Today’s Big Story

Is Happy Hour Drying Up?

As people dial back their drinking and companies reel in fun budgets, the age-old ritual of getting a beer with colleagues is taking a hit

With the state of the world, you’d think there’d be more reasons than ever to grab a drink as soon as you’re finished with your work. But that’s not the case these days. Once a staple of professional life, happy hour seems to be a casualty of a corporate cultural reset.

For one thing, many people still aren’t coming to the office. And those who do just want to get home by six. Not to mention, business budgets for “mandatory fun” have shrunk. Oh and everyone’s drinking less. These trend lines may be good for work-life balance, but the downside for some is profound: Young workers say they’re missing out on opportunities to make friends and find mentors. Bar owners are hurting, too.

According to the Wall Street Journal, a lot of young people have replaced post-work drinks with run clubs and other fitness activities—certainly a more healthy replacement for letting loose after work. Others are still going out but subbing the booze for N/A options. One 20-something told the Journal he met a mentor during happy hour who taught him the trick of ordering a tonic with lime. He said work drinks helped him get to know his manager better. And in some industries, like publishing, happy hour is still thriving since it remains such a relationships-based business.

This news got me thinking … where did happy hours come from? The term dates back to the late 19th century, when it began as a name for community social clubs, especially those hosted by and for women. Hundreds of these clubs around the U.S. featured “happy hour” as part of their name. Activities that were enjoyed during these clubs’ get-togethers ranged from lectures on temperance to dancing, dining and games.

However, the modern concept of happy hour has been traced to the U.S. Navy. Back in 1913, a group of sailors who called themselves the Happy Hour Social started hosting twice-weekly events aboard the battleship USS Arkansas. Ironically, alcohol wasn’t allowed on naval ships at the time, so instead, the focus was on entertainment, such as singing songs and watching motion pictures or boxing bouts between sailors, and on building crew morale.

Trump Wants Military Action in Iran to Be Swift and Decisive

The president says ‘important sources’ also told him executions not going ahead as Iranian airspace reopens

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the Iranian government appeared to have stopped killing protesters, though he did not say what that might mean for the possibility of U.S. military action against the country. He said that he had received the information from “very important sources on the other side” and that he would “find out” later if it was accurate. He did not disclose who had provided the account.

Trump also told his national security team that he would want any U.S. military action in Iran to deliver a swift and decisive blow to the regime and not spark a sustained war that dragged on for weeks or months, according to several officials who spoke with NBC News. But Trump’s advisers have so far not been able to guarantee to him that the regime would quickly collapse after an American military strike, the U.S. official and two people familiar with the discussions said, and there is concern that the U.S. may not have all the assets in the region it would need to guard against what administration officials expect would be an aggressive Iranian response.

The U.S. started evacuating some troops from al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar and several other bases in the region ahead of a potential military conflict. Reuters first reported about the evacuation of troops from the base. A source with knowledge told Axios U.S. troops from several other bases in the Gulf are being evacuated.

U.S. Overdose Deaths Fell Through Most of 2025

The latest data suggests a lasting improvement in an epidemic that had been worsening for decades

This is promising news. Because for more than two decades, the U.S. experienced a relentless rise in opioid overdose deaths. Then, finally, America began seeing a decline in such deaths starting in late 2023. New Federal data released Wednesday showed that overall overdose deaths have been falling for more than two years now (the longest drop in decades) but also that the decline was slowing.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials reported that deaths were down in all states except Arizona, Hawaii, Kansas, New Mexico and North Dakota. But they noted it’s likely that not all overdose deaths have been reported yet in every state, and additional data in the future might affect that state count. The new CDC data runs through August 2025 and represents the first update of monthly provisional drug overdose deaths since the federal government shutdown.

Initially, experts attributed the reversal to expanded naloxone (Narcan) distribution and increased access to treatment. But the massive $344 million NIH Healing Communities study found no mortality benefit from such interventions. So what happened? In a study published on January 8, in Science, experts from the University of Maryland, University of Chicago, and Stanford University concluded that opioid death declines were driven by a major disruption in the global supply of illicit fentanyl.

Registration for the 2028 L.A. Olympics Opens

The ticket draw for the next Summer Games is offering seats starting at $28

For the third time (including 1932 and 1984), Los Angles is stepping into the spotlight as the host of the Summer Olympic (and Paralympic) Games. If you’re invested in attending and cheering on the home team (or your country of choice), registration for the ticket draw just kicked off.

The window will remain open until mid-March. If chosen, fans will be notified via email and will be given a time slot to purchase tickets in April. One million of those tickets will sell for $28, and about one-third are set to cost less than $100. “These Games belong to everyone,” Casey Wasserman, the chairman of LA 2028 said. “These Games have to be affordable and inclusive.”

I’ll definitely be there. As a life-long Olympic buff, I’ve never gotten the opportunity to attend. But I’m ready. LA28 will run from July 14 to July 30, 2028 … the program blends time-honored traditions with adventurous new introductions. All the classics—swimming, track and field, gymnastics, soccer—are on the docket, with the International Olympic Committee also green-lighting several U.S.-centric additions. Keep an eye out for the Olympic debut of flag football and squash, while cricket will make its Olympic return for the first time since 1900, reflecting the sport’s exploding global popularity. Baseball and softball are back on the program for the first time since Tokyo 2020 (and have been on and off the menu for years prior to that)—a natural fit for the home of back-to-back World Series champion Dodgers—along with lacrosse (last part of the Olympics in 1908 as an official event; in 1948, it was a demonstration sport).

You made it.