Napster Sold For $207M & Canadians Are Skipping US Travel

Summary

Morning Brew Daily: Napster Sold for $207M & Canadians Are Skipping US Travel
Released on March 26, 2025

Hosted by Neal Freyman and Toby Howell

---

1. Napster’s Transformation and Sale

In a surprising turn of events, Napster, the once-infamous music-sharing platform, has been resurrected and sold for a staggering $207 million to Infinite Reality. Hosts Neal Freyman and Toby Howell delve into Napster’s storied past and its ambitious future in the metaverse.

Historical Context and Sale Details

Napster, originally launched in the late 1990s, revolutionized the music industry but faced a shutdown in 2002 amid numerous lawsuits. Since then, the brand changed hands multiple times, including ownership by Best Buy and Rhapsody, before landing with a consortium of crypto companies. Infinite Reality’s acquisition aims to repurpose Napster as a "social music platform" within the metaverse, leveraging its extensive library of 110 million licensed tracks.

Vision for the Metaverse

Infinite Reality plans to transform Napster into an immersive 3D social space where users can engage in virtual concerts, listening parties, and exclusive merch drops. “Napster is being resurrected as a Metaverse company in 2025,” Howell remarks at [03:39]. The new CEO, formerly the head of music at Roblox, envisions a platform where artists create virtual environments unrestricted by physical limitations, akin to Travis Scott's virtual concert in Fortnite during the pandemic.

Economic Implications

Freyman highlights the financial attractiveness of Napster’s vast music library, noting, “Napster still holds the licenses to stream millions of tracks, which made it an attractive acquisition target” ([05:03]). Infinite Reality, which recently raised $3 billion at a $13 billion valuation, aims to capitalize on the growing demand for virtual experiences, despite skepticism from some publications about the viability of metamorphosing Napster into a social platform.

2. Canadian Travel Boycott of the United States

The podcast addresses a significant shift in travel patterns, with Canadians increasingly avoiding trips to the United States. This boycott stems from growing resentment towards President Trump’s administration, particularly his talk of tariffs and annexing Canada.

Declining Travel Statistics

Statistics Canada reports a 13% drop in Canadian return trips from the US in February compared to the previous year, with land crossings seeing a dramatic 23% decline ([09:19]). Howell explains, “Canadians might just be skipping out on Miami and staying in Montreal instead” ([10:16]).

Economic Impact on the US

Freyman underscores the potential ripple effects on the US economy, especially in states like Michigan and New York, which heavily rely on Canadian tourists. The U.S. Travel Association estimates that a mere 10% reduction in Canadian travel could result in $2 billion in lost spending and 14,000 job losses in the hospitality sector.

Underlying Causes

The hosts attribute this trend to President Trump’s aggressive rhetoric and policies, including frequent references to making Canada the 51st state. Additionally, a shift in Canadian patriotism, as revealed by an online survey where 60% of respondents plan vacations within Canada, fuels this movement.

3. President Trump’s Launch of US D1 Stablecoin

In a foray into cryptocurrency, President Trump and his sons have introduced a new stablecoin, US D1, through their family company, World Liberty Financial. This marks Trump’s fourth attempt to penetrate the digital currency space.

Features and Objectives

US D1 is pegged to the US Dollar and operates on both the Ethereum and Binance blockchains. According to Freyman, “Stablecoins are basically crypto's version of cash,” providing liquidity while maintaining a stable value, unlike more volatile cryptocurrencies ([12:59]).

Government Endorsement and Objectives

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant emphasized at the White House Crypto Summit, “We are going to keep the U.S. the dominant reserve currency in the world and we're going to use stablecoins to do that” ([14:08]). The stablecoin aims to facilitate secure cross-border transactions and expand the US dollar’s global dominance.

Concerns and Criticisms

Howell raises potential issues, including conflicts of interest and the possibility of foreign governments leveraging the coin to influence US policies. Additionally, the looming stablecoin legislation, expected to benefit World Liberty Financial, poses questions about regulatory favoritism.

4. US Infrastructure Report Card: A Mixed Grade

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) released its latest infrastructure report card, giving the United States an overall grade of C—a slight improvement from the previous C-minus.

Category Breakdown

• Grades B/B-: Ports and rail systems received relatively higher marks.
• Grades C+/C-: Bridges, broadband, drinking water systems, hazardous waste management, and public parks.
• Grades D+/D: Dams, roads, schools, aviation infrastructure, stormwater management, transit systems, and wastewater treatment.

Freyman notes, “Better infrastructure is an efficient investment of taxpayer dollars that results in a stronger economy and prioritizes American jobs” ([17:13]).

Funding and Gap

Despite the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the Inflation Reduction Act infusing funds, there remains a $3.7 trillion gap between the $9.1 trillion needed and the $5.4 trillion projected investment through 2033. Howell suggests alternative approaches, such as congestion pricing, to improve efficiency without massive expenditures ([19:23]).

5. Plummeting US Consumer Confidence

Consumer confidence in the United States has hit a four-year low, according to the Conference Board’s index, which fell by 7.2 points in March. This marks the fourth consecutive monthly decline, driven by concerns over tariffs, rising inflation, and job security.

Economic Implications

Freyman warns of a potential “very slippery slope” where declining confidence could lead to reduced consumer spending, which in turn could slow economic growth and further dampen confidence ([22:04]). This downturn contrasts with robust economic indicators cited by figures like Jerome Powell, highlighting a disconnect between consumer sentiment and hard data.

6. Emerging Tech Trends and Headlines

Increased Use of Signal Among Federal Officials

Signal, once a niche communication app favored in Silicon Valley, has surged in popularity among Washington’s federal bureaucrats. Howell points out, “Signal is having a moment amongst the federal bureaucrats in Washington right now” ([23:16]).

23andMe’s Bankruptcy and Data Deletion Crisis

Genetic testing company 23andMe has filed for bankruptcy, leading to a chaotic rush among customers to delete their genetic data. Freyman describes the situation as “a house of horrors,” with the overloaded website struggling to handle the surge of deletion requests ([23:16]).

United Airlines’ Embarrassing Flight Diversion

A United Airlines flight to Shanghai had to turn back to San Francisco after the pilot forgot his passport, causing a six-hour delay. Passengers received only $30 meal vouchers, leading to widespread frustration. Freyman muses on the possible explanations given to passengers, questioning the transparency of the airline’s communication ([26:43]).

Conclusion

Neal Freyman and Toby Howell provide a comprehensive overview of significant events impacting business, economy, and technology. From Napster’s metamorphosis into a metaverse platform and shifting travel trends due to geopolitical tensions, to the introduction of a new stablecoin under Trump’s administration and the ongoing challenges within US infrastructure and consumer confidence—all these elements paint a complex picture of the current landscape. The hosts conclude by encouraging listeners to stay informed and engaged with these pivotal developments.

Notable Quotes:

• Neal Freyman ([05:03]): “Napster still holds the licenses to stream millions of tracks, which made it an attractive acquisition target.”
• Toby Howell ([10:16]): “Canadians might just be skipping out on Miami and staying in Montreal instead.”
• Neal Freyman ([12:59]): “Stablecoins are basically crypto's version of cash.”
• Neal Freyman ([22:04]): “If consumers feel uncertain, they spend less. If they spend less, that causes an economic slowdown which makes them feel even more uncertain.”

---

For more insights and detailed discussions, tune into the Morning Brew Daily podcast available on all major platforms and YouTube. Stay informed, stay ahead.

Transcript

[McAfee Ad]

Your data is like gold to hackers. They'll sell it to the highest bidder. Are you protected? McAfee helps shield you blocking suspicious texts, malicious emails and fraudulent websites. McAfee Secure VPN lets you browse safely and its AI powered tech scam detector spots threats instantly. You'll also get up to $2 million of award winning antivirus and identity theft protection, all for just $39.99 for your first year. Visit mcafee.com/incancel anytime terms apply.

[Neal Freyman]

Good Morning Brew Daily Show I'm Neal Freyman.

[Toby Howell]

And I'm Toby Howell.

[Neal Freyman]

Today, where are all the Canadian tourists? Why? Our neighbors up north are snubbing Miami for Mallorca, then Napster.

[Toby Howell]

Yes, that Napster is back after being acquired for a sum of money that is much bigger than you think. It's Wednesday, March 26th. Let's.

[Neal Freyman]

If your bracket is toast in the real March Madness here, here's an opportunity to start fresh. The Bruise social media team led by Toby right here has rolled out a bracket challenge that attempts to answer the question everyone is asking in 2025 what was the most important business story of the first quarter of the 21st century? We are not deciding. You are. You can head to the Bruce Social media pages on X and Instagram to vote on juicy first round matchups like when Apple put U2 on all our phones versus the release of vine or FTX collapses versus Fyre Festival. Toby, the first round of voting happened yesterday. Were there any upsets?

[Toby Howell]

We've already had two upsets in the first round, so we're beating Real March Madness in terms of excitement. Both came from the 2000-2005 region in a 5 versus 12 matchup, putting the iPod's launch versus LinkedIn's launch, the lower seated ipod wiped the floor with everyone's least favorite social media platform. Then in an 8 versus 9 matchup, the the launch of Gmail barely eked out a win over the AOL Time Warner merger. My favorite matchup though was Martha Stewart's insider trading case versus Enron's collapse that almost saw Martha pull off the upset. But alas, Enron came out unscathed. As for the next two regions of the bracket that are dropping today, I'm looking at number 13 Pokemon Go craze versus the number four Cambridge Analytical scandal. I think Pokemon can upset at that one there. And then in the 2019-2025 region number nine, the eras tour versus number eight Nvidia becomes the most valuable company. Brutal first round matchup. I think both of Those could have made a run. But yes, as Neil said, voting is going to run through this whole week on Morning Brews X and Instagram accounts if you want to participate and we'll see you there. Now a word from our sponsor, Sophos. Neil, remember Fluffy, the three headed dog from Harry Potter?

[Neal Freyman]

Scared me to death growing up.

[Toby Howell]

Remember what Fluffy's one job was?

[Neal Freyman]

Protecting the Sorcerer's Stone, obviously. Don't test me.

[Toby Howell]

Good job, Good job. I want everyone listening to Think of Sophos as your business's version of Fluffy. Without the drooling of course.

[Neal Freyman]

Sophos provides three layers of cybersecurity. One head is powerful AI driven protection that targets threats before they become threats.

[Toby Howell]

Another is their team of 500 plus cybersecurity experts who are ready to help 24, 7.

[Neal Freyman]

And the third third is SoFo Central where you can easily manage all your security apps in one central place.

[Toby Howell]

And unlike Fluffy, bad actors like three brave wizarding students can't use a sweet lullaby to put it to sleep.

[Neal Freyman]

If you want to sign your business up for its own cybersecurity guard dog who's better than fluffy, head to sophos.com and get responsibly protected. That's SOP h o s.com Remember Napster?

[Toby Howell]

Of course you do. It made music execs lose sleep, lawyers rake in a billable hours and ushered in the concept of music streaming. That very same Napster just sold for $207 million to a company called Infinite Reality, which says it's going to transform the brand into a quote, social music platform, according to a press release, where music lovers can hang out in virtual 3D spaces to watch concerts, join listening parties and participate in merch drops. Yeah, somehow Napster is being resurrected as a Metaverse company in 2025. Now to be clear, Napster hasn't been the Napster you remember in a long time. It went bankrupt in 2002 after a barrage of lawsuits, and ever since then it's been passed around like an illegally downloaded MP3 file. Best Buy owned it at one point. So did a company called Rhapsody, and most recently it was in the hands of a consortium of crypto companies. But Napster still holds the licenses to stream millions of tracks, which made it an attractive acquisition target. So once more, Infinite Reality is trying to reinvent it, this time with a focus on building this sort of immersive, music driven 3D social space. Its new CEO, formerly the head of music at Roblox, says artists will be able to create virtual environments that match survive Unbound by the constraints of reality. If you remember Travis Scott's concert in Fortnite back in the pandemic, that's the vibe they are going for here. Neil Napster, back in the year 2025. Who would have thought?

[Neal Freyman]

Well, I wasn't sure what is more surprising about this news that Napster still existed or that it was sold for more than 200 million. That is a very large acquisition. And I think you're right that the value in Napster is not necessarily from the brand, but from this library of tracks that it has the license for. It has 110 million tracks. It's paid over $1 billion to artists and labels over the past few decades in order to acquire that library. And that made it an attractive target for this quite large company, Infinite Reality, which just recently raised $3 billion at a $13 billion valuation. Company is quite large, even though most of us had never heard about it. I guess they're a big player in the metaverse 3D space and we'll see what they do with Napster.

[Toby Howell]

I saw a lot of eye rolling from a lot of publications because creating a Metaverse company out of a company that, you know, went Bankrupt back in 2000 feels just so out of date on so many levels. But they are pretty bullish on this idea of these, you know, 3D spaces where you can listen to music in a different way. Because the vision, as the CEO of Napster described it, is clubhouse times a trillion. I don't know if you guys remember Clubhouse, but that was this app where you could hang out with each other and talk in a virtual space that was just over, you know, that was just audio only. This would incorporate visuals and 3D and merch drops and whatnot. So. And there have been success here because, I mean, I mentioned the Travis Scott virtual concert in Fortnite that kind of kicked off this idea of virtual concerts that was attended by millions of people. So there is some, you know, proof.

[Neal Freyman]

What else is going on then.

[Toby Howell]

It's true, it's true. It was definitely a different time, but I think that they are thinking that there is definitely proof of concept here at some level. So they're going to try to run it back with, you know, clubhouse times a trillion.

[Neal Freyman]

And there is a push in the music industry more broadly to let artists monetize their most loyal fans. So that is exactly what Infinite Infinite Reality is trying to do with Napster, is trying to increase the engagement. Because on one hand, you have super loyal fans that want more out of their artists. They want Exclusive merch. They want more time, exclusive time with the artists that they love. At the same time, artists are looking for new revenue streams. They have, you know, tours, but they're getting less from streaming companies than they did when they sold CDs. So there might be a match here. I don't know if the Digital Metaverse is the place for that to happen because we have seen most Metaverse projects kind of fizzle out. We'll see what happens with Infinite Reality. They have a pretty successful stable of companies. They own the Drone Racing League. They own a bunch of esports teams as well that compete in League of Legends and Call of Duty. The guy who is the CEO of Napster was the, you know, the music head at Roblox. So Roblox is this Metaverse style gaming platform that is hosted. Also hosted concerts like Fortnite with with folks like Lil Nas X. So we'll see what they do with Napster. Just a blast from the past. As anger boils over in Canada against the United States, Canadians are taking their vacations elsewhere and aren't apologizing for it. Airlines, tourism groups and US Businesses say they're experiencing a significant drop off in Canadian visitors to the United States, citing backlash from President Trump's tariff talk and frequent allusions to annexing Canada and making it the 51st state. The numbers bear it out in the skies. Canadian residents returned from 13% fewer trips to the US in February than a year ago, according to Statistics Canada. The decline was even more severe at land crossings where Canadian return trips from the US plunged by 23% compared to a year ago. An American vacation boycott by Canadians could ripple through the US Economy, especially in states like Michigan and New York, which have been major destinations for people living just north of the border. Canadians are the number one source of visitors to the U.S. and just a 10% reduction in their travel could lead to $2 billion in lost spending and 14,000 job losses in the hospitality industry, according to the U.S. travel Association. Toby, we've seen Canadians boycott American grocery store products, boo the Star Spangled Banner, and now cancel that Vegas trip to play the slots in Punta Ghana.

[Toby Howell]

Canadians do kind of really help out the US when it comes to their economy because 20 million visitors came to the US in 2024. I mean, it makes sense. There are next door neighbors, so of course they're going to just pop over the border. Some cities like buffalo, see 35 to 40% of their visitors come from Canada. And it's not just that Canada is feeling this anti US Sentiment. They're also just kind of spreading their travel other places you'll they they've seen an uptick in trips to South America where they're just skipping over North America altogether. But also a recent online survey suggested that Canada is feeling more patriotic about staying in Canada. They talked to 1500 different people and they said half said they were less likely to visit the US this year, and six in 10 said they planned a vacation into Canada instead, which is reflecting this sort of broader patriotic by Canada movement we're seeing across the retail sector as well. So Canadians might just be skipping out on Miami and staying in Montreal instead.

[Neal Freyman]

And it's not good for the tourism business. International travel to the US is a expected to slide by 5% this year, according to Tourism Economics. That could contribute to a $64 billion shortfall for the travel industry. And that 5% slide is notable because the previous projection was a 9% increase in foreign travel to the United States. Tourism Economics updated revised this forecast from a 9% increase to a 5% decrease to reflect, quote, polarizing Trump administration policies and rhetoric. And you have such a large gap between those forecasts because it's not just Canada or Canadians who are skipping out on coming to the United States. A bunch of other countries have updated their US Travel advisories over concerns of, quote, aggressive questioning, detentions and denials of admissions. You've seen it in the UK You've seen it in Germany. Canada just updated their travel guidelines yesterday. So they're warning their citizens, saying it's not particularly a safe time to visit the United States right now.

[Toby Howell]

Right. Atlantic flights depend usually more on US Travelers heading to Europe than European travelers heading to the US and right now, US Outbound travel demand still looks like it's staying pretty consistent. But still, airlines, hotel groups, tourism, they're all kind of on watch right now because there could be that, that big reduction in tourism to the United States. Add a stablecoin to Trump's growing stable of crypto entanglements. The president and his sons launched a new coin yesterday called us D1 through their family company, World Liberty Financial. It's a stablecoin pegged to the US Dollar, and it's already live on Etherium and Binance's blockchain. This is now Trump's fourth foray into digital currency. There's the WLFI token, which has raised over $550 million for World Liberty. There's a meme coin he dropped before his inauguration, currently sitting at a $2.3 billion market cap. Melania has her own coin and now we've got this stablecoin which the company says will be backed one to one with US treasuries and cash equivalents. Stablecoins are basically crypto's version of cash. They are typically designed to stay fixed to an underlying asset, usually US dollar and provide the liquidity that makes the crypto ecosystem hum. Everyone from PayPal to Ripple to Gemini has their own version. And Trump's US D1 is the latest player in the crowded field though the World Life Financial team is trying to separate itself from the pack by actively promoting it as a way to expand the US's dollar dominance globally. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant said at the White House Crypto Summit that quote, we are going to keep the U.S. the dominant reserve currency in the world and we're going to use stablecoins to do that. So Neal, this launch from World Life Financial looks like it's following through on that promise.

[Neal Freyman]

Yes, stablecoins have a very explicit promise and that's you get none of the volatility associated with crypto because they're designed to maintain a constant value of $1, but you get all of the benefits which is making cross border payments faster, cheaper and more transparent. So they're hyping up the lack of volatility and the ability to promote the US, US dollar and US dollar Gemini all over the world through these cross border payments. So that is the promise of the stablecoin and you know, emphasis on stable because we've seen a bunch of other cryptos be volatile. It's the opposite of a mean coin essentially because it's backed by US debt and US currency. So that is the promise of a stablecoin. It hasn't always worked out in the past. I mean remember crypto 2022 that was caused by another type of stablecoin, an algorithmic stablecoin Terra USD collapsed and it brought down the crypto market entirely because $40 billion was wiped out. So there are a variety of types of stablecoin here. The one that World Life Financial is hyping intends to be one of the more stable of the stable.

[Toby Howell]

I. Well done. I am glad you brought up cross border payments there because one of World Liberty's founders said we're offering a digital dollar stablecoin that sovereign investors and major institutions can confidently integrate into their strategies for secure cross border transactions. That emphasis on international payments actually raise some warning flags because then you can think about, you just go down this, this thought slope and foreign governments could use the coin to potentially curry favor with the current administration, stuff like that. And another concern is a conflict of interest as well. There's a lot of stablecoin legislation that is making its way towards the President's desk going through Congress that looks like it should pass before August, which technically benefits the company that just launched a stablecoin. So those are two kind of conflict of interest people have brought up. One that foreign nationals could intervene with our with our government and then to that legislation is being passed that supports World Life Financials, World Liberty Financials mission right now. Up next, let's talk about a report card for our infrastructure. Neil what's one way you rely on tech in your everyday life?

[Neal Freyman]

I got a lot of health tracking apps running constantly to let me know how the body's holding up.

[Toby Howell]

Technology can help us optimize some of life's most basic tasks. We've even got tech to help us brush our teeth.

[Neal Freyman]

The Quip Ultra is a smartsonic electric toothbrush that's packed full of some pretty cool tech you'll want to use daily.

[Toby Howell]

It has a dynamic LED touch bar that lets you choose between 16 different brushing intensities from sensitive to deep clean for up to 15 times more plaque removal versus a manual toothbrush.

[Neal Freyman]

And it's equipped with a timer that monitors your progress and your pressure to help you brush at just the right intensity.

[Toby Howell]

You can even pair your Quip Ultra to the Quip app on your phone to get a personalized look at your.

[Neal Freyman]

Oral health still brushing the analog way. Get 15% off your quip [e-mail] brew and subscribe for auto shipping of Brush pod refill heads to earn exclusive perks. That's G E T Q U I p.com/brew.

[Toby Howell]

Taking your business international can feel like sailing through a sea of red tape. Regulations and unpredictability is attracting global business worth the global hassle.

[Neal Freyman]

Wise Business can help. Your Wise account has everything you need to operate your global business. With Wise Business, you can process payments, get paid, and manage your money internationally.

[Toby Howell]

WISE offers 24.7live support and transaction notifications so you can track your payments in real time. With full visibility of your finances, you can stay in control. And with no hidden fees, no markups on the exchange rate and no ongoing subscription costs, you'll be able to save as you scale your business globally.

[Neal Freyman]

Setting up your account is super easy and it takes just a few seconds to make payments in over 40 different currencies.

[Toby Howell]

To learn more about how you can use Wise Business to save time, money and stress, visit wise.combusiness that's wise.com/business.

[Neal Freyman]

If seas get degrees, then US infrastructure may snag that diploma. After all, the country's ports, roads, public transit, parks, and other aspects of infrastructure received an overall C grade from the American Society of Civil Engineers, which releases a US Infrastructure report card every four years. It may not be a report card your mom would hang on the fridge, but it is a slight improvement from the last review in 2021, when the US earned a C minus. The American Society of Civil Engineers said that the bipartisan infrastructure bill passed during Joe Biden's Presidency, which authorized $1.2 trillion in funding for projects, was key to improving the country's gpa, as were funds doled out by the Inflation Reduction Act. As anyone who's tried to use Amtrak Wi Fi knows, there is still a lot of room for improvement. The Society of Civil Engineers use this report card to call on the government to continue funding infrastructure projects, especially at a time when the Trump administration has put on hold some of the infrastructure bill's funds. The group claims that better infrastructure is an efficient investment of taxpayer dollars that results in a stronger economy and prioritizes American jobs. Toby, as someone who's familiar with getting seized, what do you think the US can learn from this report card?

[Toby Howell]

I think that we're trending in the right direction, but you got to keep this momentum going. Right now, an estimated $9.1 trillion would be needed to ensure that all 18 categories within this report would reach a, quote, state of good repair, as they call it. And right now, in 2024, the ASC estimated that only, and I stress only there $5.4 trillion of investments will be made through the year 2033. So there is that $3.7 trillion gap between what they think we need versus what we're outlaying there. So how do you sell that, though, to American people? They said that it is efficient use of tax dollars. They think that poor infrastructure costs American households around $2700 a year. And if you kind of improve on those, some of those specific categories, it could save Americans money as well. So maybe if your roads are more efficient, if you're. If your drinking water is more efficient, if your dams are more efficient.

[Neal Freyman]

I love efficient drinking.

[Toby Howell]

I love efficient. I mean, you would take it for granted, but it is a big part of, you know, infrastructure in America. So they are trying to spin it as saying that this, these are dollars well spent and we need to keep spending them.

[Neal Freyman]

Let's run down some of these categories. So there were 18 categories reviewed the nation's ports received the highest grade of any form of infrastructure with a B. And the other B which was a B minus was rail. Bridges, broadband drinking water systems, hazardous waste, waste treatment, things like public parks all got a C plus to a C minus. And then let's roll it down to the D plus or a D. Dams, roads, schools, infrastructure for aviation, stormwater, transit and WasTewater all got D plus or Ds. So that's kind of where we're standing. Would love to, to bump those up a little bit more. But it was very interesting to hear some criticism of this report from certain, certain areas. And they said this, these people just love to spend money. Maybe spending money is not the most efficient use to improve our infrastructure. There are other tools and levers you can pull to improve infrastructure. One of them as an example might be something like the New York City's congestion pricing that they've just put into place. That didn't necessarily cost a lot of money. It did not cost anywhere near into the trillions that that this group wants. But it may improve infrastructure by reducing the amount of cars on the roads, leading to fewer repairs for bridges and tunnels and raising money to improve those as well. So it is, you know, you don't think necessarily of criticism of, of the folks who are just putting out a report card, but there might be other ways to improve infrastructure than just by spending trillions of dollars.

[Toby Howell]

I'm still hanging up this one on the fridge because as you said, seas get degrees and we're trending in the right direction. So put that magnet on.

[Neal Freyman]

If LaGuardia's new terminal is any indication.

[Toby Howell]

That'S a, that's an A plus in my eyes. Let's sprint to the finish with some final headlines you may have missed. Up first, consumer confidence in the US is officially at a four year low with the Conference Board's index dropping by 7.2 points in March, marking the fourth consecutive monthly decline. The expectations index in particular, which measures consumers short term outlook on income, business and job market conditions, fell sharply and is now below a key recession warning threshold. Key drivers of this pessimism are pretty much exactly what you'd expect. Concerns over tariffs, rising inflation and job security. Economists warn that continued declines in consumer confidence could pressure consumer spending which drives 2/3 of GDP. Neal, these things can quickly become self fulfilling. If consumers feel uncertain, they spend less. If they spend less, that causes an economic slowdown which makes them feel even more uncertain. So this is a very slippery slope.

[Neal Freyman]

You're going to start to hear another word creep up that you may not have heard it for a few years. And that word is vibe session. That was around a lot during the Biden years when people were feeling pretty bad about the economy, but all of the numbers look good. So there was this weird delta between how the vibes and the actual economic data. That's kind of what we're seeing now. The vibes are really bad. But the economic data itself, the hard data, which Jerome, what that Jerome Powell calls it, is looking pretty much fine. Strong labor market spending is okay. So we'll see whether those two converge in the months ahead. President Trump said he would launch an investigation of Tuesday's shocking revelation that the Atlantic's editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was somehow added to a Signal Group chat in which top officials discussed a plan to bomb Houthi targets in Yemen. But the message from the Trump administration yesterday was mostly, this is not a big deal, nothing to see here. As Democrats and other national security experts warned, it was a massive and extremely embarrassing breach of tightly guarded information. A legal battle kicked off after five members of Trump's cabinet were sued for violating US Laws meant to safeguard government records by using Signal, a commercial app for official communications.

[Toby Howell]

Signal is kind of having a moment amongst the federal bureaucrats in Washington right now. It was mostly known among Silicon Valley and honestly, like global nonconformists for leaving few digital traces. But now there are a lot of people within Washington are embracing it as a tactic to protect their own communications. The app has been downloaded more than 2.7 million times in the United States so far this year. That's up 36% over the same period compared to last year. So I do think we are seeing this shift towards Signal and we're going to see it start to pop up more and more because, you know, obfuscating official communications is definitely something that doesn't go hand in hand with a clear and democratic government. So I think you're going to see Signal as a name to watch this year, especially as it's being more downloaded in amongst the highest levels of our government. Up next, it looks like the main component of 23 and me's DNA is failure at this point after the genetic testing company filed for bankruptcy on Monday. Yesterday was another house of horrors as a massive influx of customers rushing to delete their genetic data caused the site to continually malfunction. Long wait times and error messages greeted customers who were trying to safeguard their sensitive information, especially those who are trying to deal with the data of a deceased family member with a lost password. Neil, 23, AndMe boasts it had 15 million people who provided their genetic information, saliva samples, and personal health history to their database, which means they now have 15 million very concerned people all scrambling to delete that data as well.

[Neal Freyman]

And this trove of DNA from people is their most valuable asset that they have in bankruptcy. So for every person that goes to log on to delete their DNA sample, their price out of bankruptcy just keeps getting lower and lower. So, you know, they, I'm not a conspiracy theorist, they do have an incentive to not let people try to delete their, their DNA samples from this database. Obviously, you know, I assume that they are not doing that this intentionally, but just the volume of people that are going onto the website that saw 23andMe go bankrupt. Oh, I need to go delete my, my DNA sample from their database has just been huge and overloaded their website. And you're right, it's just been a house of horrors for the last few years. It's only picked up in the last few days. Finally, here's an aviation horror story you've never heard before. On Saturday, a United Airlines plane bound for Shanghai from Los Angeles made a U turn over the Pacific Ocean after about two hours and diverted to San Francisco. And the reason is that the pilot realized they forgot their passport in San Francisco. The plane got a new crew and made it to Shanghai about six hours late. But this was super embarrassing. Passengers said they began to get suspicious when the flight attendant asked, is there a photo doctor on board?

[Toby Howell]

Imagine watching a flight radar or something like that and seeing this plane just do a U turn. That must have been an electric feeling. This reminds me of when you were young and you were going to a sporting event and you forgot your cleats or your key equipment and you had to muster up the courage to tell your parents so they would turn around. I think that's honestly even higher stakes than this. But imagine the feeling of the, of the pilot going, guys, like, I forgot my. We're going to have to turn this ship around. And the worst part is they only gave passengers a meal vouchers totaling $30 that you could use in the airport when you landed. So for all this hassle, six hours late to their destination, all they got is a measly $30 meal voucher. Just a house of horrors.

[Neal Freyman]

My question is, what were the communications from the flight deck to the people in the air explaining why they had to turn around over the Pacific Ocean and go back to San Francisco for a little bit? Were they truthful about it? Did they say something a little more general or vague. Did they make up something? Did they make up something completely or were they just like straight outright with it and just said actually the pilot excuse the passengers, the seatbelt side is on because the the pilot forgot his passport so we have to turn around? I think there's no way they could say that because there had just been an eruption in the cabin.

[Toby Howell]

I think you can just make it sound very official, like due to a documentation error, we're going to have to turn this puppy around. But I think you're egg on the face moment for United and especially this pilot.

[Neal Freyman]

Poor guy. Okay, let's wrap it up there. Thank you for starting your morning with us and have a wonderful Wednesday. This week is flying by. For any questions, comments or feedback, send an email to Morning Brew daily at Morning Broadcom. Let's roll the credits. Emily Milian is our executive producer. Raymond Lu is our producer. Olivia Graham and Olivia Lake are our associate producers. Eugenia Ogu is our technical director. Scoop Starderas is on audio, hair and makeup. You get an A for skincare infrastructure. Devin Emery is our chief content officer and our show is a production of Morning Brew.

[Toby Howell]

Great show day, Neil. Let's run it back tomorrow.