Step in the right direction

Good morning Staker! Here’s what’s cookin’ today: Housing developers are a little more optimistic heading into the second half of the year; Cruises are still in demand despite the hantavirus scare; New study finds optimal amount of sleep can slow aging over time; Blue dot fever is taking a toll on concert tours; and a look at the miraculous finish to the PGA Championship! ⛳

Let’s get into it!

The recent hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship certainly brought back horrific memories of the early days of the COVID pandemic.

Despite the tragic death of three passengers aboard the ship and the continued monitoring of others who were potentially exposed, cruise liners are expecting record demand this year.

“The cruise consumer seems to be somewhat Teflon when it comes to stories like this,” said Rob Kwortnik, an associate professor at Cornell University’s Nolan School of Hotel Administration and an avid watcher of the cruise ship industry.

37.2 million people sailed the ocean blue last year aboard a cruise ship, which was far and away a record-setting number for the industry. Nonetheless, according to Cruise Lines International Association, that number is expected to rise 4% to 38.3 million this year.

For the average consumer of news, an outbreak of a novel virus aboard a cruise ship is fuel for multiple nightmares nobody wants to live again. For those who regularly spend their vacations aboard an ocean-faring vessel, it’s just another Tuesday.

“I have eight cruises booked, and I’ll absolutely be booking another,” said Jenni Fielding, a cruise ship blogger and social media guru whose pen name is Cruise Mummy. “Cruising is as safe as any other type of holiday, provided travelers follow sensible health advice and stay aware of official guidance.”

A study published last week in Nature is perhaps the most comprehensive to date when it comes to identifying the optimal amount of sleep.

While conventional wisdom says the body should get eight hours, the Nature study—led by Junhao Wen, a computational neuroscientist at Columbia University—analyzed over 20 different biological “clocks” in over half a million people, and the researchers concluded the sweet spot is between six and eight hours.

The clocks were analyzed to assess signs of biological aging, and those who slept between six and eight hours per night regularly displayed slower signs of aging. Anyone who slept less than six, or more than eight, tended to show signs of accelerated aging.

“Sleep affects every organ of the body,” Abigail Dove, a neuroepidemiologist at the Karolinska Institute who was not involved in the study, told Nature. “And sleep is somewhat modifiable. This is a tool that could help.”

While high quality sleep was found to be important for basically every health outcome, poor sleep quality was found to be linked to faster aging, inflammation, hypertension, weight gain, depression, and ultimately, a higher risk of premature death.

In the years following the pandemic, a perfect storm descended on the live music industry. Entire populations were both flush with cash and had maximum demand for togetherness and recreation. Live music of all genres had never been more popular.

145 million people attended at least one concert in 2023, compared to 98 million in 2019. Revenues exploded, and arenas were no longer enough. Existing stadiums were filled to the brim, and new ones were erected and filled up, too. $25.2 billion was generated in the industry worldwide last year.

While the industry anticipated similar trends in 2026, those anticipations have so far proven to be overly optimistic. Portions of stadiums and arenas are now going unsold in large enough tranches, that the term “blue dot fever” was coined to describe the sea of blue dots representing available tickets when browsing online.

Demand is certainly still there, but it is nowhere close to as inelastic as it was coming out of the pandemic. The average price of a ticket to see a “top 100” artist in North America is US$134.23, according to Pollstar. That’s down 1.6% compared to last year, but when measuring just for stadium shows, the average is $216.13—up 18.3% from last year and 29% from 2023.

As a result of overindulgent pricing, blue dot fever has claimed parts or the entirety of various upcoming marquee tours, including Post Malone/Jelly Roll, the Pussycat Dolls, Zayn Malik, Meghan Trainor, and Kid Rock.

If you didn’t happen to catch the PGA Championship finale on Sunday, you missed what can only be described as a historic finish.

The PGA is sometimes referred to as golf’s strangest Major—not for anything built into the tournament, but because it seems to be the one of the four where the craziest and most unpredictable things happen.

For starters, this year’s winner, Aaron Rai, became the first Englishman to win the PGA Championship since 1919. Jack Nicklaus was 21 years away from being born. The Masters was 15 years away from existing.

That would probably be enough to chalk the victory up as historic, without exaggeration. But there’s more.

Prior to Sunday’s round, there were 21 players—including eight former Major winners—within four strokes of the lead, which was held at the time by Alex Smalley. Respectfully, not many considered him a threat, meaning all 21 in his wake likely believed they had a chance.

Among them was Aaron Rai, 31 of Wolverhampton, England, who began the tournament with victory odds as high as 290 to 1. Statistically, it’s more likely you spin the same number on a roulette wheel twice in a row, or guess a three-digit pin on your first try.

The last Major win that had odds of 200 to 1 or worse was secured by Phil Mickelson in 2021. He was 50 years old, and he did it at the PGA Championship.

The only bigger upset in Majors history was at the 2003 Open Championship, won by Ben Curtis at 500 to 1 odds.

Up your nose with a rubber hose

You had plenty of teachers back in the day, and that includes the ones you saw on the tube too. We’ll be testing your knowledge of classic TV teachers with today’s trivia!