Did Moderna Just Cure Cancer? & Trains Have a $200M Theft Problem
August 20, 2026
AI Summary
5 min readModerna’s stock surged 177% yesterday—its best day ever—after the company, alongside Merck, announced the first successful late-stage trial for a personalized mRNA cancer therapy. The treatment, paired with Merck’s drug Keytruda, prevented melanoma from returning in high-risk patients and stopped the skin cancer from spreading. It was a legitimization of the mRNA technology that powered COVID vaccines, and a validation of research Moderna had been pursuing since the 2010s before pivoting to COVID. Meanwhile, Blue Apron is in chaos after its main supplier filed for bankruptcy, leaving customers missing key ingredients like noodles for sesame noodles and tomatoes for garlic shrimp. Elsewhere, Amazon is expanding drone delivery to 500 cities, train robberies hit $200 million in stolen goods last year, and millennials are surprisingly optimistic about their finances. Here is what you need to know.
Moderna’s Melanoma Vaccine: A Legitimization of mRNA
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What you'll learn
- 1 (01:43) **Dune Ticket Mania & AMC's Scalping Problem** - Fans line up for 12 hours to buy Dune Part 3 tickets, and AMC's CEO vows to fight scalpers.
- 2 (03:49) **Moderna & Merck's Cancer Breakthrough** - A personalized mRNA vaccine paired with Merck's Keytruda prevented melanoma from returning in a landmark late-stage trial, sending Moderna stock up 177%.
- 3 (09:44) **Amazon Expands Drone Delivery to 500 Cities** - Amazon plans to launch Prime Air in hundreds of new cities by year-end, racing Uber, DoorDash, and Walmart to own the skies.
- 4 (14:14) **Blue Apron's Supply Chain Meltdown** - Customers are receiving meal kits missing key ingredients after the bankruptcy of Blue Apron's main supplier forced a chaotic 10-week transition.
- 5 (20:29) **Neil's Number #1: $200 Million in Train Thefts** - Modern-day train robberies are surging, with criminal gangs stealing sneakers and tires from freight lines using tactics straight out of a movie.
- 6 (22:53) **Neil's Number #2: Millennials Are Actually Thriving** - A new survey finds half of millennials say their finances have improved over five years ago, with net worth spiking 134%—far faster than Gen X or boomers.
- 7 (24:54) **Neil's Number #3: Speed Wins in the Job Hunt** - A study of millions of Fiverr interactions shows that responding to recruiters within 5–10 minutes boosts your chances by 30%, proving eagerness beats playing hard to get.
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Show Notes
#915: Moderna shares soar after a breakthrough trial of an mRNA cancer vaccine. Amazon plans to expand its drone delivery service to 500 US cities. The meal-kit delivery company Blue Apron is in shambles after a key supplier goes out of business. It’s Neal's Numbers on thieves stealing $200m worth of goods from trains, millennials are actually feeling good about their future, and why answering job inquiries quickly can help you get hired. Finally, Liquid Death launches an ad that suggests using pee to cool down data centers.
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