The Journal.

Tweens, or kids aged 8 to 12, have learned to shop online. Brands are taking note. WSJ’s Chavie Lieber spoke to TikTok-er Demetra Dias and explains the impact of influencers like her on young shoppers and the brands that court them. Further Reading: - Teen Girls Are Spending Big. She Tells Them What to Buy.  - Why Tweens Are Obsessed With This $110 Sweatsuit  Further Listening: - How the Stanley Cup Became the Internet's Favorite Water Bottle  - Teens Are Falling Victim to AI Fake Nudes  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pavel Durov, the CEO of the messaging app Telegram, was arrested in France last month. He was charged with a host of crimes, including complicity in distributing child pornography, illegal drugs and hacking software on the app. Matthew Dalton reports on how the charges represent a major escalation by the French government in holding tech executives accountable for the content that appears on their platforms. Further Reading: - Telegram CEO Pavel Durov Charged by French Authorities  - Exclusive | Telegram Founder Pavel Durov Was Wooed and Targeted by Governments  Further Listening: - Is Fighting Misinformation Censorship? The Supreme Court Will Decide.  - What Happens to Privacy in the Age of AI?  - Meta Is Struggling to Boot Pedophiles Off Facebook and Instagram  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kamala Harris is trying to step out of President Biden’s shadow without distancing herself from thier administration’s policies. Molly Ball breaks down a new WSJ poll that shows Harris has a narrow lead in the presidential election and unpacks the VP’s first big interview. She also takes your questions.   Further Reading: - Harris Has Taken Narrow Lead Over Trump, WSJ Poll Finds  - Race Is On To Reach the Rapidly Shrinking Pool of Undecided Voters  Further Listening: - Is the Trump Campaign Going Off Track?  - Kamala Harris, In Context   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The world’s most lucrative sports league is allowing private equity to buy into teams. WSJ’s Andrew Beaton and Miriam Gottfried unpack why the NFL is opening up, and what it could mean for owners and fans. Further Reading: -Private Equity Ownership Is Coming to the NFL  -College Sports Is About to Turn Pro. Private Equity Wants In.  Further Listening: -Why Three Media Giants Are Betting on Sports Streaming  -ESPN’s Big Bet on an F-Bomb-Throwing YouTube Star  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Faced with stagnating economic growth, Chinese leader Xi Jinping decided to go all in on manufacturing and exporting. But, as Lingling Wei reports, the increase in low-cost Chinese goods is squeezing businesses around the world and raising the specter of a new trade war. Further Listening: - How Xi Jinping's Dream Slowed China's Economy  - The Political Cost of China's Faltering Economy  Further Reading: - Why China Is Starting a New Trade War  - China Revives Socialist Ideas to Fix Its Real-Estate Crisis  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Elon Musk bought Twitter in 2022, he borrowed $13 billion dollars from several banks to complete the deal. Now, it looks like the banks may not get all their money back. WSJ’s Alexander Saeedy on what the banks didn’t take into account when they made those loans. Further Reading: -Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover Is Now the Worst Buyout for Banks Since the Financial Crisis  -Elon Musk’s Hard Turn to Politics, in 300,000 of His Own Words  Further Listening: -Elon Musk and Silicon Valley Turn Towards Trump -Tesla’s Multibillion-Dollar Pay Package for Elon Musk -Why Elon Musk’s Twitter Is Losing Advertisers  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For almost 20 years, Etsy has been a popular website for handmade and specialized goods on the internet. But as the company grew, many current and former sellers say the platform has changed and is now full of mass-produced goods. They’ve also complained about increased seller fees. The CEO, Josh Silverman, responds, saying Etsy is still true to its original mission to keep commerce ‘human.’  Further Listening: - What’s Behind Amazon’s Review Problem  - The Resurrection of Abercrombie & Fitch  Further Reading: - Temu’s U.S. Entry Is an Orange Flag for Etsy  - Etsy to Cut 11% of Marketplace Workforce in Restructuring  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last night, Vice President Kamala Harris formally accepted the Democratic presidential nomination. It capped off a boisterous, speaker-packed week in Chicago as the Harris campaign tries to reach a broad swath of American voters. Molly Ball reports from Chicago.  Further Listening: - Is the Trump Campaign Going Off Track?   - Takeaways from the RNC: Trump Is in Control  Further Reading: - Kamala Harris Defines the Democrats’ New Normal  - Democrats’ Upbeat Convention Has Nancy Pelosi to Thank  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In May, an associate at Bank of America died unexpectedly after working long hours on a big acquisition. The death sparked an outcry about the all-nighters and 100-hour weeks that grind down young investment bankers. WSJ’s Alexander Saeedy spoke to over three dozen current and former employees about a pervasive culture of overwork at the bank. Further Reading: -How Bank of America Ignores Its Own Rules Meant to Prevent Dangerous Workloads  -Bank of America Urges Bankers to Sound Alarm on Overwork After WSJ Investigation  Further Listening: -Lewd Photos, Booze and Bullying: Inside the FDIC’s Toxic Culture  -JPMorgan's $75 Million Jeffrey Epstein Settlement  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, Starbucks ousted its CEO Laxman Narasimhan and replaced him with Brian Niccol, the current leader of Chipotle. Lauren Thomas reports on the dramatic leadership change, as Starbucks struggles to turn around its business and contend with activist investors.   Further Listening: - Can Chinese Customers Rescue Starbucks?   - The Underdog Coffee Bean That’s Making a Comeback  Further Reading: - Inside Starbucks’s Surprising CEO Firing and Hiring  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Democratic National Convention is underway in Chicago, where the party aims to unite behind its new nominee for president, Kamala Harris. But the war in Gaza, and American military aid for Israel, is dividing the party. WSJ’s Sabrina Siddiqui explains why that fracture could impact the Harris campaign. Further Reading: -DNC 2024 Live Updates  -DNC Protesters Have a Message for Kamala Harris: ‘Talk Is Cheap’  -Pro-Gaza Activists Size Up Kamala Harris  Further Listening: -The Economy: Trump vs. Harris  -Trump Courts the Union Vote  -Pro-Palestinian Protests and Arrests at U.S. Colleges  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, the two presidential candidates put forward some specific policy proposals about the economy. WSJ’s Andrew Restuccia breaks down what each candidate is proposing. Further Reading: - Harris Calls for Expanded Child Tax Credit, 3 Million New Housing Units  - Harris, Trump Propose Divergent, Costly Solutions for Inflation  Further Listening: - Is the Trump Campaign Going Off Track?  - 'Phony' and 'Weird.' Trump and Harris Size Each Other Up  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

WSJ’s Molly Ball breaks down the past week for the Trump campaign as the former president continues to try and counter a surge of support for Harris. Plus, do undecided voters truly exist? Molly answers your questions. Further Reading: - Race Is On To Reach the Rapidly Shrinking Pool of Undecided Voters  - Inside Elon Musk’s Hands-On Push to Win 800,000 Voters for Trump  Further Listening: - The Week that Changed the Presidential Race  - Kamala Harris, In Context   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki died last week at the age of 56. WSJ’s Miles Kruppa shares how Wojcicki developed a reputation as perhaps the most important Google employee that few people have heard of outside of the company’s walls. Further Reading: -Former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki Dies at Age 56  -YouTube’s Susan Wojcicki on Transforming the Video Service  Further Listening: -Why the DOJ Is Suing Google Again  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the past three months, Robby Starbuck has fueled social-media attacks that have led to two companies rolling back their diversity initiatives. He is part of a larger movement that is pushing back against diversity, equity and inclusion policies at companies. WSJ’s Chip Cutter reports.  Further Listening: -Conservatives Come for ESG  Further Reading: -The Activist Pushing Companies to Ditch Their Diversity Policies  -Diversity Goals Are Disappearing From Companies’ Annual Reports  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After years of pressure from the U.S., China is imposing new restrictions on chemicals used in the production of fentanyl. WSJ’s Brian Spegele says the move marks a small step forward after nearly a decade of sometimes-tense negotiations. Further Reading: -China Restricts Fentanyl Chemicals After Years of U.S. Pressure  Further Listening: -The Push to Test Drugs for Fentanyl  -How a Balloon Burst U.S.-China Relations  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In June, Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft successfully docked at the International Space Station. But issues with its propulsion system have called into question its safety. Now, NASA is weighing alternatives to bring the astronauts home. WSJ’s Micah Maidenberg shares how the Starliner program has faced a bevy of problems and what it means for Boeing. Further Reading: - Boeing Sent Two Astronauts Into Space. Now It Needs to Get Them Home.  - NASA Says Starliner Astronauts Could Return With SpaceX—Next Year  - Two Astronauts Are Stuck in Space. Here’s How They’re Passing the Time.  Further Listening: - Elon Musk’s Unusual Relationships With Women at SpaceX  - The New Race to the Moon  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The world’s rainforests have shrunk dramatically in recent decades due to the expansion of land for growing cash crops, like cocoa. The European Union is trying to limit destruction with a new law which aims to track where cocoa is grown. Farmers who want to sell to Europe— the world’s largest cocoa market— are racing to meet the law's requirements, or lose out. WSJ’s Alexandra Wexler details how the law will impact millions of cocoa farmers in West Africa. Further Reading: - Chocolate Prices Have Soared. A New Law Threatens to Keep Them High.  - Your Sweet Tooth Is Getting Expensive  Further Listening: - How Indonesia Tamed Rainforest Destruction  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bill Ackman has pressed pause on the initial public offering of a new fund aimed at everyday investors after a lack of demand. Ackman originally aimed to raise around $25 billion in the offering, hoping to capitalize on his social-media celebrity but his fund goals shrunk dramatically. WSJ’s Peter Rudegeair unpacks what happened.  Further Reading: -Can Bill Ackman Turn Social-Media Stardom Into a Blockbuster IPO?  -What Bill Ackman Got Wrong With His Bungled IPO  Further Listening: -The Life of One of Wall Street’s Greatest Investors  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a historic decision this week, a federal judge ruled that Google acted to illegally maintain a monopoly in online search. The case was the first of several antitrust lawsuits the U.S. government has brought against some of the nation’s leading tech companies, and the ruling marks a major victory for its efforts to reign in big tech. WSJ’s Miles Kruppa explains how this decision could shake up Google’s business and potentially change how we search the internet.  Further Reading: -Google’s Antitrust Loss Set to Reshape Search and Mobile Industries  -Google Loses Antitrust Case Over Search-Engine Dominance  Further Listening: -Why the DOJ Is Suing Google Again  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices