The Expedition: July '26 Edition
New data on strength after 50, the math that saves marriages, why anxiety almost never comes true, and 17 other ideas that'll help you this month.
The Expedition is our monthly journey into thoughts, opinions, ideas, observations, studies, facts, figures, etc.
Good ones, insightful ones, interesting ones, weird ones, and ones you can use to live better and longer.
It’s a roundup of all the worthwhile stuff I’ve discovered in the last month. The Expedition is a bit of an island of misfit toys. But, hey, the greatest journeys are winding.
In this month’s Expedition, you’ll learn:
My collab with Waking Up, the Harvard of mindfulness meditation apps—plus free Two Percent phone wallpaper!
Podcast: The Everest Ready Mindset
Numbers on:
Adult kids moving in with mom and dad.
Why quality beats quantity for sleep.
Billionaires doing good.
How often anxiety comes true.
An all-time low in the death rate.
The decline of reading for pleasure.
The rise of gambling—and whether gambling addiction is growing.
A protein lawsuit.
Harvard kids (maybe) milking the system to get better grades.
How often we talk face-to-face.
What happens to your blood when you exercise.
Did Donald Trump get a powerful drug before it was approved?
Why injury rates seem to be higher among Westerners compared to tribes and what to do about it (plus, what the book Born to Run got wrong).
Not just the screens: A new theory on why kid and teen mental health is down (worth reading if you’re a parent).
A strange new way people are dealing with anxiety.
How strong can you get after age 50?
A math trick that saves marriages.
The case for remote work, from someone who runs a remote tech company.
Three new myth-busting studies on fasting, how eating late impacts sleep, and how important rest breaks are.
A parting quote on finding great ideas.
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Waking Up x Two Percent
Waking Up is one of my favorite apps. Founded by Sam Harris, think of Waking Up as the Harvard of meditation apps.
Instead of being focused mainly on relaxation or stress relief, it combines guided meditation with lessons on consciousness, philosophy, and living an examined life. It has daily meditations, structured courses, and conversations with scientists, philosophers, and contemplative teachers.
I also have a 10-part series on the app called Embracing Discomfort. They just ran this Stories feature on me.
Their design team created a series of Two Percent phone wallpapers. You can download one or all of them here.
🎙️ Recent Pod: Dr. Jon Kedrowski on Being Everest Ready
Dr. Jon Kedrowski has summited Mount Everest seven times, survived the 2015 earthquake that killed 20 people, and racked up first ascents of remote peaks. He explained his “Everest Ready” mindset. It’s about building a life where you could take on the world’s tallest mountain—or any of life’s challenges—at a moment’s notice. We covered what risk teaches you about how to live, and why you need adventure no matter how busy you are. Also: How to train for the outdoors, U.S. peaks anyone can climb, and why we all need risk in our lives.
By the numbers
49
Percent of adults under age 30 live in their parents’ home. About 1/3 of these adults are over age 25.
Roughly half moved back home because of housing prices.
6.5
Hours of consistent, good-quality sleep each night that “probably carries less risk than a fragmented, anxious, eight-hour routine or pattern in which sleep varies wildly from night to night.”
50,000
Acres of North Carolina wilderness Fortnite creator Tim Sweeney has saved from logging. He’s spent over $200 million buying land.
Meanwhile, Snapchat founder Evan Spiegel and his wife paid off $550 million in medical debt for nearly a quarter-million Californians.
Listen to this episode of Two Percent. In it, executive coach Dr. Julie Gurner—who works with the top 0.01%—covers the thinking patterns of billionaires. Both the good and bad—and the ones you can use to make better decisions.
90
Percent of the stuff anxious people worry about never happens.
The good news: Telling anxious people how inaccurate they are seems to help.
689
Deaths for every 100,000 people in the United States in 2025. That’s the lowest death rate we’ve ever experienced.
The death rate spiked during COVID, but fell over time. It’s now 4% lower than it was in 2019.
16
Percent of Americans read for pleasure on any given day in 2023 (book, magazine, newspaper, or listening to an audiobook). In 2004, that figure was 28 percent. That’s according to a sweeping feature in The Atlantic titled The End of Reading Is Here.
I get the sense that Two Percenters are part of the 16 percent. (Also, some in the book world say this is a moral panic).
57
Percent of Americans placed a bet in 2025. The Atlantic feature noted, “Gambling has become a more common leisure activity than reading a book.”
$250
Billion dollars Americans will lose gambling in 2026. The figure is 60% higher than it was in 2019—and a record high.
No shock: Mobile sports betting is driving the trend—39 states have legalized sports betting since the Supreme Court overturned Murphy v. NCAA in 2018, lifting the federal ban on sports betting.
Source: Joseph Politano at The Argument
1
Percent of American adults meet the full criteria for a severe gambling problem.
Anywhere from 2 to 3 percent fall into the category of having a “mild to moderate” gambling problem, meaning they meet one or more of the criteria for a severe gambling problem, but not all of the criteria.
Some think these numbers haven’t caught up with the rise in sports betting. For example, evidence suggests problem gambling rates more than doubled in men 18 to 29, and grew by about 50 percent in men 30-49. Rates among women have stayed rather stable.
20
Grams of protein in Chobani’s high protein yogurt. To reach that number, Chobani altered its serving sizes—from the industry standard 5.3 ounces to 6.7 ounces.
This has led to a legal battle over … protein.
Danone sued. Their Oikos Pro line has 20 grams for 5.3 ounces, and they claim that Chobani is being deceptive and leading consumers to believe their yogurt has just as much protein as theirs.
7
Times more Harvard undergraduate students are receiving disability accommodations today than a decade ago.
In 2014, 3% of Harvard undergrads got disability accommodations. In 2024, that figure was 21%.
Critics claim students are milking the system to get more time for tests and papers.
Worth noting: The rate of students getting disability accommodations at community colleges has remained unchanged, at 3-4%.
28
Percent decline in words spoken in-person since 2005.
In 2005, the average person said ~17,500 words to other people in person per day. That figure today is ~12,700. Researchers note this coincides with the rise of digital communications. Which: Duh.
Skeptical pushback: Total communication with others may be higher once we factor in texts, DMs, etc.
10
Seconds it takes for blood to complete a full round trip through the body during exercise.
“That’s way faster than I would have expected,” says Jem Arnold, a researcher who studied this.
1
Person received Eli Lilly’s retatrutide—a GLP-1—through a “compassionate use” program. The drug isn’t approved by the FDA yet, but it may be the most powerful GLP-1 to date because it not only reduces appetite, but also seems to signal the body to burn more calories at rest and break down stored fat.
The person was 79 in April, overweight, and “well-connected.”
Through deep reporting, STAT News believes the lucky recipient is Donald Trump.
What Born to Run Got Wrong, Why Running Injures Us, and What to Do About It
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