The last thing they'll wear as kids. Plus, the hottest new AI chatbot is just a random guy. đ€
Issue 94 â Tuesday, August 11, 2026
Whatâs your dream for the future?
Itâs summer 2024, and Peter Franklyn Banks is filming six school leavers across state schools in London.
My son is leaving little school. These kids are facing the rest of their lives.
And the country is just two days away from a general election.
I re-watched the film this morning. Five minutes, staring into the phone, headphones on, wobbling and clanking about on an empty summerâs overground.
I figured Iâd heard it all before, written about it at the time.
A voice off-camera asks one of the six what sheâs most scared of. Music changes.
Clowns.
Iâm shaking with laughter.
Framed close, they sound sure. Then a brow lifts. Then a throat swallows.
Itâs absolutely over. And Iâm absolutely terrified.
My eyes are blinking fast.
No one else in the carriage, luckily.
Iâd forgotten the shirts. All six of them wear theirs. The leaverâs shirt.
The last thing theyâll wear as kids.
White cotton basics, covered in marker-pen signatures from friends and teachers theyâve known for half their lives.
I may never see some of them again. So thatâs quite sad.
By now those shirts are tucked down the back of a drawer.
My son had a turquoise pre-printed hoody, worn over and over until washed grey then cardboard boxed in the loft somewhere.
âIâm fed up of politicians lecturing young people,â said the man about to win, back in 2024.
His time served, 23 months and 17 days.
The share of 16â24 year-olds who are not in education, employment or training would grow to 13.5%. Thatâs over a million kids.
So, the train pulls in, I bounce off, and I wonder how the kidsâ journeys are going. If theyâre riding the wobbles okay.
Toky, Leyla, Jayson, Georgia, Emily, Jason.
Do well in life.
Exhale #19. Written 9th August 2024. Still stands, word for word. Watch the film.
Positivity keeps peaking through the cracks. This week ends in a different place than where it began, from global stock markets to your local town. I am struck by how quickly news burns off.
My son wonât take off his leaverâs hoody, which is covered in the names of his classmates he left behind at the beginning of the Summer. They all start (new) big schools in a few weeks. Itâs turquoise, and he sometimes pulls the drawstring around his face to shield himself from the world.
This weekâs instruction: Scroll past the headlinesâwhich will come and goâtake a deep breath out, and watch the five-minute film at the bottom. At first, youâre just watching another set of vox pops. But stay with it until the end.
In just three hundred seconds, you will make six new friends.
All are wearing their leaverâs shirts. They are at the end of secondary school, entering the world and looking to the future. May their words fill your heart. The best moment is when one mentions a fear of poisonous spiders; be sure not to miss it.
Letâs rise together with every issue. đ§Ą
Markets
UK debt levels have reached dangerously high levels | The Times
UK housing market frozen in suspended animation as uncertainty persists | Financial Times
U.S. economy unexpectedly lost 23,000 jobs in July as labor market slows | CNBC
Brands
BBC hires 26-year-old entrepreneur to connect with younger audiences | The Guardian
Gen Z drinking habits now match older generations, new data shows | The Independent
Why brands are cashing in on YA romanceâs cultural moment | MediaCat
Coca-Cola urges Gen Z and millennials to disconnect during meals | Marketing Dive
Coca-Cola uses AI to manage brand consistency across 200 global markets | Forbes
Olivia Rodrigoâs handpicked Etsy founders saw merch sales soar over 2,000% | Fast Company
Creator agencies transform into entertainment studios as brands fund content over ads | Digiday
The influencer bubble is finally popping (again) | Fast Company
AI-generated melodramas flood X as creators monetize low-quality content | Wired
Social mediaâs messy era is over. What comes next? | Vogue
Sweetgreenâs stock and profits plummet as salad demand drops this summer | Fast Company
Dannon discontinues beloved coffee yogurt after nearly 40 years | The Wall Street Journal
Knicks baseball hats now outsell Chanel as most coveted luxury accessory | New York Post
Warner Bros. CEO expects Paramount deal to close despite legal challenges | The Wall Street Journal
Revolut co-founder, Nik Storonsky, faces lawsuit | Sifted
LVMH-backed L Catterton sells Thorne to P&G for $3.8 billion | Cosmetics Business
Startups
VCs are asking founders: will you quit on me? | The Wall Street Journal
What âsweatyâ and âcrackedâ really mean in founder praise culture | Sifted
Zach Dell raises funds to bring home battery storage to backyards | The Wall Street Journal
Do functional drinks like electrolyte lemonade and probiotic pop actually work? | The Guardian
Gillian Andersonâs G Spot drinks brand launches in 300 M&S stores | Retail Gazette
Dad Grass and Miles Davis collaborate on Bitches Brew cannabis drink | Brands Untapped
Tech
How leaders should craft strategy in the age of AI | Harvard Business Review
AI hype is driving tech industry layoffs and market instability | The New York Times
Influencers face backlash for attending OpenAIâs exclusive luxury retreat | TechCrunch
The hottest new AI chatbot is actually just a person answering questions | Wired
How one journalist is challenging Silicon Valleyâs tech fascists | The Guardian
Mamdaniâs NYC tech team shows what effective government innovation could look like | Wired
Money
Meta ordered to pay $567m for failing to protect children on its platforms | BBC
OpenAI acquires presentation startup NextSlide | TechCrunch
Bending Spoons acquires Airtable in major post-IPO deal | Sifted
SpaceXâs stock lockup expiration could trigger market volatility | The New York Times
Tim Cookâs Apple legacy: from first earnings call in 2011 to his last in 2026 | Yahoo Finance
Design
How to spot AI writing: a practical guide for readers | The Economist
Kim Kardashian designs Skims stores as intimate sanctuaries, not temples to perfection | Wallpaper
Craighillâs Chroma Scissors blend colorful design with ceramic-coated performance | Cool Hunting
Happiness
Mountains, roses and dreams: The end of the west, near Portland, Oregon. | The Dispatch
How one manâs cure for loneliness sparked a global movement | The Wall Street Journal
The five-minute film: A Dream for the Future | Itâs Nice That
If someone came to mind while you were reading, send it to them. Thatâs my whole marketing plan.
Stay gold đđ»