🛳️ Ahoy, Gen Zers

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👋 Happy Monday. Yes, you sat down to a brimming inbox and an overflowing to-do list, but you might want to give your manager some grace today — turns out, you could be worse off without them. Of 2k US professionals surveyed by consulting firm Korn Ferry, 44% say their company has thinned its managers, and ~40% say they feel “directionless” because of it. So maybe forgive your boss when they Slack you “Do you have time for a quick call?” with no context. And bosses… Quit doing that.

🎧 On the pod: When — and why — did US trucks get so dang big?

NEWS FLASH

A humanoid robot at a Beijing humanoid robot half-marathon.

🤖 Today is the famed Boston Marathon, and we send our heartfelt congratulations to all the runners. But if you — like us — did not log your 26.2 miles today, don’t feel bad… You might still be better than a Chinese robot. In a race advertised as the first half-marathon for androids, 21 humanoid robots raced against human runners in a half-marathon in Beijing. The robots didn’t fare well: The winner, Tiangong Ultra, crossed the finish line at two hours and 40 minutes, an hour behind the human gold medalists. Other bots finished the 13-mile course in 3+ hours, while some tripped, smoked, or didn’t finish at all.

📺 “Bluey,” but make it crypto: “Owen Nowhere,” an animated children’s show about a teenage content creator from production studio We Ghosted Media, will debut not on Netflix, but the metaverse. The project will come to life on Web3 company Lamina1’s platform, where users can build their own AR and VR experiences, allowing them to collect digital items and contribute to the series. For example, fans could vote on what happens next in the show or what outfits the characters wear. Of course, that means kids will need a crypto wallet to participate.

🤖 It never costs to be polite, unless you’re talking to AI. OpenAI founder Sam Altman responded to a post on X that questioned if adding “please” and “thank you” to ChatGPT prompts raised the company’s electricity costs. Altman admitted it does, but that it’s “tens of millions of dollars well spent” because “you never know.” Also, some researchers say that using polite language can result in more “respectful, collaborative” responses.

MORE NEWS TO KNOW

Scientists have a bone to pick: Private collectors have snatched up 71 of the 141 scientifically useful T. rex fossils in existence, according to a Palaeontologia Electronica study. Researchers say the private fossil trade has significantly hindered the scientific record, slowing research and blocking new hypotheses.
In a very different lab somewhere: Scientists have found possible signs of alien life on K2-18b, an exoplanet orbiting a red dwarf star. While they didn’t exactly spot ET, scientists found dimethyl sulfide, a molecule whose only known source on Earth is life — such as algae.
Good news, bookworms: Barnes & Noble will open 60+ stores this year, up from 57 last year, including some spaces that it previously occupied. The bookseller’s expansion comes while competitors, including Borders, are closing and filing for bankruptcy.

ACE YOUR ACCOUNTS

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Target high-value accounts
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THE BIG IDEA

A white cruise ship on a blue background.

All aboard the cruise ship: Young travelers are setting sail

We didn’t think we’d see the day that cruise ships got “cool” (and to be honest, we’re not sure we wanted to).

But it might just be happening.

Why? Because young people are trendsetters, and they’re taking their suitcases and disposable income out to sea, per Sherwood News.

The average age of a cruise ship passenger is 46, according to the Cruise Lines International Association.
That’s down from 49 less than 20 years ago, and 36% of cruise customers are now under the age of 40.

With the average customer spending ~$2.1k on a cruise — including the ticket price — and onboard revenues making up 25%-30% of cruise companies’ net revenue, ships are looking to shift their offerings to meet the demands of a younger traveler.

What’s the appeal, you ask?

Cruises are still a more cost-effective vacation option than land-based resorts — analysts estimate that they’re 25%-30% cheaper.

And where formal dinners and Broadway-style musicals once were, water slides, roller coasters, pickleball courts, upscale restaurants, and cocktail bars are now available.

Plus, new campaigns are targeting younger passengers: Virgin Voyages is offering monthlong season passes for remote workers, and Royal Caribbean is experimenting with “mini cruises” for short attention spans.

There’s another demographic hopping on board…

… and they have deep pockets. The luxury travel crowd is also setting sail — though they’re doing so on fancier decks, per Bloomberg.

Luxury resort brands like Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton, and Aman are launching cruiseliners more akin to superyachts — where trips can start at $14k per week.
This luxury subset of the cruise industry is growing 2.5x faster than the overall industry, and the CLIA estimates there will be 1.5m+ luxury cruises per year by 2028, up from 1.2m today.

Even billionaires like Bernard Arnault are getting in the mix. His company is launching the Orient Express, a luxury yacht brand where three nights in the waters of Côte d’Azur will cost you $19k+ per cabin.

But we’ll leave you with some food for thought: Cruises emit up to 4x more carbon dioxide per passenger per mile than planes, and norovirus doesn’t discriminate — even on luxury liners.

🔗

NEWSWORTHY NUMBER

How long the average American spends bed rotting each year, per a study by mattress company Amerisleep.

The amount of time Americans spend languishing in bed varies based on a variety of factors.

Women are slightly more likely than men to bed rot.
Hybrid workers are more likely to do so than in-office or fully remote employees.
Gen Z spends more time bed rotting — an average of 21 days — than millennials (14 days), Gen X (13 days), and boomers (a mere eight days).

The most common bed rotting activity is watching TV, though 39% somehow manage to do absolutely nothing.

AROUND THE WEB

📆 On this day: In 1895, Woodville Latham and his sons Otway and Gary demonstrated the first US-developed movie projector, dubbed the “Panopticon.”

🪶 That’s cool: A gravity simulator.

🤝 Let’s connect: Come say hi at the 2025 OOO Summit in NYC — the entrepreneurship event you shouldn’t miss. Use code THEHUSTLE for $100 off your ticket.

🫚 That’s interesting: The different types of ginger.

🍊 Aww: Citrus assist.

QUOTE OF NOTE

Add this to your self-care routine: Like Gen Z, Sheldon Yellen, the 67-year-old CEO of Belfor, believes in the power of manifesting your dreams, which he says helped him get to where he is today. But the self-made millionaire, who started working as a dishwasher at 11 years old and now runs a $3B business, told Fortune that visualizing success alone isn’t enough.

The other piece of the puzzle? Holding yourself accountable. For him, that means taking a good, hard look in the mirror every night — literally — something he recommends Gen Zers do, too.

SHOWER THOUGHT

Every time a celebrity signs an autograph, they end up slightly devaluing every autograph they’ve ever signed. SOURCE

Today’s email was brought to you by Juliet Bennett Rylah and Sara Friedman, with help from Singdhi Sokpo and Kaylee Jenzen.
Editing by: Ben “‘Seas the day?” Berkley.

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