Statistic of the day

$1.04B: The global box office gross of Pixar's "Inside Out 2" as of Sunday. This makes it the first movie to earn $1 billion at the box office in 2024 and the fastest animated film in history to achieve the mark. Before this, no Pixar movie had generated more than $480 million at the box office since 2019.
CNBC

In the Spotlight

The heated battle over air conditioning at the Olympics

With the Summer Games in Paris just weeks away, athletes will arrive at an Olympic Village without air conditioning. As part of Paris' commitment to a greener Games, AC has not been installed in the village, with French officials insisting the buildings will stay cool through a geothermal water system. However, many athletes are worried, especially given the expected scorching temperatures throughout Europe.

Why are officials not installing AC?
It's part of the city's commitment to environmental friendliness at the upcoming Olympics and a scaling back of elements that require additional electricity. Officials have said that this summer's events will be the "greenest ever Games."

Paris' Olympic Village will be cooled with a system of pipes that pump cold water underneath the buildings. The village was "designed to avoid the need for air conditioning, even in very, very high temperatures," Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said to Reuters. The International Olympic Committee has claimed that this will keep the buildings at least 10 degrees cooler than the outside temperature.

A lack of air conditioning is not unusual in Europe as a whole. Less than one in 10 European households have AC installed, according to the International Energy Agency.

How have athletes reacted?
Several national teams have confirmed their athletes will bring portable air-conditioning units to Paris, most notably the Americans. The U.S. has "great respect for the work that has been done by the Paris Organizing Committee," but "in our conversations with athletes, [AC] was a very high priority and something that the athletes felt was a critical component in their performance capability," U.S. Olympic and Paralympic CEO Sarah Hirshland said.

Countries following suit include Australia, Canada, Denmark, Greece, Italy and the U.K., said The Washington Post. However, this raises a question of fairness. Portable air conditioners are not cheap, and their usage "represents a cost that some delegations from poorer countries might not be able to afford, meaning athletes in the same Olympic Village might be sleeping at different temperatures," said the Post.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

'I'm kind of honored, in one way, that they hate me so much they feel they have to put Bannon away.'

Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon during an interview with The New York Times before heading to prison. He began serving a four-month sentence today at noon after he was found guilty of contempt of Congress for defying a House subpoena investigating the Jan. 6 capitol riot.

the explainer

Retail media is seeing a surge this year

The biggest scramble in business right now is the race to dominate retail media. This relatively new concept is at the forefront of the digital advertising world and may become one of the main sources of revenue for major brands. Cannes Lions, a global advertising festival held in France, attracts advertisers from around the world, and this year, retail media dominated the event.

What is it?
At its most basic, retail media is when a "retailer offers advertising capabilities and services, similar to what media outlets such as publishers and television networks have done for years," said Retail TouchPoints. This can include "'on-site' advertising opportunities — such as ads and videos on [a retailer's] own website, app or even in its physical stores," said Retail TouchPoints. The flip side of this is "off-site" advertising, when a retailer "lets advertisers leverage its first-party data to reach customers on third-party channels like social media."

How big is the industry?
Global retail media spending will reach $140 billion this year, said eMarketer. This accounts for more than a fifth of all digital ad spending in 2024 and marks a 21% increase year-to-year from retail media spending in 2023.

When looking at individual companies, the scale of their retail media revenues is staggering. Amazon, for example, earned $46.9 billion from retail ads. This figure "makes Amazon the third-largest advertising platform in the United States, behind only Google and Facebook," said the Harvard Business Review.

What comes next?
The industry isn't slowing down. U.S. retail media spending will reach $129 billion by 2028, up from $54 billion this year, said eMarketer. The industry is "becoming vital to ad channels outside of retail media networks as the first-party data it gathers from retailers allows for better targeting across social, search and the open web," said eMarketer.

At Cannes Lions, a slew of "dealmaking talk over potential partnerships between retailers, content providers and ad tech took place," said Axios. Shoppers themselves are the "new product being sold in-store and online," Mark Boidman, of Solomon Partners, said to Axios.

Good day 💋

… for Marilyn Monroe's legacy. Fans of the late actor won a long-fought dispute when the Los Angeles City Council voted to designate the home where Monroe lived and died a historic cultural monument. The current homeowners live next door and wanted to "raze the house in order to expand their estate," said The Associated Press. "There's no other person or place in the city of Los Angeles as iconic as Marilyn Monroe and her Brentwood home," Traci Park, the area's council representative, said before the vote that saved the home.

Bad day 🚀

… for a Chinese rocket. The Tianlong-3 rocket crashed and exploded in central China on Sunday when it accidentally launched during a static test. The company behind the rocket, Beijing Tianbing, said it was due to a structural issue on the test stand. The incident was described as a "catastrophic" failure. There were no reports of injuries or casualties from the explosion.

Puzzles

Daily crossword

Test your general knowledge with The Week's daily crossword, part of our puzzles section, which also includes sudoku and codewords

Play here

The Week recommends

Bars for sipping your way through summer

Summer requires revitalization. The heat diminishes; a good drink freshens. This collection of bars scurries across the country on the hunt for the kind of drinking that makes summer not only tolerable but lavish.

Bolita, Los Angeles
This effervescent low-key spot knows zero-proof cocktails deserve pride of place on a menu alongside the classics. Order a booze-less Falsetto with American malt spirit, amaretti and egg white with some mariquitas (plantain chips). Or if you're after the sauce, select the Benny the Jet Rodriguez with Jamaican rum, Fernet-Branca and kola syrup.

Cecily, New York City
Often, the best wine bar is one where you can choose from a variety of adventures. Maybe you want a glass of Spanish natural wine. Maybe you want a full-bore dinner with a bottle or two. Maybe you require an option somewhere between the extremes, a bite, a glass, another bite or two. Cecily is prepared to solve every possible need.

Estereo, Chicago
You could start and stop with a frozen cocktail of Bacardí Reserva Ocho rum, Pitu cachaca, banana and lime, this being summer in Chicago. But there's a glut of sublime drinking to be had at the two locations of this easygoing bar concept. Maybe a tequila drink with two kinds of tequila, two kinds of mezcal, crème de cassis and lime? There are only right answers here.

Poll watch

Americans are significantly more likely to view antisemitism in the U.S. as a problem now than two decades ago, according to a new Gallup poll. The poll found that 49% of Americans view antisemitism as a "very serious" problem, compared to just 9% that felt this way in 2003. Another 32% view antisemitism as a "somewhat serious" problem.

INSTANT OPINION

Today's best commentary

'Why I want an open convention'
Bill Maher at The New York Times
Last week's debate "wasn't a tragedy, it was a blessing in disguise," says Bill Maher. "Far from being some kind of disaster for the Democratic Party," replacing President Joe Biden as the candidate "plays right into what works best in 21st-century American culture. Americans like new." Democrats "could not buy" the "enthusiasm, engagement and interest they would get from having an open convention — and in Chicago no less, famous for Democratic convention drama."

'Blood in the EV supply chain'
Michelle Chen at The Nation
The world needs a "decarbonized auto industry if we are to have a sustainable future," but the "production of electric vehicles is still causing massive environmental and social damage in both the Global South and the United States," says Michelle Chen. The "breakneck extraction of nickel in the Global South is ravaging communities and Indigenous lifeways." And the "global market for green cars will keep relying on minerals extracted from poorer less-regulated countries."

'If you were relieved by the Supreme Court's abortion rulings this term, think again'
Mary Ziegler at the Los Angeles Times
The Supreme Court temporarily protected emergency abortion access in Idaho, and it "may seem at first that abortion supporters should be happy," says Mary Ziegler. But the "truth is that the court's Idaho ruling is its own kind of disaster." It will increase the confusion and chaos women face when they need an emergency termination in states that ban all or most abortions." Americans shouldn't "expect the Supreme Court to come to the rescue of women."

WORD OF THE DAY

rice-zempic

A mixture of rice, water and lime juice that social media users tout as an inexpensive alternative to the weight-loss drug Ozempic. The drink reportedly makes people feel fuller for longer. But the drink has "zero scientific backing," Scott Keatley, the co-owner of Keatley Medical Nutrition Therapy, said to Health.

Does SCOTUS's immunity ruling turn a president into a 'king'?