Welcome to Tuesday Thursday Saturday! I share a snapshot of trending stories across business, tech, and culture three times a week. Subscribe and tell me what you want to hear about next! - KP

The Big Story: Here’s to Never Growing Up

I write this while deep in the fear that last night’s eyeliner might never come off.

I went to an Avril Lavigne concert last night. Now, this individual was my entire personality for the entire year of 2002, and probably sometime thereafter, if we’re being honest. My little sister is snoozing in the room next door. Things feel very simple right now. 

There is something very cathartic about screaming angsty teen lyrics with tens of thousands of other grown-ass adults in the middle of Madison Square Garden, where just 24 hours prior, Karl-Anthony Towns was putting on an absolute show for Timothee Chalamet to keep the Knicks’ playoff hopes alive. (I love it here.)

A conversation that keeps popping up among my friends and me is the question of whether any of us truly feels our age. None of us does. You probably don’t either, and there’s a reason for it.

For most people, there’s a distance between what we are and what we feel. Research shows that many adults feel younger than their actual age. This gap is called subjective age, and it’s a real, measurable psychological phenomenon. A 2022 study showed that most people feel 13% to 18% younger than their chronological age.

Turns out, subjective age isn’t just a random number you land on when you’re scream-singing punk pop lyrics. It’s shaped by health, control, mental well-being, and even things like sleep. One study found that even just two nights of poor sleep can make someone feel years older. Conversely, people who feel in control of their lives, or who maintain strong social connections, often feel younger than they are. 

Beyond the science, there’s the semantics. What is adulthood, really? Navigating health insurance plans? 401K management? Flossing your teeth on a semi-consistent basis? Married, single, house, renter, kids, no kids — everyone’s mile-markers are different.

No matter the situation, it’s natural to feel a little in between. I spent a good part of my day yesterday on a strategic marketing plan, and then I threw on some cargo pants and saw Simple Plan. 

There’s a term for this coined by psychologist Jeffrey Arnett, and it’s called “emerging adulthood,” and this phase can stretch well into your 30s (and even past that). So if you’re waiting to “feel” like a grown-up, you might be waiting awhile.

Then there’s the whole longevity movement. I attended a talk a few months back with Bryan Johnson, the guy who is seemingly trying to live forever but is also selling supplements and potentially trying to start a cult, but that’s neither here nor there. One thing he said that resonated is that there’s the age on paper and then there’s the “effective rate of aging.” Exercise, sleep, drinking water, etc. — all these things can slow your rate of effective aging. An extremely healthy person might physically age just 0.80 years in 365 days.

Regardless of the science, the semantics, and the psychology, you are who you are, no matter what year you happen to be living in at the present moment. I don’t think being an adult means abandoning who you used to be. We’re a collection of all our past selves and we carry them with us.

Through this lens, the question, “How old are you?” seems bizarre. At the end of the day, we’re all made of patchworks — fragments of years and selves and seasons, held together by memory and music and eyeliner.

That’s why we love seeing the same bands decades later. The right concert at the right time reminds us that we’re still everything we ever were. Maybe we’re not meant to outgrow who we were. Maybe we’re just meant to give them a front row seat.

Daily Rip Live: CIT Rules Against Tariffs Then Says They’ll Stay Until the Next Hearing and I’m Sick of Learning About Constitutional Law

Every weekday, we cover the biggest market news and events LIVE on Stocktwits’ morning show, The Daily Rip Live.

Here’s what we covered on Thursday’s show:

• 6:35 | Nvidia double beat 'relieves heartburn' from their ongoing China woes $NVDA ( ▼ 0.39% )  

• 7:55 | I asked Grok a con law question, and it told me a tariff resolution could be 1-2 years out [Editor’s note: We spent some time pondering what the Court of International Trade’s ruling would mean for tariffs today, and we got our answer Friday night. The tariffs will stay in place until the next hearing, currently scheduled for June 5.]

• 11:45 | Are business leaders just playing nice for now, assuming the courts will resolve the issue themselves?

• 12:20 | The importance of finding your conviction in the noise in today's investing environment

• 15:35 | Retail investors who bought the dip back in April look like geniuses

• 16:35 | My co-host Shay’s #1 Nvidia earnings takeaway: watch out for inference 

• 26:45 | Getting your knowledge up about AI feels like early Internet

• 30:20 | Anthropic's CEO predicts 20% unemployment due to AI in 5 years

• 34:45 | e.l.f. Cosmetics buys Hailey Bieber's Rhode skin for $1 billion and I don't know why people are so mad about it? $ELF ( ▼ 0.51% )  

• 39:05 | Salesforce had a good earnings readout — or did they? $CRM ( ▼ 0.42% )  

• 48:15 | Duolingo’s PR misfire and the consumer AI conundrum

• 52:57 | Timmy C squaring off w/ Haliburton's dad? Knicks in 7!

Now Here’s a Chart

Today, I am gleefully sharing a now OUT OF DATE chart depicting the percent ownership of Taylor Swift’s catalog. As of yesterday, she now owns all of her masters. But let’s take a look and what this breakdown used to be.

(BMR = Big Machine Records. BMR boss Scott Borchetta sold it off to Scooter Braun for $300 million in 2019, which set this entire thing off. Fans think Swift’s use of “Spider Boy” (SB) in the song “Karma” is a direct reference to one or both of these men.)

Reading List

• Japan’s Nippon expected to close acquisition of U.S. Steel at $55 per share, sources say (CNBC)

• States are rolling out red carpets for data centers. But some lawmakers are pushing back (AP News)

• China's manufacturing activity falls in May, PMI shows (Reuters)

• Meta plans to replace humans with AI to assess privacy and societal risks (NPR) $META ( ▼ 0.7% )  

• Jamie Dimon warns US bond market will ‘crack’ under pressure from rising debt (FT) $JPM ( ▼ 0.31% )  

• Gap says Trump’s tariffs could cost the company a whopping $300 million, sending shares into a tailspin (Fortune) $GAP ( ▼ 0.8% )  

• Elon Musk tells the story behind his black eye (he says his 5-year-old did it?) (Business Insider) $TSLA ( ▼ 3.88% )  

• Standing room tickets to a would-be Game 7 at MSG are going for $1,200 each on StubHub (StubHub)

🎧 Now playing: “Look What You Made Me Do” - Taylor Swift. GUILT-FREE, BABY!

Tuesday Thursday Saturday is written by Katie Perry, owner of Ursa Major Media, which provides fractional marketing services and strategy in software, tech, consumer products, professional services, and other industries. She is also the co-host of Stocktwits’ Daily Rip Live show.

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Disclaimer: The contents here reflect recaps and summaries of pre-reported or published data, news, and trends. I have cited sources and context for the information provided to the best of my ability. The purpose of the newsletter is to inform and educate on larger trends shaping business and culture — this is NOT investment advice. As an investor, you should always do your own research before making any decisions about your money or your portfolio.