• This post originally appeared in the Insider Today newsletter.
• You can sign up for Business Insider's daily newsletter here.

Hello! The Labour Party is back in power in the UK after 14 years. In recent months, the UK's new prime minister has made a concerted effort to appear more relatable to voters — and he's been helped by an unlikely mentor: former US President Barack Obama.

In today's big story, we're looking at the mounting pressure President Joe Biden is facing to forgo his reelection campaign.

What's on deck:

• Markets: For one group of stocks, a bad forecast is a good thing.
• Tech: Power-hungry AI data centers are threatening to put a massive strain on the power grid.
• Business: "Hawk Tuah Girl" wants her 15 minutes of fame to become a viable business.

But first, decision time.

If this was forwarded to you, sign up here.

The big story

A campaign on the brink

"Should I stay or should I go?"

The Clash's 1982 hit could be President Joe Biden's anthem these days as rumors swirl about his reelection bid.

The president is reportedly questioning the future of his campaign as his support continues to wane. And it's getting harder to see how Biden can stay in the race, writes Business Insider's Bryan Metzger.

Biden's disastrous debate performance on June 27 is proving hard to shake. And voters aren't buying the myriad of excuses — a cold, bad prep, jet lag — offered up by his campaign.

Recent major national surveys show Biden falling behind former President Donald Trump. And states that have long been Democratic strongholds, like New Mexico and Virginia, could be up for grabs.

His own party has even started to turn on him. Reps. Lloyd Doggett and Raúl Grijalva were the first two sitting Democratic members of Congress to call on Biden to drop out.

Meanwhile, Biden's most likely replacement — Vice President Kamala Harris — hasn't elicited a strong response.

Some Democrats have begun voicing their support for her, albeit a bit ironically.

In many ways, Harris represents the only viable option for Democrats. Under campaign finance law, the VP is the only candidate who can easily inherit the hundreds of millions of dollars raised by Biden's campaign.

Biden's first post-debate interview could ultimately decide his fate.

The president is scheduled to sit down with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos today in an interview that will air in primetime tonight.

One Biden ally told The New York Times the president is aware of how crucial the next few days are for the future of his campaign.

Biden's team, however, has pushed back on the notion that the president is considering walking away. The White House flatly denied such reports. Biden is "absolutely not" considering bowing out, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Wednesday.

There is one group in Biden's corner: Republicans.

Many on the right believe a Biden ticket gives Trump the best chance to return to the White House. In fact, some Republicans reportedly might even take legal action to keep Biden on the ballot.

3 things in markets

1. Tough times ahead for the real-estate market. A longtime strategist predicts the real-estate market is headed for a correction that could hit mortgage-holders particularly hard. "People are going to have to start to sell their homes," he said.
2. Bad weather = good returns. CFRA pointed to insurance stocks, like Berkshire Hathaway and Progressive, that stand to benefit from what experts predict will be a "very active" hurricane season. More storms "will likely buoy pricing for many lines of property-casualty insurance and reinsurance," CFRA said.
3. S&P 500 to 7,000 next year? Capital Economics is forecasting a 27% increase for the benchmark index through 2025. But chief economist Neil Shearing predicts the bubble will eventually pop as investor enthusiasm outpaces earnings growth.

3 things in tech

1. AI's huge electric appetite. In the next two years, generative AI is expected to add demand equal to three times the amount of energy New York City uses. The US needs to expand the power grid to keep up, and that's a big opportunity for firms in construction, power, and data-center cooling.
2. Big Tech admits AI's big threats. Google and Meta have been loud and proud in their commitments to the AI race. But privately they've expressed concerns about the ethical, legal, and regulatory issues AI could cause for their "brands and demand." Misinformation and data privacy were among the top worries.
3. There's a new plot twist in Apple's deal with OpenAI. According to Bloomberg, Apple gets an observer role on OpenAI's board. The move puts Apple on equal footing with Microsoft, OpenAI's biggest backer. However, the two companies have very different arrangements with OpenAI.

3 things in business

1. Women's sports merchandise has an underdog champion. Demand is high for kits and jerseys repping female sports stars like Caitlin Clark and Alex Morgan. But problems like low inventory, lack of retailers, and minimal options plague the market. To answer the call, smaller companies are stepping up.
2. Can she "hawk tuah" her way to the top? Hailey Welch, dubbed the "Hawk Tuah Girl" for her viral answer to an R-rated street-interview question, wants to cash in on her newfound fame. But it's unclear if — and how — she'll be able to make her 15 minutes last.
3. Saks Fifth Avenue is buying Neiman Marcus. The $2.65 billion sale shows just how challenging things are getting in the luxury-retail space. That's not all: Both Amazon and Salesforce are getting in on the deal, with both taking minority stakes in the new company, Saks Global.

In other news

• These are McKinsey's top 9 recommendations for business books this year.
• As Europe teeters further to the far right, the UK is doing the opposite.
• Whole Foods isn't a "whole paycheck" anymore, its cofounder says. Here's what I found buying groceries.
• John Oliver was right — the Conservative Party just faced an epic wipeout at the polls.
• Russia's frenemy China is quietly trying to dampen Putin's influence.
• Legendary iPhone designer Jony Ive opens up about what it was like working with Steve Jobs.
• I'm the son of a billionaire who forged my own career path.

What's happening today

• A first look at Biden's interview with George Stephanopoulos airs on ABC.

The Insider Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Jordan Parker Erb, editor, in New York. Hallam Bullock, senior editor, in London. Amanda Yen, fellow, in New York.

• Rachel Wells moved into being fully self-employed after a hard job search.
• Wells plans to keep working for herself partly because of the creative freedom it offers.
• Wells, who has made money from different income sources, shares advice for others.

Rachel Wells, 24, is fairly new to being fully self-employed after a contract job got cut short and a tough job search.

Wells, who lives in the UK, was already job searching a few months before her project manager job was supposed to end in the spring of 2023. She told Business Insider when the job ended a couple of weeks earlier than anticipated, she panicked more "because now I've got less money than what I would've expected to last me a bit longer."

Wells decided to be fully self-employed in the summer of 2023. She said this career pivot "wasn't a willful decision."

"I remember my mom said to me, 'Maybe you're not supposed to get a job. Maybe you're just supposed to go out on your own,'" Wells said. "And for me, that sounded uncomfortable because I like the structure of having an employer and being in a team and an office, and I didn't think I was ready."

But now, Wells said she's grateful she ultimately didn't get a job offer, considering that she can happily pursue her calling and considering how much she earns.

"We're able to move house and things like that because of what I'm earning now," she said.

Wells is a career coach under her business, Rachel Wells Coaching, and writes articles as a Forbes contributor, among other self-employed income streams. She said her client work has been with people from around the world, although her client base is largely in the US now, and she has worked with people of different job levels. She said she doesn't do career coaching as often now and is working on building her presence "as a YouTube influencer, teaching others how to launch side hustles and thrive in their careers and finances."

According to the UK government website, 13.3% of UK workers were self-employed in 2021. Wells doesn't see herself leaving behind being fully self-employed, partly because of the freedom it provides.

"I can't imagine myself back in the constrictions of working for an employer again," Wells said. "Because I just love being a leader and being able to express myself and share my thoughts and to be able to use my creative ideas to just, 'Hey, let me just try this new angle for the business without getting approval for it.'"

Why one should have multiple income sources

Wells finds it important to diversify income sources regardless of who employs you — whether working for yourself or an employer. She finds one benefit of this is you have another source of income if one ends up tapering out. Wells also finds your income streams can be in the same type of work.

Take digital marketing work. If that's your expertise, Wells said you could consult while also running client campaigns, create a bot that helps people with marketing, or write a blog focused on marketing strategies that has affiliate links within posts to help make some passive income.

"Through one main idea, through one side hustle, it kind of branches out into different diversified sources of income," she said. "And that's kind of what I'm doing inadvertently without realizing it. I have this one main passion, which is about leadership and career development. But through that, I'm doing different things. I'm doing freelance writing. I'm consulting. I'm public speaking. I'm coaching."

Wells said her career coaching work, which she started as a teenager, has "definitely evolved, especially being in the actual world of work, in the corporate world and working as a manager."

Wells said it's important to work on your professional development and personal brand, as well as to identify what you have a passion for and where your expertise lies. She finds prioritizing building a network and working on your expertise and brand helpful in case of a layoff or quitting a role because then you have something to fall back on.

"Never be so comfortable and cushy within your role that you don't seek to develop yourself outside of the job," Wells said.

• I spent five nights on Silversea's new ultra-luxury cruise ship, Silver Ray. 
• Fares in 2024 start at $4,550 per person for a seven-day cruise.
• My favorite amenities on Silver Ray included a sauna with ocean views and a fun cooking class.

The hardest part about your Silver Ray cruise could be deciding what you want to indulge in first.

Silversea, Royal Caribbean Group's most luxurious cruise line, recently welcomed its 12th ship, the 728-guest Silver Ray. But as with any new floating five-star hotel, the cost to sail won't be ultra-cheap, with weeklong cruises starting at a whopping $4,550 per person in 2024.

I might've scoffed at this cost before boarding Silversea's second Nova Class vessel. But after experiencing all it has to offer on a complimentary five-night test cruise in mid-June, the price tag now makes more sense — and might even be justifiable.

Take a look at my 10 favorite amenities on Silver Ray, all of which shed some light on its steep fare.

1. The butler-delivered caviar you can eat on your couch while wearing pajamas

Room service isn't always free on mass-market cruise ships.

On Silver Ray, not only are the hot dogs and hamburgers delivered to your suite complimentary — but caviar is, too.

Simply call the room service line or ask your butler for caviar, and before you know it, a tin of the expensive fish eggs will be presented at your door.

You don't want to know how pretentious and insufferable I felt as I shoveled the tiny pearly bites into my mouth while lounging on the couch.

It wasn't the best caviar I've ever had (it's one of Calvisius' cheapest options). But it definitely added the unnecessary, theatrical, and extravagant touch I had been seeking on a $650-a-day cruise.

2. The sushi lunch

Dinner at Silver Ray's Japanese restaurant, Kaiseki, costs $80 per person. But it's complimentary during lunch, making it a great place to gorge on free sushi, sashimi, beef-filled bao buns, and ramen.

Alcohol is complimentary on Silversea, too. So feel free to have a glass of sake and Japanese beer with your raw fish feast.

Like the caviar, the sushi quality wasn’t comparable to Michelin-rated omakase restaurants.

The scallop nigiri in my sushi and sashimi combo tasted more lightly poached than raw, the uni was served on unevenly cut cucumbers, and the octopus in the octopus roll was too chewy.

But complaints aside, the portions were gracious, the fish quality was acceptable, and the rolls were diverse. The spicy tuna roll had the perfect allium punch, while the vegetarian one stood its ground among the raw fish. It was far better than I expected for a cruise ship lunch.

Best of all, it was complimentary. And while it didn't change my life, it certainly satisfied my craving.

3. The upscale café without the upscale prices

Many popular cruise ships have an onboard Starbucks. Silver Ray goes one step further with a café comparable to your overpriced neighborhood coffee shop (and this one won't make you pay extra for oat milk).

At the centrally located Arts Cafe, guests can order latte art-topped espresso drinks and uncommon tea varieties — all served with Mepra spoons that cost $40 each.

If you're a fan of cucumber sandwiches and cakes, the Art Cafe is also a great place to grab a mid-day snack or host an impromptu afternoon tea.

4. The entertaining cooking class

Silversea's SALT — an acronym for "sea and land taste" — program weaves cuisines local to the ship's destination into the cruise.

At SALT Lab, this takes the form of a complimentary cooking class.

You might think, 'I'm on vacation — I don't want to cook!'

I hear you. But SALT Lab is nothing like cooking at home.

For starters, the instructor and their assistant do all the cleaning and prepare all your mise en place for you. And I guarantee they're funnier, wittier, and more lighthearted than your partner who yells at you for not following the recipe.

All you have to do is listen to their instructions, assemble, cook, and eat.

5. The restaurant showcasing dishes from the itinerary

SALT isn't just a cooking class. It's a lifestyle. (Just kidding — but not really.)

Silver Ray offers SALT cooking classes, SALT shore excursions, a $180 SALT Chef's Table dinner, a SALT Bar, and a SALT Kitchen.

If you hate repeating meals, the latter could be your savior. Half of its menu changes almost daily according to the ship's destination. So, if you didn't have time to explore a port's cuisine, you could go to SALT Kitchen instead.

When Silver Ray was docked in Lisbon, the restaurant had options like roasted pork loin with a Portuguese red bell pepper sauce, and travesseiros, a popular dessert from nearby Sintra, Portugal.

6. The half-restaurant, half-jazz bar

Silver Note is where you go to chow down on small plates of beef tenderloin and octopus tentacles while being serenaded by live jazz vocalists and pianists. If you can overlook the purple and red spotlights that give the venue a cheap dive bar feel, you'll be delighted by Silver Note's talented performers, tapas-style food, and fun plating.

The plates were pre-warmed, the lobster tail was perfectly cooked, and the musicians were world-class. I ate alone and stayed for about two hours, fully engaged by the impressive vocalist.

7. The spa’s view

Access to spa facilities like saunas is often complimentary on high-end cruises.

Silver Ray's was admittedly bare-boned, with only three rooms (a steam room, sauna, and thermal pool). But you'll quickly forget about the lack of options when you see the ocean views inside the pool and sauna.

The latter is a great place to balance your yin (peacefully staring at the passing waves) with your yang (feeling like you're about to have a heat stroke).

Unfortunately, the steam room doesn't have any views. However, it does offer complimentary scented scrubs that will leave you with baby-soft skin.

8. The pool

You're probably wondering how an amenity as commonplace as a pool could be so special.

There is, in fact, nothing spectacular about the pool itself. What is special, however, is its placement toward the starboard-side edge of the ship, giving swimmers a photogenic view of Silver Ray's surroundings instead of sunbathers' toes.

Don't worry, fellow loungers. We get a perk, too.

No need to walk to the pool bar to refill your piña colada. The waitstaff will do it for you.

9. The elevators

Before Silver Ray, I would've scoffed if you had told me one of my favorite amenities on a cruise ship would be the elevators. But alas, it seems not all of them are created equal.

On most cruise ships, the elevators are located at the center of the vessel and flanked by corridors on either side.

Like the pool, all six of Silver Ray's elevators are located by the edge of the ship — half port side, half starboard side — and lined with glass walls, giving riders sweeping views of the ship's surroundings.

Not to be dramatic, but I've never seen a more beautiful elevator.

Once inside, travelers can select their desired floor on the touchscreen.

The screen's floor descriptions are updated on port days to indicate where guests must disembark. It's a small but convenient touch I've yet to see on other cruises, saving travelers the panicked "where do I get off this ship?" question.

10. The tablet-phone-TV connectivity

The best part about my Deluxe Veranda suite wasn't the walk-in closet or balcony. It was the seamless connectivity between my phone, the in-room tablet, and the TV.

Silver Ray's cabins have portable touchscreen tablets that function as a vacation guidebook, daily scheduler, and suite control center.

The TV has the same functions, for when you're sitting on the couch and too lazy to retrieve the tablet. Or, if you're not in your cabin, your mobile Silversea profile has the same options.

As someone who religiously studies menus before going to a restaurant, I loved having every onboard restaurant's menu at my fingertips.

But the real winning feature was the "sleep" setting. No more hitting your knee on furniture as you navigate back to bed after turning the lights off. The sleep setting slowly dims the suite's light fixtures, giving guests plenty of time to saunter back to bed before everything goes dark.

• Biden's allies are begging him to get out in public.
• On Friday, he'll sit down for a taped interview debuting during primetime on ABC.
• But even the slightest gaffe could torpedo his campaign.

On Friday night, President Joe Biden will make his highest-profile appearance yet since his disastrous debate last week.

The pre-taped interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos will give the president his best shot yet to steady his wavering campaign as Democrats increasingly question whether he's up to the task of beating Donald Trump.

Biden's supporters have been calling for him to get out into the public eye after he flopped in last Thursday's debate by mumbling his answers, losing his train of thought, and staring off vacantly at times.

Friday's high-stakes interview gives Biden that opportunity — but will also pose a serious threat.

A risky — but needed — move

Friday's interview was originally supposed to air in multiple parts, but ABC announced earlier this week it would air the interview in full on Friday at 8 p.m.

Biden will need a strong performance in order to wipe away the memory of his debate fiasco and reassure voters that he's capable of running a winning campaign.

But the president is facing a political narrative that's highlighted his biggest weakness: voters' concern about his age.

While his opponent Trump is also a historically old candidate at 78 years old, Biden is three years older still. Republicans have seized on his stiff gait, stuttering speech, and verbal gaffes for months as they went on the attack.

Biden's campaign and administration have told voters that concerns about his age were overblown, noting that some videos were deceptively edited to make him look lost.

But Biden's own performance at the debate not only failed to reverse Trump's lead in 2024 swing state polling, but also reinforced the GOP's lines of attack.

Team Biden has since tried to explain away his performance: he was sick, he was jet-lagged, he hasn't been getting enough sleep. Meanwhile, the crisis around his campaign has only intensified.

Since the debate, even some Democrats and Biden allies have anonymously claimed the president has lost a step, forgetting their names and stumbling over his talking points in private. Some donors are bailing on him.

The concerns have sparked an all-out panic among the Democratic Party as it faces the prospect of an electoral loss to Donald Trump — newly emboldened by Supreme Court rulings that could encourage him to expand his presidential power.

Biden must avoid missteps

Biden's campaign is in serious danger. Some Democratic lawmakers are openly calling for him to drop out of the race and hand the nomination to other rising, younger stars in the party.

A strong interview on Friday night without Biden's usual verbal flubs could send a strong message that he's strong enough to continue his reelection run.

Yet small mistakes could be amplified. A stumble in one of his answers will almost certainly be seized on by Biden's opponents and detractors. Republicans have already cut up his debate answers into an attack ad. It's likely any further missteps would be more ammo used against him.

A rock-solid performance by Biden may not be enough to erase the damage caused by last Thursday's debate. At best, it might stem the bleeding; at worst, it could open up fresh wounds. And even if he's perfect on Friday, he's one bad speech or interview away from being right back where he is now.

Biden, for his part, remains defiant. He's chalked up his awful debate to being "one bad night" and has vowed to fight on.

He could prove he's ready for that fight on Friday night.

• Sands Point Preserve is a 216-acre park in New York.
• The preserve sits on what used to be the Guggenheim Estate on Long Island's North Shore.
• The property has four mansions, including an Irish-inspired castle built in 1902.

There are many mansions scattered across the North Shore of Long Island, New York, that date back to the Roaring '20s.

In Sands Point, a village at the tip of Cow Neck Peninsula, there lies a 216-acre park and conservancy that dates even further back to 1900, when the land was purchased by Howard Gould, the son of the railroad tycoon Jay Gould.

Over 100 years later, the four separate homes built on this property — Castle Gould, Hempstead House, Falaise, and Mille Fleurs — are still in pristine condition. Three have been converted to museums, and much of the land has been cut through with hiking trails.

I visited in June 2024 to take an informative self-guided tour of two of the homes, and I felt like I was traveling back in time to the era of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Jay Gatsby's neighborhood, West Egg.

Here's what it's like to visit the Sands Point Preserve today.

On a June afternoon, I made the drive to Sands Point, a village on Long Island. It costs $15 per car or $4 per person to walk into Sands Point Preserve.

Here's where Sands Point lies on the map. The other circled locations are other mansions from the same era across Long Island.

After I parked, I was greeted with a map of the preserve, including the locations of its four mansions and multiple hiking trails.

The first structure I saw was the oldest on the property: Castle Gould, completed in 1904.

Castle Gould, which spans 100,000 square feet, is based on the medieval Irish castle Kilkenny, which was built starting in 1192.

Source: Sands Point Preserve, Business Insider

Financier Howard Gould commissioned it to please his wife, the actor Katherine Clemmons, according to the preserve.

The medieval vibes continue inside. This room serves as a lobby — in Gould's time, the entire castle served as a stable and carriage house.

Much of Castle Gould isn't available to tour, but the Great Hall, seen here, can be used for private events.

You might wonder why Castle Gould was just used as a carriage house. That's because Gould's wife, Katherine, didn't like the finished product.

Source: Sands Point Preserve

So, the family constructed another mansion just across the lawn in 1912.

That home is called Hempstead House. It's smaller but still measures an incredible 50,000 square feet. It has 40 rooms.

Gould and Clemmons never actually lived here together. They divorced in 1909, with Gould accusing his wife of having an affair with Buffalo Bill Cody.

Gould finished the estate but sold it in 1917 so he could move abroad.

He sold it to Daniel and Florence Guggenheim — yes, those Guggenheims. His brother, Benjamin, died on the Titanic. Another brother, Solomon, founded the NYC museum of the same name.

Hempstead House is only available for tours on Wednesdays in July and August. I'll be coming back to get a better look at the interior.

I was able to see one room through the door and was already impressed by the design.

But the Rose Garden behind Hempstead House is open to any visitors.

Now, instead of roses, there are dozens of native flowers to help facilitate pollination.

The home also has a view of the Long Island Sound, seen here in the distance.

The third mansion at Sands Point is Falaise, which was built on 90 acres of land Daniel gave to his son, Harry, upon his wedding to Caroline Morton in 1923.

Harry had a fascinating life. He was an avid aviator and friends with legendary pilot Charles Lindbergh. Harry also founded the Long Island newspaper Newsday with his wife in 1940.

Source: Library of Congress

His home, Falaise, is available to see via private tours offered on weekends from May through October.

"Falaise" means cliffside in French, an apt name for the cliffside mansion.

Daniel and Florence Guggenheim lived in Hempstead House until he died in 1930.

Upon his death, Florence moved to the fourth and smallest mansion on the property, Mille Fleurs, French for "1,000 flowers." It's private to this day.

In 1940, during World War II, Florence reopened Hempstead House for refugee children.

Source: Sands Point Preserve

By 1946, 162 acres of the land had been gifted to the US Navy, which operated the Naval Training Device Center there through 1967.

In 1971, Harry Guggenheim died, leaving his personal 90 acres to Nassau County. That same year, the county acquired the unused Naval land. Together, this reformed the estate.

Source: Sands Point Preserve

Now, you can tour two of the four mansions, hike, and even go to the beach.

To the west, you can see Westchester County in the distance.

To the east: the Long Island town of Glen Cove.

Even without the mansions, Sands Point Preserve would be a beautiful park. But with them, you can feel like you're stepping back into the time of Gatsby and the Roaring '20s.

• Taylor Swift's Eras Tour raked in over $1 billion in 2023 and will break more records this year.
• Swift is set to take home hundreds of millions of dollars — which is helped by "mini-residencies."
• Inside her touring strategy and how it's making Swift so rich.

From the dance moves of a literal prince to her very own prince charming taking to the stage, Taylor Swift's first three shows at Wembley Stadium proved people aren't sick of the Eras Tour yet.

Swift and her economic impact have swept Europe. The European Central Bank is monitoring how the tour will affect inflation; hotels across the continent have sold out around her tour dates; and in the UK alone she's expected to pump $1.26 billion into the economy, according to a Barclays report.

The Eras Tour was always set to be immensely profitable for Swift, but she's set to make even more money thanks to one key business move. Swift is set to play eight nights in London and six in cities like Toronto — and she's skipping nearby cities that she's hit on past tours like Ottawa.

These mini residencies are likely adding millions of dollars to her bottom line. The underlying business assumption is that Swifties will travel and pay big bucks for tickets, so the shows will likely be sold out no matter where they are. Playing in fewer cities means less money spent on production, travel, and labor — which in turn means more profits.

"It significantly reduces the overhead of a tour," Nathan Hubbard, the former CEO of Ticketmaster who founded the management firm Firebird, told Business Insider. "Think about the cost of taking down an entire stage, packing up 50 trucks, moving it all to another town. Every night you can avoid striking the set saves millions of dollars."

Swift's representatives did not respond to a request for comment.

She proved this theory worked during the US leg of the tour when she played six shows in Los Angeles but skipped San Diego. Harry Styles also tested it with his 15-night runs at New York's Madison Square Garden and Los Angeles' Kia Forum, an extension of the Las Vegas residencies that have long minted millions for stars.

"Coming out of Covid, the largest artists understand that their fan bases will travel to be with them," Hubbard said. "Previously, this was just happening in Las Vegas. But so many of these cities can be a fun excursion for a fan and their friends. That's driving a lot of what we're seeing in the evolution of touring right now."

The math is working out for Swift: BI spoke with several fans who said they traveled out of state to see Swift last year. Many American fans are traveling to Europe to get to see her abroad.

"I probably would've come to Scotland at one point, but it was the concert that got me here," one Swiftie from Minneapolis told BI.

"We said to ourselves, 'Let's just go and have an adventure," her friend added. "Tickets are outrageously expensive in the US, and this entire trip for both of us was cheaper than our friends back home paid."

Of course, it's a delicate balance. Swift is considered among the pop stars most in touch with her fans and wouldn't want to alienate anyone by skipping over their local venues. But with more than 150 shows in 50-plus cities, it would be hard to complain about her doing a few extra nights in one place and passing over another.

Plus, she's charging less — an average of about $250 per ticket, per Pollstar — than she could, especially considering the average resale price of $3,801 that Pitchfork reported.

And, again, she's not the only one profiting.

The Common Sense Institute said that "the totality of Taylor Swift's US tour could generate $4.6 billion in total consumer spending, larger than the GDP of 35 countries." In Europe, the total figure will surely be impressive as well.

Turns out that she's an industry disruptor — if not the smooth-talking huckster — after all.

• Former Wall Street executive Leona Qi is now president of the private aviation company VistaJet US.
• Her advice for asking for raises or promotions is to demonstrate your worth with data and facts.
• Women in particular shouldn't be afraid to ask for what they deserve, she said.

Leona Qi knows a thing or two about leveling up. After a decade of working on Wall Street, she transitioned to the private aviation industry, becoming the managing director of Global Jet Capital before taking on her current role as the president of VistaJet US.

For those hoping to level up their own careers by asking for a raise or a promotion, Qi's career advice echoes what other experts have previously shared with Business Insider: demonstrate your exceptional achievements and value to the company with quantifiable data.

"You can't just ask for more. You have to present why, you have to present your value to the business," Qi told BI. "Whether you're asking about a title, promotion, or maybe more money, I always think you need to be very good at what you do and presenting the facts."

It also helps, Qi said, to have a genuine interest and passion in the work you do.

"I see a lot of young people nowadays starting at a job because they want a job or they need a job. They have no obvious interest in the job that they're in," she said. "Money is obviously important, but I think it's very important to find one that is your passion and then to put in the hard work."

'Don't be afraid to ask for what you deserve'

As someone who's risen to the highest levels in the male-dominated fields of finance and aviation, Qi is especially interested in helping women advance their careers.

A 2023 "Women in the Workplace" report by McKinsey & Company and Lean In found that women hold only 28% of C-suite positions across industries. Since many of those who fly on private jets are C-suite finance executives, VistaJet's client base is largely male.

Qi has made it her goal to grow VistaJet's client base from 5% women to 25% — a target that becomes more attainable as more women climb the corporate ladder by securing raises and promotions.

"Ultimately, when you're really good at something, I think the results show," Qi said. "But for women specifically, don't be afraid to ask for what you deserve."

• Japan is a society that's still in love with cash — and vending machines.
• Its decision to start issuing new banknotes has sparked a problem.
• Almost 80% of Japan's vending machines won't be ready to accept the new notes.

In many ways Japan is a country that's firmly embraced technology, yet it still remains attached to good old-fashioned cash.

Shops scattered along the Zelkova-lined avenue of Tokyo's Omotesando and the boutique shopping district of Ginza are no strangers to locals and tourists waving their credit cards. Still, cash remains king in several other locations.

Hole-in-the-wall izakayas (traditional bars), ryokan (traditional inns), and Shinto shrines often accept cash only. Sure, dense urban sprawls like Tokyo or the Kansai region's Osaka are card-friendly, but carrying physical yen is recommended when venturing beyond major cities.

Those carrying cash in Japan anytime soon, though, may want to double-check the type of bills in their wallets.

This week, Japan started issuing new banknotes for the first time in 20 years in an effort to combat counterfeit money. The only problem is that they might not be accepted everywhere.

Take Japan's millions of vending machines. They are big business in Japan, offering everything from hot coffee and beer to wagyu and hot sauce. Though some accept card payments, those that take cash may not accept Japan's new banknotes.

The Japan Vending Machine Manufacturers Association recently said that almost 80% of the country's machines would need upgrades to accept the new notes, per comments reported by Reuters. Parking ticket machines and others would also need a fix.

The issue is that Japan's retro machines aren't designed to process the new notes, which boast high-tech specs incorporated to help determine authenticity.

They include portraits of historic figures as 3D holograms — a world-first, according to the Bank of Japan — designed to rotate when a note is titled. Getting Japan's aged machines ready for these new notes will now take time, and money.

In April, the Bank of Japan said that despite the growth in cashless payments, it expects "the demand for cash, which can be readily used by anyone, anywhere, and at any time," to "likely continue to play a significant role as a means of payment."

The banknote issues come at a peculiar time. Tourists have been flocking to Japan this year to take advantage of a weak yen, which hit a 38-year low against the US dollar this week.

Travel guides often tell tourists to carry cash. If they're stopping by a vending machine there anytime soon, they may want to check first if their bills will work.

• Ukraine has used sea drones to devastating effect against Russia's far superior Black Sea Fleet.
• Drones could 'radically' change naval warfare, Pavlo Lakiychuk told the Kyiv Independent.
• He said they pose a threat to larger navies and give smaller navies a chance to turn the tide.

Sea drones could radically change naval warfare, giving smaller navies a chance to "flip the chessboard," a retired Ukrainian naval officer told the Kyiv Independent.

Pavlo Lakiychuk told the outlet that sea drones present a "serious" threat to modern navies, which have spent billions creating enormous, supposedly "impenetrable killing" weapons.

For those nations that lack the resources to create their own large, ocean-going fleets, "this is a chance to flip the chessboard," he added.

Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukraine has made significant strides in naval warfare, upgrading its naval drones, innovating their use, and deploying them to devastating effect against Russia's Black Sea Fleet.

It needed to look to solutions like this because it doesn't have a navy of its own.

In February, the UK's Ministry of Defence said Ukraine had "almost certainly" sunk the Russian corvette Ivanovets using naval drones.

They also played a key role in taking out an estimated third of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, the UK MOD said a month later.

In addition, Ukraine has used them to lay mines, which to date have damaged four Russian warships in the Black Sea, The Wall Street Journal reported last week.

Brig Gen Ivan Lukashevych, the mastermind behind Ukraine's fleet of naval drones, told The Journal that Ukraine now aims to deploy squads of up to 20 sea drones that can replicate the abilities of a single warship.

At the same time, The Financial Times' Ukraine correspondent said in an X post in May that Sea Baby naval drones, one of the main drones Ukraine has used at sea, are being mounted with Grad multiple-launch rocket systems, citing an unnamed Ukrainian intelligence official.

The official said they'd been used to strike Russian positions in occupied Mykolaiv.

In his comments to the Kyiv Independent, Lakiychuk said that Ukraine's naval drones have "caught the Russian fleet by surprise."

He added that "the era of unmanned robotic systems is coming," and that sooner or later they "will send modern colossi to the dustbin of history."

In that situation, he said, "the Russian Black Sea Fleet is no longer a survivor."

• President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden have been married for 47 years.
• Joe had to propose five times before she said yes. They eventually married in 1977. 
• They have been at each other's sides through celebrations and challenges.

Over the course of their 47-year marriage, President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden have celebrated triumphant victories and milestones as well as setbacks and devastating losses.

Jill has continued to champion her husband's 2024 reelection campaign despite his disastrous debate performance that raised further questions about his age and fitness for a second term.

The president often refers to Jill as "the love of my life and the life of my love." Here's a timeline of their love story.

This story was originally published in 2020. It was updated in 2022 and again in 2024.

1975: Joe Biden's brother introduced him to Jill Taylor Jacobs.

Joe was a 33-year-old US senator, and Jill was a 24-year-old college senior. Both had been married before. Joe's wife and daughter died in a car crash in 1972, leaving him a widower with two sons, and Jill and her husband filed for divorce in her junior year. 

"I was a senior, and I had been dating guys in jeans and clogs and T-shirts, he came to the door and he had a sport coat and loafers, and I thought, 'God, this is never going to work, not in a million years,'" Jill told Vogue. "He was nine years older than I am! But we went out to see 'A Man and a Woman' at the movie theater in Philadelphia, and we really hit it off."

When she got home from the date, Jill told Vogue, she called her mother and said, "Mom, I finally met a gentleman."

1977: The couple married after Joe proposed five times.

"I said, 'Not yet. Not yet. Not yet,'" Jill told Vogue of Joe Biden's proposals. "Because by that time, of course, I had fallen in love with the boys, and I really felt that this marriage had to work. Because they had lost their mom, and I couldn't have them lose another mother. So I had to be 100 percent sure."

When she did eventually agree to marry him, they held their wedding ceremony at the United Nations chapel and a reception lunch at Sign of the Dove in New York City. They took sons Beau and Hunter on their honeymoon.

1981: The couple welcomed daughter Ashley.

In a video shown at the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Jill said that Ashley's birth made the family "complete."

June 1987: When Joe announced his candidacy for president, Jill was by his side.

He announced his presidential run in Wilmington, Delaware.

September 1987: They presented a united front when he withdrew from the race.

His short-lived campaign had been enveloped in scandal, with allegations of plagiarizing his speeches and exaggerating his academic records from college and law school, The New York Times reported.

"'I made some mistakes,'' he said as he announced the end of his campaign.

The New York Times described Jill's face as "a study in dejection." Jill later wrote about controlling her emotions in her memoir "Where The Light Enters."

"As a political spouse, I've found that my stoicism often serves me well," she wrote. "In 1988, when Joe's first presidential campaign started to look bleak, people were constantly looking for cracks in our team. We all felt scrutinized, but I refused to show weakness."

1988: Joe had two brain aneurysms. The couple posed outside the hospital when he was discharged after the first of two operations.

Joe had a pulmonary embolism later that year as he recovered. In her book, Jill writes about watching as "EMTs carried him down the steps of our house on a stretcher."

January 2007: Jill earned her PhD in education from the University of Delaware. At the graduation, Joe handed Jill her doctorate.

She became Dr. Jill Biden.

July 2007: Joe wrote about his love for Jill in his memoir, "Promises to Keep."

"She gave me back my life," he wrote. "She made me start to think my family might be whole again."

2008: Barack Obama chose Joe as his running mate, and the two families developed a close bond.

The "bromance" between the two politicians went viral.

2009: Jill held the family's Bible when her husband was sworn in as vice president.

Joe supported her career, too. She made history as the first known second lady to hold a full-time job, teaching English at Northern Virginia Community College.

"As second lady, she was teaching full time for eight years, 15 credits a semester," Joe said in a video shown at the 2020 Democratic National Convention.

"I said, 'I know I can do both jobs,'" she said.

She encouraged students to call her "Dr. B.," The Los Angeles Times reported. 

February 2010: On Valentine's Day, Joe surprised her with a tree swing marked with a commemorative plaque on the grounds of the vice president's residence.

The plaque reads "Joe loves Jill. Valentine's Day 2010."

March 2010: They took diplomatic trips together, such as their visit to Israel.

They took other trips together, such as attending the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

September 2012: Jill elicited giggles when she told a crowd in New Hampshire, "I've seen Joe up close."

An ABC News camera panned to Joe, who could be seen laughing good-naturedly at the unintended double entendre as the audience cheered.

"It's in my remarks, really," she said, before continuing with her speech amid chuckles from the crowd.

September 2012: At the Democratic National Convention, Jill spoke about Joe's support for her career and his strength in the face of loss.

"After Joe was elected vice president, people started questioning whether I could keep teaching," she said. "Not Joe. He was there standing by my side saying 'Of course you should. It's who you are, Jill.'"

2013: When Obama won a second term, Jill held the Bible again when Joe was sworn in at the inauguration.

As they had in 2009, they danced together at more inaugural balls.

2015: Tragedy struck when their son Beau Biden died of brain cancer.

Still reeling from the loss, Joe decided not to run for president in 2016.

2019: Jill released her own book, "Where The Light Enters," in which she wrote about falling in love with Joe in the early days of their relationship.

"After the disappointment of my divorce, I never wanted to feel so out of control of my heart again," she wrote. "But in the months that Joe and I were dating, that desire ran up against a new reality: I was falling in love."

April 2019: When Joe entered the 2020 presidential race, Jill became an important voice in his campaign.

For the first time since 1981, she took a break from teaching to help him on the campaign trail.

December 2019: In an unusual campaign stop moment, Joe nibbled on his wife's finger as she spoke to a crowd in Iowa.

Jill was gesturing behind herself as she spoke, barely missing Joe's face as he pretended to dodge. Joe then leaned forward while her arm was outstretched and bit down on the tip of her index finger. She appeared to laugh it off.

Jill later reposted a video on X of the hosts of "The View" discussing the moment, where Meghan McCain said, "I thought it was silly, and they clearly still love each other and are playful," and replied, "Guilty, we do still love each other!"

March 2020: Jill fought off protesters who stormed the stage on Super Tuesday, leading Joe to joke, "I'm probably the only candidate running for president whose wife is my Secret Service."

"Whoa, you don't screw around with a Philly girl, I'll tell you what," he said after the protesters were removed from the stage. "I thought I heard on the news on the way over that the committee in charge of Secret Service decided they have to start providing Secret Service for us. I think that's because they're afraid Jill's going to hurt someone. I tell you what man, I married way above my station."

August 2020: Jill delivered a keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention from the high school classroom in Delaware where she used to teach English.

"Love makes us flexible and resilient," she said in the speech. "It allows us to become more than ourselves, together, and though it can't protect us from the sorrows of life, it gives us refuge, a home. How do you make a broken family whole? The same way you make a nation whole: with love and understanding and with small acts of kindness."

November 2020: Joe won the presidential election, and called himself "Jill's husband" in his victory speech.

"Jill's a mom — a military mom — and an educator," he said. "She has dedicated her life to education, but teaching isn't just what she does — it's who she is. For America's educators, this is a great day: You're going to have one of your own in the White House, and Jill is going to make a great first lady."

December 2020: After a Wall Street Journal op-ed urged her to drop her "Dr" title since she's not a medical doctor, Jill remained proud of her doctorate, and Joe backed her up.

In an interview on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," they responded to the controversy.

"That was such a surprise," Jill said of the op-ed. "It was really the tone of it. He called me 'kiddo,' and one of the things I'm most proud of is my doctorate. I mean, I've worked so hard for it. And Joe came when I defended my thesis."

"I got to hand her her doctorate on the stage at the University of Delaware," Joe added.

Colbert jokingly asked if Joe ever wanted to "get out a length of pool chain and go full corn pop" on people who criticize Jill's academic achievements. As he began to answer, Jill interjected with "No! The answer is no!" Joe then quipped, "I've been suppressing my Irishness for a long time."

January 2020: Jill held the Biden family Bible for Joe's inauguration as president of the United States.

The Biden family Bible dates back to 1893. He has used it for his swearing-in ceremonies as a US senator and as vice president. 

April 2021: Joe stopped to pick a dandelion for Jill on the White House lawn as they boarded Marine One.

The president and first lady were traveling to Atlanta for a rally in Plains, Georgia, to meet with former president Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter.

As they were boarding Marine One on the White House Ellipse, the president bent down and picked a dandelion for his wife. Jill stopped to accept the flower, and she held on to it as she boarded the helicopter.

December 2021: They welcomed a new German shepherd puppy, Commander.

The Bidens entered the White House with two German shepherds, Champ and Major. Champ passed away at the age of 13 in June 2021, and Major was rehomed due to behavioral issues. 

The Bidens also adopted a cat, Willow, in January 2022.

Commander was moved out of the White House in October 2023 after numerous biting incidents.

February 2022: Jill was spotted wearing a corsage from Joe in a sweet Valentine's Day tradition.

While exiting Marine One on Valentine's Day, the first lady was photographed wearing a corsage of what appeared to be white gardenias, her favorite flower.

In an interview with People magazine shortly after Joe took office, Jill shared that the corsages began as a Valentine's Day tradition, and that he had surprised her with a corsage of gardenias at the inauguration.

"I don't know when it started — a long, long time ago. I think it was for Valentine's Day," she said. "I love gardenias and so Joe would buy me a wrist corsage of gardenias. I wore it to school to teach!"

Joe also shared a sweet Valentine's Day message for his wife.

"You're the love of my life and the life of my love, Jilly. Happy Valentine's Day," he wrote on X.

May 2022: In a cover story for Harper's Bazaar, Jill said she and Joe fight over text, or "fext," to avoid arguing in front of their Secret Service detail.

Jill, who appeared on the June-July cover of Harper's Bazaar, told the magazine that she and Biden fight via text in what they call "fexting" to avoid arguing in front of their Secret Service detail — a method they've used since Biden served as vice president.

In one particularly heated exchange, Biden reminded her that presidential communications like texts and emails are kept as part of a historical record of each presidency.

"Joe said, 'You realize that's going to go down in history. There will be a record of that,'" she told Harper's Bazaar. "I won't tell you what I called him that time."

While they do occasionally "fext," Jill also spoke about supporting her husband's work during his presidency.

"I try to be a support for Joe because I don't know how many people are saying to him, 'That was great. That was brilliant.' I try to be that person for him," she said. "Some days, I see Joe and I'm just like, 'I don't know how you're doing it.' It's the pandemic and then it's the war and then it's the economy and then it's the gas prices. You feel like you're being slammed."

June 2022: They celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary.

The Bidens celebrated their anniversary at their beach house in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. During their trip, Joe fell off his bike but quickly got back up and chatted with reporters. A White House spokesperson said that the president did not require medical attention.

2023: Joe announced he would run for reelection in 2024.

Jill's support was widely regarded as a determining factor in Joe's decision to run again in 2024.

South Carolina Sen. Dick Harpootlian, a former state party chairman and Biden 2020 finance committee member, told Business Insider in 2022 that "Joe Biden wouldn't have run in '20 if Jill Biden had not wanted him to run and he won't run in '24 if Jill Biden doesn't want him to run."

2024: Jill defended Joe after his disastrous presidential debate against Donald Trump.

During the first presidential debate of 2024, Joe spoke with a hoarse voice, offered convoluted answers, and appeared disoriented at times. His poor performance sparked panic among Democrats about whether he should stay in the race.

Jill defended Joe in the face of widespread criticism, telling Vogue that the Biden family "will not let those 90 minutes define the four years he's been president. We will continue to fight."

"When he gets knocked down, Joe gets back up, and that's what we're doing today," Jill said at a New York City fundraiser the day after the debate.

Joe also acknowledged that his age has impacted his debate performance, but remained firm in his commitment to stay in the race.

"I know I'm not a young man, to state the obvious," he said during a rally the day after the debate. "I don't walk as easy as I used to. I don't speak as smoothly as I used to. I don't debate as well as I used to. But I know what I do know: I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. And I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done."