Read this in your browser

Jan 16, 2025

Zartschmelzend, Kräftig Würziger Rahm-Hartkäse from Affineur Walo is a soft, melting, strong spicy cream-hard Swiss cheese made using raw cow's milk and aged for 14 months. As the name clearly says, it is a creamy, spicy cheese that melts as soon as it hits the palate. I’m afraid I’m struggling to come up with a cheese pun using it but I do want to offer you a large chunk of cheddar (the cheese, not the cash, and even then, I’m only talking figuratively) if you can do so by tomorrow. Email me your ideas!

Today’s cheddlines you need to know, meanwhile, are full of information you might find hard to digest:

• Wall Street Rips Higher After Inflation Data and Strong Bank Profits
• FDA Banning Red Food Dye No. 3 in Drinks and Food
• Jack Daniels Parent Company Lays Off 12% of Workforce
• Key Takeaways from Joe Rogan's Interview with Mark Zuckerberg in Under 20 Minutes
• Will TikTok be Extended by 270 Days?

Zartschmelzend!

—Matt Davis, Need2Know Chedditor

Read the story

The S&P 500 soared almost 2% yesterday for its best day in two months, thanks to optimistic reports on U.S. inflation and stronger than expected bank earnings. It’s about time because markets had given up all their post-election gains before yesterday.

While the overall inflation rate did see a slight increase to 2.9% from November's 2.7%, a closer look at the core inflation — which excludes the volatile food and energy sectors — showed it ticked down slightly. The Fed sees that as a positive signal, potentially easing worries that the inflation improvement had stalled. Hope for potential rate reductions later in the year is budding again, possibly as early as March, should the inflation pressure continue to wane.

Bank stocks also significantly contributed to Wall Street's performance, with some of the nation's largest financial institutions, such as Wells Fargo, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs, reporting robust profits exceeding analysts' expectations for the final quarter of 2024.

At this rate I’ll be able to check my 401(k) again in about three months. Read More

Bad news for Peeps fans, but good news for those of us who don’t like cancer: The FDA has banned Red Dye No. 3.

Derived from petroleum, a.k.a. moldy dinosaurs, the synthetic coloring agent was first approved by U.S. regulators in 1907, the year Katherine Hepburn was born and the paper towel was "invented." However, its tenure in the food and cosmetics industries began to sour in the 1980s, when animal studies linked the dye to cancer in lab rats. You know that’s always when things begin to sour, don’t you?

That led to its ban in cosmetics in 1990, yet we still thought you could eat it instead of just smearing it on your face. Also, regulatory inertia. In fact, it’s in a bunch of stuff, from candies like Pez and Jelly Belly to baked goods such as Entenmann's Little Bites. Strawberry-flavored beverages and dairy products also feature on the extensive list, alongside certain medications, cough syrups, and children's supplements.

Food and drug manufacturers must now eliminate the dye from their products by 2027 and 2028, respectively. Natural colorants like beet juice, red cabbage pigments, and carmine are poised to replace their synthetic counterparts. Their major benefits are that they don’t cause cancer (as far as we know—ask us again in 2107). Thanks to the U.S. government for acting with its customary decisiveness and speed on this one. Read More

Amid a challenging landscape for spirits makers, Brown-Forman, the parent company behind Jack Daniel's and Woodford Reserve, is laying off nearly 700 of its 5,400 employees. The Louisville, Kentucky–based company has faced several harsh realities, from ongoing inflation impacting the cost of materials such as wood for barrels, to a broader consumer shift away from high-priced liquors. People also want to drink less, although not former employees of Brown-Forman, who are most likely going to need a shot or two tonight.

The layoffs and operational shifts aim to salvage around $70 million to $80 million annually.

The booze industry has been treading tough waters since the pandemic. Notably, this slowdown was flagged by Brown-Forman back in 2023, when they reported a significant decline in whiskey sales—a stark reversal from the booming growth witnessed the previous year. Also, booze gives you cancer now, according to the U.S. Surgeon General, which has known that for decades but only recently recommended putting health warnings on alcohol. Brown-Forman's shares have plummeted over 30% in the past year. Read More

In a recent, nearly three-hour interview with Joe Rogan, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed what he believes is the "real Mark." Zuckerberg discussed everything from fighting and hunting to masculinity and his grievances with the Biden Administration.

We got the key takeaways from Steven Overly, host of Politico Tech, so that you don’t have to spend 180 minutes of your life listening to the thing itself.

One of the most striking moments of the interview was Zuckerberg's comments on American companies, including his own, needing a more "masculine" culture. “This idea that you need more of a masculine culture, more masculine energy infused back into companies was pretty illuminating,” Steven said. “I thought it sort of spoke to all of the policy and, you know, policies he's changing.”

But wait. I thought gender was a social construct, now? Surely the whole premise of companies being more masculine is completely ridiculous, and pandering to the lowest common denominator? Next thing you'll be telling me that trans participation in college sports is controversial. Maybe you should email me about all this? I can’t wait to hear your views.

Zuckerberg also said the Biden administration pressured Meta to take down what he claims was "factual" information during the Covid-19 pandemic. "These people from the Biden administration would call up our team and like scream at them and curse... And they're like... ‘we're not going to take down things that are true. That's ridiculous,’" Zuckerberg said.

Steven acknowledges that this isn't the first time a tech company has claimed the Biden administration was overzealous about misinformation.

"This has been a charge from media, from Twitter, that the Biden administration was overzealous, especially during Covid, in taking down misinformation from social media to the point that information that was really just opinion-driven or may ultimately have turned out to be factual was removed, or at least these companies were pressured to remove it,” Steven said. The Supreme Court notably sided with the Biden administration, 6–3, and threw out a lawsuit challenging the policy.

Zuckerberg's decision to end fact-checking on Meta comes as Donald Trump prepares to take office. Steven sees this as a clear attempt by Zuckerberg to appease Trump and his supporters.

"I do not think that you can sort of divorce these changes from the fact that we're going to have a Trump presidency here in just a few days," he said. "A lot of these policies, quite transparently, frankly, are being implemented in response to President Trump and his supporters and their long-standing criticisms of Meta.”

Zuckerberg also took aim at Apple during the interview, stating that they haven't "invented anything great in a while." An odd critique from a guy who first made The Face Book to rate the hotness of fellow students who wouldn't sleep with him at Harvard, but has since primarily grown his company by acquiring successful apps like Instagram and Whatsapp from other people. Pot, kettle, Mark? Kettle, pot?

Steven was surprised by Zuckerberg's "unvarnished" comments, but notes that some of his grievances, such as Apple's App Store fees, are shared by others in the tech industry. Zuckerberg's comments about the need for more "masculinity" in corporate culture were "pretty revealing," according to Steven. He believes this signals a shift in how Zuckerberg will run his companies.

Steven also pointed out a significant oversight by Joe Rogan, who failed to mention that Zuckerberg had removed Trump from Meta's platforms following the January 6th insurrection. I suppose there just wasn’t time, in the course of their brief three-hour chat, to get to it.

Also: Zuck laid off 5% of his workforce on Tuesday and the stock is up almost 70% over the past year. Read More

As the clock TikToks down on the potential ban of the popular social media platform, legislators are making moves to push back the deadline. Senator Ed Markey (D–Mass.) has stepped into the fray, advocating for a delay and showing support for the community of creators who rely on the app.

"Let me be clear: TikTok has its problems. Like every social media platform, TikTok poses a serious risk to the privacy and mental health of our young people," Markey said. "I will continue to hold TikTok accountable for such behavior. But a TikTok ban would impose serious consequences on millions of Americans who depend on the app for social connections and their economic livelihood. We cannot allow that to happen."

Markey has introduced new legislation aptly named the "Extend the TikTok Deadline Act," aiming to provide ByteDance a 270-day period to negotiate a sale.

Markey is joined by figures across the political spectrum, including Rand Paul (R–Ky.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D–Cal.). Together, they have submitted a bipartisan brief against the ban, criticized for its lack of concrete evidence and potential breach of First Amendment rights.

As users anticipate the possible disappearance of TikTok from app stores, they are migrating to alternative apps like Rednote, described as a blend of Pinterest and Instagram, but easier to use because it's half in English and half in Chinese. The big winner? Duolingo, where everyone is learning Mandarin now. Read More