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In 2020, I abruptly stopped, challenging myself to explore more local options.
Constantly searching for new coffee shops has taught me how to better trust my instincts.
When I first started drinking coffee, I was intimidated by every café that had its own long menu with unique drink names and too many ways to personalize a drink.
Soon, I found comfort in Starbucks: No matter where in the world I was, I could order the exact same thing and know what to expect.
As a travel journalist, I began searching for the familiar logo everywhere, from Bali and Morocco to Barcelona and Buenos Aires. It wasn't hard — Starbucks is the largest coffee chain in the world, on track to have 55,000 stores by 2030.
But about four and a half years ago, I was on my way to claim my free Starbucks birthday drink when a lightbulb went off in my head.
I was in San Francisco, and as I passed one adorable little coffee shop after another, I wondered why I was overlooking so many small businesses so I could get coffee from a megacorporation that netted $36 billion in the 2023 fiscal year.
That day, I sipped my last drop of frozen coffee through a green straw (OK, technically a sippy top since the chain had stopped offering plastic straws by then) and quit Starbucks.
It was a challenging transition that meant spending more money on coffee
Smiles written on a Starbucks cup don't bring me as much joy as a meaningful interaction with a local barista does.
Rachel Chang
Though I live a block from a Starbucks, I started forcing myself to walk past it in search of local options.
My self-imposed ban began in 2020 during the peak days of the coronavirus pandemic, so I quickly realized the spending power I had with my daily coffee.
Many independent coffee shops closed during or shortly after the height of the pandemic. Even now, smaller cafés depend on every customer's support.
Starbucks doesn't need my money as much, even though it had actually been cheaper for me. At the time, I'd been spending $3 to $5 for my Starbucks drinks. At local shops, my drinks were closer to $4 to $7.
After happily paying extra for milk substitutes and gratuity at small businesses, the cost of my typical coffee order eventually started inching closer to double digits. Still, I felt better knowing the dollars were going back to my community.
Instead of rotely going to the closest Starbucks, I began to pull up Google Maps to search for a new coffee shop every time. In the beginning, I often landed at mediocre cafés.
But as I started traveling again, I realized what felt like a chore at home started to feel like a delight when I was abroad. After all, traveling is all about discovering new finds.
Every coffee shop has its own menu, system, and style. Instead of being an old pro in a familiar place, I became the constant newbie in a strange setting, asking for WiFi passwords and bathroom keys.
Eventually, trying new spots became a mini daily adventure stirred up into my coffee break.
Now I'm more than 4 years Starbucks-free — and won't go back
I spend more money on coffee now, but I don't mind.
Rachel Chang
The bottom line is that my coffee budget has gone up — I recently paid $12.69 for a vanilla oat latte at a local shop, about $5 more than it would've cost at Starbucks — but now I see more than a cup of joe.
I see coffee time as an experience, a moment to connect with a slice of a community that I wouldn't normally have been immersed in.
Plus, at local coffee shops, I'm one of few customers instead of one of many in a long line. I'm more likely to get doted on with top-notch service instead of just feeling like a name on a cup.
Sometimes, I still end up at coffee chains — but my self-imposed ban means I'll opt for smaller ones like Blank Street or Gregory's Coffee instead of mega-global franchises.
I still feel like a bit of a jerk when I have business meetings scheduled at a Starbucks and ask to go somewhere else. But it's a pretty good conversation starter, and I've even had colleagues tell me they're also steering away from the chain.
I don't have a personal vendetta against Starbucks. It's just that by quitting, my coffee world has opened up beyond the limitations of one company — and forever hunting for a new coffee shop has become my ultimate pick-me-up.
Elon Musk helped found OpenAI, but he has frequently criticized it in recent years.
Though he recently sued OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, he has since dropped the lawsuit.
Here's a history of Musk and Altman's working relationship.
Elon Musk and Sam Altman lead rival AI firms and now take public jabs at each other — but it wasn't always like this.
Years ago, the two cofounded OpenAI, which Altman now leads. Musk departed OpenAI, which created ChatGPT, in 2018 and recently announced his own AI venture, xAI.
Their was enough bad blood that Musk even sued OpenAI and Altman, accusing them in the suit betraying the firm's founding principles, before dropping the lawsuit.
Here's a look at Musk and Altman's complicated relationship over the years:
Musk and Altman cofounded OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, in 2015, alongside other Silicon Valley figures, including Peter Thiel, LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman, and Y Combinator cofounder Jessica Livingston.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Elon Musk
Getty
The group aimed to create a nonprofit focused on developing artificial intelligence "in the way that is most likely to benefit humanity as a whole," according to a statement on OpenAI's website from December 11, 2015.
At the time, Musk said that AI was the "biggest existential threat" to humanity.
Elon Musk is CEO of Twitter.
Carina Johansen/Getty Images
"It's hard to fathom how much human-level AI could benefit society, and it's equally hard to imagine how much it could damage society if built or used incorrectly," a statement announcing the founding of OpenAI reads.
Musk stepped down from OpenAI's board of directors in 2018.
Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images
"As Tesla continues to become more focused on AI, this will eliminate a potential future conflict for Elon," OpenAI said in a blog post at the time, adding that Musk would continue to provide guidance and donations.
With his departure, Musk also backed out of a commitment to provide additional funding to OpenAI, a person involved in the matter told The New Yorker.
"It was very tough," Altman told the magazine of the situation. "I had to reorient a lot of my life and time to make sure we had enough funding."
In 2023, it was reported that Sam Altman and other OpenAI cofounders had rejected Musk's proposal to run the company in 2018.
JASON REDMOND/AFP via Getty Images
Semafor reported that Musk wanted to run the company on his own in an attempt to beat Google. But when his offer to run the company was rejected, he pulled his funding and left OpenAI's board, the news outlet reported.
In 2019, Musk shared some insight on his decision to leave, saying one of the reasons was that he "didn't agree" with where OpenAI was headed.
Elon Musk.
Susan Walsh/AP
"I had to focus on solving a painfully large number of engineering & manufacturing problems at Tesla (especially) & SpaceX," he tweeted. "Also, Tesla was competing for some of same people as OpenAI & I didn't agree with some of what OpenAI team wanted to do. Add that all up & it was just better to part ways on good terms."
Musk has taken shots at OpenAI on several occasions since leaving.
Frederic Brown/Getty Images
Two years after his departure, Musk said, "OpenAI should be more open" in response to an MIT Technology Review article reporting that there was a culture of secrecy there, despite OpenAI frequently proclaiming a commitment to transparency.
In December 2022, days after OpenAI released ChatGPT, Musk said the company had prior access to the database of Twitter — now owned by Musk — to train the AI chatbot and that he was putting that on hold.
Getty Images
"Need to understand more about governance structure & revenue plans going forward. OpenAI was started as open-source & non-profit. Neither are still true," he said.
In February 2023, Musk doubled down, saying OpenAI as it exists today is "not what I intended at all."
Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Vanity Fair
"OpenAI was created as an open source (which is why I named it "Open" AI), non-profit company to serve as a counterweight to Google, but now it has become a closed source, maximum-profit company effectively controlled by Microsoft. Not what I intended at all," he said in a tweet.
"I'm still confused as to how a non-profit to which I donated ~$100M somehow became a $30B market cap for-profit. If this is legal, why doesn't everyone do it?" he tweeted.
Musk turned his complaints into a lawsuit but has since dropped it.
Elon Musk and Sam Altman
Slaven Vlasic, Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Getty Images
He sued OpenAI, Altman, and cofounder Greg Brockman, alleging that the company's direction in recent years has violated its founding principles.
His lawyers alleged OpenAI "has been transformed into a closed-source de facto subsidiary of the largest technology company in the world" and is "refining an AGI to maximize profits for Microsoft, rather than for the benefit of humanity."
A few months later, Musk withdrew the lawsuit, a day before a judge was set to consider the future of the case in a hearing.
Altman has addressed some of Musk's gripes about OpenAI.
Brian Ach/Getty Images for TechCrunch
"To say a positive thing about Elon, I think he really does care about a good future with AGI," Altman said last year on an episode of the "On With Kara Swisher" podcast, referring to artificial general intelligence.
"I mean, he's a jerk, whatever else you want to say about him — he has a style that is not a style that I'd want to have for myself," Altman told Swisher. "But I think he does really care, and he is feeling very stressed about what the future's going to look like for humanity."
In response to Musk's claim that OpenAI has turned into "a closed source, maximum-profit company effectively controlled by Microsoft," Altman said on the podcast, "Most of that is not true, and I think Elon knows that."
Altman says he's learned some "super valuable" lessons from Musk.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
In a May 2023 talk at University College London, Altman was asked what he's learned from various mentors, according to Fortune. He answered by speaking about Musk.
"Certainly learning from Elon about what is just, like, possible to do and that you don't need to accept that, like, hard R&D and hard technology is not something you ignore, that's been super valuable," he said.
Musk was one of more than 1,000 people who signed an open letter calling for a six-month pause on training advanced AI systems.
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
The letter, which also received signatures from several AI experts, cites concerns of AI's potential risks to humanity.
"Powerful AI systems should be developed only once we are confident that their effects will be positive and their risks will be manageable," the letter says.
But while he was publicly calling for the pause, Musk was quietly building his own AI competitor, xAI, The New Yorker recently reported.
Musk since briefly unfollowed Altman on Twitter before following him again; separately, Altman later poked fun at Musk's claim to be a "free speech absolutist."
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Twitter recently took aim at posts linking to rival Substack, forbidding users from retweeting or replying to tweets containing such links, before reversing course. In response to a tweet about the situation, Altman tweeted, "Free speech absolutism on STEROIDS."
Musk has called himself a "free speech absolutist" before and said it's one of the reasons he bought Twitter.
Altman also repeated several of his previous remarks about Musk's position on AI.
"He really cares about AI safety a lot," Altman said at Bloomberg's summit. "We have differences of opinion on some parts but we both care about that and he wants to make sure we, the world, have the maximal chance at a good outcome."
Separately, Altman recently told The New Yorker Musk has a my-way-or-the highway approach to issues more broadly.
"Elon desperately wants the world to be saved. But only if he can be the one to save it," Altman said.
Remote and hybrid work setups are standard — and likely here to stay. Generative artificial intelligence is making its way into many offices, bringing opportunities but also concerns that, as these bots get better, demand for workers might drop.
In the C-suite, the rise of roles like chief digital officer and chief data officer reflects the need for diverse skills, from digital transformation to employee wellness and sustainability.
And despite political pushback against diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, many young people entering the workforce say they care about DEI.
Business Insider's "Workforce Innovation" series will explore how our jobs are changing by digging into four themes: AI, the changing C-suite, worker well-being, and DEI.
As part of the series, we're also convening a Workforce Innovation Board, which will be announced in August. The board will be composed of C-suite leaders from HR, strategy, technology, and DEI. The Board will convene regularly to share insights on the forces driving innovation where we work.
Artificial intelligence will be a job killer. AI will become your digital assistant. AI will take over everything. The variety of predictions about what AI will mean for the workplace — and beyond — is wide. And while it's too early to say with certainty how the technology will remake our 9-to-5s, many experts say there will be big changes.
AI could help train workers. And it could help weaker performers get better at their jobs. It could help boost overall productivity. As a result, companies are fighting for workers who can develop AI models.
Daron Acemoglu, an institute professor in the economics department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told BI he agreed with the notion that AI could represent one of the biggest changes since the rise of the internet. Yet he said it's unclear how reliable the technology would be at doing parts of — or all of — people's jobs.
Daron Acemoglu, an institute professor in the economics department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Cody O'Loughlin
Acemoglu said that some employers rushing to swap people for bots might realize that some AI tools lack the versatility of humans.
"These models have very limited capabilities," he said. "So if you adopt them too quickly and without enough thought, you might actually not get anything like the productivity boosts that you were expecting."
Acemoglu said it's likely some workers — particularly at the high end of the pay scale — would have AI assistants to help them get more done. For others, especially office workers earning middle-class or lower-middle-class incomes, it's unknown how AI might help or hurt.
"Whether that person is ever going to have any type of help from AI or whether it's going to be his replacement being trained by AI, we'll have to see," he said.
The rapid evolution of technology requires corporate leaders to elevate more players to the C-suite to help manage it all, according to Ty Wiggins, the global lead of the CEO- and executive-transitions practice at the recruiting firm Russell Reynolds Associates.
Increasing amounts of data and the emergence of AI, Wiggins told BI, require companies to have roles beyond chief information officer or chief technology officer. It wasn't long ago, he said, that tech functions might have simply fallen under a chief operating officer or a chief financial officer.
Ty Wiggins, global lead of the CEO- and executive-transitions practice at Russell Reynolds Associates.
Georgie Clarke
Corporate chiefs now need to have closer connections to different aspects of the business — especially emerging ones like AI, Wiggins said.
"If that function is not reporting directly into you, you are two steps away from something that's moving so quickly that has a significant impact on the organization and your performance as CEO," he said.
Wiggins, the author of "The New CEO," said the C-suite continues to shift away from a place focused on reporting about various aspects of a company to becoming the "top team" tasked with helping the CEO solve the biggest problems facing an organization.
"The C-suite is no longer just a reporting body," he said. It's not enough for CFOs to pump out financial reports or the head of human resources to lobby for increased hiring, Wiggins said.
"There is an enormous pressure now on C-suite executives to really move from being a technical expert to a technical leader of other experts and to join the C-suite in a way that means that they can contribute to the other functions," he added.
The well-being of workers has drawn greater attention since the pandemic. Many employees report feeling stressed out. And various mental-health challenges are hitting workers — and businesses, as a result. Depression and anxiety alone sap the global economy of an estimated 12 billion productive workdays each year, the World Health Organization says, adding that the annual cost of that reduced output totals almost $1 trillion.
Carly Holm, the founder and CEO of Humani HR, a consulting firm, told BI that challenges around workers' mental health are bigger than ever. Yet, as the problems grow, more companies are looking at narrower interventions over a one-size-fits-all program, like offering counseling services that not everyone will want to use.
"A gym membership may be great for some people, but other people may not be interested in going to a gym," she said.
Carly Holm, the founder and CEO of Humani HR.
Leah Smith
A better approach, Holm said, is talking to employees about their needs. Often, this involves something that's not expensive or even difficult to implement, such as flexible work schedules. Or it could involve offering wellness days in addition to vacation days.
Business leaders often consider extra days off a major expense, she added. But that extra time away, Holm said, is correlated with improved productivity and business performance.
"Having that flexible workplace so that people can kind of merge life and work, I think, really goes a long way," she said.
Employers also can adjust policies that might not be working, Holm said. Unlimited paid time off sounds great, but if workers don't use it, they lose the chance to recover. Instead, she said, setting a minimum PTO might be a better approach. Some employers, Holm said, are telling workers they need to take a week or two in a row — and not just a day or two here and there.
"They see the value and getting their employees to unplug," she said.
"The data is clear: When your employees are healthy, when they are happy, they're going to work better," Holm said.
DEI feels like a buzzword gone bad. Companies that a few years ago were happy to talk about their efforts to make their workplaces more equitable are now far less likely to mention DEI in quarterly earnings calls. Some companies have also been cutting DEI jobs.
It's a notable about-face. DEI initiatives rose toward the top of many corporate to-do lists after George Floyd's murder in 2020 and the racial reckoning that followed. Between 2020 and 2021, the role of chief diversity officer was the fastest-growing title in the C-suite. But by 2022, hiring started to slip for such jobs, according to LinkedIn data. In the years since, DEI has become a political wedge.
"There's a clear backlash right now," Regina Lawless, the former head of DEI at Instagram and author of "Do You," told BI.
Regina Lawless, the former head of DEI at Instagram and author of "Do You."
Charles Schoenberger
She said companies would have to choose how they want to continue to do this work. Lawless said companies were right to ask about the impact of their DEI efforts because some initial steps, like creating coursework on race, could amount to little more than papering over a problem.
"A lot of companies just went at it in a performative way," she said. "We just throw in an employee resource group and think that's going to solve the very real issues of people from different backgrounds not having equitable experiences in the workplace."
Lawless said that as Gen Z took on a larger role in the workplace — they're expected to outnumber boomers among full-time US workers in 2024 — employers would have to be more thoughtful about addressing DEI. That's what many young workers are expecting, she said.
To progress and move beyond performative measures, companies will need to look under the hoods of the systems they use to hire, develop, promote, retain, and pay workers, Lawless said. Some of these procedures are leading, even if unintentionally, to inequitable outcomes, she said. In other cases, some people in charge simply have undue power, Lawless added.
"When you give your managers too much discretion, and there aren't checks and balances, that's when bias has the opportunity to creep in," she said. Lawless added that managers needed training on inclusive leadership to get the most from diverse teams.
To move forward, Lawless said, more employers will need to dig deeper into the data and ensure that DEI teams are not the only ones tasked with promoting equitable experiences within an organization. It will have to become a shared responsibility, she said.
"The future of DEI," Lawless said, "does need to be more diffuse."
The actor's status has skyrocketed in the last few years, arguably starting in 2022 with his appearance in the long-awaited "Top Gun: Maverick." His supporting role in that movie — and Tom Cruise's sometimes terrifying mentorship — seemed to be what set Powell on the path to leading man.
The latter is getting glowing reviews, but Powell has been around for years and has more than a handful of credits to his name. Here's a rundown of every Glen Powell movie and TV show ranked from worst to best, according to critics.
Note: For the purposes of this list, we're only including projects with a Rotten Tomatoes critic score. The list only includes movies and shows in which Powell has an on-screen role as a named character.
"Misconduct"
Powell in "Misconduct."
Lionsgate
Powell had a supporting role in this forgettable 2016 thriller that flopped at the box office despite having two Oscar winners (Anthony Hopkins and Al Pacino) in its ensemble.
Powell with costar Sylvester Stallone in "The Expendables 3."
Lionsgate
Powell went toe-to-toe with action legends like Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, and Dolph Lundgren in the third film in "The Expendables" franchise. The 2014 movie wasn't as well-received as the two that came before it.
Powell charmed the pants off of audiences opposite Sydney Sweeney in "Anyone But You," a delightful rom-com that should usher in a renaissance for the genre. Critics, however, were more lukewarm on the movie.
On the heels of that other naval pilot movie he was in, Powell also found time to star in the 2022 biographical war film "Devotion." Based on a true story, Powell played real-life Korean War hero Tom Hudner.
"The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society"
Powell with Lily James in "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society."
Netflix
Powell played the American boyfriend of Lily James' character in this 2018 historical romantic drama, based on Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows' 2008 novel of the same name.
Powell's earlier team-up with Linklater was also a hit with critics. He played Finnegan in the 2016 teen comedy about college baseball players in Texas in the 1980s.
Powell voices Bostick in "Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood."
Netflix
Another team-up with Linklater accounts for one of the best-reviewed movies in Powell's career. He voiced Bostick, a NASA official, in the 2022 animated coming-of-age dramedy loosely based on Linklater's own childhood experience watching the first Moon landing.
Before there was "Anyone But You," there was "Set It Up." The 2018 rom-com starred Powell opposite Zoey Deutch as two bickering assistants with demanding bosses who fall in love.
Powell has a voice role in "Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous."
Netflix
Powell voices camp counselor Dave in the animated sci-fi adventure series, Netflix's first TV show set in the "Jurassic Park" universe. It aired from 2020 to 2022.
Powell played the real-life astronaut John Glenn, who became the third American in space, in the 2016 biographical drama inspired by the untold story of the three Black mathematicians who worked at NASA during the space race.
Glen Powell as Lt. Jake "Hangman" Seresin in "Top Gun: Maverick."
Paramount Pictures
Powell played cocky pilot LieutenantJake "Hangman" Seresin in the long-awaited "Top Gun" sequel opposite Tom Cruise's Maverick and Miles Teller's Rooster.
Powell's latest project is also his best-reviewed. He stars as Gary Johnson, a professor who moonlights for the New Orleans Police Department as a fake hitman. The 2023 rom-com was directed by Linklater from a script Powell and Linklater cowrote together, based on a true story.
Daniel Radcliffe admits he avoids watching "heavy, hour-long" TV shows.
Radcliffe prefers cartoons and reality TV, crediting "The Simpsons" for shaping his interests.
Radcliffe has voiced roles in "The Simpsons," "BoJack Horseman," and is currently on the Netflix animated series "Mulligan."
Daniel Radcliffe admits he avoids "heavy, hour-long" TV shows at all costs.
The "Harry Potter" star, who lends his voice to the Netflix animated series "Mulligan," recently spoke with Comic Book Resources about his TV-watching habits.
"Honestly, I watch cartoons, and I watch reality TV," said Radcliffe. "I've never seen 'Breaking Bad.' I've never watched 'The Sopranos' or 'The Wire.' All the sort of heavy, hour-long stuff. Just, I can't."
Radcliffe's love of animation is evident in his list of credits: he's voiced roles in animated series like "The Simpsons," "Robot Chicken," "BoJack Horseman," and Rick and Morty."
"I think it does probably in part stem from growing up on 'The Simpsons,'" Radcliffe said of why he loves the genre. "I was watching 'Jeopardy!' the other night, and one of the contestants credited a ton of his trivia knowledge to 'The Simpsons.' That's absolutely true of me as well. There are so many weird facts and things, from my general knowledge of the world to my sense of humor, [that] were formed in some way by 'The Simpsons.'"
Daniel Radcliffe voiced the character Diggs on "The Simpsons" in season 25.
Fox
Radcliffe has appeared three times on "The Simpsons" to date. In the season 22 "Treehouse of Horror" episode, he played a young vampire named Edmund; in season 25, he played Diggs, a transfer student with a love for falconry who befriends Bart; and in season 29, he voiced himself in an episode.
He went on to explain why cartoons that touch on mature themes wouldn't work if they were live-action.
"I think a lot of 'BoJack Horseman' would be just too fucking bleak and sad if it wasn't a talking horse," Radcliffe said. "The classic example is Homer strangling Bart in 'The Simpsons.' In a live-action [series], that's just like a horrendous act of child abuse that there's nothing funny about whatsoever, whereas it's a running gag in 'The Simpsons,' and it's funny because of what Bart's neck does."
Leading internationally-focused ASX-listed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have gone on a strong run in recent months. In 2024 alone, the iShares S&P 500 ETF (ASX: IVV) unit price has risen 16%.
Fearful investors may be wondering if they’ve missed out. We don’t know for sure what’s going to happen next; my crystal ball isn’t working at the moment.
But, it may create envy to see ASX ETFs like iShares Global 100 ETF (ASX: IOO) and Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF (ASX: VGS) reaching new highs.
Have we missed out on all the gains? Not necessarilyâ¦
Profit growth drives share prices
As the chart below shows, the IVV ETF, the IOO ETF and the VGS ETF have all delivered strong long-term gains for investors.
This has been driven by the performance of the underlying holdings â capital growth of an ETF’s investments drives the net asset value (NAV) of the ASX ETF.
Global powerhouses like Nvidia, Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon and Apple have all seen their share prices climb in recent months, helping the international ASX ETFs rise.
It’s true that these funds are at, or close to, all-time highs. But they have reached all-time prices many times over the years â it would have been a mistake to avoid investing at those other times.
Business profits at Nvidia, Microsoft, and others keep rising, increasing their underlying value. Yes, interest rates are still high, but those US giants are delivering earnings growth to justify higher share prices, even if the price/earnings (P/E) ratio doesn’t change.
Should we invest?
For investors who regularly plan to buy one (or more) of these international ETFs, I suggest they stick with their plan and continue buying on schedule. Share markets can be high sometimes and dip sometimes. Dollar-cost averaging will hit those different peaks and troughs.
As for investors that prefer to be selective about price with their investment decisions, the above chart doesn’t say ‘great value’ at the moment. However, I believe the long-term has shown the share market can climb over a ‘wall of worry’, such as wars, pandemics, economic downturns and so on.
I believe the IVV ETF, IOO ETF, and VGS ETF could all be materially higher in five years than they are today, with those strong underlying businesses driving ongoing success.
I’d be happy enough to buy some units today for the long term of any of the international ASX ETFs I’ve mentioned, but if I won the lottery, I wouldn’t invest it all in one go â I’d tactically want to spread out the investing over the next year or two.
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The Russian nuclear-powered submarine Kazan, part of the Russian naval detachment visiting Cuba, arrives at Havana's harbour, June 12, 2024.
ADALBERTO ROQUE/AFP via Getty Images
Russian naval ships arrived in Cuba on Wednesday ahead of military exercises in the Caribbean.
One of the vessels, the submarine Kazan, is one of a new class that has worried the US and NATO.
The Yasen-class subs are quiet, difficult to track, and heavily armed for attacks against land- and sea-based targets.
One of Russia's most concerning new submarines has pulled up off the coast of Cuba ahead of planned military exercises in the area.
The Kazan, a nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine, is one of a relatively new class of subs that has worried the US and Western militaries for years due to its stealth and strike capabilities.
Three Russian ships, as well as the Kazan, arrived in Cuba on Wednesday for a five-day official visit before a large, simultaneous air and maritime exercise in the Caribbean. The deployment includes the Admiral Gorshkov frigate, which is armed with Zircon hypersonic missiles, another challenge for Western militaries.
While US officials have said they're monitoring the vessels and don't anticipate any imminent danger in the region, the Kazan's arrival is notable. US and NATO officials have long expressed anxiety over the capabilities of the Kazan and other subs like it.
The Russian Navy Northern Fleet Yasen-class nuclear-powered submarine Kazan arrives at its permanent deployment base in Severomorsk on Russia's Arctic coast, June 1, 2021.
Lev Fedoseyev\TASS via Getty Images
Russia's Yasen-class submarines, like the Kazan, are formidable threats within Russia's navy, which has long boasted a rather capable submarine fleet. The Russians began work on the class during the Cold War, and the first sub in the class, the Severodvinsk, was commissioned late in 2013.
Around the time the Severodvinsk came about, Naval Sea Systems Command's program executive officer for submarines said at a naval symposium that going forward, the US would "be facing tough potential opponents," adding that "one only has to look at the Severodvinsk."
After the Severodvinsk was commissioned into the Russian navy, later submarines featured updated designs, designated as part of the Yasen-M class. The Kazan was the second sub of the class but the first of the new upgraded subs. It is noticeably smaller and features a quieter nuclear reactor.
The subs' newer, more advanced features make them quiet, difficult to track, heavily armed, and capable of attacks against land- and sea-based targets with little to no notice. These warships can carry Oniks and Kalibr cruise missiles and, at a later date, the new Zircon missiles.
Crew members of the Russian Navy's K-560 Severodvinsk nuclear-powered submarine undergo basic training in the closed town of Zaozyorsk, Murmansk Region, March 14, 2018.
Lev Fedoseyev\TASS via Getty Images
The shift in capability with the emergence of the Yasen-M class submarines suggested a change in use. Per a 2021 Royal United Services Institute analysis, the Kazan's "capacity to launch a range of anti-ship and land attack missiles" suggests that "long-range strike missions appear to be superseding sea lines of communication (SLOC) interdiction as a primary task."
In 2021, US Air Force Gen. Glen VanHerck, head of US Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, said that the subs "are designed to deploy undetected within cruise-missile range of our coastlines to threaten critical infrastructure during an escalating crisis."
VanHerck, along with other US officials, have said the Yasen-class subs are "on par with ours" and repeatedly warned about the increasing presence of these vessels off of the US coast.
The Russian nuclear-powered submarine Kazan, part of the Russian naval detachment visiting Cuba, arrives at Havana's harbour, June 12, 2024.
YAMIL LAGE/AFP via Getty Images
Russia's deployment in Cuba serves multiple purposes. It comes before Caribbean air and maritime exercises, the first Russia's held in the area since 2019. It serves to strengthen Russia-Cuba ties. And it demonstrates a show of force to the US amid the war in Ukraine.
US officials have said that movement of these vessels into the area is not a direct response to these developments or an escalation, noting that Cuba has hosted Russian ships every year from 2013 to 2020, and the Russian exercises are routine.
The vessels in this group, however, are notably among Russia's more advanced or carrying newer weapons. In the past, NATO officials have flagged the Yasen-class submarines, for instance, as "one of the big strategic challenges" the alliance faces.
Some Amazon Fresh patrons are using the stores to return things they bought on Amazon.com.
MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images
Amazon Fresh is offering grocery discounts to customers who return Amazon.com purchases there.
The coupons are likely a way of getting you to shop at the chain, not just drop your returns off.
Amazon has spent the last year making changes to stores as it tries to right its grocery business.
Amazon Fresh is giving customers who stop by to make a return an incentive to use the store for its intended purpose: buying groceries.
The stores are offering a series of coupons for patrons who use the stores to drop off items that they ordered on Amazon.com, including $10 off a purchase of at least $40 and a slice of pizza with a soda for $3.
Signs at Amazon Fresh stores read "Package return customers save big" and include QR codes so that customers can claim the coupons, according to a photo seen by Business Insider.
A website advertising "up to $12 off $40 at Amazon Fresh" for customers who make a return mentions that the offer is valid between April 17 and June 30 of this year or until Amazon runs out of codes for the promotion.
An Amazon spokesperson confirmed the discounts, adding that they apply when customers make a return at any of the chain's roughly 40 locations. "We see many of the customers who return or pickup packages in store each week also combine it with a shopping trip," the spokesperson said.
Amazon is likely trying to accomplish two things with the coupons, said Phil Lempert, a food industry analyst and editor of the website Supermarket Guru.
The discounts are meant to get customers making returns to stick around and buy groceries, he said. But they also save Amazon money processing returns — having customers bring items to an Amazon-owned location is cheaper for the company than sending them return packaging and a shipping label.
"It's a combination of reducing costs as well as trying to get new people to shop at Amazon Fresh," Lempert said.
Beyond the discounts, Amazon is still struggling to find a strategy for Fresh that works.
Amazon, which also owns Whole Foods, has made several changes to Fresh stores over the last year. Most recently, it pulled out its cashier-less Just Walk Out technology from Fresh stores in favor of its Dash shopping carts, which keep track of shoppers' selections and charge them accordingly. Amazon has also renovated a handful of the stores, adding Krispy Kreme doughnut shops and more major food brands.
"They're really not resonating," Lempert said of the stores. "I am a major Amazon.com shopper. I could not live without Amazon.com. I can live without Amazon Fresh."
Do you work or shop at Amazon Fresh and have a story idea to share? Reach out to this reporter at abitter@businessinsider.com
Android users will show up as a green text bubble when messaging iPhones.
Getty Images; Alyssa Powell/BI
Apple's iOS 18 will support RCS this fall, improving texting between iPhone and Android users.
But Android users will still show up as green text bubbles when messaging iPhones.
Green text bubbles have long been a contentious point among non-iPhone users.
Android and iPhone owners have plenty to celebrate after Apple's big WWDC keynote, which revealed changes to how messaging between the two rivals will improve in iOS 18.
But Apple is still holding out on getting rid of the much-hated green text bubbles, according to a first glimpse from Apple.
Apple previously announced that it would support the Rich Communication Services, or RCS, protocol in its Messages app, but now we know more about how it will work and when it's launching. It's a big improvement over SMS, and the changes will roll out in the fall with iOS 18.
If you're an iPhone owner, Apple's RCS adoption means your Android friend won't receive a grainy compressed video or photo the next time you send one over. It will also introduce read receipts between the two devices.
A screenshot of RCS support on Apple's Messages app, showing texts with an Android.
Apple
RCS also makes it possible for emoji reactions to be more in line with the iMessage experience, ditching the written-out descriptions of an emoji reaction ("John loved your message" rather than the literal heart emoji reaction) and adding typing indicators. Apple didn't specifically highlight if those features will be available in the fall, but it's possible they could be.
Apple finally caving is certainly a victory for Android users, but there's just one catch: Android bubbles are staying green.
While it may be easy to write off green bubbles as a superficial differentiator, the visible divide between Android and iPhone text bubbles has faced criticism from smartphone users. In August 2022, Google launched the #GetTheMessage campaign, which specifically highlighted the blue-green bubble issue.
"Texting between iPhone and Android is broken. It's time for Apple to fix green and blue bubbles, and texting for everyone," the social text said.
Apple, for its part, has said it's important to denote when someone is texting with someone else on the iMessage protocol because there's added security via end-to-end encryption that isn't present in SMS texts between iPhones and Androids (green text).
But the green bubbles are also something that can convince people to jump ship from Android to Apple — and keep iPhone users in its ecosystem. If an iPhone user switches to Android, they'll have to get used to green text bubbles when messaging with iPhones.
In 2021, legal documents revealed that Apple decided against developing an Android version of iMessage.
"The#1 most difficult [reason] to leave the Apple universe app is iMessage . . . iMessage amounts to serious lock-in" said a former Apple employee in 2016.
Phil Schiller, an Apple executive in charge of the App Store, later said, "Moving iMessage to Android will hurt us more than help us."
The Department of Justice's antitrust lawsuit against Apple specifically calls out the green messages. The filing claims that it "signals to users that rival smartphones are lower quality" and causes "social stigma, exclusion, and blame for 'breaking' chats where other participants own iPhones."
Neither Apple nor Google immediately responded to Business Insider's request for comment ahead of publication.
The green bubble stigma is very real, especially for younger consumers. The Wall Street Journal reported in 2022 the experience of several college students as non-iPhone users, with one even saying that "people don't seem to like green text bubbles that much and seem to have this visceral negative reaction to it."
It's a sentiment that continues to be loudly expressed, like this tweet that received over 70,000 likes.
idc how much better any other phone is i’m not texting in green bubbles https://t.co/56G3C3u7m7
And there are signs Apple's strategy is working. A 2021 survey conducted by Piper Sandler found that 87% of teens own an iPhone.
So while RCS will definitely bring some improvements come fall when iOS 18 launches, it will still be glaringly obvious for iPhone users when they're messaging with Android users.
Travel host Samantha Brown prefers to hang out in terminals over lounges before a flight because they're less stressful and more fun to explore.
Joey Hadden/Business Insider
Samantha Brown avoids airport lounges, finding them overrated and anxiety-inducing.
Brown, a seasoned traveler, prefers exploring terminals despite having lounge access.
She enjoys walking, browsing, and people-watching, considering terminals more engaging.
Airport lounges can make travel days easier and more relaxing with cozy couches, complimentary meals, and — in some cases —free facials secluded from an otherwise busy terminal.
But not for Samantha Brown.
Brown, who flies 100,000 miles a year and hosts travel shows on networks like PBS and the Travel Channel, has access to Delta, United, and American Express lounges worldwide, but she prefers to spend her pre-flight time in terminals.
"The whole lounge experience is a tad bit overrated — there, I said it," Brown said in a recent TikTok video.
I like to roam. Check out where people are heading to: Madrid, Tokyo, Minneapolis. The gates are portals to different worlds yet here we are inhabiting the same space for a fleeting moment. I love airports.
Business Insider recently interviewed Brown to find out why she avoids spending time in what are often the most luxurious settings a terminal can offer.
"Sometimes, I'll go in to get a cup of coffee, a meal, and use a nice, clean bathroom, but I don't spend time in the lounge," she said.
Lounges add a layer of anxiety around missing a flight
"I feel trapped in an airport lounge. And I can't relax. They're often far from my gate," she said. "And most of them don't make announcements. What if I forget?"
After getting through security, Brown says she heads straight to her gate for a "proof-of-life check" to ensure her flight is listed in its queue.
Then, she explores the terminal.
"I have never regretted how much time I've spent in the airport," she told BI. "There's always stuff to do."
Passengers walk through shops in an airport terminal.
Joey Hadden/Business Insider
Airport terminals are more fun
In lounges, Brown said people spend most of their time sitting, which doesn't appeal to her before boarding a flight on which she'll have to sit for hours longer.
Instead, Brown prefers taking long walks around the terminal to exercise, browse stores, and people-watch.
"Airports are my teenage mall. Some feel like cities in themselves, like the Denver airport is bigger than Manhattan," she said. "We're all in this place for a short moment. We're all going somewhere else. It's magic."
For Brown's packing tips and trip ideas for summer travel, check out her Summer Travel Trends Report in collaboration with Klarna.
