• Billionaire Robert Kraft donated $1 million to Yeshiva University for a new program.
• The program "will help accommodate transferring Jewish students," the university said.
• Kraft withdrew support for Columbia University after campus protests against the Israel-Hamas war.

Robert Kraft, the billionaire owner of the New England Patriots, donated $1 million to Yeshiva University to establish a program for Jewish transfer students after yanking his support from Columbia University.

Yeshiva University, a private Orthodox Jewish institution in New York City, said in a press release that the Blue Square Scholars program "will help the University accommodate transferring students who are switching to YU for its quality education and nurturing campus atmosphere."

The university earlier said it had seen an increase in enrollment since the start of the conflict in Gaza, which has divided universities across the country.

"In the aftermath of October 7th, YU has been at the forefront of universities fighting the rise of antisemitism on college campuses across the country and has opened its doors to transfer students who feel unsafe on their current campuses," the university said.

The press release said Kraft's donation would aid the university's efforts to help Jewish students grappling with antisemitism. Kraft founded the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism in 2019.

"I am honored to establish the Blue Square Scholars program at Yeshiva University in order to give students a welcoming place to further their education and grow into leaders who will serve as advocates for unity and respect and will push back on all hate," Kraft said in a statement.

Representatives for Yeshiva University and Kraft did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Kraft's $1 million donation comes two months after he severed ties with Columbia University, his alma mater.

Kraft had been a reliable megadonor for Columbia University but criticized the school after campus protests broke out in April. Pro-Palestinian supporters held demonstrations calling for a cease-fire and demanding the school divest from Israel and any companies doing business in the country.

In a full-page ad in May, Kraft accused elite universities of causing "hate" on campuses. "The leadership and faculty of so many of our leading educational institutions have failed their students," he wrote.

Other universities, like Harvard, have also faced the ire of Jewish megadonors over student protests against the war.

Islamophobia, meanwhile, also increased on college campuses in the wake of the war.

Despite his criticisms, Kraft told CNN he will still support The Kraft Center for Jewish Student Life at Columbia University.

• Sen. John Fetterman leaped to Biden's defense after his poor debate performance last week.
• "I refuse to join the Democratic vultures on Biden's shoulder after the debate," he wrote on X.
• Fetterman, who once faced his own bad debate, slammed pundits who said he'd lose in 2022.

Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman has a message for Democrats who want President Joe Biden to step aside following his poor debate performance on Thursday: "Chill."

For Fetterman, the second-guessing and outright panic from some Democratic quarters toward Biden is reminiscent of the criticism he faced following a rocky 2022 Senate debate against his then-opponent, GOP nominee and celebrity surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz.

In a series of remarks following Biden's debate with former President Donald Trump, Fetterman made it known that he disagreed with members of his party who were seeking alternatives to the president.

"I refuse to join the Democratic vultures on Biden's shoulder after the debate," the senator wrote on X. "No one knows more than me that a rough debate is not the sum total of the person and their record."

Biden now faces one of the most daunting challenges of his political career as he continues to campaign while reassuring supporters of his fitness for office and resisting pressure from some Democrats who want him to make way for a new, younger nominee.

Fetterman said that after his 2022 debate, some pundits predicted that he would lose to Oz. The senator was more than happy to point out that not only did he win, but his Senate race was the only one in the country that year where the seat changed parties.

"What happened?" Fetterman wrote. "The only seat to flip and won by a historic margin (+5). Chill the fuck out."

During an appearance on "Fox News Sunday," the senator once again compared his situation with Biden's.

"We had a difficult debate, and yet we still managed to go on to win," he told host Shannon Bream. "One debate is not a career."

Fetterman's debate took place in October 2022, following a stroke that he suffered in May of that year. The then-candidate's speech patterns were affected by the stroke, and Republicans leaped at the chance to make his health an issue ahead of the general election, questioning whether he had the acuity to serve in the Senate. Some Democrats at the time also wondered why Fetterman agreed to debate Oz at all, concerned that his performance had boosted GOP fortunes.

After Fetterman began his term in the Senate last year, he took time off to enter the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he was treated for depression. He has spoken openly about the experience and the "downward spiral" that he endured after winning the Senate contest.

• Workers are more confident — and anxious — about AI than they were a year ago, a BCG survey found.
• Leaders are also more confident and trained in AI than their workers.
• Companies are trying to address the AI knowledge gap with upskilling programs for their employees.

Generative AI seems to be a double-edged sword.

According to a new report from Boston Consulting Group, workers' confidence in generative AI has grown over the past year — but so has their anxiety.

BCG surveyed over 13,100 respondents, evenly divided between frontline, managerial, and leadership roles.

It found that confidence in generative AI surged 16% between 2023 to 2024, but that anxiety did too: about 5%. The percentage of workers who worry that AI will eliminate their jobs in the next decade has jumped significantly in the past year.

Frontline workers — those without managerial responsibilities — are most anxious about the technology, with 22% saying they were worried about it compared to 18% of managers and 15% of leaders.

There's a clear knowledge gap between executives and their employees, too. Only 28% of frontline workers reported being trained on how the technology will impact their jobs, compared to 30% of managers and 50% of leaders. Frontline workers say their top three concerns about generative AI are that they haven't been given enough time to learn about it, sufficient training opportunities, or knowledge of when to use the technology.

"There is undoubtedly a shortage in AI talent," Alex Libre, cofounder and principal recruiter of Einstellen Talent, a service that matches job candidates with generative AI startups, previously told Business Insider.

Companies are trying to address the gap by offering workers upskilling programs.

PwC, the consulting firm, has rolled out a training program for 75,000 workers across the United States and Mexico to teach employees how to incorporate the technology into their daily work. The goal is for all 75,000 employees to "know how to use it and start to be able to comment on it in a very informed way," Shannon Schuyler, US chief purpose and inclusion officer at PwC, previously told BI.

Others say the goal is to free up humans to do more meaningful work and even get more fulfillment from their jobs. But the worry right now is that AI might draw a line between the haves and have-nots: Those who know how to use AI and keep jobs and those who don't and lose them.

• The Nissan Rogue compact SUV is Nissan's best-selling model in the US.
• I was impressed by its turbo 3-cylinder engine, comfortable cabin, and efficiency.
• I was disappointed by its transmission and interior material quality.

In 2022, Nissan boldly decided to replace the 2.5-liter, four-cylinder engine in its compact Rogue SUV with a turbocharged three-cylinder.

We've seen this engine configuration in small economy cars like the Mini Cooper but never in a 3,500-pound SUV.

The move was particularly daring considering that the compact Rogue SUV is far and away Nissan's most popular model in the US.

Fortunately for Nissan, consumers have responded positively to the new engine, with Rogue sales up 45.6% in 2023 over the prior year. In fact, the Rogue's US sales are equivalent to the combined sales of Nissan's entire sedan lineup.

The third-generation Rogue, which originally launched in 2021, received a refresh in 2024, featuring updated looks and new infotainment tech.

I recently spent a week driving an all-wheel-drive 2024 Nissan Rogue in SL trim.

I was impressed by the Rogue's comfortable cabin as well as the power and efficiency of its three-cylinder engine.

Unfortunately, the Rogue was let down by the inconsistent performance of the continuously variable transmission (CVT) and the poor quality of the plastics in its cabin.

My test car costs $40,120.

The base front-wheel-drive (FWD) Rogue S starts at $28,850, while the top-spec, all-wheel-drive (AWD) Rogue Platinum starts at $40,630.

My well-equipped SL AWD starts at $36,670, but freight fees and optional extras pushed the as-tested price past $40,000.

The Rogue's refreshed styling includes a new front grille.

Nissan replaced the blacked-out grille with prominent chrome bars running across the width of the front facia. Designers also updated the look of the air dam and the bumper below the grille.

The layout of the headlights and daytime running lights remains unchanged.

In a setup that's growing in popularity, the Rogue's turn signal and running lights sit in a cluster atop the main headlight assembly.

Also unchanged is the Rogue's rear styling.

The Rogue can be fitted with a tow hitch, but its towing capacity is limited to 1,500 lbs.

The Rogue SL comes standard with these stylish 19-inch alloy wheels.

Lower trim levels get 17 and 18-inch alloy wheels.

At 183 inches in length, the Rogue is 1.5 inches longer than the Toyota RAV4 and about two inches shorter than the Honda CR-V.

The Rogue offers identical ground clearance to the CR-V at 8.2 inches but falls an inch short of the Hyundai Tucson and up to four inches short of the RAV4, depending on trim level.

Under the hood is a 1.5 liter, turbocharged three-cylinder engine.

The Rogue's only powerplant option is Nissan's KR15DDT variable compression engine. This gutsy three-cylinder engine produces 201 horsepower and 225 lb-ft of torque, which are substantial improvements over the previous 2.5-liter four-cylinder's 181 horsepower and 181 lb-ft of torque.

All Rogues send their power to the wheels through a continuously variable transmission.

The three-cylinder engine is equipped with Nissan's unique variable compression technology, which can vary the compression ratio within the engine from 8:1 under hard acceleration up to 14:1 for more efficient operation while cruising along.

Nissan debuted the technology in its Infiniti QX50 luxury SUV back in 2019, but it has since been deployed in mass-market models like the Rogue and the Nissan Altima sedan.

The SUV delivered solid fuel economy figures of 28 mpg city, 34 mpg highway, and 31 mpg combined. I got just over 30 mpg in my 120-mile test loop, which consisted of city and highway driving in the searing Georgia heat.

The Rogue is terrific to drive.

The Rogue delivers a friendly and pleasant driving experience. The turbocharged engine sends strong power throughout the rev range. The three-cylinders remained remarkably quiet and smooth even under the strain of hard acceleration.

Unfortunately, the engine is somewhat let down by the inconsistent performance of the CVT.

In theory, using a CVT instead of a traditional automatic transmission trades all-out performance for smoothness and fuel efficiency. While it does help the Rogue deliver in terms of fuel economy, it has pre-programmed shift points designed to mimic that of a regular automatic transmission. This creates an almost rubbery feeling in the throttle under hard throttle application that feels like it slows down the acceleration rate.

I can't really blame Nissan for this. We, consumers, demanded the addition of these shift points because many found the consistent hum of an engine at a constant RPM to be disconcerting.

According to Motor Trend, the 2024 Nissan Rogue can do 0-60 mph in 8.4 seconds.

Inside, the Rogue offers its occupants a really nice place to be.

Interior ergonomics are excellent and everything feels well put together. My test car had more than 8,000 miles on the clock, and yet it felt as solid as new. There were no squeaks or rattles to report.

My only major complaint with the cabin is the quality of some of the plastic trim pieces. They just felt cheap, especially for a $40,000 vehicle. Give some of the plastic pieces on the center console and front dash a tap, and they sound hollow and a bit flimsy.

The biggest change in the Rogues' cabin is the addition of this new optional 12.3-inch touch-sensitive infotainment screen that replaces the old 9-inch unit.

Screen quality excellent and Nissan's updated infotainment system proved to be intuitive and with quick response times.

Lower trim levels still get the standard 8-inch unit.

The Rogue comes with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto along with Google Assist integration.

The screen is also home to the Rogue SL's surround view camera.

The system stitches together images from the Rogue's various cameras to create a 360-degree overhead view of the vehicle.

The Rogue SL comes with three-zone climate control.

The combination of physical dials and buttons proved to be a breeze to use.

Under the climate controls are a pair of USB-C plugs and a wireless charging pad.

The Rogue comes exclusively with USB-C plugs. No USB-As to be found.

The Rogue comes with a toggle-style gear shifter.

Bump the shifter forward to go into reverse, pull back once to go into drive, and pull back a second time to go into manual mode. Press the "P" button atop the shifter to go into park.

The Rogue's cabin provides a comfortable and relaxing place to be for long drives.

The driver's seat is exceptionally comfortable. Even though I would have liked a greater degree of adjustability, the seats are still one of the most comfortable I've experienced in this segment.

The quality of the Rogue SL's white leather upholstery was excellent, especially for a mass-market vehicle.

Lower-spec Rogues come standard with cloth and leatherette upholstery, while the top-tier Platinum gets quilted leather seats.

My test car also came with a power panoramic moonroof that filled the cabin with sunlight.

Unfortunately, the moonroof robs the cabin of about 2 inches of headroom.

The Rogue's second row 60/40 split bench seat offers room for 3.

The Rogue's second-row boasts an impressive 41.5 inches of leg room, on par with the Tucson and the CR-V, and beats the RAV4 by more than 3 inches.

Second row occupants get their own climate controls.

Next to the climate controls are a pair of USB-C plugs for the rear seat. Front seat occupants get wireless charging along with a set of two USB-C plugs of their own.

Open up the power liftgate and you'll find 31.6 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seats.

Remove the cargo floor and space behind the second row expands to 36.5 cubic feet.

However, that still falls short of the Tucson we recently tested's 38.7 cubic feet.

Under the rear cargo floor is a spare tire and the subwoofer for the Rogue's stereo.

I appreciated the fact that the Rogue maintains a spare tire in an era where the OEMs opt for the cheaper and lighter tire inflation kit.

With the rear seats folded down, the Rogue boasts 74.1 cubic feet.

That's on par with the Hyundai Tucson.

The Rogue comes equipped with a host of advanced safety features.

The Rogue is equipped with a complete suite of active advanced safety features, including adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, and intelligent lane intervention.

My verdict: The Nissan Rogue is a solid compact SUV with a funky little engine.

In the harshly competitive arena of the compact SUV market, the Nissan Rogue is a standout.

It offers a quiet cabin, loads of tech, and a funky but very gutsy little engine.

It's not perfect, and a traditional automatic instead of a CVT would do wonders, it's still a highly competitive and highly capable little SUV.

• Desk workers' weekly meeting hours have decreased by 31% since 2021, says a survey by Reclaim.ai.
• We might have fewer meetings than a few years ago, but the time can still cut into productivity. 
• Despite the drop in appointments, workers only attend 83% of them, often because they're too busy.

We're spending less time in meetings than just a few years ago. Yet, like a dieter who's cut a few pounds but can't see it, our extra free time isn't always obvious.

According to Reclaim.ai, which makes an AI-powered calendar app, desk workers' time in meetings has dropped to 14.8 hours a week in 2024 from 21.5 hours a week in 2021. That's a 31% decrease, according to data from 1,300 workers it surveyed.

That reduction might surprise those of us who twitch when we hear a meeting reminder go off. Of course, many people are still beholden to too many calendar events, but it seems it could be worse.

The change can be partially explained by Covid. There was a jump in meetings, especially one-on-ones, during the depths of pandemic lockdowns because so many people were working from home, Henry Shapiro, Reclaim.ai cofounder and COO, told Business Insider.

"There was this big spike and almost overcorrection," he said. "Then people kind of settled out and said, like, 'Wait, what are we all doing here?'"

But while some of us have managed to shed meetings, we still attend an average of 17.1 a week. And they're taking longer, with the average meeting length at 51.9 minutes, up from 50.6 in 2021. Thanks, "just one more thing" crowd.

All of this time can be costly. The survey, which focused on tech companies, found that employees spend 37% of their work hours in meetings. Reclaim.ai said that, based on the average pay in the US, those get-togethers add up to about $29,000 per worker yearly.

The biggest culprit: team meetings. There are an average of 6.7 a week, though about eight in 10 workers canceled or rescheduled one of those in the past year because their calendars were bursting.

Shapiro said the rise of remote work during the pandemic — and its relative endurance even now with hybrid setups — meant many of us saw meetings as an essential way to connect with others. Some workers believed they had to revive ties with colleagues after years of working apart, Shapiro said.

"Those relationships used to get built inside of the office in all these sort of serendipitous ways. And now, the only real function for them to do that is through some kind of recurring touchpoint," he said.

Shapiro said meetings have their place, especially because not all workers are together every day. Yet they need to be a good use of time, he added. "There is such a thing as bad meetings. There is such a thing as good meetings," Shapiro said.

The business of managing your calendar itself can drain productivity, he said. The survey, which was conducted from February through April, found that workers spend about three hours a week booking and rescheduling meetings.

Many workers are so overcommitted that they attend only 83% of what they're supposed to. We're canceling, declining, or skipping 3.5 meetings a week, the survey found. The main reason — cited by more than eight in 10 respondents — was a conflict with, you guessed it, another meeting. A slightly smaller percentage said they opted to ditch the meeting to focus on something more important.

Having fewer meetings could help add flexibility to our workdays. That's a priority for many of us. In a survey involving nearly 1,100 Gen Zers in March and April by the career platform iHire, 81.3% of respondents reported that choice over "when, where, and how" they would do a job was either "extremely" or "very" important.

That was nearly in line with the 82.2% of young US workers who stated that having a would-be employer extend a "fair and competitive" salary was extremely or very important.

And, yet, tiresome as they can be, meetings are often essential, Ron Hetrick, senior labor economist at the research firm Lightcast, previously told BI.

"People rip on meetings," he said. "But there's a value in meetings." Hetrick said workers — particularly those early in their careers — use meetings to mature and learn what happens when people might disagree. "I'm seeing how problems get worked out," he said.

Shapiro works remotely most of the time but is in the office on Wednesdays. On those days, he schedules only a few meetings, like a handful of one-on-ones, where he might grab coffee and go for a walk with a colleague.

"The way I've described it to the team is Wednesdays are some of my least productive days," Shapiro said. "And yet they're also like my best days in a lot of ways."

An earlier version of this story appeared on April 24, 2024.

• Near the border of northeastern Ukraine, some of Russia's lethal Su-34 fighter jets sit in the open.
• The bombers have been used to pound Ukraine with regular barrages of glide bombs.
• But Ukraine must seek US approval to strike the exposed jets.

Near the border with northeastern Ukraine, some of Russia's deadly Su-34 fighter bombers lie exposed on the tarmac of a military airfield as they await orders to carry out their next attack.

Voronezh Malshevo airbase is a launching point for jets operated by the Russian Air Force's 47th Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment.

The 47th has regularly taken part in attacks on the Kharkiv region while also frequently carrying out strikes on Ukrainian forces and civilians using highly destructive glide bombs.

Satellite images of Voronezh Malshevo airbase show what appears to be a group of Su-34s, along with other planes and helicopters, lined up on the runway — seemingly there for the taking.

At just 100 miles from the Ukrainian border, the base is easily within range of Ukraine's US-manufactured Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), a 300 km (186 miles) surface-to-surface artillery weapon system.

However, the United States prohibits Ukraine from striking recognized Russian territory with the ATACMS. Kyiv is only permitted to strike targets within sovereign territory, including occupied territory. Ukraine this month struck Sevastopol in occupied Crimea with ATACMS missiles, killing at least four people and injuring over 150 others. Moscow blamed the United States for the attack and vowed to retaliate.

It will likely be a major frustration for Kyiv, which has embarked on a dedicated campaign to hamper the Russian Air Force and take out the Su-34s.

Ukraine has often been forced to rely on equipment like drones to carry out these strikes, which can be thwarted using electronic systems.

Earlier this month, Ukrainian forces launched at least 70 drones at a military airbase in Russia's Rostov region, almost 200 miles from the Ukrainian border.

In that attack, a satellite image of an airfield close to Morozovsk also showed what appeared to be multiple Su-34 fighter bombers once again lined up in the open.

A Russian Telegram channel claimed one source in the Russian General Staff said: "Most of the drones were shot down, a few failed. We have six dead, including two military pilots. And more than ten wounded."

The extent of the damage to aircraft caused by the attack was not yet known.

Russia has ramped up its use of powerful glide bombs as its war in Ukraine has progressed.

The cheap munitions are produced by attaching wings and satellite navigation systems to old Soviet-era bombs.

Russian jets like the Su-34 are then able to release them from safer distances, making it hard for Ukraine to counter such attacks.

New video footage shared on Russian Telegram channels last week appeared to capture the first combat use of Russia's huge 6,600-pound glide bomb.

The colossal FAB-3000 bomb was dropped by a Su-34 jet, Forbes reported.

"The fact that Russian forces have figured out how to launch FAB-3000s is a significant development and will increase the destructive potential of Russia's ongoing glide bomb attacks against Ukrainian forces and infrastructure," the Institute for the Study of War wrote in an update on the conflict.

• I'm a mom of four kids and my family hadn't been on a real vacation for years until last year. 
• For a five day vacation, we spent $6,000, and so this year we are staying local. 
• I'm finding ways to keep the kids entertained, from picking themes to getting season passes. 

Last summer, my family of six went on vacation to a Florida beach. We hadn't been on a "real vacation" since before the pandemic. Despite having free flights by using credit card rewards, between the rental car, food (most of which we prepared and ate at the rental), and condo costs, as well as limiting our vacation to five days instead of a week, we dropped close to $6000.

Summer has barely started, and my social media feed is flooded with friends and family members' vacation pics. Unlike them, we will not be going on vacation this year.

Instead, we've figured out how to vacation from or close to home. Here are my tips for the families, like mine, who can't travel this summer.

Take advantage of local, outdoor fun

Along with your kids, research local nature centers, hiking or biking trails, and cool parks (splash pad, anyone?) in neighboring towns.

Getting out in nature is almost always free, exposes everyone to fresh air and sunshine, and allows for new adventures. Don't have bikes? Rent them. Need binoculars? Borrow them. I know, for example, that our local library offers loanable fishing poles to patrons.

Plan a staycation

What's the closest major city to your family? Find a hotel (with a pool, of course), research restaurants and entertainment spots and you've got a low-budget staycation.

One year, we staycationed in St. Louis. We rented a large, historical home (it had a ballroom!) for less than $250 a night. It had a kitchen, so we had breakfast and lunch "at home" every day, and enjoyed dinner out at St. Louis-famous restaurants at night. We took our kids to the ever-popular City Museum. To this day, our kids still say this was their favorite vacation.

Pick a theme

What's something your family enjoys? Mine loves ice cream. A theme can set the mood for the summer, such as finding and trying ice cream shops. Decide how often your crew would like to embark on your themed-adventure and get some dates and places on the calendar.

Other theme ideas include sports, music, animals, movies, or art. Then plan your activities accordingly, out and about or at home.

Put ideas in a bowl and draw a surprise

Have each family member come up with closer-to-home activities. With parent approval, place ideas in a bowl. Once a week, draw an activity and do it. Ideas include seeing a movie, going to brunch, visiting a bookstore, enjoying a walking trail, packing a picnic, volunteering, visiting a family member. This can also be tasks like gathering and donating clothing, toys, and books.

Head to a family or friend's house

You know that one family member who is always telling you to come and stay anytime? Now is the time. Take them up on their offer to house your crew, just don't overstay your welcome. See their local sights and enjoy local restaurants. Clean up after yourselves, offer to buy dinner one night, and take the host a gift that's special to your geographical location: wine from a local winery, for example.

Get season passes

Season passes to a nearby theme park or kid-friendly museum or activity center can save you substantial money. For example, a theme park that is within an hour of our home offers season passes that would be paid for if our family of six visits the park just once during the entire summer (between admission tickets and parking).

Frame your summer fun planning as a positive, not as what you could be doing if you had more money and time. You "get" to do these things, an incredible opportunity. Set the tone for a family-fun summer, enjoying the process while saving money.

• Viral hits by Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter, and Tinashe point to a bigger trend in pop music.
• So far, this summer has been dominated by "smooth brain" songs — fun, silly, powered by good vibes.
• This may be a reaction to the recent onslaught of bad news, sparking a greater need for escapism.

This time last year, I woke up every morning and played "The Record" by boygenius from top to bottom.

After that album ended with "Letter to an Old Poet," a song about mourning a toxic relationship and pleading with the moon for a scrap of happiness, I'd usually chase with tracks by Mitski, Noah Kahan, or Ethel Cain, who tend to write somberly about loneliness, depression, and occasionally murder.

Now, in a delightful twist, I wake up every morning and listen to Charli XCX's "Brat" — or, as she puts it, "365 party girl, bumpin' that."

Charli's sixth studio album is a buffet of neon-lit, hyper-pop bangers that careen wildly from giddy boasts about wearing designer clothes and being iconic to stark confessions about body image and feminine envy.

In contrast to Mitski's or Kahan's works, Charli's confessions aren't meant to make you pause and weep. Hers are plainspoken, unpolished, and impulsive, thrown into the ether with abandon and then eclipsed by heavy beats.

Charli's stream-of-consciousness style mirrors a night at the club; ugly emotions bubble up, but when the DJ plays your favorite song, they dissolve just as quickly.

"Brat," along with viral hits like Sabrina Carpenter's "Espresso" and Tinashe's "Nasty," have ushered in a season of pleasure and levity — what my friends and I have been calling a "smooth brain summer."

The key tenants are simple: Don't overthink, don't overanalyze, and don't kill the vibe.

'Smooth brain summer' may be a reaction to the news cycle

This trend might feel incongruous with the amount of suffering in the world these days, particularly in recent months. But maybe, instead, it's a direct correlation — a demand born of burnout, bad news fatigue, and the fatalistic urge to party on a ledge. It's not October yet; after all, if the apocalypse is coming, our window for pure whimsy is closing.

The primary lure of pop music has always been escapism. The late producer Sophie — a friend and frequent collaborator of Charli, who has a song dedicated to her on "Brat" — once said her goal with pop music was to make "the loudest, brightest thing."

"That, to me, is an interesting challenge, musically and artistically," Sophie told Rolling Stone. "And I think it's a very valid challenge — just as valid as who can be the most raw emotionally."

Indeed, we've lived in a pop world dominated by Taylor Swift and refashioned in her likeness for several years. Swift's brand of confessional, verbose songwriting has influenced a new generation of musicians that came of age in her wake, from established cult favorites like Phoebe Bridgers to fresher faces like Olivia Rodrigo and Gracie Abrams — all of whom prioritize raw, unflinching honesty in their lyrics.

Nowadays, it's customary for an artist to promote their forthcoming album as their "most personal work yet," as if that's an indisputable virtue or a magic spell for mainstream success. The strategy is getting old if it isn't already.

Of course, that's not to say artists like Rodrigo and Abrams are no longer successful. Rodrigo is in the midst of a sold-out world tour to support her No. 1 sophomore album, "Guts," while Abrams is aiming for a high debut on the Billboard charts with her own sophomore album, "The Secret of Us," bolstered by a duet with Swift herself.

Some music should be complete gibberish

It is to say that ripped-from-the-diary songwriting isn't the only way to make great music, climb the charts, or capture the zeitgeist. Not everyone can write a Swiftian hit; indeed, most people shouldn't try. Some music should just be fun, even if the lyrics are gibberish.

As we've been reminded this year, some music is actually more fun if the lyrics are gibberish. Take Carpenter, for example, who posits in "Espresso" that her charms are so addictive, so distracting, they keep her lover awake like a shot of caffeine.

"That's that me espresso" is a grammatically incorrect sentence, and therein lies the beauty. A simple concept becomes a catchphrase, infinitely quotable and compulsively shareable; it makes the chorus feel like an inside joke between everyone who sings along.

Charli and Tinashe have their own versions of this cheeky gimmick. In the chorus of "360," the opening track on "Brat," Charli sings, "I'm everywhere, I'm so Julia." The line is an obscure reference to Julia Fox, which most people would never catch, even if they've seen her in the music video.

The language of "I'm so Julia" borders on nonsensical. Still, that's the phrase that'll stick in your weird lizard brain — the part fueled by vibes, not logic. Across social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, people can be found enjoying a new way to compliment their friends and idols: "You're soooo Julia."

For Tinashe, whose catalog overflows with clever, expertly crafted songs that should've been hits, one ridiculous query has finally earned her breakthrough: "Is somebody gonna match my freak?"

It became a dance trend, then a meme, and now, the song is a true mainstream success. "Nasty" recently reached No. 69 on the Billboard Hot 100, Tinashe's first-ever solo entry, over a decade after signing her first label contract.

These peculiar bops form the perfect foundation for a "smooth brain summer" soundtrack — though please note that doesn't mean they're devoid of value or meaning. Rather, their value and meaning are splayed out in plain sight, ready and eager for consumption. Very little soul-searching or analysis is required to enjoy.

An appetite (and a need) still exists for complex metaphors, history lessons, and personal revelations in pop music — but now is not the time. We're too busy guzzling that me espresso.

• Biden will meet with his family at Camp David to discuss the future of his campaign, reports say.
• The trip was planned long in advance but the purpose has shifted after Biden's rough debate.
• A chorus of influential supporters have called on Biden to step aside in the last 48 hours.

Today, President Joe Biden will meet his family at Camp David to discuss the future of his election campaign, according to multiple reports.

It will likely be one of the most agonizing decisions of his long political life.

The pre-planned trip — a chance for the entire family, children and grandchildren included, to take a family photo — is a timely opportunity for a private meeting among the people who are perhaps most influential in Biden's life. His family played a key role in his decision to run in 2020.

The discussion follows Biden's disastrous debate performance against former president Donald Trump on Thursday night. During the debate, Biden struggled with a raspy voice and rambling answers that renewed concerns about his age.

In the 48 hours since the debate, a chorus of donors and other supporters have called on Biden to step aside. The New York Times editorial board did the same. Outside a fundraising event on Saturday, voters who support Biden held signs asking him to exit the race. The weekend was dominated by debates about who could take Biden's place.

In just 90 minutes, Biden's debate performance seems to have sparked the most serious challenge to his presidency yet. Biden's campaign, however, has largely pushed back. And Biden himself has made no indication that he would step down.

The president publicly responded to his debate struggles on Friday.

"Folks, I might not walk as easily or talk as smoothly as I used to. I might not debate as well as I used to. But what I do know is how to tell the truth," he said at a rally in North Carolina.

In response to the reports that Biden would discuss his campaign with his family, Andrew Bates, the White House senior deputy press secretary, said on X that the Camp David trip was pre-planned and dismissed the reports.