But you know, in a couple of years, she's going to be a bigger load. So 'grampa' wants to be able to carry her up and down the stairs," he said.

To hit his daily 10,000-step goal, Roker tries to keep moving throughout the day, with walking desks in his office and dressing room. He also walks around in his office building at 30 Rockefeller Center, where the "Today" studios are located.

"They're like walking snacks," Roker said. "You just fit it in."

In terms of diet, he eats a simple breakfast that consists of yogurt, granola, and the occasional banana. Lunch is heavy on protein, and he eats less red meat than he used to.

Some of his favorite foods include ribeye steak with creamed spinach or baked potato, and an apple crisp with vanilla ice cream — and he never denies himself the pleasure of enjoying them

"Moderation rather than deprivation is better in the long run," Roker said. "If you deprive yourself of stuff that you like, eventually you're going to snap and go crazy."

Roker says he also weighs himself every day, but doesn't stress over the number on the scale.

"There's no magic bullet" when it comes to losing weight, he said. At the end of the day, "you're still going to have to put in the work."

"Sometimes you have to push yourself to do the things you need to do," Roker added.

Roker is just one of many celebrities opening up about the wellness routines they rely on to stay fit.

Dick Van Dyke, 99, says his secret to living a long life is going to the gym 3 times a week.

"I've often tried to think, 'What did I do to live this long?' and I can't figure out," he said. "The only thing is I've always exercised. We still go to the gym three days a week and work out."

Helen Mirren, 79, says she swears by a 12-minute military workout to stay in shape.

"It is the exercise I have done off and on my whole life. It just very gently gets you fit," Mirren said.

Matthew McConaughey's mother, Kay McConaughey, 93, says that avoiding stress has helped her age well.

"I was really popular and I had a zest for life, and stress is not a word I can apply to me, ever," she said.

A representative for Roker did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider outside regular hours.

• Adm. Sam Paparo says leaders need to assume risk for their teams if they want to move fast.
• He said they can't rely on middle managers, often blamed as the 'frozen middle,' to decide.
• Leaders wanting change should give their teams official leeway to 'go break the rules,' he said.

A leader's job is to take responsibility for risks, instead of leaving middle managers to shoulder the question of whether to try new things, a top Navy commander said.

Speaking during a Saturday Q&A at the Shangri-La Dialogue, Adm. Sam Paparo said the US military needs to abandon its work culture of "operating at the speed of committee instead of the speed of combat."

To do that, he told delegates and reporters, the military needs someone to take innovative risks.

"And if we are putting that risk on middle management and expecting them to take that risk, then, you know: We're not leading," said Paparo, who is the commander of US forces in the Indo-Pacific.

The admiral said middle managers are often blamed for a resistance to change.

"This is how the young people and the old people gang up on the middle-aged people, by calling them the frozen middle," said Paparo.

But leaders need to be the ones to "eat risk," he added.

"So, if you are in a leadership position and you want your team to innovate faster, to move fast, and to break things, you have to assume their risk. You have to eat it," Paparo said. "Give them some letter that has your name on the bottom of it that allows them to go break the rules and do this thing."

The US military has to speed up

The admiral was addressing the topic of how the US military — America's single largest employer by far — was now taking on new technologies from private venture-backed research and development, instead of the traditional defense acquisition model.

Palmer Luckey's Anduril, for example, recently announced a joint effort with Meta to create extended reality headsets for the US military. The firms said development would be funded by "private capital, without taxpayer support."

At the panel, Paparo repeatedly warned that the US military must radically speed up its processes and decision-making to succeed in the next few decades. Washington's main concern in Paparo's jurisdiction, the Indo-Pacific, has been China's rapidly advancing and expanding military.

Paparo didn't specifically name China as a threat at the panel. But earlier that day, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had publicly warned at the same conference that China's military build-up signaled that it could go to war soon.

"Nobody knows what China will ultimately do, but they are preparing, and therefore we must be ready as well," Hegseth told military leaders and representatives of 47 countries.

A rear admiral from China later said Hegseth's statements were "groundless accusations."

• Elon Musk's companies may be affected both positively and negatively by Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill."
• A JPMorgan analyst wrote in a note that the bill threatens Tesla's profits.
• The bill would increase federal AI spending, which could benefit Musk's AI company, xAI.

Tesla could take a hit if President Donald Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" becomes law.

Elon Musk's AI company, however, may get a boost.

Many of Musk's companies rely largely on federal regulations, subsidies, or contracts. That means the GOP's federal spending bill, if signed into law, could directly impact his businesses.

While Musk has previously shared his disapproval of the bill, the billionaire ratcheted up his criticism this week.

"I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore," Musk posted on X on Tuesday. "This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination."

"Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong," he said in criticism aimed at the Republican politicians who voted in favor of the bill.

Musk's sharp words for Trump's bill come just days after he officially left his position as the de facto head of the DOGE office, ending his formal work at the White House. In recent weeks, both Trump and Musk have looked to assure the public that their relationship remains intact, even if they disagree on some issues.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a briefing on Tuesday that the President already knew where Musk stood on the spending bill and that the Tesla CEO's recent comments criticizing it wouldn't change Trump's stance.

The bill, which champions Trump's agenda, includes cuts to Medicaid and the extension of the tax cuts that the president signed into law during his first term in 2017. It also includes administration priorities, including removing taxes on tips and overtime.

In regard to the companies Musk leads, the bill could have a mixed impact. While Tesla stands to potentially lose, companies like SpaceX and xAI may benefit from the president's massive spending bill.

Tesla's credits threatened

The bill, as written, makes big changes to the Biden-era EV tax credits, which aim to encourage more Americans to buy electric vehicles. It would largely phase out the clean vehicle credit, which lets people buying a new EV claim up to $7,500, and up to $4,000 for used-EVs.

Electric vehicles would no longer qualify for the tax credit if the automaker sold more than 200,000 previously qualifying EVs between December 31, 2009, and December 31, 2025, if the bill became law. Tesla delivered more than 336,000 vehicles in the first quarter of 2025 alone.

Musk has previously said that eliminating the EV tax credit would devastate Tesla's competitors and impact the automaker as well. However, he said that the move would probably help Tesla in the long term. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Others don't seem sold on Musk's rationale.

Seth Goldstein, an equity strategist at Morningstar, told BI that the expedited elimination of the EV tax credit will be "the biggest area that could impact Tesla."

"Consumers have increased long-range EV choices at similar price points as Tesla," Goldstein said. "It's on Tesla to make the case for consumers to even slightly pay up today versus some other EVs."

Goldstein said that tax credit elimination could lead to a decrease in sales volume, which the automaker has already been struggling with.

JPMorgan analyst Ryan Brinkman wrote in an investor note that Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill," combined with other proposed legislation, including ending the California Air Resources Board Program, threatens over half of Tesla's 2025 profits.

Brinkman wrote in the note that the $7,500 consumer tax made up 19% of Tesla's 2024 earnings before interest and tax, and could result in a potential $1.2 billion headwind. He added that the automaker could face a $2 billion headwind from the removal of CARB ZEV credit sales, which encourage the sales of zero-emission vehicles.

Tesla is betting big on AI and robotics as it pushes to reach full autonomy, in part through its upcoming robotaxi service, efforts that Musk has said are key to growing the company's valuation. However, Brinkman said that any material benefit from Tesla's autonomous robotaxi business is years away, while the headwind from EV subsidy removal would likely hit the automaker in 2025 and 2026.

"We expect estimates to come down as the impact of Trump Administration EV subsidy removal becomes clearer," Brinkman wrote.

Goldstein said that the removal of the tax credit could "accelerate" Tesla's transition to an AI and robotics company.

It's also possible that the expiration of the EV tax credit on Tesla vehicles could spur some short-term demand from buyers looking to purchase one of the company's EVs before the window closes.

Trump's spending bill wouldn't only change existing taxes and fees. Under its current language, it would also impose a $250 yearly fee for EV drivers through the Federal Highway Administration, and a $100 yearly fee for hybrid vehicles.

As written, the bill also scraps a loan program that Tesla utilized in 2010, long before Trump even entered the political scene.

The spending bill also threatens Tesla's energy business, which Musk has said is "growing like wildfire," by ending energy tax credits. The automaker's energy generation and storage business, which includes Tesla's Megapack and Powerwall battery systems, brought in $2.73 billion in the first quarter of 2025, a 67% increase from the year prior.

Musk shared a post on X from the official Tesla Energy account that said, "abruptly ending the energy tax credits would threaten America's energy independence and the reliability of our grid."

Tesla Energy also added that it urges the Senate to enact legislation with a "sensible wind down" to continue speedy deployment that supports AI and domestic manufacturing.

"This bill would hurt Tesla around the energy tax credits going away," Dan Ives, a Wedbush analyst and a noted Tesla bull, told BI.

xAI may benefit from AI regulation changes

Trump's spending bill, if signed into law, may also help his AI company, xAI.

One section of the bill prohibits states and local governments from regulating AI for the next decade in an effort to remove legal barriers related to deploying and adopting AI.

That could allow Musk to develop and advance xAI with less red tape on the regulatory side to slow the company down.

The bill also allocated funds toward modernizing the federal IT system with AI and improving the cybersecurity of its systems. With the government setting money aside to improve its systems, xAI, one of the companies at the forefront of the AI race, could be contracted to power the modernization efforts.

• Nvidia reclaimed top spot as the most valuable publicly traded company, surpassing Microsoft.
• Investors are bullish on Nvidia shares since its earnings call, despite tariffs and chip controls.
• Chip stocks are seeing an overall upward trend as the VanEck Semiconductor ETF climbs.

Nvidia reclaimed the title of the most valuable publicly traded company.

The AI chipmaking giant led by CEO Jensen Huang surpassed Microsoft after its stock jumped 3% to close at $141.40 on Tuesday. Nvidia now boasts a market cap of $3.444 trillion, edging out Microsoft's $3.441 trillion based on data from Nasdaq.

The last time Nvidia held the top spot was on January 24. Since last June, it has been competing with Apple and Microsoft for the title of the top market cap company.

The rise in Nvidia's value came a week after the company reported Q1 revenues that beat Wall Street expectations at $44.06 billion, which makes for a 69% year-over-year increase.

Confidence in Nvidia remains high despite the company expecting to lose $8 billion in revenue over the next quarter due to the Trump administration's new chip export control policies, which prevented it from selling its H20 chips developed specifically for China's market.

Huang has expressed dissatisfaction over chip controls during the earnings call and in media appearances that followed.

"On export control, China is one of the world's largest AI markets and a springboard to global success. With half of the world's AI researchers based there, the platform that wins China is positioned to lead globally," Huang said during the May 28 earnings call. "Today, however, the $50 billion China market is effectively closed to US industry."

"Export controls should strengthen US platforms, not drive half of the world's AI talent to rivals," Huang added.

Immediately after the earnings call on May 28, Nvidia shares shot up nearly 5% after trading hours, and as of June 3, had gained nearly 24% over the past month.

Overall, this week, investors flocked to chip stocks. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF climbed 2%, while individual companies like Micron Technology also gained as much as 4%.

A spokesperson for Nvidia declined to comment. Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comments.

• AI and data engineers will be the defense industry's sought-after jobs, Micael Johansson told BI.
• The Saab CEO said the defense world is moving toward a business model that offers software.
• He said Saab, which makes the Gripen, recently hired 6,000 more people amid the boom.

Artificial intelligence and software skills will be a young graduate's best bets for a job in the rapidly surging defense industry, said Micael Johansson, CEO of Saab.

"I think there will be a big change going forward," Johansson told Business Insider on the sidelines of this year's Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.

"Our systems will be software-defined, so of course, AI engineers, great software skills, data engineers will be super important to us," said the CEO, who was elected president of the Aerospace, Security and Defence Industries Association of Europe last month.

Johansson said defense primes like Saab, which manufactures the Gripen fighter aircraft, will still need technicians and mechanics to build weapons platforms.

"We need excellent, skillful production people as well. Finding welders to do submarine work is not an easy thing, so it's a mix of jobs," he said.

But he added that Saab and the larger industry are moving toward a live service business model that emphasizes software in weapons systems that can be incrementally updated and connected with other platforms.

Part of that industry push comes from observing the war in Ukraine, where both sides are developing new techniques in drone jamming and countermeasures in a matter of weeks.

"The technology will grow so quickly, so you cannot buy a sort of, 50,000 drones and put them in stock. You want to have almost like drones as a service," Johansson said.

Saab, the Nordics' biggest defense manufacturer, has enjoyed an industry-wide boom since the start of the Ukraine war. The Swedish firm reported 2024 annual sales of 63.75 billion Swedish krona, or about $6.6 billion. By comparison, annual revenue in 2021 was 39.15 billion krona.

Amid the uncertainty of Washington's long-term role in NATO, the firm's share price has surged by more than 120% since President Donald Trump's inauguration in January to 484.30 krona, as of Monday afternoon.

Johansson said Saab has been investing heavily to meet demand and has grown its workforce from 19,000 to 25,000 in the last two years.

"We've had more than 200,000 applicants last year for the company and 74,000 for this first quarter," he said.

The CEO had said in February that he expected the Stockholm-based firm to hire 1,000 more people in Sweden this year. On Friday, he told BI he'd revised the figure to 2,000 after realizing Saab had already hired 900 new staff in the first quarter.

"Probably will be wrong again," he said.

• The White House has formally asked Congress to cut $9.4 billion in federal spending.
• That includes foreign aid and funding for PBS and NPR.
• It could be the first of many "DOGE cut" bills that lawmakers vote on.

For months, DOGE has been cutting federal spending without consulting Congress. Now, the White House is asking lawmakers to vote to make some of those cuts permanent.

President Donald Trump's Office of Management and Budget sent a $9.4 billion "rescission package" to Congress on Tuesday that would claw back federal funding that lawmakers have previously approved.

The package includes $8.3 billion in foreign aid cuts and nearly $1.1 billion in cuts to public broadcasting.

That's less than half of one percent of the $2 trillion in federal spending cuts once floated by Elon Musk, who until recently was the de facto DOGE leader. And these cuts are seen as low-hanging fruit.

This could be the first of several bills sent to Congress to codify DOGE cuts into law.

"We look forward to working with the Congress to identify additional opportunities to put the Nation's fiscal house back in order," Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought wrote in a letter accompanying the request.

Here's what the Trump administration is trying to cut

The administration is asking Congress to cut a total of $9.4 billion.

$1.07 billion of that is funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a government-backed entity that funds NPR and PBS. That's equivalent to two years of funding.

The other $8.3 billion includes various forms of foreign aid: $6.3 billion of that funding is related to the US Agency for International Development, or USAID, the foreign aid agency that DOGE shuttered in the early months of the administration.

That includes $2.5 billion in development assistance, $1.65 billion in economic support funds, and $900 billion for global health programs.

The White House has also requested that Congress rescind $1.13 billion in contributions to various international organizations, including $800 billion for migration and refugee assistance, and a combined $64 million for organizations like the Inter-American Foundation, the African Development Foundation, at the United States Institute of Peace.

There's a limited amount of time to get this done

Under the Impoundment Control Act, or ICA, the president is generally required to spend money that Congress has already approved. The law was passed in 1974, after President Richard Nixon refused to spend money on a variety of programs that he disagreed with.

Trump and his allies have argued that this law is unconstitutional, and some Republicans in Congress have introduced a bill to eliminate it entirely.

The administration has also withheld hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funding already, and the Government Accountability Office has found that the administration is violating the ICA.

But the ICA also provides for the president to make rescission requests to Congress, and the Trump administration is now using that tool.

Under the law, Congress has 45 days of consecutive session to approve the cuts, or the money must be spent. That means lawmakers have until early September to get this done.

Unlike other bills, rescission bills only require a simple majority in the Senate to pass. That means Democrats, who are expected to broadly oppose the legislation, have no way of blocking the cuts on their own.

That doesn't mean GOP support will be unanimous. Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, for example, recently wrote an op-ed in a local paper opposing cuts to public broadcasting funding.

The last time a president tried to do this, it failed. In 2018, the Trump administration asked Congress to rescind $15 billion in federal spending, but the bill failed to pass the Senate.

Here's the full text of the White House's rescission request:

• McDonald's recently launched chicken tenders after removing them from menus in 2020.
• I compared its four-piece chicken tender meal to the same meal from Chick-fil-A.
• Both tenders impressed me — I preferred Chick-fil-A's meal but McDonald's was better value.

In a chicken-tender battle between Chick-fil-A and McDonald's, the chicken chain could be considered the heavyweight.

Chick-fil-A's tenders have been a mainstay of its menu for years, and the chain has an army of devoted fans, many of whom are Gen Z, a key market that fast-food and casual-dining chains are targeting.

But McDonald's is coming out swinging. It launched its new McCrispy Strips on May 5, marking the first time chicken strips have been on the menu since the COVID-19 pandemic.

I decided to compare the chains' chicken tender meals to see if McDonald's is a serious contender in the chicken-tender battle — and if it might even lure some Chick-fil-A fans away.

Here's how chicken tender meals from McDonald's and Chick-fil-A compare in terms of taste and value.

McDonald's recently launched chicken strips as part of its McCrispy line of products, which also includes the chain's chicken sandwich.

In a comparison of Chick-fil-A and McDonald's chicken sandwiches, I ranked the McDonald's version higher than Chick-fil-A, so I was eager to see if the burger chain's chicken strips could also beat out the legacy chicken chain.

I ordered a four-piece chicken strip meal, which came with a medium order of fries, a medium drink, and two sauces. I chose the chain's creamy chili sauce, which was launched alongside the chicken strips for pairing.

For my drink, I ordered a Diet Coke from both chains.

The cost of my meal at McDonald's came to $16.59, excluding tax and fees.

The chicken strips came in a cardboard carton.

The chicken strips were large and evenly coated in crispy breading. Unlike other chains' chicken tenders, these ones wouldn't exactly be described as flaky. They're more similar to a very long chicken nugget.

The chicken strips differ slightly from the chain's buttermilk crispy tenders, which were discontinued in 2020 at the start of the pandemic.

Until now, chicken tenders have failed to return to menus, despite fans' pleas to bring them back.

Each bite was evenly coated in well-seasoned, peppery breading. The strips paired excellently with the creamy chili dipping sauce.

The chain's new creamy chili sauce was created to go with the new chicken strips, and they paired well.

The sauce tasted similar to a Sriracha aioli and added just the right amount of spice without being too overwhelming. The creamy dipping sauce clung to every crevice of the chicken strip, ensuring maximum flavor.

The meat inside the tender was a little lacking, however.

In a master ranking of 11 fast-food chicken tenders, I ranked McDonald's chicken tenders higher than Chick-fil-A's. However, upon a second try, I wasn't so sure.

The chicken tenders were slightly thinner and had less shreddable chicken than I remembered from my first taste test, suggesting the quality could be subject to change based on the batch you get. However, I still really enjoyed them.

The meal also came with fries and a drink.

Though some might argue that all Diet Cokes taste the same, I disagree. I'm a huge fan of McDonald's Diet Coke, which comes with just the right amount of ice and is always perfectly refreshing.

The fries also impressed me — they were salty and crispy, and also paired well with the creamy chili dipping sauce.

I also ordered a four-piece chicken tender meal from Chick-fil-A.

Chick-fil-A has been selling its beloved chicken tenders since 1989, though it didn't launch the chain's signature sauce until the early 2000s.

The meal cost $19.89, excluding tax and fees. It came with a medium drink, a medium order of waffle fries, and three sauces.

The chicken tenders were evenly fried, but coated with loose, flaky pieces of breading.

At first glance, these tenders were noticeably thicker than the McDonald's chicken strips.

They also had a lighter, more golden color to them rather than the almost-brown color of the fried chicken strips from McDonald's.

The chicken strips paired well with the chain's signature sauce.

The sauce was creamy and tangy, but didn't have the same kick as the chili sauce from McDonald's.

The chicken tenders really impressed me.

They were crunchy yet filled with thick, juicy shreds of chicken meat. I was surprised to find I actually preferred the chicken tenders from Chick-fil-A over the ones from McDonald's.

The seasoning was peppery, like the breading on the McDonald's strips, but it had a slightly briny flavor, adding even more flavor. The chicken tenders were also much thicker, making the meal slightly more filling.

The meal came with crispy waffle fries.

The waffle fries were crispy yet pillowy — the potato inside seemed fluffier than the potato in McDonald's fries, which were more heavily fried.

They were also an ideal vehicle for the Chick-fil-A sauce — I was able to practically scoop it up with the fries, which was mouthwatering.

I had to give the win to Chick-fil-A, though I still thought McDonald's offered excellent value.

I preferred Chick-fil-A's thick and juicy chicken tenders to McDonald's's more heavily fried, crispy tenders.

I also liked the fluffy waffle fries in the Chick-fil-A meal more than the crunchy fries from McDonald's. They were a better vehicle for the chain's signature sauce.

However — shocking, I know — I actually preferred the creamy chili sauce from McDonald's. It packed more flavor than the Chick-fil-A sauce, thanks to the slight kick from the chili peppers, but it was still creamy enough to evenly coat the chicken strips.

When it came down to value, I thought McDonald's won. The Chick-fil-A meal was over $3 more expensive than the McDonald's meal. In terms of value, it had the chicken chain beat.

In terms of flavor, though, I had to give the win to Chick-fil-A's thick, flavorful, and briny tenders.

• "LooksmaxxingGPT" is one of the top custom chatbots in ChatGPT's "Lifestyle" category.
• If you upload a photo, it will rate it — and suggest improvement, including plastic surgery.
• The "looksmaxxing" trend has roots in the toxic online world of incels. So be careful with the chatbot.

You may find ChatGPT useful for many things. A friend showed me the other day how he used it to turn a photo of his daughter's favorite stuffed animal into a printed-out coloring book, which seemed pretty nifty.

Here's something I have now also tried on ChatGPT and do not recommend: looksmaxxing.

For the uninitiated: "Looksmaxxing" is a term for the quest to improve one's looks through skincare, hair styling, new clothes, and physical fitness. That sounds benign. The origins of the phenomenon aren't so innocent: It bubbled up from internet incel culture, where some young men are fixated on the idea that their appearance determines their success with women and in life. There's a whole in-group lexicon of things like like "mewing" (tongue exercises to increase jawline definition), "hunter eyes," "canthal tilt," and "mogging," or slang for outdoing your competition.

LooksmaxxingGPT is a custom bot that's in the Top 10 within the "Lifestyle" category of ChatGPT's custom GPTs. (The custom bot says it's had more than 700,000 conversations.)

To be clear, ChatGPT's custom GPT section works like Apple's App Store — these GPTs are built by independent developers. (It's more freewheeling than Apple's App Store because these also are unvetted: They rise to the top simply if they're popular.) The developer of the LookmaxxingGPT is listed as "Ant," but there was no link to contact this person or group, so I couldn't reach anyone for comment.

Molly White of Citation Needed noticed the chatbot recently. She wrote:

[T]he chatbot has informed the man who uploaded his photo that he is "subhuman." Asked for advice on what to do if the man doesn't desire surgeries, the bot replies: "Let me be honest: without surgery, you won't mog genetically superior guys head-on." The bot repeats throughout the conversation that the man is doomed to being "ignored" and "rejected" by women without surgical intervention, writing things like "A sharp jaw beats a $3000 outfit 100/100 times."

Curious, I tried it out myself.

I uploaded a photo. (In what I know will later sound like a tremendous amount of cope, I should say that this selfie was particularly unflattering, with dirty hair, no makeup, and a purposely weird smile.) I asked what celebrity I looked like. The top match it gave me was an Australian actor I hadn't heard of, but also Lisa Edelstein from House M.D., which, you know what? I can see it.

Still, "What celebrity do you look like?" bots have been popular on the internet for years — this didn't feel like AGI magic to me. I mean, in 2016, Microsoft released an app that told you what breed of dog you resembled.

But this app can also do something that those what-celeb-do-I-look-like apps could never do. It gave me a "PSL" rating. That's a "Physical Sexual Attractiveness" score, on a scale of 1-10. It also names your level of supposed attractiveness, from "subhuman" (yikes) to "ethereal tier."

LooksmaxxGPT gave me a score of "Mid-Tier Becky," or about a 5 on the 1-10 scale. (Unlike traditional ChatGPT, which has had problems with being too much of a suckup, these custom versions apparently … don't!)

I also uploaded another photo, this one where I had bright lipstick on and a normal smile. Upgraded to "High-Tier Becky." Hey, I'll take it.

The bot said it could offer makeup tips to help me improve my rating, so I asked for them. It gave an impressive chart that showed drugstore and Sephora items for each category of things like foundations, concealers, eyeliners, etc. Now, this is a realm I know a bit about — I love buying makeup and can watch endless makeup TikToks. I wasn't particularly impressed with the personalization, however. These were all products that were mostly top-reviewed in each category. There were no suggestions of specific colors or shades that matched my particular face.

Next, I asked it for "hardmaxxing" suggestions — plastic surgery or dental work. I was not shocked that it suggested that I, a woman in her 40s, might want to try Botox.

How does a celebrity hold up?

To test the bot a little further, I gave it a picture of Walton Goggins from "The White Lotus."

Here's a guy who illustrates the limitations of the LooksmaxxingGPT bot: He's a little imperfect looking, has a receding hairline, but is considered wildly attractive by pretty much every woman I know.

LookmaxxingGPT gave Goggins a 3.5/10. "This puts him in the normie-subnormie crossover zone," it said.

To complain that LooksmaxxingGPT's suggestions aren't particularly precise or even "good" is beside the point, though.

The problem with this whole thing is that it's rooted in a sometimes racist, misogynist agenda — the whole incel culture that's been seeping into the mainstream from the depths of the interet. And not in a good way.

This GPT wasn't meant for me, a grown human who has healthy self-esteem. I'm not saying some people couldn't have some lighthearted fun with this bot, but the whole looksmaxxing trend is aimed at young men who are bewildered by dating and society — and are hoping there's some cheat code that will bring them success with women if they can only get the right jawline.

The idea of using AI for this is obviously appealing — if it can write a history term paper, give you a low-carb meal plan, or act as your therapist, why can't it also tell you how to look better? The problem is: It can't.

• The Marines will rebrand a squadron as pilots switch to the F-35B Lightning II.
• The transition from the AV-8B Harrier to the F-35B is part of modernization.
• The change is part of service-wide plans to enhance capabilities for modern Pacific warfare.

The Marine Corps will soon rebrand a storied aviation squadron as its pilots switch to a new jet designed for next-level warfare.

Amid ongoing changes to the Corps, the North Carolina-based Marine Attack Squadron 231 will be renamed "Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 231." The squadron, identified as the service's oldest flying squadron, was formed just after World War I, and it adopted the Harrier jump jet in the mid-1980s.

With VMA-231's rebranding, the unit's pilots will no longer fly the AV-8B Harrier, an aircraft known for its short and vertical take-off and landing capabilities. The Corps is doing away with the plane, preferring the new fifth-generation F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters. Marines fly the stealth jet's B variant built for short runways and big-deck amphibious assault ships.

VMA-231, known as the "Ace of Spades," will be deactivated later this year and then reactivated as VMFA-231 in the next fiscal year. The aviation unit completed its last Harrier flight last Thursday at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, according to a news release out Monday.

"Everybody knows that VMA-231 is transitioning to F-35s," said the unit's commanding officer, Lt. Col. Paul Truog, stressing that the final Harrier flight was not a "sad day" and asserting that "the Wing, the [Marine Aircraft Group], and the squadron are going to be more capable of responding to any crisis."

The Corps has already phased out training for the aviation mechanics responsible for Harrier engine maintenance and for Harrier pilots amid the push to field fifth-generation fighters. In previous discussions with BI, Marine pilots have characterized the newer F-35 as a game-changing capability.

The changes come as the Corps remains deep in its transformation, a process to move from fielding a force built to fight counterinsurgencies to one made for modern warfare in the Pacific. It's a shift made all the more difficult by major logistical hurdles in the region and fast changing battlefields being radically shaped by AI and drone technology.

Along with the Harrier, the Corps has put F/A-18 Hornets on the chopping block to make way for the F-35. The Hornet made up over half of the Corps' tactical air capabilities in 2022, according to Military.com, and has been a go-to aircraft for the Marines and the Navy for both offensive and defensive needs. But there's a growing recognition that future fights could demand next-generation capabilities.

In its statement on changes to VMA-231, the Marine Corps said "the squadron's transition from the legacy AV-8B Harrier II to the F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter is representative of 2nd MAW's ongoing modernization efforts to meet the needs of the future fight," referring to the 2nd Marine Air Wing.

The Corps' "Force Design" plans, announced in 2020 amid much controversy, has already seen the service scrap its scout sniper program and tanks in an all-out effort to shed any capability deemed less urgent for the Pacific, and it has also rolled out new units in Hawaii and Japan specially formed for fighting along the Pacific's formidable island chains.

• Amazon is in talks to adopt the AI coding tool Cursor for its employees.
• Amazon typically advises employees to be cautious using outside AI tools.
• Several employees at the tech giant have been pushing to use Cursor.

Amazon staff demanded Cursor. They may be about to get it.

According to internal Slack messages, reviewed by Business Insider, several Amazon employees inquired about using the AI coding assistant Cursor at work. In response, an HR manager wrote that Amazon is in talks with Cursor's team to formally adopt the popular development tool "asap."

The HR manager added that the two companies are addressing "a few high priority security issues" before deploying Cursor's AI tool.

"It all depends on whether we can make it work in line with our high security bar," the HR manager wrote, referring to Cursor's deployment. "But yes, I'm optimistic this could become a reality at Amazon."

The size of the deal is unclear, but the HR manager is part of Amazon's global HR team overseeing "genAI adoption," according to this person's LinkedIn profile. The Slack channel, dedicated to Cursor users, is open to anyone working at Amazon and has about 1,500 participants.

Cursor's potential adoption at Amazon is notable, as the tech giant often urges employees to be cautious when using outside AI tools, particularly when Amazon has a competing product. In some cases, Amazon has banned the use to certain third-party AI tools at work.

The tech giant already offers its own AI coding assistant, Q, and has an internal AI chatbot called "Cedric." Amazon is also developing a more advanced AI coding tool, codenamed "Kiro," which could rival Cursor, BI previously reported.

At least one employee appeared surprised by the potential Cursor deal. "Very cool that Amazon isn't scared to let us use it when we have multiple internal competitors," this person wrote in Slack.

An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment.

Cursor versus Windsurf and Q

The Amazon deal also reflects Cursor's rapid emergence as one of the most popular AI coding tools.

Anysphere, the maker of Cursor, raised $900 million at a $9 billion valuation last month, the Financial Times reported. The startup was worth $2.4 billion in December, according to TechCrunch. The company lists Stripe, Instacart, and Shopify as customers.

Even Amazon CEO Andy Jassy took notice. During last month's earnings call, Jassy mentioned Cursor, an AWS cloud customer, as a key driver behind the "explosion of coding agents."

In the Slack channel, which was created for those interested in Cursor, an internal poll showed that more than 60 Amazon employees favored Cursor over Windsurf, while just over 10 chose Windsurf. OpenAI recently agreed to acquire Windsurf for $3 billion.

"I'm sure once we've Cursor at Amazon, people will not pay much attention to Windsurf or other IDEs," the HR manager wrote in Slack, referring to Integrated Development Environments, a common type of software that helps engineers write code more efficiently.

Several employees said they liked Cursor's speed and ease of use, according to Slack messages.

One of them wrote that Cursor is "so much faster" than Amazon's own AI coding assistant Q.

"Cursor changes are almost instantaneous, whereas Q dev still takes minutes to make a change," the person wrote.

Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at [email protected] or Signal, Telegram, or WhatsApp at 650-942-3061. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

• A widely seen hotel surveillance video plays an important role in Sean Combs' trial.
• Prosecutors say the video is crucial to their case — proving both sex trafficking and racketeering.
• The defense says it shows a fleeting moment of domestic violence and is irrelevant to those charges.

Defense lawyers for Sean "Diddy" Combs call it the single most important — and dangerous — piece of evidence in the trial.

And federal prosecutors agree, saying that it clinches the top two charges in the Combs indictment, rackeeteering and sex-trafficking, each carrying a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Here's why the now-notorious March 5, 2016, security video — showing Combs kicking, stomping, and dragging girlfriend Cassie Ventura in the hallway of the InterContinental hotel in Los Angeles — is so crucial to his ongoing Manhattan trial.

And here's why the defense has fought so hard to limit its impact, particularly given what emerged in court on Tuesday.

Combs personally counted out a $100,000 payment to make the video disappear: Witness

A former InterContinental hotel security guard testified Tuesday morning that it was Combs who personally negotiated a $100,000 payment that the rap mogul hoped — in vain — would make the video go away forever.

Nine years later, a copy of the footage would be obtained by CNN and go viral.

"He was smiling, excited, just looked happy," the ex-guard, Eddy Garcia, said on the witness stand, describing the moment he handed Combs a USB thumbdrive containing what was then believed to be the only copy of the incriminating hallway footage.

In return, he said, Combs showed him "a brown bag and a money counter machine," and began counting out $100,000 in cash.

"There was stacks of money just being put into it, stacks of $10,000 at a time," the ex-guard remembered.

When a prosecutor asked who was putting the money through the machine, the ex-guard answered, "Mr. Combs."

How the Cassie InterContinental video supports Combs' sex-trafficking charge

"It is horrible. It's dehumanizing. It's violent," defense lawyer Teny Geragos told jurors, owning up to the brutality of the video in her May 12 opening statement.

"It is called domestic violence," she told jurors. "It is called assault," she said, naming two crimes Combs is not charged with.

But prosecutors say that at the very moment that footage was taken, Ventura was being sex-trafficked — meaning coerced to participate in a commercial sex act.

"We were having an encounter that we call a 'freak off,'" she told the jury, testifying a day after opening statements.

Freak offs, she explained, were elaborately-staged, dayslong performances "where he would watch me have intercourse and sexual activity with a third party," specifically a paid, male sex worker.

At the time Combs kicks and drags Ventura down the hotel hallway — leaving a sex worker named "Jules" behind in the room — she had just been punched in the eye by Combs, she told the jury.

"There was a lot of drinking, there was a lot of partying, but in the middle of it, I'm not sure what happened, but I get hit by Sean, and I have a black eye."

She added, "At that point, all I could think about was getting out of there safely."

The video shows Ventura leaving their sixth-floor hotel room and standing in the hallway barefoot and carrying bags. As she puts on her sneakers and waits for the elevator, Combs runs out into the hallway after her, wearing only socks and a white towel around his waist.

The federal sex-trafficking law defines coercion as using force, threats, or fraud.

Prosecutors will likely argue that the video record of the beating that happened next — with Combs pulling Ventura to the ground by the hood of her sweatshirt, kicking her as she lay in a fetal position, and then dragging her by the hood and hair — provides indisputable evidence that Combs used force against Ventura.

A hotel security guard, Israel Florez, has also told jurors that when he responded to the fight, Ventura's eye was purple.

How the hotel video supports the racketeering count

To win a racketeering conviction, prosecutors must prove that Combs used his hip-hop lifestyle and music empire — his "criminal enterprise" according to the indictment — to commit at least two underlying crimes.

Prosecutors may argue that the hotel video, and testimony saying Combs tried to bury the video, prove three underlying crimes: not only sex trafficking, but also bribery and obstruction of justice.

Florez told jurors that Combs offered him "a stack of cash" to keep him from reporting the violence to police. The guard also said he refused Combs' cash and secretly made a copy of the video on his cellphone so he could show it off to his friends.

Ventura did not want the police involved, so he did not call them, Florez said.

Further proof of bribery and obstruction may have been provided Tuesday by the second former hotel security guard, the one who on Tuesday described all that cash going through Combs' cash-counting machine.

Garcia said that in the days after the violence, Combs' chief of staff, Kristina Khorram, repeatedly called his cellphone to ask to see the footage.

"Mr. Combs sounded very nervous, he was talking very fast," Garcia told jurors of Combs himself getting on the phone. "Just saying that he had a little too much to drink, and I knew how it was with women, and if this gets out, it could ruin him."

Garcia said he personally pocketed $30,000 of the offered bribe — the rest was shared with two other hotel security staffers — and signed an NDA promising the video would never surface.

Combs called him "Eddy, my angel," Garcia said.

And in a copy of Combs' contacts shown to jurors, Garcia's phone number is indeed listed under "Eddy my angel."

"God is good," Garcia said Combs told him in a phone call that was the last time they spoke.

"God put you in my way for a reason," he said Combs told him.

• We spent the evening at a rooftop happy hour during NYC's Tech Week.
• Between chats about AI and landing a job, a guest told us getting on the list felt like high school.
• Here are photos from the event, from the tiny hors d'oeuvres to the views.

At 6 pm on Monday evening, the two of us joined a small mob of other Tech Week hopefuls in the lobby of IBM's New York City headquarters, right off of Madison Square Park. We were all waiting to get into the same event: a rooftop happy hour full of Big Tech employees, founders, and free champagne.

Not everyone in the lobby made it past the snaking check-in line, though. We passed a duo in the lobby pleading with an event organizer, who was patiently repeating that their Partiful invites said "pending" instead of "accepted," and that the happy hour was at capacity. (Sorry, Apple Invites, but it seems like most Tech Week hosts are Partiful people.)

It appears we weren't the only ones who got an ego bump from making it onto the guest list. One attendee told us it felt like trying to get into high school parties — except this time, he actually got past the door.

Once safely on the roof, we sampled comically small hors d'oeuvres and chatted about AI, landing a tech job, dating in New York, and more AI.

Here's an inside look at the boozy affair, complete with a photo of the cocktail list that the bartender kindly pretended wasn't weird for us to take.

The invite said 'this is the rooftop to be on during NYC Tech Week' and we agreed.

The cocktail reception took place at Le Jardin, 28 floors above the city at IBM's new headquarters in New York City. The event was co-hosted by IBM, Tech:NYC, Union Square Ventures, and HumanX.

The drinks were flowing.

Waiters were constantly walking by with trays of spicy margaritas and champagne. There were also three bar stations located on the rooftop.

Snacks included a mushroom tart and macarons.

Our first snack was salmon on pumpernickel, and we actually enjoyed the bite-size portion, since we didn't have to pause conversations to eat. Other offerings included a mushroom tart, macaroons, and a cream puff-looking dessert.

Guests spanned sectors across the tech industry.

Many of the guests we talked to worked at AI start-ups, but some were from Big Tech companies as well.

We got a panoramic view of Manhattan

The rooftop had impressive views — we could see skyscrapers in nearly every direction.

We had our choice of wines

We were offered champagne at the door, but could also choose from a range of wine and cocktail options. Glasses disappeared from the bar throughout the night.

We met several guests from out of town

One attendee came from Boston and another was in town from Canada. Both said they come to New York City at least twice a month for work.

The sun set over Manhattan

On what felt like one of the first real summer days in New York City, we watched the sun set over Manhattan.

• Elon Musk is unloading on Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" like never before.
• He called the legislative package a "disgusting abomination."
• "Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong," Musk said.

Elon Musk is unloading on President Donald Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" like never before.

"I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore," Musk wrote on X on Tuesday afternoon. "This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination."

"Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong," Musk continued. "You know it."

The sprawling bill, which passed the House in May with the support of all but a handful of Republicans, includes cuts to Medicaid and extension of the tax cuts that Trump and Republicans first enacted in 2017.

GOP senators were at a weekly lunch in the Capitol when Musk's tweet landed. Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, another fiscal hawk, told BI that the post was being "passed around" among his colleagues as they ate.

"I texted it to a few people," Johnson said. "I had a phone passed to me."

Musk's criticism of the bill isn't new — he said he was "disappointed" in it in an interview clip that aired last week — and comes as he formally exits the Trump administration.

On Friday, the world's richest man joined Trump for a press conference to commemorate his time in government. The president lavished praise on Musk and seemed keen on dispelling any notion that cracks had emerged between the two men.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has estimated that in its current form, the bill would add $2.5 trillion to the deficit over the next 10 years.

"It will massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion (!!!) and burden America citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt," Musk wrote in another post on X, adding in a third post that "Congress is making America bankrupt."

The bill is now being worked on by GOP senators, and several fiscal hawks have already raised concerns about the bill's impact on the deficit. Among them is Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, who immediately replied to Musk's post.

"The Senate must make this bill better," Lee wrote.

Musk's post landed just as White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was delivering a briefing.

"The president already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill," Leavitt said. "It doesn't change the President's opinion. This is one big beautiful bill, and he's sticking to it."

It's not the first time Musk has criticized the bill — though last time, he wasn't as forceful. In a recent interview with CBS, Musk said that the bill undermined DOGE's cost-cutting work.

"I was like, disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decrease it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing," Musk said. "I think a bill can be big, or it could be beautiful. I don't know if it could be both."

• Voyager Technologies plans to raise $319 million in an initial public offering.
• Calls to modernize defense and space exploration may fuel further investment.
• Voyager's listing comes amid a stagnant market, with bankers advising those with IPO ambitions to act fast.

Voyager Technologies, a defense and space tech company, aims to raise up to $319 million in an initial public offering that could value it as high as $1.6 billion, the company said on Monday.

Their filing underscores how defense and space tech companies are drawing renewed attention from DC and Silicon Valley. In his second inaugural address in January, President Donald Trump declared that "we will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars." Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is also bullish on how tech will change the battlefield.

Private market defense investors are rallying behind such calls for modernization, while the Defense Department has created a new program to fund defense startups spinning out of college campuses. There's been some action in public markets, too: Kochav Defense Acquisition Corporation, a defense tech special-purpose acquisition company, completed its IPO in late May.

IPOs have largely remained sluggish, though fintech companies Chime and Circle have filed to go public. And virtual physical therapy company Hinge Health debuted its public listing in late May. Bankers say the window for going public is narrowing due to political and market volatility, so they're urging companies to move quickly toward an IPO while investor appetite lasts.

Founded in 2019, Voyager is developing a low-Earth orbit commercial space station, Starlab, funded by over $200 million from NASA. The company is working with Airbus, Mitsubishi, MDA Space, and Palantir on the project.

The company, initially called Voyager Space, dropped "Space" in a January rebrand to focus more on defense applications, like tech that improves the precision, speed, and reliability of missiles and defense interceptors.

Voyager reported $34.5 million in net sales in the first quarter of 2025, up more than 14% from the same period last year. But its net losses in the quarter almost doubled, nearly hitting $27 million compared to just under $15 million a year ago, according to an SEC filing.

Early Voyager investors include national security-focused firms Industrious Ventures, Marlinspike, and Scout Ventures.

Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan are jointly leading the proposed offering. The company's shares, "VOYG," will trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the status of Chime and Circle's initial public offering filings.

• Veteran venture capitalist Marc Andreessen and his wife, Laura, are selling their Bay Area mansion.
• The home hit the market last year for over $33 million but now has a listing price of $29.5 million.
• Take a look inside.

After more than a year on the market, Marc Andreessen's Atherton mansion has gotten a price cut.

Marc Andreessen, the founder of the storied venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, and his wife Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen, listed their 12,185-square-foot home in Atherton, California, for $33,375,000 last spring.

The mansion is now listed at $29.5 million. The home's listing agents did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It's unclear where the Andreessens are headed next. The family declined a previous request for comment. Over the past several years, they've accumulated more than $250 million in property in Malibu, California, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Here's a closer look inside the Andreessen's home for sale:

The home was built in 1995.

It sits on a 1.55-acre lot that's "barely discernible" from the street, according to Compass, the realty firm listing the property. It's also located across from the Menlo Circus Club, a private recreational club that first opened in the 1920s.

The home features a neutral color palette with American cherry and light oak floors.

Aside from the main home, there's also a one-bedroom guest house and a detached office and studio.

The rooms have "extensive" custom built-ins designed to display art.

There are five bedrooms, four bathrooms, and three half-bathrooms on the property.

The interior is light and airy.

Recessed lighting, skylights, and a light color palette bolster the atmosphere.

There is ample space for entertaining, relaxing, or pondering the state of the startup ecosystem.

There are also seven fireplaces on the property, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The home features two kitchens.

They come in handy for catering and private chefs, Compass noted.

The home has several concealed and visible screens.

"A hallmark of this residence is a commitment to media needs," the listing notes.

There's also ample space to host and entertain guests.

A "defining signature of this property is its capability to host significant personal, professional, & philanthropic events," the listing says. Andreessen and Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen — an educator, author, and philanthropist who founded the Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen Foundation — may have used their home often for hosting.

The home also has a nice gym.

It's equipped with mirrors, free weights, and stationary bikes.

And the grounds themselves are picturesque.

The estate itself features "manicured lawns, a covered terrace and a pergola, fountains and a reflecting pool," according to The Wall Street Journal.

• I've been to 20 Caribbean islands and have observed some common mistakes first-time visitors make.
• I've noticed many visitors tend to shy away from island hopping and traveling outside their resorts.
• Tourists should leave room in their itineraries for surprises and sample the local food.

The Caribbean is the perfect vacation destination for those looking for warm weather, endless beaches, and exciting activities on and off the water. From nightlife and water sports to great food and historical attractions, the Caribbean has something for everyone.

However, as someone who's been traveling to the Caribbean for the past two decades, I've observed some common mistakes first-time visitors make.

If you're planning a trip to the Caribbean and want to maximize your experience, here are some mistakes to avoid making while visiting.

Not leaving the resort

The Caribbean is full of gorgeous resorts, but one of the biggest mistakes I see first-time visitors make is never leaving the property. Every time I travel to an island, I make a point to leave the resort and check out nearby attractions.

One of my favorite recent travel experiences was a day trip in Jamaica, where I was able to float down the Martha Brae River and climb Dunn's River Falls.

If you're unsure of what activities are available, check out some reputable tours online or ask your hotel's concierge for recommendations. If you do plan to leave the resort, be sure to do your research and take standard safety precautions.

Sticking to only all-inclusive resorts

The Caribbean is known for its all-inclusive resorts, which are convenient for families with small children or large groups of friends.

But for solo travelers, couples, and families with older kids, I recommend checking out smaller boutique hotels. Some of my best travel memories have come from staying at smaller properties.

When I visited Puerto Rico for the first time, I stayed in a charming one-bedroom apartment in Old San Juan, which was just a short taxi ride to the beach.

We spent our days exploring Old San Juan, and each night, we chose a new restaurant to visit, which we wouldn't have done if we stayed at a large, all-inclusive resort.

Assuming all islands look the same

There's a common misconception that all islands in the Caribbean look the same. However, the geography varies from island to island.

Volcanic islands like St. Lucia and Dominica boast black-sand beaches, Turks and Caicos and The Bahamas have relatively flat terrains and deep cave systems, and Antigua and St. Croix have rolling hills ideal for long hikes.

In Aruba, visitors can relax on white-sand beaches or explore the towering cactus plants, sand dunes, and rocky pools in Arikok National Park.

Each island offers something a little different, and you can maximize your stay by knowing how you want to spend your vacation.

Not island hopping

Although island hopping sounds costly, several locations have convenient and affordable ferries. For example, visitors can take a ferry from St. Kitts to neighboring Nevis to dip in the hot springs or visit the botanical gardens.

I always recommend setting aside a day to check out a nearby island, especially if it's accessible by ferry.

Expecting a fast-paced lifestyle

First-time visitors to the Caribbean may be surprised to find that, for the most part, life seems to move slower on the islands.

Be sure to leave time between activities or meals and embrace flexibility. If you have activities planned, I recommend doing one activity per day or setting aside at least half a day for each excursion.

In Barbados, for example, I hired a driver to check out Bathsheba, a stunning rocky beach on Barbados' east coast. On our way back, my tour guide recommended stopping by a popular beachside restaurant, which wasn't on the itinerary.

I ended up staying for a few hours, ordering food and drinks, and walking along the beach. I would have missed this delicious detour if I had been on a tight schedule, and I always advise embracing the slower island pace for the best experience.

Not eating local food

Part of the joy of traveling is experiencing new cuisine, and the Caribbean offers a variety of food that reflects each island's history and culture.

In Puerto Rico, I made it a point to eat mofongo, an African-influenced dish made from fried plantain. In Grenada, I tried oil down, a delicious meat and vegetable stew.

On a girls' trip to Curaçao, we stopped by a local restaurant that had come highly recommended for its goat burgers. I was apprehensive at first, but it was one of the most delicious and memorable meals on the trip.

Not researching the best time to visit

Though the Caribbean offers year-round warmth, some months are better than others for a trip.

For example, although most of the Caribbean experiences hurricane season from June to November, a few islands like Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao are outside the hurricane belt.

The summer low season also means lower hotel rates, but it comes with higher temperatures and afternoon rain showers.

Peak season in the Caribbean is in the winter months when hotel rates are premium and rooms can sell out quickly. However, if you book well in advance, you can look forward to spending your New Year's Eve on the beach.

This story was originally published on May 30, 2024, and most recently updated on June 3, 2025.

• Jonathan Jacobs, 35, moved to Los Angeles from New York during the pandemic.
• He wanted more local friends in the sprawling city.
• He started a men's walking group to build his community and help other men meet each other.

This as-told-to story is based on a conversation with Jonathan Jacobs, a marketer, writer, and community organizer who founded the LA chapter of Men Walking, Men Talking. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I moved from New York City to Los Angeles in the middle of the pandemic — not exactly the best time to make friends.

It took me a year to make lasting connections with people, and four years to slowly build my social circle through my running club, professional industry, and friends of friends.

Still, I wanted a greater sense of local community, especially with other men. In the summer of 2020, right before I moved to LA, my father passed away. On his deathbed, I learned he was an alcoholic — a secret he'd kept from me for 31 years.

Because he was in a coma for two weeks before he died, I was never able to confront him about it. The experience made me realize how few, if any, intimate relationships he must have had. It also made me passionate about creating spaces where men could be more open with each other.

Through my work, I met Mark Greene, who founded Men Walking, Men Talking, an NYC-based men's walking group. He suggested I lead my own.

So, in 2025, I started the LA chapter.

Craving connection

In January, I posted a short description on an LA-based Reddit page describing how I envisioned the group. The rules were simple: what was said in the group would be private, and we wouldn't talk about politics or religion so as not to isolate anyone. I added my email.

About 60 men said they were interested. Seven of us showed up that first time.

It was a bit awkward at first. I grappled with the idea of icebreakers to get through that initial silence.

But I wanted men to explore why it was hard to be the first one to speak up. Slowly, we started to chat, letting our craving for connection lead the way.

As we've done more of our bi-monthly Sunday walks, the group has grown. Over 100 men have reached out to me, with up to 17 showing up at one time. Due to the demand, we've also started experimenting with "pop-up walks" in the middle of the week.

We're a mix of married and divorced men, single fathers and childfree husbands, in our 20s through our 60s. Half of the group is made up of men who keep coming back.

Men need low-stakes ways to hang out

Research shows that men prefer activities where they're side-by-side rather than facing each other.

At the same time, some activities can make it harder to have meaningful conversations because the focus is on playing a game or watching a movie.

Walking invited men to talk to each other, while also making the gathering as low-stakes and accessible as possible. This is especially crucial in LA: you can spend the night sitting in traffic and searching for parking, all for a hangout they're not sure will be fun. For men who are already on the fence about showing up, a long commute pretty much guarantees they won't come.

Men who come to the walks repeatedly tell me that the low barrier to entry — no need to sign up or pay a fee to join — makes it easier for them to commit.

For men who have trouble putting themselves out there to begin with, it gives them peace of mind that they don't have to stay the whole time or show up every week to feel like part of the group.

One man recently showed up and was walking by himself. I came over to him and started breaking him open — he had some bad friendship experiences in the past and was trepidatious about making new connections. I'm glad he could come to the walk, even if it may have made him nervous at first.

Leaning on each other in small, important ways

Throughout my dad's life, really negative manifestations of masculinity, like not asking for help, affected our relationship.

What's nice about the group is how quickly such a simple activity can morph into a meaningful bond, especially amid so many stories of male loneliness in the US.

I still remember our second walk ever, right after my girlfriend had a health scare. Opening up to other men wasn't just cathartic; I also learned some had gone through similar situations.

I've seen men break off after our hour-long walk to continue walking or to grab a beer somewhere. Sometimes, if only one other man shows up that day, he and I will just walk together, two strangers opening up to each other.

I still talk to men who are interested but wary about attending their first walk; they're not sure if they'd fit in.

More than anything, I wish every man who feels that way would know he's not alone. There's a group who'd love to talk to him. He just has to show up.

• Dollar General's quarterly sales beat expectations with a growing share from higher-income shoppers.
• CEO Todd Vasos said delivery initiatives are attracting a "new and diverse" set of customers.
• He said the retailer is also one of the few that still offers a broad range of items for $1 or less.

Dollar General's string of good results continues, thanks in part to higher-income shoppers.

The retailer delivered strong revenue growth of 5.3% for the first quarter, with comparable sales increasing by 2.4% over the same period last year. Last year's numbers were strong, too.

CEO Todd Vasos said the growth was propelled by the dollar store's delivery initiatives, including a partnership with DoorDash, which are attracting a "new and diverse" set of customers.

"The incrementality on DoorDash has always been over the top phenomenal," he said on an earnings call Tuesday.

Delivery has also helped Walmart expand its e-commerce sales, in part by offering higher-income shoppers an increasingly convenient way to shop from stores they haven't typically frequented.

In other words, one reason wealthier households are shopping more with Dollar General and Walmart is that they don't have to actually go inside a Dollar General or Walmart to shop.

Both companies have also invested heavily in store renovations, which have improved the shopping experience and boosted sales.

Data from location analytics company Placer.ai found that first-quarter visits to Dollar General stores were up 1.9% year over year, with April visits up 6.5%.

Vasos said the company saw customers "trade in" at a "pretty good clip" during the first quarter, meaning they opted for Dollar General over pricier stores. He said that trend has continued into the second quarter.

He also said Dollar General is one of the few retailers that still offers a broad assortment of items for $1 or less.

"It's elusive out there," he said. "But we have over 2,000 items at or below $1 price inside of our store."

One way the company has managed to hold that line is by partnering with suppliers to offer smaller package sizes — otherwise known as shrinkflation.

"I would tell you it's exactly what the customer needs," Vasos said. "Especially where we are right now in her economic cycle, she definitely wants to be able to afford those luxuries or just name brand products — as is evidenced by what she shops — but she needs it at a price point that she can afford."

Taken together, the ease of delivery and the dollar price point appear to be helping Dollar General win a new cohort of shoppers at a time when US households are increasingly counting their pennies.

• Several airlines and planemakers have written to senators opposing credit-card legislation.
• They say a proposed amendment could mean they stop offering rewards credit cards.
• And the subsequent lost revenue would mean "a contraction in airline activity and jobs."

Airlines, labor unions, and manufacturers have written to senators warning that a bill about credit cards being proposed by senators could damage the aviation industry by weakening airline loyalty programs.

United Airlines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Airbus, and Boeing are among the signatories of Monday's letter.

The campaign, led by the trade group Airlines for America, takes aim at legislation proposed by Senators Roger Marshall and Dick Durbin.

Their amendment to the crypto-focused GENIUS Act hopes to expand competition for credit card providers and lower swipe fees.

It's been supported by retailers, including the National Retail Federation, but has faced backlash from financial institutions.

Credit cards also play a significant role for airlines. "A lot of people call airlines credit card companies with wings," TJ Dunn, a points guru and editor in chief at the Prince of Travel, previously told Business Insider.

Co-branded credit cards are a cash cow for many airlines, allowing customers to build up frequent-flier points or miles.

Monday's letter cites research from Airlines for America that says over 31 million Americans have airline travel reward cards, generating around $25 billion in economic activity in 2023.

It adds that 57% of all frequent flyer miles or points issued in 2023 were generated by airline credit card use.

"Americans value and enjoy credit card rewards programs because they reward consumers for dollars that they would be spending no matter what," the letter says. "Many may be unpleasantly surprised if Congress disrupts those programs."

It warns that the Durbin-Marshall amendment could see airlines stop offering rewards credit cards.

Unions, including those representing pilots, flight attendants, and Boeing workers, have signed the letter, too. That's because it says the effect on loyalty programs would result in fewer flights and therefore "a contraction in airline activity and jobs."

It adds that lost revenue means airlines would struggle to meet existing commitments to their workers, and "certainly complicate existing or future collective bargaining negotiations."

The letter also says airlines would have less money to spend on buying new planes.

Durbin has said that the legislation would save merchants and consumers an estimated $15 billion each year, while businesses pay more than $100 billion in swipe fees annually.

• I was laid off from my job, so I figured it was time to finally pursue my dream career.
• I had to apply to graduate school, but deadlines were only a month away.
• Luckily, I got into every graduate program I applied to, and I'm finally on the right path.

One Wednesday in January, during our check-in, I jokingly told my manager that if I were laid off, I would finally apply to grad school. Six days later, I found myself affected by companywide layoffs and abruptly unemployed after three years in public relations.

I started a career in PR simply because it paid the bills. When it suddenly didn't, I knew it was time to try for grad school and finally pursue my dream career in academia and research in the field of Internet studies.

There was one major problem: I had only three weeks to apply to grad school before the deadline. Thanks to my unemployment, I focused all my energy on my grad school applications. I was accepted into every program I applied to, and now, I'm finally on the right path.

Treating applications like a full-time job

Getting laid off hurt, but it gave me the luxury of time I wouldn't have had were I at work. Every day, I spent hours working on my statements of purpose and collecting application information for the programs I intended to apply to.

Less than a month before this, my days were spent drafting press releases, so I quickly needed to relearn everything about academic essays and applications.

My daily routine soon became sitting at my desk with Word documents open, writing essays, and researching MA programs. During breaks, I would hunt for jobs and complete paperwork related to unemployment insurance. At times, it felt like I hadn't really stopped working at all — just changed my focus.

Anxiety sometimes got the better of me

I completed undergrad in 2020 and had only been sporadically in touch with my professors since then. Working up the courage to ask for letters of recommendation from two professors proved to be a major hurdle for me.

I knew that I was asking a lot, and that the people I asked were well within their rights to refuse. I was jumping from PR into a totally different field, one outside my recommenders' wheelhouses. They all had less than a month to draft and submit their letters, which is a remarkably tight turnaround. I reminded myself that the worst they could say was no (if they responded at all), and that recommendations were a part of being an academic or a manager.

Each recommender readily agreed to write a letter, and they all met the deadlines I provided them, which I am forever thankful for.

Additionally, applying to top-tier domestic and international programs felt like I was reaching too high when I had been laid off only weeks before. Even though these programs were perfect fits for my intended research, I still felt intense self-doubt, especially when telling my recommenders, friends, and family that I was applying to such prestigious programs.

Hoping for the best

I downplayed applications as a side project while looking for a new PR job. When applications went out, I kept my excitement in check. I refreshed application pages for status updates daily, and I braced myself for rejections each time.

I didn't let myself hope for anything until the first acceptance came in, one from an international school, but even then, I thought it was a one-off.

One month later, I received an offer from a school that I had thought about since high school, with a scholarship attached. That's when it finally sank in that I had done what I thought was impossible. Offers kept arriving, and, before I knew it, I was in a position of getting to choose which program I wanted to attend.

The way I applied to grad school wasn't typical, and it came with an immense amount of stress. In the end, it was worth it, and I finally feel like I'm on the track I wanted to be on all along.