PARTNERSHIPS | COMMUNITY | PODCAST | FRIENDS | | | | | PRESENTED BY BABBEL | | | Welcome back, Future Party! Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas time. We have a gift for you — a reminder that it's Friday. For all of you working today (read: us), you can rest assured that your next break literally starts tomorrow. |
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| | | | | | People Are Spending Big On Gifts… In Fours |  | Break Now, Panic Later // Image by Kait Cunniff with DALL-E |
| BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later) platforms like Klarna, Afterpay, and Affirm drove increased spending this holiday season… even as Americans struggle to pay the bills. | Why It Checks Out: Despite the average American feeling a major budget crunch, they're still spending a record amount on gifts. BNPL products psychologically make it feel like you're paying less, so Americans are increasingly turning to the financing model to afford the things they want (and often need) without taking on more credit card debt — especially as job prospects dim and wage growth stagnates. | Between The Purchases: Over 91 million Americans are using BNPL services… and that's reshaping what was under Christmas trees this year. | A Morgan Stanley study found that BNPL purchases now account for 6% of all online transactions — fueled by retailers like Amazon, Sephora, and UNIQLO offering it as a payment option at checkout (sometimes with discounts). In November — the month of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, of course — 25% of Americans used a BNPL service. That's a 6% increase from last year. On Cyber Monday alone, BNPL receipts totaled over $1 billion — 7% of all purchases that day.
| Final Receipt: That said, there's a darker underbelly to BNPL — people are now relying on it for their everyday expenses. Bloomberg reports that groceries rank among the top five purchases for which people use the services, and a recent LendingTree survey found that 41% of users have been late on a payment (up from 34% last year). Ironically, those making over $100,000 per year are more likely to miss payments than those who make $30,000, potentially a sign that even those with six-figure incomes are struggling to keep up with rising prices. | Next Order: With young people's expenses made up of countless monthly subscriptions, paying for things piecemeal may soon become the primary way consumers under a certain age can afford anything. Better start becoming an Excel pro to keep up with it all. |
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| | | | | Together with Babbel | | Your 2026 Glow Up Starts With A New Language | | Start speaking a new language in 2026. | With Babbel, just 10 minutes a day turns a New Year's resolution into a skill that actually sticks. | Get 65% off a lifetime subscription and unlock bite-sized lessons, podcasts, interactive speaking practice, and more — designed to fit seamlessly into your everyday routine. | Get 65% Off |
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| | | | | Stranger Things Is A Franchise, Corporation, And Influencer |  | Courtesy of Netflix |
| Over the past decade, Netflix's Stranger Things has become a rare cultural and financial juggernaut with a reach far beyond its hit show. | The Big Picture: While the show House of Cards introduced Netflix to the world of scripted TV, it was the debut of Stranger Things in 2016 that brought the streamer's original programming into the mainstream and spread that influence into music, live events, and consumer products. There may never be another show with quite the same impact on contemporary Hollywood. | Behind The Scenes: Stranger Things hasn't just been the defining show of the past decade — it's also defined how TV has changed during that time. | Overall, Stranger Things has racked up 1.2 billion views, including 102.6 million in the first 25 days for the first four episodes of the new season — making it the most-watched show on Netflix (and, by extension, all of streaming) by a long shot. It's also inspired several successful spinoffs, including a stage show (four Tony Awards), a global live-event series (850,000 ticket sales), and several novels and comic books (3.1 million sales). Songs featured on the show routinely blow up, such as Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill." This season, Spotify streams of Diana Ross' "Upside Down" have skyrocketed 1,250%, and Tiffany's "I Think We're Alone Now" (1987) jumped by 880%. Brands have also enjoyed the Stranger Things halo, including Eggo Waffles-maker Kellogg, which saw sales jump by 14% after the first season. Interest in the game Dungeons & Dragons has also risen by 673% since 2016.
| Roll Credits: Just looking at the economic impact of the show itself, five seasons of Stranger Things have "created more than 8,000 production jobs in the US and contributed $1.4 billion to the national GDP," according to Variety. In Georgia alone, the show employed over 2,000 vendors. Considering how uncertain the economic outlook has been for small businesses in recent years, Stranger Things may have kept many from going… well… upside down. | Next Season… Oh, Wait: With Season 5 already ranking as the most-watched show last week in 90 of the 93 countries Netflix operates in (and the first show to have all of its seasons in the Top 10 simultaneously), Stranger Things could take the crown as the most-watched scripted show ever. |
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| | | | | | Have you ever watched Stranger Things? | | 48.6% of you voted I regularly make time for one or more hobbies. in Tuesday's poll: What best describes your relationship with hobbies right now? | "Too many hobbies, not enough time lol. But I try to do at least one hobby a day. On lower-energy days, I stick to the ones that use a screen, like light gaming or watching a show or movie." | "I enjoy colouring and card-making." | "I play cards weekly. I sing in a choir. Not sure these count as hobbies, but they're consistent and great fun." | Let's keep the conversation going. Join our Poll Of The Day newsletter, so your opinions can shine. Discover how your views line up with your peers', check out cool insights, and have some fun. It's data with personality. |
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| PARTNERSHIPS | COMMUNITY | PODCAST | FRIENDS | Today's email was written by David Vendrell.
Edited by Nick Comney. Polled and Copy-edited by Kait Cunniff.
Published by Darline Salazar. |
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