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Hereâs what you need to know
Regulators in the US fired a warning shot at crypto. The Securities and Exchange Commission said it will respond with a lawsuit if Coinbase launches its new Lend product.
US president Joe Biden announced an ambitious energy plan⌠The White House will aim to switch 45% of the countryâs energy to solar by 2050.
âŚand is gearing up to sue Texas. The Biden administration reportedly intends to take the state to court over its law banning most abortions.
The trial of Elizabeth Holmes began. The disgraced Theranos founder faces federal criminal charges for fraud, as her legal team and prosecutors battle over intent.
Afghan women can no longer play sports. On its first official day in charge, the Taliban got right to work dismantling womenâs rights.
GameStop continues to not make money. That much about the companyâs earnings call is not a surprise, but it did announce a new fulfillment center, signaling further moves into e-commerce.
China clamped down on gaming again. Authorities hauled in executives from Tencent and NetEase and demanded that they reduce their focus on gaming profits. Shares of the tech companies fell 5% or more following the report.
What to watch for
The NFL season kicks off Thursday night when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the reigning Super Bowl champs, host the Dallas Cowboys. As was the case for many (mostly) spectator-less sports during the pandemic, TV ratings for the NFL season were down in 2020âthe Super Bowl had the lowest viewership since 2007.
However, thereâs reason to believe that fantasy football players are bucking that trend. Hereâs what ESPN fantasy football guru Matthew Berry recently told Quartz:
âThe average football fan watches about three hours a week of football; the average fantasy player watches well over six hours a week. Fantasy players are the most highly engaged fans, the most aware, the most loyal, the early adopters. From ESPNâs point of view, the more people play fantasy sports, the more theyâre going to care about sports. And the more they care about sports, the better it is for ESPN.â
The best companies for remote workers
This week, a Deutsche Bank report declared the honeymoon is over for remote work, as many people report feeling burned out and disconnected from their companies.
Maybe their employers are just doing it wrong.
Quartzâs first-ever ranking of the best companies for remote workers shows itâs possible to have a happy, productive, and engaged workforce that never steps foot in an office. The trick is treating remote work not as a stopgap but as a business priority, and providing remote workers with as much opportunity as their office-bound peers to grow and advance in their careers. See who made the list and what other companies can learn from their success.
How to get the most out of weekends and vacations
One secret of the best companies for remote workers: unlimited paid time off. While it might seem counterintuitiveâdoesnât working from home mean you can already take breaks whenever you need to?âthe last 18 months have taught us that making it easier to plug in from anywhere makes it that much harder to unplug.
No matter what your companyâs vacation policy, the answer to getting more out of your days off is the same: Find ways to experience time as gloriously abundant. We compiled some of the best advice we could find from psychologists, time-management experts, and even a celebrity or two.
⌠Read all about it in the most recent edition of How To, delivered to Quartz membersâ inboxes every Friday. Become a member so you donât miss a beatâget 40% off using code QZEMAIL40.
What weâre reading
đą The UAE kidnapped, abused, and deported 700 African workers. Rights groups say racism played a part.
đź The US has a record 10.9 million job openings. Whether generous unemployment benefits kept workers from seeking jobs is up for debate.
𤳠TikTok is loosening Silicon Valleyâs grip on US social media. But Facebook and YouTube still claim more American users.
âď¸ Climate cooperation means climate competition for China and the US. Theyâre battling for influence and primacy over technology and resources.
đ° Indian companies must disclose any profit or loss from crypto transactions. Crypto taxes are likely not far behind.
Surprising discoveries
The Pope sent ice cream to 15,000 prisoners. It was really hot in Rome this summer.
China fined Canada Goose for not containing actual goose down. The puffy parka maker might be collateral damage in the spat between Canada and Beijing.
The American football season is expensive. The estimated cost of foregone labor on Mondays and Fridays tops $5 billion.
A California man will go to jail for printer toner sales fraud. Consumers were bilked out of $126 million for the mysteriously expensive, yet annoyingly necessary, cartridges.
Your catâs stripes are really important. And not just because theyâre so prettyâstudying how they form could be the key to how genes fall into patterns.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, favorite cat fur patterns, and paper jam stories to hi@qz.com. Get the most out of Quartz by downloading our iOS app and becoming a member. Todayâs Daily Brief was brought to you by Scott Nover, Liz Webber, John Detrixhe, and Susan Howson.