This is Nick. This is Jack. And you smell fantastic. According to Unilever, deodorant sales are surging (up 15% in Q3). Axe Body Spray hasn’t been this popular since junior prom. Turns out: During the pandemic, deo use dropped because a little BO was chill when you were WFH. But now we’re off Zoom and back in meeting rooms, so Old Spice is now New Spice.

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1) Target’s Truth Is Out

Earlier this year, Target announced it was closing a slew of stores because of “theft and organized retail crime.” But according to an investment bank and one curious journalist, we now know the real problem isn’t thieves. It’s management.

Important context: Back in May, we told you about Target’s growing shrinkage (shrinkage = retail theft). Target said it was losing $$$ from thieves stealing product, prompting those store closures.

Jig’s up: Investment bank William Blair and Popular Information journalist Judd Legum recently suggested that Target is using crime as a coverup for corporate issues. Get this: The stores that Target closed actually had lower crime rates than nearby stores that stayed open. So what is happening here…?

• 🛍️ Wrong store, wrong place. Most of the stores that shut down were experimental small layout locations, which seem to have failed.

• 🛍️ So instead of admitting defeat, Target blamed those taking the five-finger discount (which meshed well with theft-anxious cities’ pre-written crime narratives).

The Takeaway →

Even in the stock market, journalism is the first line of defense. Target created a narrative: Crime is the problem. Everyone ate it up (including us). But Legum asked questions instead of accepting answers. There are countless times that journalists uncover the truth of corporate wrongdoings. Remember Theranos? Elizabeth Holmes was the next Steve Jobs until a WSJ journalist unraveled her story, revealing the fraud. Journalism is the multi-vitamin keeping our markets healthy.

2) Sesame Street’s Elmo Switches Up the Script

For the 1st time in its 56 years, Sesame Street is overhauling its format. 🚦 Holy Snuffaluffagus. 

What’s new: No more “magazine”-style format of multiple segments (“letter of the day,” “number of the day,” etc.). Instead, there will be two 11-minute segments on Sesame Street.

• 🍪 That’s a bold move: Social media pushes for shorter-form content, but Cookie Monster is pivoting to longer-form stuff.

• 📺 But according to Elmo’s creators, “kids love a little bit of peril.” So Sesame Street is leaning into slightly longer narratives with emotional stakes.

Why now? Sesame Street (which premiered in 1969) inked a streaming deal with HBO in 2015 that saw new episodes hit Max nine months before airing on PBS (the most important VIPs wear Pull-Ups at night). That deal is up soon.

Plus, Elmo has evolved: Sesame Street isn’t just on the tiny kitchen TV anymore. Oscar and his buddies have 24M YouTube subscribers and nearly 665K TikTok followers.

The Takeaway →

Sesame Street pioneered the “magazine format” for new media. Back when Sesame Street launched in 1969, it turned to print magazines as inspiration for its TV show (unheard of at the time). In borrowing from an existing medium, Sesame Street pulled off a major media innovation. Today, TBOY uses the structure they made famous with Bert & Ernie*.

*Our podcast is similar: an Intro, 3 stories, 3 additional headlines, a fact, and shoutouts. Most podcasts = long-form narrative (like a book). Ours = short-form storytelling (like a magazine). We’re eternally grateful for Big Bird for starting this.

On Today’s Pod:

🛩️ The once cool NYC airline JetBlue just registered an all-time low share price. To hear more about how a big bet on travel trends went south for the Northeast’s airline of choice, listen to today’s pod.

👻 October was scary for the stock market. The S&P 500 fell 3%—the 3rd straight month of losses (down 9% over that 3-month period).

🏀 Magic Johnson just became the 4th athlete billionaire, thanks in large part to a 60% stake in insurance company EquiTrust. Dunking got him rings. Deductibles got him rich.

🍩 Krispy Kreme stock was just downgraded by Truist Securities because of the Ozempic Effect, because more Ozempic means less snack cravings.

💻 Apple held a “Scary Fast” event to unveil 3 new computer chips for faster Macs. How fast can we get one of said chips? 

💪 Nvidia’s CEO got a tattoo of the company logo when shares hit $100 a few years back. And apparently, he’s not doing it again. “It hurts way more than anybody tells you,” he said. #Ragrets 

✈️ The newest in-office term since WFH: super commuting. There’s a tech exec in Des Moines who commutes to San Francisco 1-2x/month. And he’s not alone.

🦖 The dinosaur extinction theory has an updated element: asteroid dust.

YOUR QUESTION →

What are your favorite regionally specific dishes?

OUR ANSWER →

Jack: Currywurst atop french fries is a must-order for anyone visiting Berlin. Order from a food truck and eat on a park bench overlooking the Spree River.

Nick: In the back of Florence’s Central Market is a panini shop called Da Nerbone that sells just 1 sandwich (pro-tip: get both sauces).

Do you have The Best Question Yet? Submit yours here.

And one more thing. What did the best houses give out to trick-or-treaters this year? (Can you really beat Reese’s?)

—Nick & Jack