Today’s Big Story

Consumer Confidence Falls

Americans are growing more worried about where economy is headed

How do you feel about the economy these days? Because officially, consumers’ view on the state of the economy tumbled this month—falling by the largest level in more than three years as fears grew about jobs and business conditions, CNBC reported Tuesday.

The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index slid to 98.7, down from 105.6 in August, the biggest one-month decline since August 2021. The Dow Jones consensus forecast was for a reading of 104. By contrast, the index had a reading of 132.6 in February 2020, a month before the Covid pandemic hit.

The cutoff date for the release was Sept. 17, meaning respondents replied to the survey before the Fed announced it would cut its benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point on Sept. 18. But there had been several signs of softening in the labor market before consumers replied. Unemployment has steadily risen throughout 2024 and sits at 4.2%, just below its highest level in almost three years. Meanwhile, job openings declined in July to their lowest level since January 2021.

“The plunge in consumer confidence in September underscores the growing pressure on many households as the labor market weakens,” Nationwide economist Ben Ayers told Forbes, adding Americans are looking “warily” at the direction of the economy.

The deterioration “likely reflected consumers' concerns about the labor market and reactions to fewer hours, slower payroll increases, fewer job openings,” Dana Peterson, the group's chief economist, said in a release. That is despite signs of a healthy labor market, with low unemployment and layoffs. The Conference Board says that “prices” and “inflation” are most commonly cited as factors affecting consumers' view of the economy.

Political Threats and Violence on the Rise

The U.S. has had a long history of political violence, but experts see a new trend

Presidential races are always ugly and get downright nasty. But is the temperature rising too much when it comes to the extreme ends of threats and violence? Some experts thinks so. One professor and global terrorism scholar tells NPR that the data “seems to support the sense that we are in new waters.”

So do the headlines. Officials with the Director of National Intelligence briefed former President Donald Trump on Tuesday about “real and specific threats” by Iran to assassinate him to sow chaos. Trump later said that he believes Tehran “will try again.” Axios points out that this election cycle has already seen a significant spike in political threats, with two assassination attempts on Trump, shots being fired into Vice President Harris' campaign office in Tempe, Arizona, and election officials targeted.

U.S. officials see Iran as the biggest nation-state threat to November's elections. Last week, U.S. investigators said Iranian “malicious cyber actors” emailed associates of President Biden's re-election campaign with “non-public material” stolen from Trump’s campaign over the summer. The FBI, CISA and the ODNI in a joint statement said that the summer cyberattack that occurred before Biden suspended his campaign was an “example of Iran's multi-pronged approach” to “stoke discord and undermine confidence” in the U.S. electoral process.

Church Attendance Is Down

And for the first time, young men are more religious than young women

There are more religions being worshipped in America than ever before, but overall church attendance has declined in most U.S. religious groups, according to the latest Gallup data. Only three in 10 U.S. adults attend religious services regularly.

Interestingly, it’s often suggested that in Christian cultures, women are more likely to be observant and faithful than men. Explanations range from biological arguments about the incompatibility of testosterone with spirituality to cultural claims that Christianity, with its demand to love enemies, is “unmanly”. But there’s a shift happening with young people. For the first time in modern American history, young men are now more religious than their female peers. They attend services more often and are more likely to identify as religious.

“We’ve never seen it before,” Ryan Burge, an associate professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University, told the New York Times. The basic explanation for this new gender gap is that young women are rapidly becoming more liberal and feminist, while young men seem to be attracted to belief systems that reinforce traditional families and gender roles. The Times also notes that “almost three in 10 Gen Z women identify as belonging to the LGBTQ+ community,” and homophobia is often described as a reason younger folk become estranged from Christianity.

Spotify’s AI Playlist Builder Is Here

Use it by selecting a prompt or writing your own

Spotify is doubling down on artificial intelligence. First, the music streaming service launched its AI DJ feature in 2023, and on Tuesday, Spotify announced it’s bringing AI Playlists to Premium users in the U.S., Canada, Ireland and New Zealand.

The feature generates custom playlists based on niche prompts. It first became available for Premium users in the U.K. and Australia back in April 2024. The tool is still in beta and allows subscribers to choose from prompts or the ability to write their own. For example, if you're looking for the perfect Sunday morning cleaning playlist, then, theoretically, Spotify’s AI should be able to generate one tailored to your tastes. The playlists contain 30 songs and can be adjusted with additional prompts to better match the desired vibe, such as asking for more upbeat music.

According to The Verge, subscribers can locate the feature within the mobile app by tapping the “+” button at the top right of their Spotify library. Selecting “AI Playlist” from the drop-down menu will then open a chat box to describe the playlist you want. Spotify says it’s still “actively learning and iterating with each exchange” while the feature is in beta and may introduce changes to refine AI Playlist in the future.

The Long Read

Richard Linklater talks about his process with Vanity Fair

Don’t give up.