Good morning. A judge released a suicide note purportedly written by Jeffrey Epstein. Evacuations have begun from the cruise ship stricken with hantavirus. And it’s still unclear what’s going on in negotiations to end the war in Iran. There’s more below — including new music from Kacey Musgraves and Miranda Lambert. But first, let’s hit the gas station. Sticker shockThere are many reasons to live in California, as so many readers of this newsletter could tell you. Cheap gas isn’t one of them, particularly since the start of the war in Iran. The national average is $4.56 a gallon, but have a look at this:
I was dorking around with The Times’s interactive gas-price map and saw the price running to $7.04 in Mono County, on the Nevada state line. Down in Murray County, Okla., it was just $3.98. There are reasons for such divergent prices, my colleague Emmett Lindner reports. There’s the location of the refineries that turn oil into gas. The fuel’s not cheap to ship, and the logistics can be complicated. Different states have different taxes and regulations. And gas stations compete with one another for business. It’s particularly bad in California because a bunch of refineries have closed there, forcing distributors to bring in fuel from elsewhere. Also, California uses a unique blend of gas designed to emit less noxious exhaust. That adds to the cost as well. But wherever you live in the U.S., you’re likely feeling the pinch. The hardest hitThe surge in U.S. gas prices presses hardest on those with the least ability to shoulder it, writes Talmon Joseph Smith, who covers economics. Higher-income people spent more on gasoline in March than anyone else, but the amount they bought didn’t change much. They may not like it, but the wealthy can deal with more expensive gas. Poorer people, though, were not only spending more on gas than usual but also buying less of it. They’re driving less, according to a new analysis from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and potentially car-pooling or using public transportation instead. But not all of them. Talmon spoke to a woman who drives for Uber and Lyft in Charleston, S.C. “I was paying well below $3 a gallon, damn near almost $2, then it felt like, within a week or so, it spiked,” she told him. The woman’s car is a Kia, one she got specifically for its mileage, which helps increase her return on eight or nine hours a day behind the wheel. Before the war in Iran, she paid around $25 every time she filled up. Now it’s $40 or more. “It’s rough,” she said. “Now, you’re only making 100 to 160 bucks a day.” How gas gets hereTo illustrate the punishing logistics of moving oil around the world, my colleagues Agnes Chang and Pablo Robles built a marvelous depiction of the long journey from the Strait of Hormuz to the gas tank. It shows a tanker leaving the strait and arriving, nearly three weeks later, in Japan. Workers spend a few days pumping the oil into storage tanks. Then it heads to a refinery that makes it into jet fuel, diesel and, eventually, gasoline. That’s another week right there. The jet fuel goes directly to airports. The rest supplies depots all over the country, often via tanker train. Those feed tanker trucks, which finally arrive at gas stations. The whole operation takes about a month, for that one tanker. Click below to follow the odyssey:
And, of course, very few tankers have made it through the Iranian blockade. Even when (or if?) the Strait of Hormuz fully reopens, it could take months for shipping to return to normal. We’re going to be in this pickle for a while. Who’s to blame?The last time gas was this expensive was in the summer of 2022, when prices rose above $5 a gallon. The Times wrote often about the demand for gas coming off the coronavirus pandemic, as well as disruptions in the supply chain and a huge shock to the global oil market brought about by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Politics being what it is, some Republicans blamed President Joe Biden. They affixed his image to gas pumps all over the country on stickers that said, “I did that!” Yesterday on Etsy, I saw the theme was back, this time with a decal featuring President Trump. On it, he grins and points: “My war did that!”
Ted Turner, the media mogul who gave us CNN and the 24-hour news cycle, died yesterday at 87. He was one of the great characters of the late 20th century, and The Times’s nearly 5,000-word obituary is filled with wild stories. Here are a few. He was a conservationist: Turner liked hunting and also wanted to protect the planet, so he bought more than a million acres of wilderness and ranch land, roughly enough to fill the state of Delaware, and set them aside as nature preserves. Read about how he revived ecosystems. He was a darn good sailor: Turner was twice named Yachtsman of the Year by the United States Sailing Association, and in 1977 he won the prestigious (and famously difficult) America’s Cup. He married Jane Fonda: Their courtship surprised many — he had been conservative in his youth, and she had been called Hanoi Jane for speaking out against the Vietnam War. But he won her over by emphasizing their similarities, including their mutual friendship with Fidel Castro. Related: As the owner of the Atlanta Braves, Turner changed how we consume sports.
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The U.S. government says it plans to release all of its files on aliens and U.F.O.s. Neil deGrasse Tyson hopes it releases an actual alien — but expects to be disappointed. Frank Bruni and Bret Stephens discuss Democrats’ likely Senate candidate in Maine. The Times Sale ends soon: Expand your knowledge with our experts. Take advantage of our best offer and gain understanding and insight in every area of life. Just $1 a week for your first year of unlimited access to news, culture, cooking and more.
The wrong guy: Guy Goma thought he was interviewing for an I.T. job at the BBC. He found himself live on television. The mix-up became an early viral internet moment. Trending: Clavicular, a looks-obsessed influencer, was charged with illegally firing a weapon months after he shot a dozen bullets at an alligator while livestreaming from an airboat in the Everglades. Your pick: The most clicked link in The Morning yesterday was my recipe for beef and broccoli.
18— That is how many qualification games the Argentina men’s national soccer team played en route to this year’s World Cup. The Times spoke with a fan who attended all of them. Now, thanks to exorbitant ticket prices, fans are securing loans and maxing out their credit cards to attend the tournament. Click below to learn about the lengths fans will go for the sport.
N.B.A.: The San Antonio Spurs were up 20 in the second quarter in a mostly boring game that ended in a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. That ties this second-round playoff series at 1-1. The New York Knicks survived a back-and-forth thriller against the Philadelphia 76ers to take a 2-0 lead in their series. Running: Sabastian Sawe and Tigst Assefa broke world records at the London Marathon wearing Adidas’ Pro Evo 3s. Here’s how the company created the super shoe.
You ever make waffles for dinner? It’s a great thing to do if you live near a supermarket, gas station or takeout joint that sells decent fried chicken. Add a pile of your favorite pickles, and there you have it: starch, protein, vegetable. (Don’t do this all the time.)
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