We've established that there's a huge swath of the population (mostly male, mostly under-educated) that are not employed. That trend has been building since the 70s. Since then, the percentage of young men out of work has tripled. And we're pretty sure that this joblessness was triggered by economic and geopolitical shifts. But there could be another factor. It's incredibly fun to stay home. "Economists from Princeton, the University of Rochester and the University of Chicago say that an additional reason many of these young men -- who don't have college degrees -- are rejecting work is that they have a better alternative: living at home and enjoying video games. The decision may not even be completely conscious, but surveys suggest that young men are happier for it." It turns out leveling up is a slippery slope.

+ From The Atlantic: "Every dollar of earnings or borrowing used to be associated with a 40-cent increase in investment. Since the 1980s, though, less than 10 cents of each earned or borrowed dollar is invested." Is Finance Ruining America.

"Nobody knows for certain who will win on Nov. 8 -- but one man is pretty sure: Professor Allan Lichtman, who has correctly predicted every presidential election since 1984." And this year, Lichtman's model indicates that Trump will win. But Lichtman, like everyone else, admits that none of these models were built with Trump in mind. "We've never had a candidate before who's invited a hostile foreign power to meddle in American elections. We've never had a candidate before who's threatened to start a war by blowing ships out of the water in the Persian Gulf if they come too close to us. We've never had a candidate before who has embraced as a role model a murderous, hostile foreign dictator. Given all of these exceptions that Donald Trump represents, he may well shatter patterns of history that have held for more than 150 years."

+ "The republic is under siege by a moron, basically. The whole thing is tragic. Without overstating it, it's a tragedy for our democracy." Since it's his birthday, let's hear what the boss has to say about the Donald.

+ Ted Cruz, who was Trump's foe up to and through the GOP convention, has reversed course and now says he's voting for Donald.

What to Read: "A disrupted homecoming wasn't enough. The threat of a graduate-student walkout wasn't enough. A nightly encampment wasn't enough. A hunger striker's potential dead body wasn't enough. We often speak theoretically about the power athletes wield to enact social change -- we are talking about it more now than ever -- but here were real, tangible results from real, influential players. They won." Colin Kaepernick's silent protest is a start, but what if pro athletes refused to play? What Mizzou Knew.

+ What to Hear: Last night I saw Nothing But Thieves perform in small club in SF, and that will be the last time I get to see them in small venue. I don't think I've heard a better voice live than Conor Mason. So, consider this a reminder to check them out. Start with this live set from earlier in 2016.

+ What to Gawk At: Voyages - visual journeys by six photographers in the NYT.

+ What to Book: Wolf Boys: Two American Teenagers and Mexico's Most Dangerous Drug Cartel. (I'm listening to the audiobook. Riveting and informative.)

+ What to Podcast: Planet Money Buys Oil.

Protesters are still demanding access to the police video of a shooting that set of several nights of discord in Charlotte. Meanwhile, the wife of Keith Lamont Scott has released her own camera phone video of the event.

+ In Tulsa, a "white police officer in Tulsa who was shown on video fatally shooting an unarmed black man has been charged with first-degree manslaughter."

"If the hearing accomplished nothing in the way of policy, it did make one thing clear: the problem with Mylan is not just that it keeps raising prices. It's that it has done so by, in effect, leveraging the power of the government to help its bottom line." James Surowiecki explains how the maker of the Epipen made government its ally.

+ "One of the Abbott representatives showed up with a sheet cake box filled with doughnuts and snack cakes arranged to spell out the word OxyContin. The gambit worked. The surgeon listened to the sales talk, and every week after that, the Abbott sales personnel visited the doctor to ask him to switch at least three patients to OxyContin from other painkillers." Stat's David Armstrong on the secret trove that reveals a bold crusade to make OxyContin a blockbuster. (These two stories will tell you a lot about the way drugs get pushed in America.)

"Public prosecutors visit hospitals to train gynecologists and obstetricians to detect and report patients who show 'symptoms of abortion.' Doctors are legally obligated to be informants for the police." In Harper's, Rachel Nolan takes you where pregnant women have more to fear than Zika

Twitter shares surged today on news that they may be talking to suitors, including Google, Salesforce, and others. For those who use the service, the news provided a reminder that Twitter is never more Twitter than when Twitter talks about Twitter.

The biology prize was "awarded jointly to: Charles Foster, for living in the wild as, at different times, a badger, an otter, a deer, a fox, and a bird; and to Thomas Thwaites, for creating prosthetic extensions of his limbs that allowed him to move in the manner of, and spend time roaming hills in the company of, goats." Meet the Winners of This Year's Ig Nobel Prizes.

"The most important fast food restaurant in America is a radical burger joint in Watts." From Eater: The People's Cheeseburger.

We've never seen a presidential debate featuring a candidate like Donald Trump. With that in mind, I offer this debating advice to Hillary Clinton (with a little help from Triumph the Insult Dog): The Matchup Hillary Can't Win.

+ Target removes kids' shopping carts after kids went wild with them. (Maybe the worse invention ever...)