Today’s Big Story

The War on Decaf

What’s all the buzz about decaffeinated coffee?

I like my coffee. Like, a lot. But I’ve been thinking lately, maybe I might need to cut back. Perhaps I don’t need a cold brew each and every afternoon. Or maybe I just need to go caffeine-free? But there’s been a lot of chatter about decaffeinated coffee … is it better for you or is the buzz-free brew actually bad for you?

First, let’s breakdown what decaffeinated coffee beans are: Put simply, they’re just standard coffee beans with the caffeine stimulant removed. But the way that chemical is removed, well, can be controversial. The chemicals used in the process have been linked to several health risks, which can be worrisome for the 26 million Americans who drink decaffeinated coffee each day. Recent discussions of banning methylene chloride, a likely carcinogen often used in the decaffeination process, have confused and concerned decaf drinkers.

According to Food & Wine, the National Coffee Association, a trade association for the coffee industry dating back to 1911, isn’t here for any proposed bans. The pro-joe group released a statement pushing coffee consumption of any type, including decaf, thanks to its longevity benefits and other healthy associations.

Are the chemicals regularly used to decaffeinate coffee dangerous? In short, the answer is no, experts say, at least not in the amount you’re exposed to, says the doctors that the New York Times spoke with. Sure, once coffee beans are decaffeinated, there may be traces of chemicals left over, but after the beans are roasted, the chemicals evaporate almost entirely.

But despite the FDA’s claim that the levels of methylene chloride in decaf coffee do not pose a health risk, many advocacy groups disagree. The opposing groups are pushing for the FDA to restrict one specific chemical, methylene chloride, citing that the agency is violating a 1958 rule called the Delaney Clause by allowing for its use in creating decaf coffee. The clause requires the FDA to “ban food additives which are found to cause or induce cancer in humans or animals as indicated by testing,” said the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The agency filed a petition from the advocacy groups earlier this year proposing that “solvents including methylene chloride, benzene, ethylene dichloride and trichloroethylene be prohibited or restricted in American food and drugs,” reports STAT News, as all of these have proven to be carcinogenic. Of course, if you want your decaf coffee and would like avoid any potential harmful chemicals, you could look for product packaging with labels such as “solvent-free, Swiss Water processed or certified organic.”

FAA Grounds SpaceX After Rocket Falls Over

But … two key human spaceflight missions loom

SpaceX launches are on hold after a booster rocket toppled over in flames while landing Wednesday. Federal regulators said they wanted to review the wayward landing attempt that ended in explosions following the successful launch of Starlink satellites.

That makes the Falcon 9 rocket unable to fly with two key human spaceflight missions on the horizon. According to CNN, the company is slated to launch a daring mission called Polaris Dawn as soon as this week, and next month it’s expected to launch two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station on Crew-9, a mission that—after a months-long rotation—will also bring home Boeing Starliner’s test flight crew. NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore have been in limbo on the orbiting laboratory since their Starliner flight in early June.

It’s unclear how long the SpaceX investigation and FAA sign-off will take. The last investigation, launched after a Falcon 9 rocket suffered engine failure in July, was completed relatively quickly, and SpaceX resumed missions after about two weeks.

Would-Be Trump Assassin’s Interest in Violence Went Back to 2019

F.B.I. officials said the profile more resembles that of a mass shooter

The gunman in the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump searched online for events of both Trump and President Joe Biden, looked up information about explosives over the last five years and eyed the Pennsylvania campaign rally where he opened fire last month as a “target of opportunity,” a senior FBI official said Wednesday.

The FBI said it has conducted nearly 1,000 interviews so far in its investigation into the July 13 shooting and while his motive remains somewhat opaque, the 20-year-old’s online searches reveal someone who was looking for an opportunity to pull off a spectacular attack that would garner widespread attention, by either inflicting mass casualties or killing someone famous. Thus far, officials say that profile more closely resembles that of a mass shooter than a politically motivated assassin.

“We’ve seen no definitive ideology associated with our subject, either left-leaning or right-leaning,” special agent Kevin Rojek told NPR. “It’s really been a mixture and something that we’re still attempting to analyze and draw conclusions on.”

The Big Mac Is Going Chicken

McDonald’s is bringing back the sandwich after fans begged for its return

The international McDonald’s tend to have a lot more fun than the restaurants in the States. Which is shame, I think, since McDonald’s is an American institution. Why let everyone else have all the fun? But, at least, when things get really popular, they bring menu items home for us to try. Case in point: The Chicken Big Mac.

The decadent double-decker sandwich (which swaps in twin fried chicken patties for the standard burgers) previously won over fans across the United Kingdom and Australia before it was unexpectedly pulled from menus due to alleged supply issues. But now, according to Delish, the Chicken Big Mac is joining U.S. stores sometime before the end of the year.

Technically, this isn’t the first time the item has been available to U.S. diners. Back in 2022, Quartz says it was tested as a limited-time-offer in Miami—and ever since, people have been begging to try it and attempting to order if “off the secret menu”.

The Long Read

Three decades into “This American Life,” Ira Glass thinks the show is doing some of its best work yet

Just start.