News Sidequest

Wang Jibing is 56 years old, left school at 14, spent decades doing odd jobs, became a food delivery rider in 2019, wrote poems on scraps of paper between orders, and just won the Lu Xun Literary Prize — China's top literary honor — for his collection Low Flight, based on interviews with 200 fellow couriers. Also: the Wall Street Journal published a piece asking whether therapists are to blame for the rise of family estrangement — with researchers on both sides of a genuinely complicated question. And Yosemite dropped its reservation system in 2026 at federal direction, hit 90-minute entrance waits and full parking lots before noon, and became the most concentrated expression of what happens to affordable leisure when everything else gets too expensive. Plus a robot decapitated in combat, Australian identical quadruplets, the Baseball Spy, and deeply discounted Taylor Farms lettuce.

A new CNN/Federal Reserve investigation finds that nearly half of adults aged 18-29 received assistance from someone outside their household to cover recurring expenses last year — and the people who got early inheritance aren't feeling good about it, they're feeling guilty and relieved simultaneously. Also: the average adult makes approximately 35,000 decisions per day, decision fatigue is real and measurable, and the research on how to fight it is more specific and actionable than "simplify your life." And on July 15, China's new AI companion regulations took effect — ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent all shut down their AI persona features, and the grief on Chinese social media was immediate and genuine. Plus two babies switched at birth 38 years ago, a man suing his bank for lending him money, an Alabama husband committed to a remarkable relationship, and the firefighting donkeys of Spain.

Astronomers analyzing new James Webb Space Telescope observations of LHS 1140b — a "super-Earth" just 49 light-years away — are now reporting the strongest evidence yet for a nitrogen-rich atmosphere on a habitable-zone exoplanet, and models suggest it may have a liquid ocean roughly the size of half the Atlantic. Also: a Pew Research/Newsweek survey of 5,119 Americans finds Gen Z uses AI more than any other generation and is simultaneously the most worried about where it's heading — 66% use chatbots regularly, up from 55% in 2024, and they're more concerned than older generations about job loss, AI's reliability, and its environmental impact. And scientists from institutions around the world just published predictions for life in the 2100s. Plus a bored pilot who skytyped it, the Florida woman betrayed by a cat, the Ohio lottery voice winner, and a pole dancing sprinkler flood.

Enrollment at public two-year vocational schools is up nearly 20% since 2020, Gen Z is nearly evenly split between four-year college and trade school when asked what they'd choose today, and the math — sub-$25,000 programs leading to $80,000-plus jobs — is hard to argue with. Also: the felt-tip pen that Buzz Aldrin jammed into a broken circuit breaker on the lunar surface in 1969 to save the Apollo 11 crew sold at Sotheby's today alongside the snapped-off switch for $857,600. And a new Japanese study of 1,899 adults tracked over time finds that regular moviegoers, museum visitors, and theatergoers have bodies that function like people three years younger. Plus the 1,700-pound great white shark heading to Cape Cod, the bank robber's borrowed kitten, the deer in the antique store, and wildfire smoke rolling across the Midwest.

About 90% of Americans say they want to die at home. Only about 35% do — and the median hospice enrollment in 2024 was 19 days, meaning most people get palliative care so late it barely functions as a transition. Also: Taskrabbit data shows a 23% jump in quick-move bookings and a 19% increase in same-day moves year-over-year, with the "micro-move" trend driven by smaller spaces, lighter lives, and a housing market where staying flexible is more important than putting down roots. And University of Reading research shows clear-air turbulence — the kind you can't see coming, that doesn't show on radar — has increased 55% since 1979, is projected to double or triple by 2050, and is being driven entirely by climate change. Plus the dog who caused a $200K fire, the peanut butter museum floor, the robotaxi sleepers, and the Taco Bell investigation.

NPR spoke with five music influencers who say they regularly accept payments from record labels to post about songs without disclosing it — and when they reached out to Interscope, Republic, Atlantic, RCA, Sony, Universal, and Warner for comment, none responded. Also: a Boston College Center for Retirement Research study finds that since ChatGPT launched, older workers in AI-exposed jobs — coders, accountants, tax preparers — are leaving the workforce significantly faster than before, reversing a long-standing trend in which those jobs actually extended careers. And a new service in Russia allows lonely people to rent a companion specifically to share a barbecue and beers with. That is the entire service. Plus the Airbnb family who found their own photos on the wall, Ontario's grenade advisory, Zara's dangerous pants, and sugar discovered in space.

NASA is recruiting four volunteers for a yearlong simulated Moon and Mars mission beginning August 2027 at Johnson Space Center — two confined habitats, mock spacewalks, limited food, no sunshine, no wind, and complete isolation. A previous CHAPEA participant said what he missed most was birthdays, holidays, and fresh vegetables. Also: a Word Unscrambler analysis of Google Trends data finds "gaslighting" was the most-searched word definition in America in 2026, with 286,900 monthly searches, edging out "love" at 274,900. Narcissist, fascism, empathy, and propaganda also cracked the top 25. And a comprehensive Lancet review led by UBC researchers analyzed data from billions of mRNA vaccine doses across multiple countries and found: safe, effective, does not alter DNA, works for children and pregnant women, and shows enormous promise for cancer treatment. Plus the man who dangled from an airplane by his seatbelt, the Circle K lottery clerk, the dog pepper spray incident, and humanoid robot gallbladder surgery.

Researchers at Hebrew University presenting in London this week found total testosterone levels in men declined 54% between 1972 and 2019, tracking more than 118,000 individuals across six studies — and they're calling it a "major crisis in male reproductive health." Also: Brown University economics professor Roberto Serrano — who is blind — allowed take-home exams after a December campus shooting traumatized his students. His class averaged 96 out of 100 on the take-home midterm. When he moved the final in-person, the average crashed to 48. And the National Association of Realtors reported Thursday that the US median home sale price hit $440,600 in June — an all-time record going back to 1999, with prices rising on an annual basis for 36 consecutive months. Plus a squirrel mailed to Meta, a Florida man fighting police in alligator-infested water, a burglar whose truck got stolen while he robbed a Verizon store, and a son's lottery birthday gift.