| | | | | |  Will Varner | | IN THIS ISSUE | The one thing TikTok can't quit | Summertime travel blues | Gabby Giffords's surprising fandom | | | | "Crying shaking and throwing up has new meaning to me because I real life did all three."—Quinta Brunson on being nominated for three Emmys for Abbott Elementary "She's a 9.1 but she's inflation."—@litcapital on Twitter "Whoa."—President Joe Biden during a White House event for NASA | | |  —Interviews by Ashwin Rodrigues | | | Keystone/Stringer/Getty Images If you've been planning a jaunt to Europe, now might be the best time to make your dollar go further. The euro is at its weakest in two decades, roughly equal in value with the US dollar. Whether you sip a glass of champagne under the Eiffel Tower or pick up some souvenirs at the Colosseum gift store, you are getting 15% off your purchases compared to last year. Even better: If you have cash to burn, you could get a Cartier bracelet for $417 less abroad compared to buying it at home because of the exchange rate. The downside? You'll have to fly to Europe. Europe is the epicenter of the ongoing travel chaos: Flights have been delayed and canceled, leaving frustrated flyers across the Continent. At London's Heathrow, lines were excruciatingly long as customers waited at the check-in counter and thousands of suitcases piled up on the floors. The airport's chief executive, John Holland-Kaye, apologized. Airlines have been asked to stop selling tickets for flights out of Heathrow until mid-September. "We recognize that this will mean some summer journeys will either be moved to another day, another airport, or be canceled," he said, "and we apologize to those whose travel plans are affected." Except other major European airports are in misery, too. France's aviation authority ordered a reduction in flights out of Paris's Charles de Gaulle Airport in late June; Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport and London's Gatwick Airport are scrapping flights and limiting passenger numbers as well. The Heathrow headache might make headlines, but it's not even ranked among Europe's worst 10 airports for delays this month. Brussels won that dubious award by delaying 72% of its flights. Flight disruptions are a universal problem this summer, extending beyond the European continent. Airlines and airports, which significantly cut their staff numbers during the pandemic, are struggling to fully staff up for summer travel. From security agents to cabin crew members and ground-handling staff, there's an unprecedented labor crunch. Between 5,000 and 7,000 new pilots become licensed to fly every year, but US airlines are hoping to add at least 13,000 pilots this year. While travelers have put Covid in the rearview mirror, air industry workers are still concerned about job security, and many are unwilling to come back. The turmoil is exacerbated by strikes as rampant inflation eats away at paychecks around the world. Paying more for a business class seat could ease your experience at the crammed airport, but no one can buy their way out of a commercial flight delay or cancellation. Plus, if you spend the extra money on business class, you might have to say au revoir to your Cartier dreams. —Sherry Qin | | | This week we recommend @hellicity_merriman, an Instagram account for anyone who was raised on American Girl, appreciates irony, and is feeling a little angry. The account, its name a play on American Girl Felicity Merriman (aka Shailene Woodley), imagines the perfect American Girl dolls that never existed but absolutely should. Some are niche historical creations like one post that declares "we need an american girl doll who was on the mayflower in 1620 but fell off." Others capture the unhinged moments of millennial girlhood like, "we need an american girl doll who cried when nick jonas was diagnosed with diabetes." It's an absurd account and it's absolutely perfect. | | | | | | That said, Pom can hit just the right spot for just about every vulva-haver out there. That's because this super-soft, super-flexible vibrator from Dame bends easily to your unique body's every whim, making it perfect for users of all shapes and sizes. Whether you're flyin' solo or exploring with a partner, Pom nestles in right where you want it and moves as you move. Hear this: "Mind-blowing," "life-changing," and "worth every penny" are just some of the ways Dame's satisfied (ahem) customers sing Pom's praises. Plus, Pom is waterproof and rechargeable—no unwieldy cords to deal with during use—and offers a range of intensity levels and patterns, so you can customize your experience every time. Ready to give Pom's point-and-click pleasure a try? Take 15% off your first Dame order with code MORNINGBREW, right here. | | | | Will Varner Evangelina Bulkley is showing off her latest life-changing find in a 30-second TikTok video. "The literal best thing I've gotten from Amazon," an on-screen caption and a voice-over say. Bulkley smiles and flashes a peace sign. An acupressure mat is unfurled on the floor and she lies down on it, making sure every inch of her back is in contact with the clusters of small plastic spikes that cover the fabric. She gets up and turns her back to the camera, showing off her skin, now bright red and covered with tiny star marks from the pressure of the spikes. Despite how painful this looks, Bulkley smiles into her camera and ends the clip with a thumbs-up. "Sore muscles feel like they are melting over spikes," the caption and voice-over say, "let me know if you like it." The video prompted hundreds of comments. "Sigh *opens amazon*," says one with the acknowledged resignation that watching Bulkley's TikTok has inspired yet another purchase. Other viewers seem to agree—the comment got nearly 900 likes. Bulkley's video has roughly 758k views, making it one of her most viewed posts, but the star of the video is the acupressure mat, tortuous as it might seem. It's ubiquitous across TikTok and Instagram, where influencers tout its benefits even as reviewers jokingly describe it as "evil." It's so popular that Amazon includes it on its Internet Famous page, a curation of "viral products" that includes everything from acne patches to cordless drills and a mini waffle maker. Products attaining the viral fame once reserved only for cats playing a keyboard points to a new phenomenon: the increased buying power of TikTok users, who are taking cues from creators building content empires on hashtags like #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt, which has 16.3 billion views. According to a recent TikTok for Business press release, the "unstoppable power of #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt" inspired 67% of users surveyed to "shop even when they weren't looking to do so"—but, consider the source. Forget lip-syncing and dancing videos, TikTok influencers can earn cash and build a following by recommending niche Amazon products like the acupressure mat and earning commissions (through Amazon) on the sales they generate. Creators like Bulkley have turned their fans into a powerful buying force willing to spend $20 on a life hack that feels like, in the words of one five-star Amazon review, a "bizarre fire torture mat." ProsourceFit, the maker of the acupressure mat that Bulkley promoted, has been selling this particular mat since 2012. Konstantin Mikhaylov, ProsourceFit's director of development, didn't know about Amazon's Internet Famous page. "It's a nice surprise," he said. That shows how far removed importers and manufacturers are from the influencers selling their wares. Mikhaylov said he thinks both social media and the pandemic played a factor in the boom of this product. "It's kind of weird to sit on [an] acupressure mat in the office," he acknowledged, but after employees fled their cubicles for work from home, they could "try out new things," like laying on a simulated bed of nails, apparently. It's one of the company's bestsellers and accounts for 7% of its annual revenue. Read the rest of Sherry Qin's story about the acupressure mat that took over the internet. | | | Gabby Giffords is a former member of Congress from Arizona and a mass shooting survivor. She co-founded and leads Giffords, a gun violence prevention organization. A documentary about her life, Gabby Giffords Won't Back Down, premiered nationwide July 15. What's the best advice you ever received? Get back on the horse—literally and figuratively! I rode a lot growing up, and mucked stalls and took care of the horse I rode. What's the most embarrassing song you'll admit to liking publicly? "Thrift Shop" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. It always gets stuck in my head..."what what what what." Coincidentally, that's one of the two words I could say in my early days of recovery: "what" and "chicken." What fictional person do you wish were real? Any Vin Diesel character. What can I say? I'm a fan! What real person do you wish were fictional? Whoever invented high heels! I hate them—give me comfortable shoes any day. How would you explain TikTok to your great-grandparents? I don't have TikTok, but I'd describe it as quick movies. I did just watch the "my money doesn't jiggle jiggle" video—I don't get the hype. What always makes you laugh? This isn't a "what" but a "who": my husband, Mark! He's the funniest person I know. If you were given a billboard in Times Square, what would you put on it? "Gun laws save lives." I've dedicated my life to gun violence prevention.
—Interview by Amanda Hoover
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