This week we went to see The Odyssey and came out thinking about Bronze Age collapse, because Nolan’s Odysseus is haunted by the wreckage of a civilization that mistook conquest for strength—and the parallels basically write themselves. Then we checked in on the Leading Economic Index, which has been declining for years while the coincident index keeps climbing, and the gap between those two lines is the gap between Wall Street and everyone else: the market’s fine, the C-suite’s fine, but the person trying to build or buy a house is living in a completely different economy.

Chapters

Intro: 00:00:38

Quick Takes: 00:01:37

Max Notes: 00:07:53

Killer Left Take of the Week: 00:14:26

Chart of the Week: 00:17:16

Headlines: 00:19:48

Outro: 00:20:53

Resources

Guardian News: Britain’s new prime minister Andy Burnham makes address

NBC News: Trump imposes 50% tariffs on dairy, alcohol, and cars from Canada

Reuters: Doctors question evidence behind Pentagon plan for testosterone screening

Fox Business: Bessent delivers remarks on far-left political terrorism

Netflix: Bill Maher Mark Twain Prize

Middle East Eye: US influencer Clavicular’s ‘Israelmaxxing’ propaganda trip ends in national scandal

Forbes: Here’s The Odyssey’s Budget And Break-Even Point At The Box Office

Africa Is a Country: Odyssey to Africa’s last colony

Drop Site News: Jeremy Scahill and Ro Khanna CLASH Over Palestinian Armed Resistance and Iron Dome

The Conference Board: Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for the US Declined in June and Partially Reversed Gains from Prior Two Months

ACLU: Defending Our Vote: The ACLU’s election safeguarding program

Grist: New York governor orders first statewide data center moratorium

The Lever: Repeat Food Contaminator Gave $2.2 Million to GOP. Now Thousands Are Sick

UNFTR Resources

Video: On The Record 7-21-26 (The Odyssey | Pete Hegseth Loves Buff Dudes | Clavicular in Israel.)

Essay: Quite the Odyssey.

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