Morning Brew Daily - American Eagle Soars After Sydney Sweeney Ad & Travel Agents Are Back

Episode Date: September 5, 2025

Episode 664: Welcome Morning Brew Newsletter writer Dave Lozo to the show! Dave and Neal discuss what happened when Stephen Miran, President Trump’s latest pick for the Federal Reserve, said during a Congressional hearing. Then, looking at Giorgio Armani’s life and career following his death at 91. Then American Eagle stock is up after making headlines for their marketing campaigns and why is September such a bad month? Finally the headlines you need to know before the weekend.  Checkout https://www.indeedfutureworks.com/brew fore more Subscribe to Morning Brew Daily for more of the news you need to start your day. Share the show with a friend, and leave us a review on your favorite podcast app. Listen to Morning Brew Daily Here:⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.swap.fm/l/mbd-note⁠⁠⁠  Watch Morning Brew Daily Here:⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@MorningBrewDailyShow⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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pwc.com slash US slash brew AI. That's pwc.com slash us slash brewAI. Good morning brew daily show. I'm Neil Freymann. And I'm Dave Lozo. Today we don't our finest suits to remember fashion icon Georgio Armani. And in less fancy fashion news, American Eagle had its best day ever after Sidney's Swedeny sold a whole lot of jeans.

It's Friday, September 5th. Let's ride. Dave Lozo, who the heck are you? Neil, you hired me literally two years ago. All right. It's all coming back. No, Dave is an incredible. and hilarious writer for the Morning Brew Newsletter, one of many great writers on that team.

It also works on the Morning Brew's social media. He hails from the great state of New Jersey and won three out of four bets on the Eagles game last night. Dave, what is your mindset going into this podcast? Well, I've heard you call Kyle the six man off the bench because he comes in. He gets buckets. He plays good minutes. I'm more like the 12th man off the bench. I'm the coach's kid. I come in in a 40 point blowout with one minute to go and everyone's just like, put up a shot, put up a shot and then I airball it. That's the energy. You're not going to airball this. Toby has been gone for this week.

Kyle did three shows. You're coming in for today's Friday show. I guess that is the equivalent of the 40-point lead. We just throw you in on a Friday. But you're going to absolutely kill it. And I'm excited for this particular show. Toby will be coming back on Monday unless you do such an incredible job and you take a job. I mean, it's possible. We'll find out.

All right. Now word from our sponsor. Indeed. Dave, what do you know about AI's application in the hiring process? Not very much because I haven't applied for a job in a very long time. Me neither, but I've heard Indeed's AI-powered solutions for job seekers and employers are reshaping the hiring landscape. Well, that makes sense when you consider just how many people and jobs Indeed connects every day. That kind of learning could seriously accelerate and simplify the job search and hiring process.

They're getting into all this and more at FutureWorks September 10th and 11th, and Morning Brew will be there for all of it. Learn more at Indeedfutureworks.com slash brew. that's Indeed, futureworks.com slash brew. Hey, Mama, thanks for making all my favorite recipes. Hi, Ma. Thanks for your unfiltered advice. Hi, Mom. Thanks for always being by the phone. Hey, Mom. Happy Mother's Day.

When you ship UPS Air at the UPS store, your items arrive on time or your money back. Guaranteed at no extra cost, exclusively at the UPS store UPS store U.S. retail locations. Visit the UPS store.com slash air shipping for full details. Terms and conditions apply. your Mother's Day gifts at the UPS store and we'll get your gratitude there on time. The process of being confirmed as a Federal Reserve governor is typically less exciting than hearing somebody else talk about their fantasy football team. Not so yesterday when Fed nominee Stephen Myron was grilled by senators in a confirmation hearing filled with high drama

over the future of the central bank's independence. Myron currently serves as a top economic advisor to President Trump and the White House. When Fed Governor Adriana Coogler resigned unexpectedly in August, the president tapped Mike. to fill the role and join the Fed's seven-member board of governors that determines interest rates. The pick of a close ally raised even more concerns that Trump was trying to bend the Fed to his will in order to get lower rates. It comes after Trump has publicly mocked Fed share Jerome Powell and fired Fed Governor Lisa Cook over accusations of mortgage fraud. Cook is currently suing to keep her position. In the hearing, Myron tried to tamp down worries that he'd be taking

marching orders from Trump in his role at the Fed. My opinions and decisions will be based on my analysis of the macro economy and what's best for its long-term stewardship, he said. The federal open market committee is an independent group with a monumental task, and I intend to preserve that independence and serve the American people to the best of my ability. Republicans appeared to be comforted by this and could confirm Myron to join the Fed before the central bank's next interest rate decision in less than two weeks. Okay, first of all, was that fantasy football thing a shot at me? I thought that was interesting conversation.

It was not. Okay. So there was some pointed criticism from senators. about the potential conflict of interest at play here, with Myron taking an unpaid leave of absence, but not resigning his position as an economic advisor to Trump during his four-month stint. He did say he would resign if he were to stick around for a full term,

but it still left senators wondering about a potential conflict. Senator Jack Reed, a Democrat from Rhode Island, said, quote, your independence has already been seriously compromised by your statement. You are going to be technically an employee of the president of the United States, but an independent member of the Board of the Federal Reserve. That's ridiculous. Anytime you can say that's ridiculous during a confirmation hearing, that's got to feel pretty good. But the issue here is really the Fed independence and what that means.

And so according to an analysis from Goldman Sachs, quote, a scenario where Fed independence is damaged would likely lead to higher inflation, lower stock and long-dated bond prices and an erosion of the dollars reserve currency status. So it's not even necessarily is he or is he not independent. It's about the perception of it. If the perception is that is not, that could be bad for the markets. Goldman also said that if just 1% of the privately owned U.S. Treasury, market removed into gold, a historical safe haven for skittish investors, the price of gold could rise to $5,000 per ounce, and they are already sitting near an all-time high of $3,600 per ounce. Yeah, so administration officials were simultaneously serving on the Fed in the early days

of the United States. You would be the chairman of the Fed and also the Secretary of the Treasury at the same time. No one thought too much of it. But then in the early 1900s, they said, way. We need to separate the Fed from the White House to insulate the Fed from political pressures so they make decisions based on the long-term health of the economy rather than the short-term interest of anybody who's in the White House. So after 1936, there was never anyone serving simultaneously on the Fed board as well as in the White House. Myron did raise eyebrows by saying he wouldn't resign from his position in the administration. He said he would take a leave of absence and then come back after this term expires in January, as you mentioned, he said,

well, if I get confirmed for even longer, then I will resign. But because of this short-term stint, he's not going to officially resign. And he cited his lawyers as saying that's what he should do. He just offloaded everything to them. He said, well, I talked to my lawyers. They said, it was fine if I just took a planned leave of absence and then I'll come back. But you can understand why a lot of Democratic senators were saying, well, this presents, even if it's not a conflict of interest, you're right.

It is the perception and that's what the investors will be looking for. We also have this big report coming out later today. There is the jobs report. Myron and everyone else on the Fed is going to be looking at this because we've had this weakest, weakest stretch of job growth since COVID pandemic. We've had four straight months of job growth coming in, sub 100,000 jobs added to the economy. And it looks like that is going to continue. Economists expect 75,000 jobs were added.

over the course of this week, we've had some really bad other jobs reports. The jobs report that comes out at the end of every month is the Super Bowl of Jobs Reports, but there have been other data points that show a weakening labor market. So we'll find that out at 8.30 a.m. Eastern time. Should be interesting. It should be very, very interesting. Moving on to our next story, some sad news from the fashion world as iconic designer, Georgi Ormani passed away at the age of 91 in Milan on Thursday. The Italian Trailblazer established his brand that became synonymous with luxury and elegance in 1975,

with $10,000 in startup money and grew his personal net worth to an estimated $9.5 billion as the sole shareholder of the private company. Armani's original career path wasn't even in fashion as he attended medical school and later joined the Army where he worked in an infirmary. Now, when you think of Armani, you probably think of that name being the answer to the Who Are You Wearing Question on Oscars Red Carpets? Nobody asks me that because the answer is always Old Navy and Gap. It's a question absolutely nobody would ever ask me.

but Armani also pioneered business attire for women in the 1980s with power suits that allowed them to stand on equal footing with men. Armani had no children, but he has discussed a succession plan for the company. In a 2024 interview, he said he envisioned, quote, a pool of trusted close to me and chosen by me to lead Armani into the future, pointing toward partner and head of men's design, Leo Del Orcoe and several nieces and nephews. Armani always care deeply about maintaining the company's independence. independence is kind of the theme of the first two stories. It is. But in that same interview, he said, quote, what has always characterized the success of my work is an ability to adapt the changing times.

Neil, I say this as someone wearing $20 ripped jeans and a $6 t-shirt, but Armani's impact on the world through fashion is almost immeasurable. Yeah, I mean, I can't say I am either very plugged in to the world of high fashion. But of course, I know Armani's name because everyone does. He was one of the most influential people in the fashion world for the past half century and changed nearly the way everyone dressed. What was very interesting about Armani was his bet on Hollywood. And he got his breakthrough in 1980 when Richard Gere in the film American Gigolo

wore Armani suits. He looks absolutely incredible in that film. Armani identified Hollywood and celebrities as his way to the wider fashion world. And so he was the first designer to open an office in Hollywood in 1983 and later went on to dress people in more than 250 films, including Christian Bail suits in the Dark Night in 2008. And we're all wondering why this was the best Bruce Wayne ever. Well, it's probably because he looks so good in this Armani suit. So very interesting, the way that Armani was inspired by fashion and leveraged Hollywood celebrities, especially on the red carpet to get his name out there.

Yeah, the 1990 Oscars was kind of the first one where people dressing and people asking, hey, who were you wearing, kind of became a thing. Because in 1990, he dressed Julia Roberts. He dressed Jody Foster. He dressed Michelle Pfeiffer, Jessica Lang, and he continued doing it through current times with Zendaya, Hunter Schaefer, Rihanna, and Cape Lanchette. So he figured it out. And he even said that the synergy between the fashion film world is what was what made him the designer he was. And so he's, he's a businessman and a designer. He realized Hollywood was the key to growing his business. And I think it worked out pretty well for him. Let's talk about his business. So one very interesting thing about Armani specifically in the constellation of Italian fashion brands was that it has stayed independent.

Now, a number of his rivals have been scooped up by French conglomerates and Italian conglomerates. LVMH owns Fendi and Bulgari. Caring owns Gucci Tapestry, owns Versace, but no one owns Armani. And he has maintained this for decades. It could have been very easy to sell this company to a larger conglomerate. But maybe it's just his quirks or his iconic attention to detail. He's tried to keep Armani private, and he was the sole shareholder right now, which makes succession a little more interesting.

You're right. He didn't have any kids. He has a close advisory group of nieces and nephews, who he's worked closely with. He also has a few business partners. And he said, I'm fine with them taking Armani in whatever direction they choose. And he did near the end of his life float that potentially they could get acquired by a bigger fashion house. But so far, through his entire career since the 70s, Armani stayed independent. That's probably one of the biggest reasons why they were so successful, or why Armani was so successful, I should say. Moving on to our stock of the week, dog of the week, the segment where Dave and I pick one stock that scored free pizza and another that ponied up for a $17 salad out of desperation. Dave, you won the pre-show game of Blackjack Clean Meat right out, so you get to go first. All right, I'll go first, and I will say my stock of the week is American Eagle, which popped nearly 38% yesterday. It's best day on record because apparently Sydney Sweeney has great powers to insulate a company from bad publicity. Let's journey back to the end of July when American Eagle launched at Sydney-Sweeney has great jeans marketing campaign and faced almost immediate backlash. It led to a fierce debate over whether the genes-jeans homoform was not so subtle commentary on genetics, race, and beauty standards,

and even led to President Trump calling the campaign, quote, the hottest ad out there. There were some ups and downs with the stock in the weeks that followed, and foot traffic at American Eagle locations was down 9% during the first week of August. But on Wednesday, the company reported an earnings beat and increased sales projections, attributed to Sweeney, which led to euphoria. Do you get it? Euphoria, get the reference? For investors. CMO Craig Bromers told Marketing Brew, quote,

Sidney Sweeney is worth every single dollar that we invested. He also said the campaign generated an unprecedented spike of 790,000 new customers in the U.S. as well as nearly 320,000 new social followers. And Sweeney isn't going anywhere. Bromers said Sweeney will still be involved with American Eagle over the rest of the year. Neil, how many pairs of jeans did you buy

because of this ad campaign. I already have all the pair of gene I need for the fall, but I guess we shouldn't be surprised that one of the biggest influencers on this planet can get people to buy products. American Eagle called it their best advertising campaign in history. And they released a ton of numbers related to why it was their best campaign in history. They said the ad drew 40 billion impressions.

Her signature jeans sold out within a week of the campaigns launched in terms of search interest online. line. It jumped 186% in the week ending August 3rd compared to the week prior. Traffic on its website was up 15%. And you mentioned Sidney's jeans ad, which did extremely well for American Eagle, but they also had another ad campaign that they released recently, which was with a collab with Travis Kelsey and his lifestyle brand. And they also attributed that to insane sales. And they got very lucky with Kelsey because the announcement of this collab with Kelsey came the day after He proposed to Taylor Swift.

So everyone was already searching for Travis Kelsey. And then Travis Kelsey goes and does a partnership with American Eagle. So just a lot of tailwinds for American Eagle, people are very curious about whether the phrase, all publicity, any publicity is good publicity. And I think we're finding out that at least for American Eagle, that held true. Yeah. And I was starting to think this isn't a sustainable business model, is to just have Sidney Sweeney do an ad.

But then I thought about Nike. Nike said, hey, Michael Jordan, you want to sell shoes for 40 years? And that's worked out pretty well for them. And it was important for American Eagle to get this going because their stock was down 18% on the year going into yesterday. Obviously, it recouped a lot of that. Their performance was not good. They had merchandising issues. They're dealing with tariffs.

They already think that tariffs are going to hit its bottom line by $70 million. Sales were down 5% in the first quarter. Sales were down 3% in the second quarter. But they're projecting actually sales growth. And that's what investors were really responding to because sales were declining. And now they're saying that because of these. ad campaigns with Sydney Sweeney and Travis Kelsey that they're actually projecting sales will grow in the low single day. That's good enough for investors to send this stock up 38%.

There might be some meme stock flavor to American Eagle. Remember when this campaign was first announced American Eagle's stock spiked 20%, and a lot of that was attributed to retail investors, euphoria. So American Eagle is absolutely going to be leaning into these celebrity partnerships going forward. And not just Sydney Sweeney has established yourself as an influencer, but Travis Kelsey as well. He is, he can sell some products. Yeah, and Sundays or NFL Sundays Sundays now. So we're going to see Travis Kelsey during every other commercial break for the next what, what, five months. That's going to be fun. Or should I say Taylor Swift's husband. I mean, let's call him what he is. Travis, the future Travis Swift. All right, speaking of commercial breaks,

we're going to take a quick one, but we will be right back with our dog of the week. It's time to refresh your yard during spring backyard days at the Home Depot. Get low prices guaranteed heat on propane grills starting at $179, like the next grill three-burner gas grill, or get $50 off a select Weber Spirit grill and bring big flavor to your backyard. Then set the scene with Hampton Bay string lights that bring it all together. Shop spring backyard days for seven days at the Home Depot. Now through May 6th, Exclusion supplies to homedipo.com slash price match for details. My dog of the week is September because for whatever reason, September has been by far the worst month for the stock market in a seasonal quirk that's held for nearly a century. Since 1928, the S&P 500 has declined in September 55% of the time, the only individual month that it's dropped at least 50% of the time.

Over that period, the S&P has averaged a 1.1% decline, the worst performance of any calendar month. The most recent September's have not been ones to remember. In the last decade, six Septembers have ended lower, including a massive 9.3% drop in 2022 as the Fed was jacking up interest rates. It's not just an American phenomenon either. The September blues have been found across 47 countries with markets in Canada, the UK, and Hong Kong all falling in September in the past 50 years. So what is going on? Why does this amazing month that brings us football, sweaters, and nutmeg also send the stock market into a death spiral? No one exactly knows, but a number of theories have been raised, mostly that involve investors coming back from summer vacation and pruning their portfolios, which leads to selling pressure.

Dave, I want you to put on your tin foil hat. What is your conspiracy theory for why September is so bad for the stock market? So obviously, this has been going on for a century at this point. So I can't attribute this to all 100 years of it, but four of the past five have been especially rough. Six September's in the last decade have been in the red. sports betting has become legal in the last seven, eight years here in the United States and a lot of the states. And I think a lot of people are moving their money over to sports books and they're not winning it and they're not putting it back into anything. And so that's why September looks so bad. That's my, that's my theory.

I think there is probably a kernel of truth to that because we saw so much stock trading during peak COVID in 2020 when there was no sports to bet on. So there does seem to be some sort of correlation. I don't know if it's driving this, that this particular September phenomenon, because it has. has been going on for so long. And it's very curious. It's stumped a lot of academics and investors. But, you know, one theory that I think makes a little bit of sense is something called the post-holiday blues, which is that people are on vacation in the Hamptons. And they're not necessarily looking at all the bad news that's been coming down the pipeline

over the summer. So when they get back to their desks on Wall Street in September, they're saying, whoa, like, there's tariffs. And whoa, the Fed independence could be at risk here. maybe I got to sell. So that's maybe one thing where they're just not paying attention to bad news and they're coming back from vacation. Another one that's a little more technical and not as fun, but probably is driving a lot of the selling pressure in September is that many mutual fund companies and their fiscal year in September. So they are harvesting their losses.

They're looking through their portfolio and saying, what stinks here? Like, what can I get rid of to make my books look good? So they are selling stocks in September as their fiscal year closes. I know not exciting, but probably driving a lot of the September bearishness. But what's going on right now? Let's talk about this September. The S&P 500 gained 1% yesterday to reach a record high. There was a great earning season that we just came off of.

About 80% of the SEP 500 reported better than expected second quarter results. So despite a lot of the headwinds, we have a big Fed meeting coming up in the middle of September. We have the jobs report out later today. There's an inflation report out next week. So it's this real big 14-day gauntlet that investors are. dealing with right now, but stocks are at a record high. In the beginning of September, there's still a long way to go. It also feels a little bit like a self-fulfilling prophecy where every August,

everyone gets warned about how bad things are going to get in September, and then people panic, and they just repeat history. No one learns from history, Neil. They don't. And I think there's something there, too, because, you know, the markets are sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy, and they are guided by what are called animal spirits, those things that are not particularly tangible. So the fact that maybe people believe that stocks will go down in September, is the reason that they have, but maybe we'll buck the trend this month. People with steady jobs and finance law and other white-collar positions are ditching their high-paying jobs to become travel agents, Bloomberg reported.

Yep, this is a real trend. The number of people describing themselves as travel agents or advisors on LinkedIn jumped by more than 50% in the past three years, and it's the fifth fastest growing title over that period. You might be thinking, what are these people doing? This is like applying to be a clerk at Blockbuster. Turns out the online booking and AI attenaries haven't killed the travel agent they've only made her stronger. Travel book through advisors such as flights and accommodation is expected to rise to $141 billion next year in the U.S.

accounting for 26% of the total travel market. And by 2021, 76% of advisors reported more customers than before the pandemic. The travel agent surge is being fueled by tourists in the 1% ultra net worth clients who easily shell out six figures on purpose. personal travel each year. But working with advisors has also become popular among Gen Z and millennials who simply won't be bothered to plan a trip on their own. In a 2023 survey, 38% of Gen Z and millennials said they preferred a travel agent over online booking. Dave, it's been a good run as a podcast host, but I think I'm out of here. This gig seems pretty great. Yeah, I think one morning brew daily is enough for me too. I think I want to get a taste of this

$141 billion are throwing around. I got to admit, whenever I see headlines that are about, you know, Gen Z this or millennials this. I always feel like it's a made up trend and I'm like this can't be a thing, especially when every Gen Z trend is we can't afford a house, we can't afford it. And I'm like, so you're going to spend money on a travel agent. But you look and it's not really that expensive for most for most situations. It's between $100 and $400 per person. And sometimes it doesn't even cost you anything because the travel agents are taking a cut, they're taking a commission from the bookings. But if you look, a survey of a travel advisor's trade group from 2024 found that the biggest proportion of clients spent between $100 and $400 per person per night for their travel plan.

which means a week-long trip for a couple would range from $1,400 to $5,600. I don't know what you're getting paid for the podcast today, but it's not that, and I would love to be able to just put that in my back pocket. And, you know, like I said, and while it sounds pricey, most of the travel advisors are doing it through commission. So I get it. I love the idea of planning a trip. I'm one of those people, like, where I'm like planning, it's more fun than the vacation.

But there is times when you're going to go someplace where you haven't been before, and no one you know has been there before. It's nice to kind of have a professional, especially when a lot of people are seeing vacation destinations on TikTok that's in the middle of nowhere you don't really have a trip advisor for something like that you don't want to read the reviews and figure out like how do I climb the Alps to get somewhere right so it makes a lot of sense and quite frankly I'm gonna say it again this is my last episode and I'm gonna become a travel agent in about 20 minutes good luck Dave I mean

I do get it because in the past travel agents had this taboo around them that they would give you the most touristy things and now people don't want that they want those quote unquote authentic experiences and maybe off the road destinations that they saw on TikTok. But at the same time, travel agents are also finding people on social media as well. And they're talking directly to potential customers. So it's this whole new marketing world for travel agents as well. And they can say, I know what you think about us. We're going to give you the most, you know, we're going to send you to the Eiffel Tower. We're going to get you in the most popular hotel in downtown Paris or any other, you know,

well-traveled city. But at this point, they know what people want. It's these more authentic experiences and these more specialized experiences so they can say, hey, I specialize in hiking, I specialize in snorkeling, I specialize in food, and I can really craft an itinerary for you that will speak to your particular interest. There is so much information out there, especially on travel. We all have AI and chat GPT as well that we can ask for itineries, but maybe people are looking for that human touch to get something that's a little more unique and they're finding them on social media. So I totally get it. It's very interesting, this travel agent boom. Just hang on one second. I got to update my LinkedIn to say I'm a travel agent.

All right. You go do that. I'll move on to the next story, which is our headlines are sprinted to the finish here. People with a net worth of approximately five bazillion dollars ate dinner at the Rose Garden last night. The wine was probably a decent vintage when Silicon Valley Titans Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Cook, Sautia Nadella, Sam Altman, Sundar Beechai, Bill Gates and Moore had dinner with President Trump and his wife Melania, who recently launched a project encouraging students to use AI to help out in their community. One name you didn't hear is the richest of them all. Elon Musk, whose invite apparently got lost on the mail.

Musk and Trump, once BFFs, had a falling out earlier this summer, and it appears the two have not yet made up. The White House is becoming a familiar place to tech executives who have all made pilgrimages to D.C. To get on Trump's good side and pledge investments in the USA. Last month, Apple's Tim Cook gifted Trump a custom glass plaque with a 24-carat gold base, and his company's smartphone was later exempted from tariffs. Funny how that works.

I think Trump and Musk will get back together at some point. I think they need to just kind of have that accidental on purpose bump in at the grocery store. Like, oh, my God, what are you doing here? They reach for the same flower. And then they'll just like, hey, let's get lunch. You look great. You look great. And next thing you know, they're going to be all together hanging out again.

And this is what happens when people break up. You know, the friendship group gets all weird. You get left out of a big dinner at the White House. And, hey, the 4th of July, I believe we're going to be doing a little UFC fight at Marilago North, apparently, is what we got going on right now. I'm betting that they're going to be friends again by then. I think Elon's going to want tickets to that. They're going to have a nice little apology. They're going to make up.

And I believe in them. I really believe in them. And Elon Musk is a notorious fighter, right? Like, he wanted to fight Mark Zuckerberg, and Mark Zuckerberg is training there. And Elon Musk, I'm being sarcastic here. Elon Musk did not want to fight in that particular bout with Mark Zuckerberg. But maybe it'll be, all right, so you're going on the line and saying that they'll make up by the UFC fight and perhaps the renovated Rose Garden, but elsewhere around the White House grounds coming next July 4th. I think it could be an undercard fight, too, quite.

frankly, but we'll see. I would watch. Okay, finally, power generation at one of France's largest nuclear plants was shut down by nearly half because you're probably not going to guess what I'm about to say. A swarm of jellyfish got swept into the filters of the pumping station causing major disruptions. And this wasn't even the first time this happened. Last month, a quote, massive and unpredictable swarm of the invertebrates caused another nuclear plant in France to temporarily stop operations. Messing with nuclear power is a big deal. France, where it accounts for about 70% of the country's energy consumption. How does a jellyfish even get into a nuclear plant? Well, reactors typically use seawater to cool down their extremely

hot systems, and the seawater is full of jellyfish. The English Channel has been unusually warm this summer, causing the jellyfish to have more baby jellyfish. Dave, I'm surprised this wasn't a Simpsons episode. It does sound like a Simpsons episode. Also, I keep hearing stories about how birth rates are declining in all these countries, and these jellyfish are like, no, we're good, man. like we're making baby jellyfish like you wouldn't believe. And also we're assuming that this is happening by accident. How do we know the jellyfish aren't protesting nuclear power? Maybe they're pro clean energy.

Maybe they want to see solar. Maybe they want to see wind. Nuclear power is clean energy. It is. It's dangerous. It's more dangerous. Some people say it's dangerous. For France, it is absolutely necessary.

70% of their power generation comes from nuclear. So any disruptions and these reactors are being cut by in half are kind of a national emergency. And they're trying to figure out how to prevent jellyfish and other fish from the English Channel who are breeding like rabbits from getting into these systems. Well, one example from England that they're trying to do at this plant called Hinkley Point C is they want to blast speakers underwater to prevent fish from coming in. And they're calling it a fish disco. And in France, they're also experimenting with high frequency sounds and other underwater noise blasting to keep these swarming jellyfish from coming into start. whether it's intentional or not.

That is all the time we have. Thanks so much for starting your morning with us. Have a wonderful Friday and an even better weekend. Dave, he killed it as the 12th man. Appreciate you for joining us. Thank you. I feel like I got my shot up with two seconds left and it went in and the whole crowd went nuts. We won by 43.

And be sure to check out Dave's work in the Morning Brew newsletter and across our social media. If you have any thoughts or feedback on today's show, send a note to Morning Brew Daily at MorningBrew.com. Let's roll the credits. Emily Milliron is our executive producer. Raymond Lute is our producer. Our associate producers are Olivia Graham and Olivia Lake.

Hair and makeup is wearing Armani. Devin Emery is our president and our show is a production of Morning Brew.