Plus: Gov. Shapiro Speaks After Firebomber’s Guilty Plea & IG's Latest Teen Features

Good evening,

Prenuptial agreements aka “prenups” are going mainstream. The contracts are signed before couples get married to outline how assets and support would be divided in the event of a divorce. Once taboo and only for the very rich, nearly half of millennial couples in the U.S. now have one, and Gen Z isn’t far behind at 41%.

What’s behind it? The trend could be tied to millennials growing up in the height of the first great divorce boom, Kara Kennedy writes for The Free Press. The generation grew up on joint custody schedules and seeing stay-at-home moms financially vulnerable.
- A Pew survey found that in 1960, 73% of children lived with two married parents in their first marriage. By 1980, that number had dropped to 61%, and by 2015, it had fallen below half — to just 46%.
Money is also a central concern, with millennials and Gen Z projected to be the first generations worse off than their parents. The looming $80 trillion wealth transfer from Boomers to their children may also play a role.

The fear has long been that a prenup takes the romance out of the wedding day. But why not see your partner’s true colors before the big day — better then than in a courtroom later.

Divorce lawyer James Sexton told The Free Press: “Every marriage has a prenup… It’s either the one the legislature wrote, which you never signed, or the one you and your partner made together.”

Lauren
Producer

🚨 ONE IMPORTANT THING

“He Tried to Burn Our Family Alive”: Gov. Shapiro Speaks After Firebomber’s Guilty Plea

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) delivered emotional remarks Tuesday after the man who firebombed the governor’s mansion during Passover pleaded guilty to attempted murder and terrorism, and was sentenced to between 25-50 years in prison.

Prosecutors said Cody Balmer, 38, scaled the fence, broke in, and threw Molotov cocktails that caused millions in damage while Shapiro, who is Jewish, and his family slept inside. No one was injured.

Balmer called 911 about an hour after the attack and admitted to setting the fire around 2 a.m. ET. He told dispatchers that he didn’t approve of Shapiro’s views on the war in Gaza. He told police he planned to attack the governor with a sledgehammer if he had encountered him.

”It’s hard for me to stand before you today and utter the words attempted murder when it’s your own life,” Shapiro said. “It’s especially hard to know that he tried to burn our family to death while we slept.”

POLITICAL VIOLENCE EPIDEMIC
Shapiro reflected on his family’s fear and the “unacceptable level of political violence” across the U.S., noting people do not want to run for office over fears their family could be hurt.

His comments come as President Trump on Tuesday posthumously awarded conservative activist Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom — America’s highest civilian honor. Kirk was assassinated while speaking at an event last month.

Political violence has increasingly targeted both parties in recent years. That includes multiple assassination attempts on President Trump, a plot to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and the murder of Democratic Minnesota House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark Hortman.

🚨 ONE THING WE’RE TRACKING

Gender Pay Gap Widens: Biggest Two-Year Decline Since The 1960s

After decades of progress, the gender pay gap is widening again in the U.S. Census data shows women earned less than 81 cents for every dollar men made in 2024 — down from 84 cents in 2022 — marking the first consecutive two-year decline since the 1960s. It’s the biggest gender pay gap in the U.S. since 2016.

The gender pay gap measures the difference in average gross hourly earnings between women and men across industries. It has historically been linked to marriage and having children as women often have to leave the workforce.

The same trend is seen in the recent decline. It is linked, in part, to women accepting pay cuts for more flexible jobs as more companies bring back in-person work requirements and the cost of child care soars, according to reporting from the Washington Post.

BY THE NUMBERS
Full-time in-office requirements among Fortune 500 companies jumped to 24% in Q2 2025 from 13% in 2024. President Trump ordered federal employees back to the office five days a week in January, including employees who had agreed to remote contracts.

Researchers also blame the rising cost of child care, which rose by nearly 30% between 2020 and 2024 — outpacing inflation, according to the nonprofit Child Care Aware of America.
- Rolling back pandemic-era remote work policies that helped bring more women into the U.S. workforce is now driving many to leave.
What that looks like: In 2023, Courtney Clements took a $30,000 pay cut to leave her senior executive job after her company ended remote work. Instead, she took a remote job recruiting IT workers, which allows her to spend more time with her daughter.

Earlier this year, the number of mothers in the workforce with children under five years old reached its lowest point in more than three years.

Bigger picture: More women work in education, nursing, and childcare — industries have traditionally paid less than those that men dominate in. Still, women earn less than men in all of the 20 most common jobs for both genders.

According to 2023 data from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, the pay gap ranged from nearly 29 cents less per dollar for female financial managers to about 2 cents less for female cashiers.

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🚨 ONE THING WE’RE FOLLOWING

Instagram Introduces Teen Accounts With “PG-13”-Like Content Restrictions

Instagram is revamping its guidelines about what teens can and cannot see on the platform in a way that is guided by the PG-13 rating that was pioneered by the movie industry.

Instagram head Adam Mosseri discussed the change on the Today Show Tuesday, where he outlined how teen accounts — accounts for people aged 13 to 18 — will now automatically only interact with PG-13-type content.

”I’ve got three kids. I know parents are busy, which is why it’s so important that the defaults are safe,” Mosseri said.

WHAT IT WILL LOOK LIKE
The “PG-13” rating means that teenage Instagram users will not be able to search for or follow accounts containing nudity, sexual content, and suggestive poses from teens, the company said in an announcement. It will also make it more unlikely that a teenage Instagram user sees or interacts with posts containing strong language or that promote “harmful behaviors,” such as risky physical stunts.

This rating, according to the Motion Picture Association, means: “Parents are urged to be cautious. Some material may be inappropriate for pre-teenagers.”

Instagram says, “Just like you might see some suggestive content or hear some strong language in a PG-13 movie, teens may occasionally see something like that on Instagram.”

The restrictions will also limit Meta’s AI chatbots to only give age-appropriate answers, after a Reuters investigation found evidence of chatbots flirting with teens earlier this year.
Rewind: Instagram began automatically creating teen accounts last year for all users under 18. Accounts for teens mute notifications between 10PM and 7AM, are automatically private, and block direct messages from strangers.

LOOKING GLOBAL
Instagram’s “PG-13” restrictions come as several countries and states want to ban social media for teens altogether.

Denmark announced its plan to ban social media for those under 15 last week, and Australia’s social media ban for anyone under 16 is set to take effect in December.
In the U.S., some states, like Utah and Florida, have tried to ban or restrict social media access for minors, but courts blocked it.

⏳ THE SPEED READ

🚨NATION

FBI announces 4 arrests made in connection with mass shooting that left 6 dead in Mississippi (AP)
1 dead, 2 missing after severe Alaska flooding Coast Guard official says left “absolute devastation”(CBS)
Five major broadcast networks, including CNN and FOX, say they will not sign new Pentagon press policy (NBC)
Supreme Court rejects Alex Jones’ appeal of $1.4 billion Sandy Hook judgment (ABC)
Trump slams Time magazine cover photo as ‘worst of all time’ after Gaza peace deal story (FOX)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

Hamas under pressure to return bodies of hostages; agrees to return four to six more overnight (TIMES OF ISRAEL)
Madagascar military unit says it has seized power after president moves to ‘safe place’ following weeks of youth-led protests (BBC)
Deadly landslides and flooding cut off 300 communities in Mexico (AP)
US and UK put sanctions on alleged Cambodia cyber-scammers and seize $15bn in bitcoin (GUARDIAN)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

Kitchen cabinet companies hope new US tariffs pay off in the long run (AP)
General Motors to take $1.6 billion charge related to EV pullback (CNBC)
LendingTree CEO and founder Doug Lebda dies in ATV accident (CNN)
Gmail now uses AI to help you find meeting times (THE VERGE)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Neo Soul pioneer D’Angelo dies at 51 from cancer (MO NEWS)
Netflix to stream some Spotify video podcasts starting in 2026 (VARIETY)
Sport court rejects Israeli appeals after Indonesia denies visas for gymnastics championship (JERUSALEM POST)
NFL using AI to predict injuries, aiming to keep players healthier (AP)

ICYMI FROM THE 📲

In case you missed it… A lottery winner is doing something meaningful with his money. Edwin Castro, the winner of the record $2 billion Powerball jackpot in 2022, is using his earnings to rebuild properties in his hometown of Altadena, California, where the devastating Eaton Fire destroyed thousands of structures back in January.

Castro has spent $10 million buying 15 lots. Not only does he plan on rebuilding the homes, but he wants to restore the neighborhood by selling to families rather than investors. He says the project overall will take 10 years.
- Castro says he has no plans to buy any more lots in Altadena and will sell the homes at market value, noting “the profit margin doesn’t need to be egregious.”
Some Altadena residents are wary of the development — the fire’s destruction wiped out generations of Black homeownership and brought the average home price to $1.15 million in the post-fire decline.
- Other locals see promise in Castro, the son of a construction worker. Castro says he wants to honor his father’s legacy by rebuilding the kind of tight-knit neighborhood he remembers.

“I want it to feel like the old neighborhood,” he told the Wall Street Journal. “Like if you put all those houses pre-fire in a time bubble.”