Welcome to The Morning Sixpack Podcast, where we pour six stories into one quick shot of news—with just enough commentary to keep everybody honest. Today, a deadly school strike raises more questions than answers, John Brennan heads to court before he’s even charged, the job market finally cools, OpenAI makes a move that looks more political than philanthropic, Team USA gets burned by replay, and one of America’s closest allies tells Washington, “Not this time.”
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More than 150 people—most of them children—were killed when a school in Iran was struck during the U.S.-Israeli conflict, and families are still waiting for answers. An Associated Press investigation says the Pentagon quickly learned a school had been hit, yet months later the investigation remains unfinished and the public still hasn’t seen the results. Accountability shouldn’t arrive slower than the bombs.
Former CIA Director John Brennan isn’t waiting for prosecutors to make the first move. Brennan has filed a lawsuit to preserve Justice Department records, arguing any future prosecution by the Trump administration would be politically motivated. Whether charges ever come or not, the legal battle has already begun.
The economy finally gave the Federal Reserve something new to worry about. Employers added just 57,000 jobs in June, hiring slowed sharply, and hundreds of thousands of Americans left the workforce. Wall Street immediately lowered expectations for another near-term interest-rate hike as signs of a cooling labor market continue to build.
OpenAI says it wants Americans to share in the AI boom—but critics might see something else entirely. Sam Altman has reportedly floated giving the U.S. government a 5% ownership stake in OpenAI through a public investment vehicle. It’s being sold as a way for taxpayers to benefit from artificial intelligence, but it’s also arriving at a time when Washington is deciding how tightly to regulate the industry. Coincidence? You decide.
Team USA is headed into the knockout round without its hottest scorer. Folarin Balogun’s controversial red card after a lengthy VAR review means he’ll miss the Round of 16 match against Belgium. The Americans survived Bosnia, but replacing their biggest offensive threat against one of the tournament’s strongest teams won’t be nearly as easy.
One of America’s closest Middle East allies quietly forced the White House to scrap a military operation. According to a Wall Street Journal report, Saudi Arabia refused to allow U.S. forces to use its territory during a planned operation in the Strait of Hormuz, exposing the deepest rift between Washington and Riyadh in years. The message was simple: even allies have limits.
That’s your Morning Sixpack. Thanks for spending a few minutes with me today. If you enjoy cutting through the noise without the corporate spin, subscribe, share the podcast, and tell a friend. I’ll be back tomorrow with six more stories worth talking about.
Here’s a neat pdf that illustrates the stories in the podcast.
