With the summer TV season underway, several fan-favorite shows are returning with new seasons next month.

To find out which returning shows audiences are anticipating the most, the TV-tracking app TV Time analyzed data from its 12 million global users to see which upcoming TV shows viewers had followed the most frequently on its platform.

The list includes the upcoming sixth season of the popular Netflix original show "Orange Is the New Black" and the eighth season of the USA drama series "Suits."

Here are the 5 returning TV shows that viewers are anticipating the most in July, according to TV Time:

SEE ALSO: Most Netflix subscribers with young kids have no idea Disney content will get pulled off the service

5. "Wynonna Earp" (Season 3) — Premieres July 20 on SyFy

Summary: "Follows Wyatt Earp's great granddaughter as she battles demons and other creatures. With her unique abilities, and a posse of dysfunctional allies, she's the only thing that can bring the paranormal to justice."

4. "Power" (Season 5) — Premieres July 1 on Starz

Summary: "In Season 5, James 'Ghost' St. Patrick in a dangerous alliance with his former brother-in-arms Tommy Egan and mortal enemy Kanan. Ghost is blind to new enemies and must remain vigilant toward those wanting to take him down."

3. "Suits" (Season 8) — Premieres July 18 on USA Network

Summary: "Centers on a fast-paced Manhattan corporate law firm led by legendary lawyer Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht), his intelligent but delicate partner, Louis Litt (Rick Hoffman), and secretary-turned-COO Donna Paulsen (Sarah Rafferty)."

• The 2018 Ford Mustang has been updated.
• Our test car was the Mustang GT, whose 5.0-liter engine is now more powerful.
• But the new 'Stang is about more than a sub-four-second 0-60 mph time.

After redesigning the iconic Ford Mustang for its 50th birthday in 2015, Ford has refreshed the car for the 2018 model year.

Not much has changed, but what has changed is all for the better. 

The Mustang has arguably never been more important in Ford's lineup. The automaker will be phasing out passenger cars, for the most part, in favor of crossover and SUVs. But the Mustang, a proper sports car with two doors, will remain. In fact, the 'Stang will be getting a hybrid version in coming years.

Some people can't live a full life without a Mustang, and Ford has no plans to let them down.

We recently got some seat time in an all-new 2018 Mustang GT, out in California. The conditions were ideal for muscle-car testing. Here's what we thought.

FOLLOW US : on Facebook for more car and transportation content!

SEE ALSO: The Ford Mustang GT is one of the best sports cars you can buy — here's why

The first stop for me and my Triple Yellow Mustang GT coupe was my favorite taco truck in LA.

Read all about the best dang tacos in LA.

I used to live in LA and tested plenty of cars there. Here's my typical route. With the Stang, I reversed the sequence.

The Mustang looks good in sun. Updates are radical: the front and back end have been made more sleek.

• Michael Moore went on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" on Thursday and revealed details and a clip of his upcoming documentary, "Fahrenheit 11/9."
• The movie will focus on Donald Trump's presidency.
• The Oscar-winning filmmaker also said the movie would be released in theaters on September 21. 

On Thursday, the Oscar-winning filmmaker Michael Moore paid a visit to "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" to give the first glimpse of his upcoming documentary, "Fahrenheit 11/9."

The project will be a look at President Donald Trump and the state of the country. And in typical Moore fashion, the filmmaker will be front and center throughout the story.

In a clip that Moore showed during his chat with Colbert, Moore pulls up to the gates of Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida — "the Southern White House," as Moore refers to it — and asks to see Trump. It's one of the classic bits you see in all his movies: showing up unannounced and trying to get time with the big name he's focused his story on. At one point, while talking to security, Moore says, "Just tell him it's me."

Moore ended up not getting any time with the president while shooting that footage. After the clip, Colbert asked Moore whether he was civil when he went to Mar-a-Largo.

"I am as civil as any Eagle Scout, Catholic altar boy could be when confronted with the devil," Moore said.

Moore also talked to Colbert about the state of the country, including Trump's "zero tolerance" immigration policy that has led to thousands of children being separated from their parents at the US-Mexico border. Moore said that now when he picks up the newspaper every day he cries.

"We're not talking about political differences," he told Colbert. "We’re talking about thousands of children being kidnapped and put in jails."

It's unclear how much of what's going on in the country now will be in Moore's movie. He has hinted on Twitter that it might be more than just Trump he'll be touching on.

In one recent tweet with a clip of him and Trump as guests on Roseanne Barr's late-1990s talk show "The Roseanne Show," Moore wrote: "I know Roseanne. And I know Trump. And they are about to rue the day they knew me."

In the clip, Trump congratulates Moore on his documentary "Roger & Me" and says jokingly, "I hope he never does one on me."

Moore told Colbert that "Fahrenheit 11/9" — which refers to November 9, 2016, the day after Trump was elected — would be released on September 21.

Originally, Moore was set to release the movie through Harvey and Bob Weinstein, who had bought the worldwide rights to the movie. But according to The Hollywood Reporter, it will now be released through Briarcliff Entertainment, the new company from the veteran film executive Tom Ortenberg, who stepped down as CEO of Open Road Films last year.

Watch Moore's "Late Show" interview below:

SEE ALSO: "Sicario" sequel director says not having Emily Blunt led to a movie with no morals

Join the conversation about this story »

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• Rapper Drake dropped his latest album "Scorpion" on Friday.
• At 25 songs and nearly 90 minutes, it's his longest yet.
• It's a sharp contrast to other recent albums from the likes of Kanye West and Beyoncé/Jay-Z, whose albums are under 10 tracks.
• But it follows a trend of Drake's albums being long. His last three releases, including "Scorpion," have all been over 80 minutes.

Drake's new album, "Scorpion," dropped Friday — and it's the rapper's longest yet at just shy of 90 minutes. With 25 songs divided into a rap-centric A Side and a more R&B-focused B Side, "Scorpion" is a lengthy listen compared to other recent high-profile albums in those genres. 

Rapper Kanye West has produced several albums this year, including his latest solo album and the shortest one of his career, "Ye;" a collaborative album with Kid Cudi called "Kids See Ghosts;" and solo albums for other rappers like Pusha T and Nas. They have all been a mere 7 tracks long. Similarly, Beyoncé and Jay-Z's surprise collaborative album, "Everything is Love," was a breezy nine tracks. 

But Drake doesn't seem interested in conforming to this trend. His last three releases — "Scorpion," last year's mixtape "More Life," and 2016's "Views" — are all over 80 minutes long.

To Drake's credit, there's a lot packed into "Scorpion," most notably the revelation that he has a son. It's something that has been rumored for the past month since Pusha T alluded to it in a diss track titled "The Story of Adidon," and Drake confirms it on several of "Scorpion's" tracks. 

The Business Insider graph below shows the length of all of Drake's albums and mixtapes. We only included ones that are on Spotify, and included the deluxe version of "Nothing Was the Same," which has an additional two songs.

Check out how long "Scorpion" is compared to Drake's other albums below:

SEE ALSO: Drake confirms rumors that he has a son on his new album 'Scorpion'

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This glassblowing master sculpts incredibly realistic animals out of glass

• Finding questions to ask your interviewer is a crucial part of preparing for any job interview.

• Asking questions is a simple way to show that you're truly interested in the role and the company.

• Business Insider compiled a number of smart questions that are sure to impress your next interviewer.

Thinking up questions to ask during job interviews is key.

Remember, every interview is a two-way street. You should be interviewing the employer just as much as they're interviewing you. You both need to walk away convinced that the job would be a great fit.

So when the tables are turned and the interviewer asks, "Do you have any questions for me?" take advantage of this opportunity. It's the best way to determine if you'd be happy working for this employer, and whether your goals are aligned with theirs.

Plus, asking questions is a simple way to convey your enthusiasm for the role and the organization that you're looking to join.

But sometimes it's tricky to think up questions to ask on the spot. So you should do your research, and come prepared with some questions to put your your interview.

Luckily, there are plenty of smart ones to pick from.

Here are a number of questions you should consider asking during your next job interview:

SEE ALSO: 23 questions you should never ask at the end of a job interview

DON'T MISS: 16 interview questions that are designed to trick you

SEE ALSO: 17 things you should never wear to a job interview

'Have I answered all your questions?'

Before you begin asking your questions, find out if there's anything they'd like you to elaborate on. You can do this by saying something like: "Yes, I do have a few questions for you — but before I get into those, I am wondering if I've sufficiently answered all of your questions. Would you like me to explain anything further or give any examples?"

Not only will they appreciate the offer, but it may be a good chance for you to gauge how well you're doing, says Bill York, an executive recruiter with over 30 years of experience and the founder of the executive search firm Tudor Lewis.

If they say, "No, you answered all of my questions very well," then this may tell you you're in good shape. If they respond with, "Actually, could you tell me more about X?" or "Would you be able to clarify what you meant when you said Y?" this is your chance for a redo.

'Who do you think would be the ideal candidate for this position, and how do I compare?'

Amy Hoover, SVP of Talent Zoo, recommends this question because it's a quick way to figure out whether your skills align with what the company is currently looking for. If they don't match up, then you know to walk away instead of wasting time pursuing the wrong position for yourself, she said. 

'Who would I be reporting to?'

It's important to ask about the pecking order of a company in case you have several bosses, Vicky Oliver wrote in her book, "301 Smart Answers to Tough Interview Questions."

If you're going to be working for several people, you need to know "the lay of the internal land," she says, or if you're going to be over several people, then you probably want to get to know them before accepting the position.

• Scoring a well-paid job is the goal for most college students.
• But not everyone wants to fill the obvious roles that we hear about growing up, like doctor, laywer, or engineer.
• Here are 29 unusual jobs that you might not know exist — and some of them pay six-figures or higher. 

For many students, a college degree puts you on the direct path to a certain career, such as a doctor, teacher, or journalist. 

But for many others, the future isn't as clear-cut.

Maybe you want to go to med school, but don't necessarily want to be a doctor. Maybe you love maps, but aren't sure how to incorporate that passion into a career. Or perhaps you just haven't found anything that sounds appealing yet. 

Luckily, there are tons of great career options out there that many college kids have no idea even exist. In these two helpful threads, Reddit users shared some of these under-the-radar occupations that most students probably haven't heard of. And they pay fairly well, too.

Here are 29 of our favorites, including descriptions and salary data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics or PayScale, for those who need some inspiration finding their dream job.

SEE ALSO: The 9 most popular jobs for college grads, according to LinkedIn

DON'T MISS: 41 jobs to avoid if you hate stress

Air traffic controller

Air traffic controllers coordinate the movement of aircraft to maintain safe distances between them.

Median salary: $124,540

"After school and training it pays an average of 100k a year, but there is an age limit to get accepted." — Kate1320

"My father is an ATC at Pearson. 200k a year with brilliant benefits. He provided a great quality of life for my family." — 1stOnRT1

Court reporter

"It's a three-year program (on average — took me four to finish), but if you're proficient in grammar, have strong language skills, have solid finger dexterity from playing an instrument or video games, and are able to work independently, it's an incredible career.

"You work from home most of the time, lawyers very rarely schedule depositions before 10:00 am, you can make your own schedule, and the pay is great. Your pay reflects how hard you want to work and the jobs you're getting, but I made 65k my first year and nearly 80k my second." — Bad_Karma21

Dental hygienist

Dental hygienists clean teeth, examine patients for signs of oral diseases such as gingivitis, and provide other preventive dental care.

Median salary: $74,070

"I'm starting dental hygiene school in the fall and I would have never looked into it while in college. It's only after I graduated and realized that I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do that I started seriously doing some research.

"Most dental hygiene programs only require a certain amount of prerequisite courses and a standardized test score for admission. Most are also bachelors degree programs as well, so mom and dad are pleased and you're spending the minimal amount of time you would earning a traditional university/college degree.

"Plus, salary starts at 50-60k a year with ridiculous benefits, at least in my area. Dentists treat their hygienists well!" — WinnifredBurkle

• Hiring managers are sick of seeing buzzwords on résumés. 
• "Hard worker," "ambitious," and other clichés shouldn't be included on your résumé.
• Instead, show how you'll be a good contributor to the workplace. 

While many large companies use automated résumé screener software to cut down the initial pool of job applicants, loading your résumé with meaningless buzzwords is not the smartest way to get noticed. 

"Nearly everyone is guilty of using buzzwords from time to time, but professionals are evaluated increasingly on their ability to communicate," Paul McDonald, senior executive director for professional placement firm Robert Half, told Business Insider.

One of the major problems with using buzzwords and terms is they have become so overused that they've lost all meaning, Mary Lorenz, a corporate communications manager at CareerBuilder, told Business Insider.

Another issue is that many of these words don't differentiate the job seeker from other candidates because they're so generic. Instead, Lorenz said job seekers should speak in terms of accomplishments and show rather than tell.

"Avoiding overused terms can help job seekers convey their message and stand out from the crowd," McDonald said.

Here's what you should avoid:

SEE ALSO: 13 hobbies that look great on your résumé — and one that doesn't

DON'T MISS: 38 things you should never include on your résumé

'Best of breed'

When CareerBuilder surveyed more than 2,200 hiring managers, it found "best of breed" to be the most irritating term to be seen on a résumé.

"Anyone can say they are 'best of breed,' a 'go-getter,' a 'hard worker,' or a 'strategic thinker,'" Lorenz said. "Employers want to know what makes the job seekers unique, and how they will add value to the specific organization for which they're applying."

'Hard'

'Phone number'

Just say "number," career coach Eli Amdur told Business Insider.

And opt for "email" rather than "email address."

• Electric scooter-sharing company Bird has raised $400 million in four months to cover the streets and sidewalks of America with scooters.
• Plenty of people in Silicon Valley have been scratching their heads over the $2 billion valuation that Bird has gained in a year since founding.
• We asked investors at Sequoia Capital and other VC firms why they backed Bird of all the scooter startups — and how they justify the $2 billion price tag.
• VCs said they believe in Bird's CEO, a former Uber exec, because he invented the scooter-sharing market and has the experience to scale the business.

After hearing about Bird through his connections at Uber, where Bird's founder and CEO previously helped scale the ride-hailing giant, Jordan Nof, an investment partner at Tusk Ventures, flew to Santa Monica, California, to convince Bird to take his money.

In their offices, he remembers seeing a chart that mapped the number of people using Bird and the total number of trips taken — two lines that curved "drastically up and to the right." Since Bird rolled out the first electric scooters in Santa Monica last November, the company has added "more zeroes after those numbers," Nof said.

"Genius is the only way I would describe it," Nof said of Bird's business model. "It has the opportunity to fundamentally change the way people get from point A to point B."

Tech investors are flocking to Bird, the scooter-sharing company that's raised $400 million in four months. It's been less than a year since Bird launched, and already the startup was rumored to be seeking a $2 billion valuation in the last funding round.

Bird lets people reserve a local scooter on their phone, ride for a small fee, and at the end of the journey, leave the scooter wherever to be claimed by the next rider.

The company has deployed vehicles across 11 neighborhoods and cities in California, Texas, and Washington, DC. It's currently banned in San Francisco, along with all the other scooter sharing startups, as the city works out a permit system for the scooter companies. 

As an avalanche of venture dollars pours into Bird and its rivals, namely Lime, plenty of people in Silicon Valley are scratching their heads over the sky-high valuation.

In a blog post explaining his Bird investment on Thursday, venture capitalist Mark Suster, a partner at Upfront Ventures, said, "No company has ever elicited so many questions by friends, colleagues, entrepreneurs, fellow VCs, and journalists as has Bird."

So we asked investors at Sequoia Capital, Tusk Ventures, and Greycroft Ventures why they backed Bird of all the scooter startups — and how they justify the $2 billion price tag.

If you ain't first, you're last

According to investors and Bird founder and CEO Travis VanderZanden, a former executive at Uber and Lyft, Bird invented the electric scooter-sharing industry.

When Bird launched the first scooters in its hometown of Santa Monica last fall, its competitors — Spin, LimeBike, and Ofo — were still focused on bike-sharing. They added scooters to the inventory in 2018, and LimeBike later rebranded as Lime.

Dana Settle, a founding partner at Greycroft, said when evaluating companies in the same space for a possible investment, her firm always considers who had the original idea.

Roelof Botha, a partner at Sequoia, which led Bird's newly announced $300 million Series C funding round, said being first places Bird one step ahead of the competition.

"If you're the one who invented it, you've probably thought about the problem many layers deep," Botha said of Bird. "That's the thing with people who copycat — they copy what the see today. But they don't know what you've been thinking. They don't know the next move that you intend. How you've already mapped out the next several months or the next several quarters of product innovations and nuances."

It leaves the competition "playing catch-up," he added.

Massive growth with zero spending on Facebook ads

Settle became aware of Bird when she started seeing the sleek electric scooters buzzing around Los Angeles, where she runs Greycroft's west coast office.

"It was sort of overnight in Santa Monica," Settle said. "The adoption we saw, it was palpable."

In less than 10 months, Bird built a brand that users love. The company has seen explosive growth in app downloads and usage, according to investors, and it's managed this success without spending a dollar on Facebook ads or billboards.

"They've built a brand that people are already using as a verb," Settle said.

Botha looked at several scooter companies before investing in Bird. He said Bird had the most users and the best user retention, which means "once people try it, they love it."

The other Travis

Several investors agreed that Bird could be the next Uber or Lyft because of "the magnitude of the market opportunity and the magnitude of the problem."

Bird provides what's called a "last-mile" solution. Customer might use cars or public transportation to get most of the way to their destination, then hitch a scooter for the last mile — a part of the journey that's notoriously difficult to reach or slow from traffic.

Anyone who walks is a potential customer. And as more people move into cities, which they are, it's important they be able to get around quickly and easily to reduce congestion, cut down on car usage, and improve mobility for all.

"Something that you think about whenever you're writing investment memos is how big is the market. ... It's like, are they going to replace walking? That's ridiculous. Now it's like, no, that's not ridiculous," said Nof, whose firm Tusk invested in the Series A.

Investors said a big reason why they invested is because of Bird's founder.

Beyond being the other high-ranking executive named Travis at Uber, VanderZanden also held the distinction of having worked at both Uber and Lyft. At Uber, he led the company's international growth before being tasked with growing the pool of drivers.

Nearly two dozen employees flew the coop from Uber or Lyft to join Bird, according to their accounts on LinkedIn. (Bird looks to be launching in Las Vegas next, as the company just hired a former brand ambassador for Uber who's based in the city.)

Investors said these Uber and Lyft defectors will learn from the mistakes of the ride-hailing industry and apply best practices to make Bird the leader in scooter-sharing.

But is Bird really worth $2 billion?

The biggest criticism leveled against Bird is that it's overvalued and overhyped.

Bird said in a state regulatory filing that it was raising new funding that could value the company at $2 billion, Axios reported. Investors would not confirm the valuation.

It's a hefty price tag for a company that currently operates in mostly coastal cities where the weather allows for riding scooters year-round and the locals wear t-shirts and hoodies to work. As Bird scales to new areas, men in suits and women in business attire might not want to take a scooter to a business meeting or even to dinner with friends.

Investors told Business Insider that only people who have seen Bird's growth numbers can understand the rare opportunity at hand — and that valuation.

"Do you remember how silly that Instagram acquisition was? Oh, God. Facebook totally overpaid for that, didn't they?" Botha said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Do you remember YouTube, when everybody laughed at Google for paying $1.6 billion for the company? 'Gee, how silly.' Or when eBay paid $1.5 billion for PayPal, which is now worth $100 billion. It's human nature — saying that something that wasn't there yesterday is now something — for people to question it," Botha said.

"People who say that don't have the facts," he said.

SEE ALSO: This CEO says his hot startup is working on a fix for the most annoying thing about the San Francisco scooter craze

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This electric bike is disguised as a car

• The League is one of the more selective dating apps out there.
• This summer, The League is hosting a cruise in France. About 80 of its users will attend — and hopefully, find love.
• Dating apps are increasingly offering "offline" events.

At least one representative from The League is calling it "the death of the first date."

"A lot of our users on the app are saying that they're really sick of the first date," said Brianna Haag, The League's head of events and partnerships. "People want different types of experiences. They don't want the interview plus cocktail at a bar."

To that end, this August, dating app The League is hosting a weeklong cruise in France, in conjunction with U by Uniworld. About 80 users will mix and mingle in the hopes of finding love; the itinerary includes touring the Palace of Versailles and biking along the Seine (sigh).

So far, nearly 2,600 League users have applied, the company said. Depending on the type of accommodations you choose, the price of a flight and a room is around $3,000.

This isn't The League's first foray into "offline" events. Earlier this year, the company hosted two ski weeks in Telluride and Vail, Colorado. According to The League, two relationships (that are still intact) resulted from each ski trip.

In-person events are becoming a trend among dating apps

The League is known for its selectivity: To join the app, you have to submit your LinkedIn profile for verification and get vetted. (The app's motto is "date intelligently.") As for the cruise, The League says the guest list is carefully curated to maximize the chance of romance blossoming.

Everyone's preferences for a date should be "loosely" met, said Meredith Davis, head of the communications at The League. (Apparently, multiple 21-year-old men applied for the trip, but were turned down because the women attending prefer men who are older than that.) Guests will also have similar interests, as listed on their profiles.

The League isn't the only dating app to expand into offline events. For example, Business Insider's Tanya Dua recently attended a weekend-long "sleep-away camp for singles" hosted by Coffee Meets Bagel. It could be a sign that apps are starting to recognize people's growing fatigue with online dating — and making sure they don't lose their user base.

As for those who don't succeed in finding The One during the week on the boat, fear not. On the last night of the trip, The League is hosting a party to celebrate their plans to launch in Paris in September. Many new League users will be there.

Should the cruise guests be prepared to navigate a long-distance relationship with a Parisian?

As Davis said, "You never know."

SEE ALSO: The cofounder of Coffee Meets Bagel says there's a big difference between how men and women date online

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Prime beef ribs worth £360 are cooked over an indoor fire pit in the middle of this London restaurant

• Generation Z is the most ethnically-diverse and largest generation in American history.
• They're often cast as anti-social, technology-addicted, or "social justice warriors."
• From talking to 104 teenagers nationwide, Business Insider discovered what makes today's teens stressed out, happy, curious, and connected. 

Generation Z is the most ethnically-diverse and largest generation in American history.

And they're the youngest — Pew Research Center defined them recently as everyone born after 1997. 

We usually view teens and the younger generations with a tinge of derision. And Gen Zs, with their obsession over Instagram and rejection of hourly work, are primed for the utmost scorn by their elders. 

But we're more likely to understand what Generation Z is all about by talking to them. 

Business Insider surveyed 104 Generation Zers nationwide to find out what it's like to be a teenager in 2018. Learn below about their opinions, fears, dreams, and complexities.

SEE ALSO: Generation Z is already moving away from Facebook, and 8 more industries could be next

DON'T MISS: Teenagers are less likely to work today than any generation before them, and some say school is to blame

SEE ALSO: The US allows teens to start working at 14 — here's how to get a first job in every state

Who did we talk to?

Business Insider surveyed 104 teens aged 13 to 19. They came from all over the US, including North Carolina, New York, and Michigan.

Many survey respondents came from WeAreGenZ, a consultancy and think tank powered by Gen Zs nationwide.

The average teen got their first smart phone just before their 12th birthday.

Nearly 80% of teens got their first smartphone between the ages of 11 and 13.

Almost 3% of teens got their first smartphone at age 8, and 6% at 15 or older.

• "We are the first generation to have had access to smartphones our whole lives. We communicate through social media and texts, which changes the dynamic of communication." — 19-year-old
• "Everything in our generation is immediate. Since we have been raised in an age where texts and messages can be sent in the blink of an eye, we are less patient than other generations because we are used to having instant gratification. But our generation is also very determined to show that we are capable of real thoughts and using the technology and communication methods we have been given for making change, despite what older generations expect from us." — 15-year-old

Most teens had an iPhone.

Among survey respondents, 94% had an Apple phone.

That's higher than what other surveys have shown, but not shockingly so. Investment bank and asset management firm Piper Jaffray found that, in their semi-annual survey of around 6,000 American teens, 84% of teens plan that their next phone will be Apple. 

• China has outpaced the US economically, according to a number of economic metrics.
• A Chinese professor who has lived in both the US and China believes there is a core cultural difference leading to the country's diverging paths.
• He believes Chinese people are fixated on economic advancement and business, while Americans are more focused on politics and personal freedoms.
• The difference has led Chinese people to be willing to work longer hours and spend more energy on entrepreneurial activities.

By numerous measures — and in particular gross domestic product taking into account relative prices of products — China has outpaced the US economically.

A top Chinese business professor who has spent considerable time in both countries believes that a major cultural difference between the countries may be fueling China's economic rise, he told Business Insider.

Dr. Zhang Weining, a professor at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, grew up in China, earned his MBA at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and his PhD at the University of Texas in Dallas.

Zhang, who splits his time between the US and China, said that when he visits villages in rural China, the conversations he hears between villagers, farmers, and other people is about technology, business models, and artificial intelligence.

Meanwhile, when Zhang returns to his former homes in Kentucky or Texas, the dominant conversations both among academic circles and regular people is about the governor, the legislature, or hot button political topics of the day like gun control or abortion. The situation has only exacerbated in the Trump era.

"[Chinese people] only care about this: Who can be richer? What are the ways to get rich legally?," Zhang said. "We argue more about business models and new technology."

Zhang believes the American obsession with politics sucks up energy and time that Americans could spend working on new technologies or developing new businesses.

"When you are only arguing about politics, it does not help your life at all," Zhang said. "No one is paying you for that."

Zhang recognizes that political discussions happen in th US because so much of the culture is based around preserving personal freedom. But, he said, Chinese people are currently focused on a different kind of freedom: the freedom for economic development.

By way of example, Zhang points to the country's 1.2 million couriers, or kuaidi, who zip around Chinese cities delivering packages, food, and just about every other convenience you can imagine. Most work 12-14 hours a day, six days a week. 

"It's almost unimaginable in the US," said Zhang.

Journalists from the US often come to China and interview the couriers, many of whom are university graduates, about their labor rights. Many couriers lack the rights provided by western labor laws like overtime pay, workers' compensation benefits, or insurance in case of accidents. 

But what those journalists fail to understand, Zhang went on, is that the couriers want the work, regardless of the long hours and the danger. Couriers can make as much as $2,000 a month after taxes — enough money in China to feed a large family and save for the future.

The obsession with economic advancement isn't limited to those in the service industry, Zhang said. It goes up the economic ladder. Middle class people in white collar jobs like tech and finance work crazy hours as well, either to chase their dreams or chase the status and respect of others, according to Zhang.

"Go visit Tencent's offices at 2 a.m. in the morning and see how many lights are still on and how many employees are still coming out," said Zhang.  "All the young people in this country work overtime ... they think if everybody else is going to work eight hours, I'll work 10 hours. And if everyone else is going to work 10 hours, I'll work 12."

Take all of that energy and drive together, according to Zhang, and you have the answer as to why China is developing so much faster than the US right now.

SEE ALSO: Chinese people don't care about privacy on the internet — here's why, according to a top professor in China

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This glassblowing master sculpts incredibly realistic animals out of glass

Like so many other Android users, I rely on Messages for Android — Google's text messaging application — every day. It's my main means of communication with the people I care about most.

So I was pretty excited to hear that Messages for Android now has its own web client, accessible from any web browser. It's called Messages for web, naturally:

In short, Messages for web lets Android users text message seamlessly from any computer with a web browser. It's super easy to set up, and even syncs in real time between phone and computer. 

I've been using it for nearly a week at this point, and it's fundamentally changed how I communicate.

Here's why:

SEE ALSO: Here's everything you need to do to switch from an Android device to an iPhone

First, setting it up: It's a snap!

Here's how you set up Android text messaging on the web:

Step 1: Open Messages on your (Android) phone.
Step 2: Tap the three dots in the upper right corner, and select "Messages for web."
Step 3: Navigate to the Messages for web site on your favorite web browser.
Step 4: Scan the QR code using your phone.

And you're in.

If you want the computer you're using to remember your phone, there's an option to select that from the web browser window. 

If you're not seeing the Messages for web option in Messages just yet, check back in a few days — Google is rolling out the update over time. 

I've stopped knee-jerk responding to every text message buzz in my pocket.

I've begun ignoring the buzzes in my pocket, and it's been a massive relief.

As someone who spends most of my time at a computer, I feel especially silly holding up a smartphone screen in front of that computer. 

Eventually, I click over to the Messages for web tab in my browser and see what I've been missing: group texts with friends to get back to, messages from my partner, an alert from Verizon that my autopay went through successfully. 

Important stuff, no doubt, but stuff that doesn't require an immediate, "Stop everything!" response. Instead, I ignore the buzzes, find a natural end point to whatever I'm doing, then catch up on messages I've been missing.

It's a subtle change with massive implications — I've been knee-jerk responding to text message pocket vibrations for over 10 years now.

But there's something about having all my text messages in a browser window, waiting for me, that changed how I look at them: They're just instant message windows now, nothing more than the AOL Instant Messengers and Facebook Messengers of the world. 

It's obvious, I realize. They're all just messaging software in the broadest sense. But text messages have maintained the top spot in my personal hierarchy of prioritization. Messages for web is helping me put the space between myself and text messages that I didn't even realize I needed.

Not having to switch between phone and computer while working is a huge time saver.

Switching between a phone and a keyboard is massively disruptive. Moreover, as stated previously, it makes me feel ridiculous to pick up a smartphone solely for one type of messaging while I'm sitting at a powerful computer.

Having Messages for web makes text message communication a part of my workflow. 

I'm free to ignore the buzzes in my pocket specifically because I know the messages they represent are easily tackled in a browser tab. Why bother looking?

• Alexander Hamilton was the first Treasury Secretary of the US.
• He also spearheaded promoting the US Constitution and founded the national's financial system, the US Coast Guard, and The New York Post.
• Take a look at some of the habits and strategies that helped Hamilton remain productive throughout his career.

Alexander Hamilton was a pretty busy guy.

Heck, the whole song "Non-Stop" in Lin-Manuel Miranda's smash Broadway hit "Hamilton" is dedicated to the man's meteoric rise from orphaned Nevis immigrant to aide-de-camp to George Washington to full-fledged Founding Father.

Hamilton had a tremendous influence on the development of the United States. Not only was he the first Treasury Secretary of the young country, he was also responsible for founding our financial system and ensuring the adoption of the US Constitution.

In his spare time, Hamilton kicked off the US Coast Guard, The New York Post, and the New York Manumission Society, which fought for the abolition of slavery in New York.

Here's a breakdown of what a day in the life of Alexander Hamilton might have looked like:

SEE ALSO: The 9 weirdest jobs of America's Founding Fathers

DON'T MISS: A look at the daily routine of John Adams, who woke before dawn, walked 5 miles at a time, and drank hard cider at breakfast

AND THEN: What the Founding Fathers were doing before their act of rebellion made them famous

In a 1800 letter to his then-18-year-old son Philip — who would die in a duel three years before the famous Hamilton-Burr showdown of 1804— Hamilton extolled the benefits of rising early.

Source: The Founders Archives 

He advised Philip to wake up no later than 6 a.m. from April to October, and no later than 7 a.m. for the rest of year. Hamilton added that his son would "deserve commendation" if he deigned to rise earlier.

Source: The Founders Archives

Given Hamilton's own intense work ethic, it's not a stretch to imagine that he himself also woke up relatively early.

Source: The Founders Archives

• Romantic attraction is complicated.
• But scientists have generated many insights into what might make men attractive to women.
• For example, men who look older, sport a light beard, or do volunteer work are generally considered more appealing.

Romantic attraction is a complicated thing that scientists still don't completely understand.

But, through research and experimentation, they've come up with many ideas about what draws one person to another.

Below, Business Insider has rounded up some of the most compelling scientific insights about the traits and behaviors that make men more appealing to women.

The best part? None of the items on this list require you to get cosmetic surgery or do a major personality overhaul. We're talking small tweaks, like acting nicer and swapping your deodorant.

Read on for simple ways to step up your dating game.

This is an update of an article originally posted by Drake Baer.

SEE ALSO: 13 science-backed ways to appear more attractive

Look for the universal signals of flirtation

Rutgers University anthropologist and best-selling author Helen E. Fisher says that women around the world signal interest with a remarkably similar sequence of expressions.

As she shared at Psychology Today, it goes like this:

"First the woman smiles at her admirer and lifts her eyebrows in a swift, jerky motion as she opens her eyes wide to gaze at him. Then she drops her eyelids, tilts her head down and to the side, and looks away. Frequently she also covers her face with her hands, giggling nervously as she retreats behind her palms.

"This sequential flirting gesture is so distinctive that [German ethologist Irenaus] Eibl-Eibesfeldt was convinced it is innate, a human female courtship ploy that evolved eons ago to signal sexual interest."

Look for someone 'in your league'

Men — and women — are attracted to people who are as attractive as they are.

In one study, researchers at the University of California at Berkeley looked at the behavior of 60 heterosexual male and 60 heterosexual female users on an online dating site. While the majority of users were inclined to reach out to highly attractive people, they were most likely to get a response if that person was about as attractive as they were (as judged by independent raters).

"If you go for someone roughly [equal] to you in attractiveness, it avoids two things," Nottingham Trent University psychologist Mark Sergeant, who was not involved with the study, told The Independent. "If they are much better-looking than you, you are worried about them going off and having affairs. If they are much less attractive, you are worried that you could do better."

Present yourself as high status

A 2010 study from the University of Wales Institute found that men pictured with a Silver Bentley Continental GT were perceived as way more attractive than those pictures with a Red Ford Fiesta ST.

And a 2014 study from Cardiff Metropolitan University found that men pictured in a luxury apartment were rated more attractive than those in a control group.

Interestingly, men don't seem to be more attracted to women when they're pictured in a high-status context.

• People travel all over the US to celebrate the Fourth of July, America's independence day, every year.
• HomeToGo ranked the top 21 destinations for the Fourth of July based on popularity and affordability. 
• The best and most affordable places to celebrate July 4 are San Antonio, Texas, followed by St. Louis, Missouri. 

America comes together every year to celebrate the Fourth of July.

Popular firework destinations usually boost their prices for the holiday, but some big cities get cheaper. For example, accommodations in New Orleans for the Fourth of July are 53% more expensive than at other times, whereas San Francisco is 27% cheaper, reports HomeToGo.

HomeToGo compiled data on everything from accommodation prices to the cost of sparklers to find out which cities are the best for celebrating the Fourth of July.

Here's what HomeToGo factored in:

Food and drink: 1/4 gallon milk, bread, 3 eggs, 1/4 lb bananas, 1/4 lb chicken, 1/2 lb beef, 1/4 lb cheese, 1/4 head lettuce, 1/4 pound tomatoes, 1/4 lb onion, 1/4 lb potatoes, and two locally produced beers for one person. Prices sourced from a leading online grocery store.

Accommodations: The average price per-person per-night to stay in a four person space beginning Monday July 2, 2018. Prices sourced from HomeToGo's booking data for July 2018.

Cost of American flag: A 3' x 5' polyester flag including tax. Prices sourced from leading online retailers. 

Cost of sparklers: A single box of 10" color sparklers including tax. Prices sourced from online fireworks retailer. 

Cost of gas per-gallon: The cost of one gallon of regular gas including tax. Prices provided by AAA and calculated on May 29, 2018.

Below, see the total cost and item breakdown of a Fourth of July celebration in 21 US cities.

SEE ALSO: 13 places to travel in July for every type of traveler

DON'T MISS: 11 fun, free places to watch Fourth of July fireworks in New York City

21. New Orleans, Louisiana

Total cost: $161.84

Food and drink: $15.84 

Accommodations: $117

Cost of American flag: $12.08

Cost of sparklers: $14.29

Cost of gas per-gallon: $2.63

20. Los Angeles, California

Total cost: $153.33

Food and drink: $18.54

Accommodations: $105

Cost of American flag: $11.92

Cost of sparklers: $14.10

Cost of gas per-gallon: $3.77

19. New York City, New York

Total cost: $134.79

Food and drink: $20.70

Accommodations: $85

Cost of American flag: $11.91 

Cost of sparklers: $14.09

Cost of gas per-gallon: $3.09

If the director is the most important crew member on set, in most cases the cinematographer is the second-most important.

A skilled director of photography can turn a mediocre movie suddenly into a critical darling or a good movie into an Oscar contender. But unlike directors, who can have a breakout indie and suddenly get snatched up to do the next Hollywood blockbuster, cinematographers are in it for the long game.

Many have to work a decade or two on independent films, shorts, TV shows, and commercials before scoring a studio feature. And even at that point you still have to compete for work with the legends in the field like Emmanuel Lubezi, Robert Richardson, and Roger Deakins to land a job. 

Here are 11 cinematographers who are beginning to make their mark in Hollywood — including the visionaries behind "Moonlight" and "The Last Jedi."

SEE ALSO: "Superfly" director on how making music videos for Drake and Rihanna taught him how to thrive in the Hollywood studio system

Mike Gioulakis (“It Follows,” “Split”)

Gioulakis has found success in the thriller genre with the indie darling “It Follows” and M. Night Shyamalan’s latest hit, “Split,” being the standouts. For both, Gioulakis’ use of natural light and shadows to amp up the spookiness is a very useful tool.

James Laxton (“Moonlight”)

Jumping around from low-budget indies to a few Kevin Smith movies (“Tusk” and “Yoga Hosers”), Laxton reteamed with Barry Jenkins (he shot Jenkins’ debut feature “Medicine for Melancholy”) to make “Moonlight” — and the rest his history. The beautiful exterior shots of Miami are one of the reasons the movie went on to win an Oscar.

Jody Lee Lipes (“Manchester by the Sea,” “Martha Marcy May Marlene”)

In the early 2000s, Lipes was the guy at NYU everyone wanted to shoot their short films, and since he’s been in high demand on the professional level. From shooting episodes of “Girls” to lensing “Trainwreck,” he’s worked on every budget level. His standouts, though, have been his beautiful shooting of tough stories like Sean Durkin’s “Martha Marcy May Marlene” in 2011 and Kenneth Lonergan’s 2016 Oscar-winning movie, “Manchester by the Sea.”

• Young women are massively outnumbered by young men in China thanks to the country's former one-child policy.
• To avoid pressure from their families, many young men are using apps to hire women to pose as their girlfriends.
• Reuters followed one of these girlfriends-for-hire over a holiday weekend to see what the experience was like.

Any single person who's gone home for the holidays probably knows what it's like to face questions from family members about their love life and their prospects for marriage.

That's especially true for men in China, where thanks to a one-child policy that was in place for 36 years, there are about 30 million more men than women between the ages of 24 and 40.

That imbalance has given way to a surprising new side-hustle for young Chinese women: posing as single men's girlfriends to assuage the fears of prying relatives — for a fee, of course.

Date-finding apps are becoming an increasingly popular choice in China, with one app, Hire Me Plz, boasting a reported user base of 700,000 people.

Last year, Beijing blogger Zhao Yuqing sifted through more than 700 applications from men desperate for a fake girlfriend to show off to their relatives. She shared her experience with Reuters, and her story illustrates the depth of China's marriage problem.

SEE ALSO: Some tech startups in China are hiring women who are taller than 5'2'' and wear makeup to socialize with male programmers and give them massages

DON'T MISS: Inside the eerily quiet streets of Kazakhstan's 20-year-old capital city, where futuristic skyscrapers tower over the grasslands of a former prison camp

Zhao Yuqing is a 24-year-old blogger from Beijing, China. Last year, she joined a girlfriend-for-hire service to get the experience of being someone's holiday companion.

Source: Reuters

Lunar New Year is the busiest time of year for these "instant girlfriends," who can command as much as $1,450 a day during the holiday week. Yuqing, on the other hand, stated in her online ad that she would only charge for transportation.

Source: Reuters

She sifted through 700 applications before selecting Wang Quanming, a website operator in his early thirties from a rural town in southern China. "He is being pressured to find a wife and his need to rent a girlfriend is real," Yuqing told Reuters.

Source: Reuters

• Taylor Swift is a real estate mogul.
• Swift's homes are in four different states from California to New York, and they're worth a total of $84 million, according to property values estimated by Trulia.
• She most recently purchased a condo in Tribeca— her third property on the same block in the Manhattan neighborhood.

Taylor Swift's homes are arguably as impressive as her singing career.

The 28-year-old has a reported net worth of $280 million and huge chunk of that is parked in real estate. Swift owns more than $84 million worth of real estate across the US — eight properties in four different states, to be exact — according to estimates provided to Business Insider by Trulia. 

Nashville

Let's begin in Nashville, Tennessee, where Swift launched her country music career. It's only fitting for her to have at least one property there, but she has two. 

There's the 3,240-square-foot condo in Nashville's Music Row, which she bought at age 20. Swift said in an interview with Vulture, who described the condo's aesthetic as "whimsically girlie," that she did the interior design herself.

Worth an estimated $3 million, the condo boasts industrial-style features and skyline views of midtown Nashville thanks to its floor-to-ceiling windows.

In June 2011, she purchased a 1934 Greek Revival estate in Nashville that features a 5,600-square-foot main house with four bedrooms and four-and-a-half bathrooms. Out back there's a pool and a 2,000-square-foot guesthouse. Trulia estimates it to be worth nearly $2.5 million — and that's the cheapest property she owns.

Los Angeles

Ever the superstar, Swift also spends time in Los Angeles. She sold her Beverly Hills Cape Cod-style cottage of 2,826 square feet for $4 million earlier this year, but she still owns two more residences in the area — at least, for now.

Her 2,950-square-foot Beverly Hills home is currently on the market; Trulia estimates its value at $2.85 million. 

Surrounded by lush greenery, mountains, a pool, and a sprawling patio area, the mod-style single-story home is light and airy with floor-to-ceiling glass, skylights, a private courtyard, and a 1,000-bottle climate-controlled wine cellar. 

And then there's the iconic 1934 Beverly Hills mansion she purchased in September 2015. It was previously home to Hollywood film producer, Samuel Goldwyn.

Swift plans to turn the 10,982-square-foot Georgian Revival estate into a historic landmark and restore it to its former status now that the Beverly Hills Cultural Heritage Commission has voted in favor of her request.

Worth nearly $30 million, it's the most expensive piece of property in her real estate portfolio, according to Trulia's estimates.

Rhode Island

But Nashville and Beverly Hills aren't the only places she calls home. Across the coast, Swift owns an estate with seaside views in Watch Hill, Rhode Island, valued at $6.65 million.

The seven-bedroom, nine-bathroom mansion of 12,000 square feet overlooks 700 feet of shoreline with views of Block Island Sound and Montauk Point.

The grapevine whispers that Swift bought the home in April 2013 after breaking up with Conor Kennedy — the famous Kennedy Family Compound is only a few miles away. A dream vacation home, it's the perfect place for parties with her squad. Remember Swift's famous Fourth of July party in 2016?

But that's only one of four properties Swift has in the Northeast. The rest are all in New York City, specifically in Tribeca. As if that's not close quarters, they're all on the same block.

New York City

In 2014, Swift put her savvy real estate skills to work, purchasing two adjacent penthouses in a Tribeca building and renovating them into one large duplex penthouse of 8,309 square feet with 10 bedrooms and 10 bathrooms.

It features an expansive kitchen where Swift has baked with her squad, a billiards table, and a sweeping staircase, all at an estimated value of $20.5 million.

In 2017, she became her own neighbor when she purchased a 100-year-old, four-story townhouse next door. At 27 square-feet wide and 5,148 total square feet, it's filled with a ton of natural light on the first floor (a rarity and a luxury in Manhattan). It also has a home theater, gym, steam bath, and bar, as well as a guest suite, and is estimated to be worth $12.5 million.

Most recently in February 2018, she purchased another condo on the second floor of the same building as her penthouse from financier Jeremey Phillips for $9.75 million in an off-market deal, reported the New York Post. Trulia estimates its value at $6.9 million.

It's no wonder Swifties are dubbing Swift's Tribeca block "Taybeca," considering she owns roughly $40 million worth of property there.

Where will she move in next?

SEE ALSO: See inside the 15 most expensive penthouses for sale in America

DON'T MISS: Inside Taylor Swift's $17 million seaside mansion where she hosts A-list parties

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This couple created a money challenge to help them save despite their very different spending habits

• Following Morgan Spurlock's confession of sexual misconduct in the wake of the #MeToo movement, his latest movie "Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!" is in limbo.
• The movie's distributor, YouTube Red, has pulled the movie and it's unknown if it will ever be released.
• The sequel to Spurlock's landmark debut that looked at the dangers of fast food focuses this time on the poultry industry, which has manipulated customers and left farmers in debt.
• One farmer in the movie spoke out to Business Insider about his frustration that the movie may never be seen by the public.

With the end credits rolling on the big screen behind him, Morgan Spurlock took the stage after the world premiere of “Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!” during the Toronto International Film Festival last September, and flashed his patented wide smile as he took in the loud applause from the audience. 


It was the launch of another project from Spurlock that would attract audiences beyond die-hard documentary lovers. A big reason was the title recognition he had. 14 years after making “Super Size Me,” the movie that launched his career and redefined the fast-food industry, Spurlock had unveiled the rare documentary sequel. 

This time taking on the poultry industry, or as he called it “Big Chicken” (Tyson, Perdue, Pilgrim’s, Koch Foods), “Super Size Me 2” follows Spurlock as he shows audiences the dirty side of the multibillion-dollar industry by starting his own chicken sandwich franchise, called Holy Chicken!, and revealing all the tricks used to make us think that the chicken we get — from the super market to a fast food chain — is “natural.” 


From showing what really defines a "free range" chicken, to how some chains actually paint marks on cooked chicken breasts to make them look "grilled," to showing how chicken farmers are being short-changed by Big Chicken, the movie is as eye-opening about the food we eat as the first “Super Size Me.”


Always the showman, Spurlock came to TIFF with two of the farmers highlighted in the movie, one of whom was Jonathan Buttram. Buttram provided Spurlock with the chickens for his Holy Chicken! chicken sandwich “chain.” He also brought a Holy Chicken! food truck for TIFF audiences, filled with chicken sandwiches for everyone (Spurlock promised that the truck would also tour the country with the movie, once it was in theaters). It all paid off. Before the festival ended, Spurlock scored a deal with YouTube Red, reported to be around $3.5 million, that included not just a streaming deal but also a theatrical release.


But the dream of releasing a documentary that was as impactful as the 2004 original faded away when three months after that successful “Super Size Me 2” world premiere, and at the height of the #MeToo Movement, Spurlock sent out a tweet that read “I am Part of the Problem,” along with a link to a letter via TwitLonger, in which he confessed to numerous acts of sexual misconduct in his past. According to his letter, a woman once accused him of rape in college, he detailed a workplace sexual harassment claim he settled, and admitted he’d been unfaithful to past wives and girlfriends.

“If I’m going [to] truly represent myself as someone who has built a career on finding the truth, then it’s time for me to be truthful as well,” Spurlock wrote.

Days later, YouTube announced it would not release “Super Size Me 2” and Spurlock stepped down as head of his production company, Warrior Poets. 

Since Spurlock left the public eye, Warrior Poets has come under fire as seven former employees told Jezebel that the company had a “fratty, boys’ club” culture. It’s unclear if the numerous upcoming projects Spurlock and Warrior Poets was involved in — ranging from a docuseries with LeBron James to a biopic on legendary Hollywood agent Sue Mengers— will come to fruition.


And what about “Super Size Me 2?” The documentary is in many ways collateral damage following Spurlock’s confession, collecting dust on a shelf somewhere and no longer a tool for the people who needed it to be seen by audiences the most: the dozens of farmers who have brought lawsuits against Big Chicken. 

Farmers are playing a rigged game

The chicken sandwich has become the most popular item on the menu anywhere you go today. It’s almost guaranteed you’ll find a grilled or crispy (you never see the word “fried”) chicken sandwich on any menu (sometimes both) — especially in the food chain industry. In “Super Size Me 2,” Spurlock shows its popularity with incredible clarity as he navigates not just the growing process of the chickens, but also the marketing muscle behind making the chicken sandwich so popular.

This popularity has led to huge profits for the poultry industry, but the farmers who are growing the chickens aren’t getting much of the rewards. As “Super Size Me 2” highlights, in one instance Tyson used a tournament system in which the company gave farmers a certain amount of chickens per year, and then paid by the performance of those chickens (i.e., size of the bird, and the amount produced). 

“Because [Tyson] controls all of the factors that go into influencing how much chicken gets produced and the health of the chickens and the ability of the chickens, Tyson manipulates it and influences how much the growers get paid in a way that is anti-competitive and against the law,” claims David Muraskin, a lawyer for the public interest law firm Public Justice, which is one of the firms representing farmer Charles Morris. Morris is in “Super Size Me 2,” and is also part of a lawsuit in Kentucky against Tyson.

"We won’t comment on pending litigation," Tyson spokesman Worth Sparkman told Business Insider. "We will note that Tyson Foods has a poultry farmer advisory council as well as a Contract Poultry Farmers’ Bill of Rights, which includes the right to information detailing how much farmers are paid. Both are part of our commitment to promote transparency and communications with the independent farmers who grow chickens for us. Additional information about how farmers are paid is readily available on our website." 

Morris, along with Jonathan Buttram, are both big parts in “Super Size Me 2.” Buttram, who declined to comment for this story, was the only farmer Spurlock could find who agreed to grow chickens for Holy Chicken! In the movie, Morris paints a grim picture of the farmers who are millions of dollars in debt due to the tournament system. Both men were with Spurlock at TIFF, were introduced on stage at the world premiere, and did press with Spurlock the days that followed. 


"I set out ten years ago with a cause to help the consumer because all of them have been deceived," Buttram told Business Insider the day after the TIFF premiere, sitting beside Spurlock and Morris. "The chickens are being mistreated and the growers are definitely being mistreated."


“We need Morgan, we really do,” Morris added. “What he’s done is instrumental in helping us.”

But then came Spurlock’s shocking announcement, which caught almost everyone involved in the movie off guard — Morris and his attorneys, especially.

Why 'Super Size Me 2' would have mattered

Currently, the lawsuit Morris and 19 other farmers filed in Kentucky against Tyson has been in the discovery phase since 2016, which is uncharacteristically long, according to Morris’ attorneys. Though “Super Size Me 2” wouldn’t have been able to speed up the wheels of justice, many involved in the suit believe at the very least “Super Size Me 2” would have put a huge spotlight on the issue. 

“The understanding of how food is produced, especially in these factory farms that the movie shows, I wanted the public to know about that because when the public knows about something and they see a wrong they try to right it,” said J. Dudley Butler of Butler Farm & Ranch Law Group, lead attorney in the Morris case. 

You have to look no further than the impact of the first “Super Size Me” movie to confirm Butler’s theory.

In 2004, when Spurlock, then an unknown filmmaker, released “Super Size Me” — in which he went on a McDonald’s only diet for one month — he had no idea the ramifications it would cause in the fast-food industry. The movie didn’t just show the director’s health begin to deteriorate before our eyes thanks to his new diet, but also the crafty ways the fast-food industry makes some patrons eat its food to a level that causes obesity. The movie became a must-see, grossing over $20 million at the box office worldwide (on a $65,000 budget). But the national outcry following the release became a major factor in the chains ditching super-size options on the menu and implementing healthier items like salads and, you guessed it, “healthier” chicken. 

The biggest reason “Super Size Me” was so effective was because it simplified what was wrong with fast food in America. Morris and his lawyers hoped “Super Size Me 2” would do the same.

“It’s complex so there's no bite size way to describe it,” Muraskin said of the plight of the chicken farmers. “You need something like a movie to get people to engage and take a step back and get the full story.”


But when Spurlock sent out his confession, that hope to educate the public was lost. Morris learned about what Spurlock did and the eventual backing out by YouTube through his attorneys. Butler said he learned about it from another farmer he’s representing. Muraskin learned about it through the news. All three men told Business Insider that Spurlock never contacted them before or after his tweet.

“I’m going to be honest, I feel like I’ve been let down,” Morris said when asked how he felt about not being contacted by Spurlock directly. “I had 10 farmers come up to my house and we had a link to the movie and I showed it to them and everyone just loved it. They were so excited it was coming out. If it were me, I would call you up and say, ‘Hey, I screwed up.’ I would tell you what’s going to happen.”

“I applaud anyone who tells the truth, especially in the world today,” Butler said of Spurlock’s confession. “But the problem is when the people backed out who were to release the movie it hurt the consumers but it hurt the poultry growers a lot worse. I hate to see that. Now that the waters have calmed I hope they would go ahead and move forward with showing the movie to the public.”

Business Insider contacted YouTube about the release status of “Super Size Me 2” and a spokeswoman sent the same statement it made in December following Spurlock’s tweet: “We feel for all the women impacted by the statements made by Morgan Spurlock. In light of this situation, we have decided not to distribute ‘Super Size Me 2’ on YouTube Red.”

But that hasn’t stopped Morris from single-handedly trying to get the movie out to the public. The farmer told Business Insider he has tried numerous times to contact YouTube since the company announced it was pulling the movie. He wants to see if the site would be interested in selling the movie to him. 


“We can mortgage everything we got and buy the rights,” Morris said. “I want it to come out, and not for me but for every chicken farmer in America. It needs to be seen. This is not about Morgan Spurlock, this is about the industry and us farmers and how we’re being treated.”

Morris said he has never received a response from YouTube.

What happens now?

According to numerous sources, Spurlock has reclaimed the rights to “Super Size Me 2” from YouTube but people close to the movie say there are no current plans on how (or if) it will ever be released. Spurlock declined to comment for this story.

Like the farmers in the movie, practically everyone involved was not told that Spurlock was going to release his confession and since have been left wondering if the movie will ever see the light of day. There's also frustration from some who feel that the people who risked everything to go on camera for Spurlock have now been abandoned.

“Learning about the cruelty and hardship inflicted not only on the chickens, but the chicken farming community, as well as the deceptive marketing tactics used on consumers was a huge motivator for us in producing this film,” Jess Calder, a partner at Snoot Entertainment, which was one of the financiers and producers on “Super Size Me 2,” said in a statement to Business Insider. “The chicken farmers who worked with us risked their livelihood to give us a glimpse into the vicious cycle of the chicken industry, hoping that their courage might help lead to change once the public had the opportunity to see the way chicken farmers are manipulated and forced into a cycle of debt. We hope that for the sake of the brave farmers and their families, this film can still find a distributor.”

Business Insider reached out to numerous independent film insiders and asked if they thought “Super Size Me 2” would ever be seen by general audiences. They all believed it would, including Thom Powers, the head documentary programmer at the Toronto International Film Festival, who was responsible for the movie’s world premiere at TIFF.


“I felt that ‘Super Size Me 2’ was his best film,” Powers said of Spurlock. “It was poised to start a really important conversation around what we eat and expanded the conversation from ‘Super Size Me’ 1." 


“A strong possibility for the future of the film is on a digital platform,” Powers said. “People can watch it and weigh the merits of the film on their own terms, it deserves that.”


But for now, the way Morris sees it, “Big Chicken” dodged a major bullet.


“I’m sure Tyson threw a big party when they heard what happened,” Morris said.

SEE ALSO: All the details we know about the Black Widow standalone movie starring Scarlett Johansson, whose director search is heating up

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The world is running out of sand — and there's a black market for it now

• An asylum-seeker named José spoke with Business Insider about his journey to the United States and how he had feared being separated from his young son.
• Like many other migrants and asylum-seekers, the pair traveled north from Honduras to the US-Mexico border, where the US Border Patrol arrested them.
• José said that God answered his prayers and kept him with his son and that he felt welcome in America.

MCALLEN, TEXAS — As José and his young son made their way to the United States last week from their home country of Honduras, they prayed to God that the rumored family separations at the border wouldn't happen to them.

"God, I ask you to keep me with my child, I ask that you keep in mind that I am traveling for safety and that you allow it to continue to be so," José recalled saying.

Fresh from a shower and a hot meal at the Catholic Charities respite center in McAllen, Texas, he sat with his arms clasped around his son.

José, who asked to be identified only by his first name, told Business Insider through a translator that he had been warned in advance it was possible immigration authorities would take his child from him at the border but that to him there was no other option.

He and his little boy couldn't return to Honduras, he said, so he put the matter in God's hands.

"By the time I arrived, Donald Trump had a change of heart and decided to allow children to continue to stay with their parents, so I was able to stay with my child," José said.

The reversal José spoke of came in the form of the executive order President Donald Trump signed last Wednesday, intended to halt his administration's practice of splitting up families that had illegally crossed the US-Mexico border.

Under the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy of criminally prosecuting all adult migrants detained at the border, more than 2,300 children were separated from their parents, funneled into the Health and Human Services' shelter system and flown to states across the country. Their parents remained in immigration detention and in some cases were deported back to their home countries without their kids.

But José didn't know the ins and outs of the Trump administration's border policy when he and his son fled their country, traveling by bus, truck, and boat for six days to reach Texas.

He only knew Honduras wasn't safe. He said he had previously stumbled across opportunities to move to the US but chose to stay in Honduras until recently, only when it became "unbearable."

Three of José's brothers were killed, and he had even received threats from the police, he said. He felt he had no choice but to take his son and go.

'I've felt welcome'

Nathaly Arriola, who works at the Catholic Charities center, said José's story was common.

Now that he's in the US seeing asylum, he could wait years for their cases to wind their way through a backlogged immigration court system.

"A lot of them will have a difficult path forward," Arriola said. "But their stories, where they're coming from, and their realities is what I hope will allow them to stay in this country with the protections they deserve, as the law indicates. The administration at the moment, unlike any other administration, has been extremely unfriendly and frankly does not align with the values that America is all about."

In hindsight, José says he made the right decision to flee. Against the recent odds, he and his son remain together, and he said they had been treated well by everyone so far.

Even the Border Patrol agents who arrested him were kind and made his son feel safe, he said. After spending three days inside an ice-cold holding facility, commonly known by migrants as "hieleras," Spanish for "icebox," they came to the respite center on Sunday.

"I am surprised by the treatment I got in the center and the treatment I've gotten in this country," he said. "My son has been taken care of — I've felt welcome. At the center, I've been fed, I've been given vitamins and medicine. I'm just thankful to be here in America."

Michelle Mark contributed reporting from New York.

SEE ALSO: 'It's heartbreaking': A Texas landowner who sees immigrants cross through her property regularly says she's horrified by Trump's border policies

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