Ground beef is now averaging $6.70 per pound — up 45% over the last decade and 70% since 2021 — a $30 burger is showing up on menus from New York to California, and Hamburger Helper is now suggesting on its packaging that customers try hot dogs instead. Also: the Kinsey Institute's 15th annual Singles in America survey of 5,000 adults finds the share who want to marry someday jumped from 33% in 2010 to 45% in 2026, 52% say the hard economy makes them more interested in finding someone to share life with, and 72% are open to dating — but only 16% are actively doing it. And Merriam-Webster just added 1,400 new words, including looksmaxxing, cuffing season, Sunday scaries, crashout, parasocial, vibe coding, and the uncanny valley. Plus the Gulf of Cleveland, the Yellowstone hot spring junk haul, human neurons fused into mouse brains, and a snake in the bread aisle.
","author_name":"Keith Conrad"}