Dem Meeting Doesn't Move the Needle As Much As WH Planned—Some Members of Congress Still Want Biden Out

Rep. Jerry Nadler Flip-Flops on Whether Biden Should Drop Out

Priorities: DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison Dunked for What He's Doing As the Dem Party Falls Apart

Baby Boomers Bring Big Bucks to Tempting Texas Town

The second-gen AirPods Pro are one of several Apple devices that have dropped to an all-time low ahead of Prime Day. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Amazon Prime Day may kick off on July 16th, but if you can’t wait or you’re not a Prime member, Walmart’s competing sales event is worth a look. Now until July 11th, the retailer is discounting a whole bunch of gadgets and goodies, from the latest AirPods Pro to the Nintendo Switch OLED. What’s more, Walmart is offering half-price yearlong Walmart Plus memberships ($49) throughout the sale, which grants you access to free delivery, a complimentary subscription to Paramount Plus, and early access to deals during future sales events. Below, we’ve rounded up all the worthwhile deals you can currently take advantage of. If you’re a Prime member, we’d also recommend checking out our guide to the best early Prime Day deals so you can save... Continue reading…

Image: The Verge Mark Matlock, a political candidate for the right-wing Reform UK party, clarified in The Independent that he is a real person, not an AI bot, as some suspected. Perhaps it was the glossy, hyper-smooth skin in a campaign image or the fact that Matlock had apparently missed events like the election count — but earlier this week, a thread on X questioned whether Matlock existed at all. “We might be on the verge of a HUGE SCANDAL,” the post read. We might be on the verge of a HUGE SCANDAL. Suspicions have been raised that Reform have fielded election candidates that aren’t real people. Is there any evidence that Mark Matlock (candidate for Clapham & Brixton Hill) actually exists? He looks AI generated. pic.twitter.com/0wJcR4HZXG— Dr Bella... Continue reading…

The game is an oldie but goodie, especially with multiple people playing. | Screenshot: Nintendo If you have a sudden or anticipated need for Joy-Con replacements or additional controllers to supplement the pair that came with your Nintendo Switch, the ongoing Walmart Deals event is where you want to be. Until July 11th, the retailer is selling the red and blue Joy-Con bundled with a copy of Super Mario Party for $69 ($31 off). The Joy-Con controllers retail for about that much on their own, and the game is usually around $40 to $50 when it’s on sale, so the game is effectively free. Super Mario Party for Switch (the 11th in its long history, though there’s a newer title in Mario Party Superstars) offers four-player fun with 80 different minigames, from racing and sports to puzzlers and gladiator-style rumbles. There’s a mix of new... Continue reading…

A fascinating new study has produced ample evidence to show that after the Roman Empire conquered Britain in the year 43 AD, the occupied region experienced a period of sustained and intensive economic growth. This finding emerged from analysis of archaeological discoveries from all over the United Kingdom, which reveal a marked increase in economic prosperity and wealth distribution in Roman times. The research responsible for this eye-opening discovery was carried out by a team of anthropologists and behavioral scientists from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom and the University of Colorado in the United States. They credit changes in technology, laws, and institutional structures for the accelerated economic growth, which they assert was quite substantial. “Over that period of about 350 years, you’re looking at roughly a two-and-a-half [fold] increase in productivity per capita,” study co-author Rob Wiseman, an anthropologist from the University of Cambridge’s McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, told New Scientist. As Wiseman explained, it has long been thought that economic growth in ancient times resulted from population growth and heavier exploitation of resources. But in the new study, the data obtained revealed that Roman Britain experienced a more intensive type of growth than that associated with simple population growth. In this case it seems people became more productive, not just more plentiful. Read moreSection: NewsHistory & ArchaeologyRead Later 

To write his plays, William Shakespeare looked for inspiration in a wide variety of sources, including myths, history, and popular stories of his day. Among Shakespeare’s inspirations were two ancient British kings. Of the two kings, King Lear is completely mythical. His biography is partially based on Leir of Britain, a legendary British monarch whose story Geoffrey of Monmouth recorded in his pseudohistorical 12th-century Historia Regum Britanniae (“History of the Kings of Britain”). Geoffrey's genealogy of the British dynasty dates Leir's rule to the 8th century BC, about the period of Rome's establishment.  Geoffrey of Monmouth at Tintern Station. (Colin Cheesman / CC BY-SA 2.0)  Read moreSection: NewsHistoryAncient TraditionsPremiumPreviewRead Later 

Although Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said she is more comfortable being in state politics than on a national stage, she did not rule out Tuesday becoming Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate should President Joe Biden, 81, step aside.