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Disney reorganized its business. The development and production of shows is to be separated from distribution—the idea is to be able to respond faster to changes in consumer demand, and place further emphasis on streaming. The company’s shares rose nearly 5% in after-hours trading to $130.76.
It’s a big day for big tech. For Amazon, Prime Day matters more than ever this year, because its new date effectively marks the start of a holiday shopping season that’s set to move further online. Meanwhile, Apple is expected to launch its first 5G phones.
A second Covid-19 infection can be worse than the first. An otherwise healthy 25-year-old man from Nevada was reinfected, according to a new report in the Lancet Infectious Diseases medical journal, and needed hospital treatment. This raises further questions about immunity for those who’ve already had the disease.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump held a rally and didn’t wear a mask. The US president keeps saying he’s “cured” and “immune,” less than two weeks after his own Covid-19 diagnosis, and told supporters in Florida, many of whom also didn’t wear masks, that he wanted to give them “a big fat kiss.”
A major Indian jeweler pulled an ad that depicted an interfaith couple. Following a conservative backlash on social media and TV news channels, Tanishq withdrew a commercial that showed a Hindu woman being thrown a baby shower by her Muslim in-laws. The company is owned by Tata, one of India’s biggest conglomerates.
Indian American voters, by the digits
1.5%: Share of US population that identifies as Indian American
5: Number of Indian Americans, including Kamala Harris, in Congress
65%: Share of Indian American respondents to a Pew survey that said they were Democrats or leaned Democratic in 2012
84%: Share of Indian American voters who chose Barack Obama in 2012
54%: Share of Indian American respondents to a 2020 survey who support Democratic candidate Joe Biden
1.8 million: Number of Indian American voters in crucial swing states
One of the wealthiest and most educated immigrant groups in the US, Indian Americans can have an outsized impact on American politics for a relatively small group. Sumit Ganguly explains why.
Charting global climate inequality
Even though damage from storms has been most costly in dollar terms for wealthier nations, it’s poorer countries that take the biggest hit to their GDP. That’s one conclusion from a new United Nations report on the economic and human toll of disasters over the last two decades.
The report also concludes that the frequency, cost, and fatality of storms are all on the rise, which means these disparities are only likely to increase. Tim McDonnell explains the latest data on global climate inequality.
Don’t underestimate the importance of body language
Advising a company on its corporate strategy over video chat is harder than it looks—as Alex Jung can attest. The Ernst & Young consultant was presenting research to a client, and it wasn’t going well. “It was a path the CEO did not want to go down,” she said.
Ordinarily Jung would have realized quickly that the CEO wasn’t happy, and adjusted her approach. But because the session was online rather than in person, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, she couldn’t easily read his body language.
The result: wasted time and effort for Jung. “Body language is important—subtle movements of the eye, a glance across the room,” Jung said. When she does a client presentation, “I’m looking for affirmation, and that’s hard to get on Microsoft Teams.”
Difficulty advising clients when they aren’t in the same room isn’t the only challenge looming these days for EY and other major consulting firms like McKinsey, Accenture, and Deloitte. Read more in our guide to consulting’s new challenges.
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Obsession interlude: Rethinking cities
Anne Hidalgo may be the modern model of a visionary mayor. Energized by climate and health crises resulting from Paris’s famously high pollution levels, Hidalgo has focused on returning the city’s streets to its people, and on reducing emissions. She banned cars in parts of the city center, redesigned historical intersections, and shut major thoroughfares. Just last month, Hidalgo was listed as one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2020.
Many of the mayor’s initiatives have been controversial, but Hidalgo was reelected this summer on a platform that included a proposal for a “15-minute city”—one in which essentials are within a short walk or cycle for all Parisians. Because of her progressive policies, Paris is more prepared than most for a post-pandemic reality in which social distancing is the norm and streets are increasingly reoriented towards cyclists, pedestrians, and restaurants.
Ride along on the ideas reshaping the urban landscape with our Rethinking Cities obsession.
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Surprising discoveries
Machu Picchu reopened… for a single tourist. The Japanese man has been stranded in Peru for months, after arriving to see the Inca ruins in March.
If you win a Nobel, take the call. Robert Wilson had to ring fellow economics prize-winner Paul Milgrom’s doorbell in the middle of the night.
Polish divers are defusing a giant World War II bomb. Dropped by the British during a 1945 air raid, it now lies at the bottom of a Baltic Sea shipping canal.
You can power your video games with potatoes. It just takes 100 pounds (45 kilograms) of spuds to run Doom on a graphing calculator.
A new take on celebrity impersonators. Being the face under the face in deepfake videos is a new industry.
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