Listen up

Back in 1979, Sony’s Walkman changed the way we listen to tunes. Some said it disrupted the social aspect of music, but c’mon, there was no denying it was the ultimate cool accessory. Plus, those spongy orange headphones were a statement, and totally rad.

Turns out they weren’t the only orange thing around your ears that said something though. Scientists have now discovered that earwax can tell us a lot about our health.

When you want to go to it, it’s wax ;)

(Love nostalgia? Play today’s trivia below for a chance to win a $25 Tim Hortons eGift Card!)

IN THE NEWS

What to expect from new Liberal minority

The Liberal Party of Canada is projected to form a third consecutive minority government, earning 168 seats, with the NDP continuing to hold the balance of power, despite only winning seven seats in Parliament.

In that regard, it’s entirely possible the Liberals could convince several NDP members to cross the floor in order to reach the 172 seats required for a majority. This has been speculated over the last 48 hours, though it’s unclear if the now-leaderless NDP would be willing to make such a move, ostensibly ending the party.

A more likely option could be a renewed confidence-and-supply agreement, with the Liberals agreeing to recognize the NDP in the house, despite it losing official party status on Monday.

The Conservatives also fortified their spot as the Official Opposition, going from 120 seats to around 144. They would still require the support of both the Bloc Quebecois (22 seats) and the NDP (7 seats) to pass a non-confidence motion, but the party now represents a considerably larger number of voters than it did over the last four years.

HEALTH

Synthetic plastic chemicals linked to heart disease deaths

According to a new study, synthetic chemicals called phthalates were potentially responsible for as much as 10% of global heart-disease-related deaths in 2018 for men and women between 55 and 64 years old.

Phthalates are commonly found in household products like shampoo, makeup, food containers, children’s toys, and countless others, making exposure to them in one form or another almost unavoidable. In fact, they’re often referred to as “everywhere chemicals” for that reason.

“Phthalates contribute to inflammation and systemic inflammation in the coronary arteries, which can accelerate existing disease and lead to acute events including mortality,” said senior author Dr. Leonardo Trasande, a professor of pediatrics and population health at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine.

“Phthalates are known to disrupt testosterone,” Trasande said, also noting that in men, “low testosterone is a predictor of adult cardiovascular disease.”

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, even just breathing air or eating food that’s come into contact with packaging made from phthalates can lead to ingestion, causing various health hazards over time.

POLITICS

Poilievre’s losing bet

When it’s all said and done, most pundits will have attributed Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre’s stunning electoral loss—both nationally and in his own riding—to a failure to separate himself perceptually from U.S. president Donald Trump in the eyes of Canadians.

However, some are suggesting the fatal strategic error was made long before Trump inserted himself into the Canadian federal election, including political strategist Kory Teneycke, campaign manager for Ontario premier Doug Ford.

“The biggest strategic error that the Conservatives had going into this election was pounding Justin Trudeau and the Liberals with tens of millions of dollars of advertising,” Teneycke told CTV News during Monday’s election coverage.

“If Pierre Poilievre was fighting against Justin Trudeau—you keep everything else the same—we’d be having a Conservative majority,” he added. “We went too hard in the lead-up to the campaign and we got rid of the guy who was going to deliver a victory for us.”

Teneycke has been somewhat of a leading voice for one side of what is increasingly looking like a schism within the national Conservative coalition. He accused the Poilievre outfit of “campaign malpractice” earlier this month.

The national party will certainly be spending the coming months conducting an autopsy of this historic loss, but at the moment, there’s little clarity on which direction the party will head moving forward.

WHAT UP WEDNESDAYS

Head and neck cancer breakthrough

A trial involving the immune checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab for patients with localized and advanced cancers in the head or neck area found those who used the inhibitor prior to, during, and after an operation or procedure to remove the tumor had longer survival periods and longer event-free periods after the tumor was removed or shrunk.

The analysis was conducted for a randomized, open-label phase 3 clinical trial led by investigators from Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, according to Medical Life Sciences News.

"This is a practice-changing study," said Robert Haddad, MD, chief of the Division of Head and Neck Oncology and the McGraw Chair in Head and Neck Oncology at Dana-Farber, and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. "Not only has this regimen improved event-free survival, but we also observed that fewer patients required chemotherapy as part of standard of care after receiving immunotherapy before surgery."

The inhibitor treatment was found to produce no serious side effects, and those who received one prior to their standard-of-care procedure (radiation, chemo, etc.) did not have their procedure delayed for any reasons having to do with the inhibitor.

TECH

Is your car connected to the internet? Read on

Automakers are increasingly looking to unlock new revenue streams by encouraging customers to subscribe to various features offered in newer models.

While potentially getting more value out of their car, customers are also increasingly leaving themselves vulnerable to police and government surveillance by providing more access and connectivity to their personal data through such internet-based subscriptions.

“Each manufacturer has their whole protocol on how the operating system in the vehicle utilizes telematics, mobile Wi-Fi, et cetera,” one law enforcement officer noted in a presentation prepared by the California State Highway Patrol (CHP). “If the vehicle has an active subscription, it does create more data.”

The CHP presentation, which was made based on the lay of the land in 2024, was obtained by nonprofit Property of the People. Its purpose was ostensibly to instruct police on how to go about accessing troves of data that weren’t previously available and that civilians may not be aware of.

Furthermore, it seems to suggest that government agencies, police forces, big tech companies, and automakers are increasingly collaborating to onboard more and more customers onto the types of newly-available features that can boost revenues for auto makers and streamline surveillance capabilities for law enforcement.

For more on this growing practice, read on here.

PETS

Owning a dog could be good for gut health

Laurel Redding, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, wanted to see if a certain type of recurring infection was maybe the consequence of exchanging germs back and forth with pets living in the household.

Clostridium difficile, or C. difficile, is typically picked up in hospitals, and the disease, known as C. diff colitis, is known to kill bacteria living in the colon—a type of bacteria that’s actually good for gut health.

“The idea going in was, if you get C. difficile from the hospital, you come home, you shed it, your pet would pick it up, your pet would become colonized, then your pet would give it back to you, and you would become infected again,” Redding says.

However, the study revealed living with pets actually provided a “protective effect” against recurring infections of this kind.

For further details on how pets and dogs specifically can help defend against reinfection of this particular pathogen, read on here.

ENTERTAINMENT

Miami Vice gets another reboot

Miami Vice is getting another reboot with the assistance of Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski and Nightcrawler writer and director, Dan Gilroy.

Crocket and Tubbs will go undercover once again to fight crime in the hardened streets and seaways of South Florida.

The original series, which ran on NBC from 1984 to 1990, was a smash hit, but its silver screen reboot in 2006 received mixed reviews at the time, generating $164 million on a $135 million budget.

Colin Farrell—who played Detective Crockett—didn’t have great things to say about the film in retrospect, despite it actually gaining popularity over time.

“I didn’t like it so much—I thought it was style over substance and I accept a good bit of the responsibility,” he said. “It was never going to be Lethal Weapon, but I think we missed an opportunity to have a friendship that also had some elements of fun.”

Nonetheless, the second-go-round is in good hands with Kosinski and Gilroy at the helm. Lead actors are yet to be named, but given the juice behind the lens, it’s likely some heavy hitters will be tapped for performances in front of it.

STAKE TRIVIA

What’s up, Staker?

Did you know that Bugs Bunny’s film debut was on April 30, 1938?! Happy National Bugs Bunny Day, Staker 😎 🥕 

To celebrate this loony occasion, we’ll be testing your knowledge of all things Looney Tunes with today’s trivia! Complete the game and earn a shot at a $25 Tim Hortons eGift Card ;)

Winner will be announced tomorrow afternoon—keep an eye on your inbox!*

Have a great day ahead Staker!

Today’s issue written by Michael Cowan, Joey Cowan, and Maureen Norman.


*SEE FULL STAKE TRIVIA CONTEST RULES HERE.