Friday, September 15, 2023:

Hey readers,

Finally! The weekend's here. L'shanah tovah for those who are celebrating Rosh Hashanah, and happy start of Hispanic Heritage Month. It's Izzie Ramirez, and here's what we're following today:

Up first: The largest auto strike in decades starts today.

In other news: Biden's poor performance with Black and Latino voters, China's missing defense minister, and the very strange race to "de-age."

Sentences will return in your inbox Monday with Rachel DuRose.

The unprecedented United Auto Workers strike, briefly explained

Getty Images

All three of America's unionized automakers are facing a strike. It's the first time in history that workers are striking Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis — the parent company of Jeep and Chrysler — plants at the same time. 

The lowdown: The strike comes after the automakers rejected the union's ambitious demands for a 40 percent wage increase over four years, benefit increases, and job protections for its members.

• The strike, while unprecedented, is less extensive than it could have been. Two days ago, it appeared that all 145,000 UAW members at the three companies could be walking out.

• Instead, the UAW is opting for a "stand up strike," which specifically targets certain plants at different points. Fewer than 13,000 members are currently striking profitable plants in Michigan, Ohio, and Missouri. That number may increase as time progresses, and even smaller scale walkouts are expected to have ripple effects throughout the companies' supply chains.

• The UAW joins other large-scale strikes this summer. The UAW strike joins Hollywood's historic double strike of thousands of actors and screenwriters. 

The stakes: Beyond the lives of the workers and the health of the three auto companies, the consequences of such a large strike ripple to other parts of the economy. 

There's a few ways that could happen. One is that the strike might raise the prices for vehicles. Pair that with rising interest rates and a potential federal government shutdown next month, and we may be heading into recession territory.

The walkout also tests President Joe Biden's economic agenda. Although he's said he's the most "pro-union president in history," the strike could wrinkle his climate-driven plans to reimagine the future for car companies while also improving life for American manufacturing workers.

Of course, this could all be avoidable: the three companies could meet the union's demands, similar to how UPS and the Teamsters signed a last-minute deal to raise wages and improve the working conditions for more than 340,000 unionized workers. A 10-day UPS strike would have cost the economy approximately more than $7 billion. 

At the end of the day, it's up to the corporations.

My colleagues Emily Stewart and Ellen Ioanes answer the six big questions you might have about the strike. Read here for more.

Three reasons Biden is struggling with Black and Latino voters

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Sure, we're more than a year out from the 2024 election, but Democrats are already worrying about Biden's standing with voters. Here's what you need to know:

• Joe Biden is a really unpopular president. This week's averages put his disapproval rating at around 54 percent. And Trump vs. Biden polling averages give the sitting president only a slight advantage. 

• No matter where you stand on how informative polls are at this point in the race, it's unarguable that Democrats, especially Biden, are facing a problem with voters of color. And that weaker standing with Black and Latino voters specifically seems to be fueling those tight national polling numbers. 

• Politics reporter Christian Paz posits that timing, organizers assuming minority communities are monoliths, and neglect all contribute to Biden's polling. Still, "while support is lagging for Biden and Democrats, there are no clear signs in polling or in real life of a mass exodus of voters of color to the Republican Party," he writes.

Vox Recommends

We're launching Vox Recommends, a new newsletter, on September 15. Our editors will send you curated picks of the best Vox journalism to read, watch, and listen to every week.

• Where in the world is China's defense minister? Rumors swirl as Li Shangfu's absence comes after the disappearance and then replacement of the country's foreign minister. [NBC News]
  
  

• Hurricane Lee weakens to a Category 1 storm, but heavy rains and winds will come to parts of New England. It's already been a pretty saturated summer for the region. [NPR]
  
  

• The US economy is going strong under Biden … but Americans don't believe it, a new poll shows. There's disbelief across party lines — and inflation may be to blame. [The Guardian]
  
  

• How to think about social media access for teen girls. Experts say there's no singular culprit in the youth mental health crisis. [The 19th]

Inside the very strange, very expensive race to "de-age"

Why are so many useless cold medicines littering pharmacy shelves?

Lots of Americans are in the global 1%. A tenth of their income could transform the world.

Washington and Wall Street are split over China. What now?

Today's crossword

Blame capitalism: Profit over everything

Economist Milton Friedman published an essay in 1970 arguing that the job of a corporation was solely to make money for its shareholders. General Electric CEO Jack Welch pushed that idea about as far as it would go — and broke capitalism.

Enjoying the Sentences newsletter? Forward it to a friend, they can