📬 Did someone forward this to you?Sign up here. Tomorrow: Every time you clicked those blurry traffic light puzzles, you were doing free labor. I’ll tell you what you built and what silently replaced it.
Welcome to your Tuesday, friend.Somewhere between true crime, wellness and your cousin’s podcast about how to raise healthy chameleons, we entered the anything-goes era of audio. How anything-goes? There are more than 4.7 million podcasts on the planet. Yes. That’s a microphone for roughly every 1,700 people alive. Wild stat right there.
🎙️ Which bizarre podcast actually exists and has millions of listeners? A) A host narrates paint drying in real time, color by color, B) A show built to bore you unconscious, C) One man reads an old phone book, A to Z, D) Two hosts argue about which cloud they’re looking at. Don’t nap yet, the answer is waiting at the end.
🦴 My joint journey: My right knee had a way of reminding me it was there, especially on hikes and long walks. So my son Ian and I worked with experts to create ImproveLife Joint Support. Five clinically studied ingredients support cartilage health, mobility and everyday joint comfort. Now, Ian has trouble keeping up with me. I love that for him. Get up to 33% off plus free shipping.** — Kim
TODAY’S DEEP DIVE
Watts made in America
Image: ChatGPT/Kim Komando
⚡ TL;DR
A reader drove China’s $10,300 BYD Seagull and loved it. BYD sold 2.26 million EVs in 2025.
It’s walled off here over real national security concerns.
The good news: America is answering with $200 billion in new car and battery plants.
📖 Read time: 2 minutes
“Kim, I went to China and drove the BYD Seagull, a $10,300 EV. Incredible. I’d buy one tomorrow, but I can’t here in the U.S. Why not, and what are we doing to compete?”
— Mark in San Diego
Mark, you test-drove the question of the decade. The short answer is national security. The longer answer should light a fire under every automaker in the U.S.
🚩 It’s got a foreign boss
That fun little car is a computer on wheels. Cameras, microphones, GPS, a cellular connection that never sleeps. Now add this: Chinese law can compel Chinese companies to hand data to their government. That’s not a conspiracy theory, that’s their statute.
So Washington slapped a 100% tariff on Chinese EVs in 2024 and banned Chinese software in connected cars. Smart. Nobody needs Beijing riding shotgun on the school run.
FYI, the Seagull isn’t quite the steal. It’s never been through U.S. federal crash testing, and its roughly 190-mile range trails most American-built EVs. The price? BYD builds nearly everything itself, batteries, chips, motors, even the seats, and Beijing’s subsidies shave off the rest.
🇺🇸 What we’re doing about it
BYD’s flagship platform, its $30,000 Han L sedan, adds roughly 250 miles of range in five minutes. Our fastest public chargers push half that power. BYD sold 2.26 million EVs last year and knocked Tesla off the top spot.
Tariffs buy time. They don’t build better cars. Only American innovation does, and we’ve answered wake-up calls before. Ask the Soviets how the space race went.
The comeback is already pouring concrete.
Roughly $200 billion in American EV and battery plants has been announced over the past decade, with about 200,000 American jobs attached. Georgia. Michigan. North Carolina. Tennessee. Kentucky. Toyota’s new $14 billion North Carolina battery plant alone means 5,100 paychecks in one American town.
That vertical supply chain BYD built? We’re building our own, and every car and battery made here keeps your money in American diners and hardware stores instead of sailing overseas.
So, Mark, leave the Seagull in China. The better play is the one we’re making. Build it here, build it better and keep the paychecks on our side of the Pacific.
📩 Send this to someone who works in a car plant or thinks American manufacturing is dead.
My right knee had a way of reminding me it was there.
Not constantly.
Just enough when I climbed stairs, went on a hike or took a long walk.
Eventually, I started looking for solutions because I wanted to keep doing the things I enjoy. Found one, but who wants to wear a compression knee brace?
What I didn’t want was surgery.
So my son Ian and I worked with experts to create something we could feel good about taking ourselves.
After taking it, I noticed I wasn't thinking about my knee. And when readers started sharing their experiences too, I knew we had created something special.
Julie recently wrote, “I’m back hiking and running thanks to you and ImproveLife!”
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Individual results may vary.
🎤 PODCAST: THE KIM KOMANDO SHOW
Gen Z YouTubers crush Hollywood’s box office
(Starts at 1:21) While Disney bleeds fortunes on flops no one asked for, the next generation just stole their lunch. Two 20-something YouTubers are leading the box office. They didn’t even go to college for this. They learned filmmaking on YouTube Shorts. The horror directors generated $81 million and $27 million box office hauls on micro-budgets without corporate backing or star salaries.
Almost 30 states have hands-free driving laws. This sturdy holder locks any iPhone or Android onto your dash, windshield or air vent. Checking directions shouldn’t cost you a ticket.
Image: VANMASS
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Hang in there: These best-selling headrest hooks(36% off, $7, four-pack) hold 55 pounds each and keep purses, bags and groceries sorted.
🛣️ The road goes on: Shop dozens more car upgrades on my storefront.
Prices and deals were accurate at the time of publication.
WEB WATERCOOLER
📱 Apple plays catch-up: WWDC26 kicked off Monday, and the scoop is basically Apple’s new AI pitch: What if Siri stopped acting like a magic 8-ball with a sinus infection? Apple announced Siri AI, iOS 27, macOS 27 Golden Gate and visionOS 27. Siri can now understand screen context, search the web, remember conversations and answer using personal app data. Still four more days of WWDC26, I hope they have more in the chamber. Here’s the video about what they’ve announced.
Love costs extra: I’m not sure who needs to hear this, but wiring money for affection isn’t romance, it’s an emotional hostage negotiation. An Ohio man sent $416,155 to a woman he met online, covering her medical bills and a too-good investment. She never existed. The real operator, a 38-year-old New Jersey man, even posed as a doctor in Brazil to keep the cash flowing. More than $4 million moved through 13 bank accounts before agents caught him. He got 51 months.
🎬 Casting call scam: I feel so bad for every actor who thought the shady DM was finally their big break. The Hollywood Reporter warns that fake casting directors are targeting aspiring actors online with pure Hollywood perfume: flattering messages, dream roles, then a bill for headshots, coaching, registration, whatever sounds official. Hollywood has enough rejection. It doesn’t need a checkout screen. Real productions charge $0 to apply or audition. Research first. The only thing getting cast here is a very wide net.
Robot roommate era: Your next elder care plan might involve a robot named Robbie politely rolling in like the world’s least judgmental nephew. One couple needed more help around the house, so Robbie handles reminders, fetching and small chores that used to require a visiting aide. With tens of millions of Americans providing unpaid family caregiving, I have a feeling this is going to become normal fast. Not warm and fuzzy exactly but a huge upgrade for a lot of people.
🚚 Snack truck uprising: Get this. Driverless big rigs (paywall link) are hauling cargo on public highways. PepsiCo is moving snacks across Texas, Arizona and Arkansas in vehicles that steer, brake and merge with no human at the wheel. The truck delivering Doritos doesn’t need a bathroom break. Critics (that’s me) worry about 80,000-pound machines making split-second calls alone. Either way, the future is rolling down the interstate.
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🎤 PODCAST: DIGITAL LIFE HACK
Get 15% off with online abandoned cart trick
That chair in your online cart is way over budget. But there’s a trick to help you snag discounts at checkout. Also: Johanna was moving to Spain with a new baby and needed to sell a house full of furniture. Fed up with scammers on Facebook Marketplace, she used AI to make her own selling site. Zero coding experience.
🎧 Or search “Komando” wherever you get your podcasts. I’m everywhere.
DEVICE ADVICE
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Stop squinting between two versions of a contract. Upload both files, Word or Google Docs, to your favorite AI chatbot and ask, “What changed between these two?” It spells out every edit in plain English, from a flipped deadline to a sneaky new clause. Works great for legal docs, leases and anything buried in fine print. FYI, download a Google Doc as Word first (File > Download > Microsoft Word), so the bot reads it cleanly. Case closed.
🚨 The free VPN trap: A massive federal takedown exposed how free VPNs hid malware to turn 19 million home computers into a criminal proxy network. Hackers used those connections to commit fraud that raked in billions, making the crimes look like they came from residential homes like yours. Delete the free junk. I use ExpressVPN to keep my connection private and secure. Protect your network and get four extra months now.*
🧐 Apple Maps’ secret street view: iPhone has its own Street View-style feature called Look Around, and most folks don’t know about it. Open Maps, zoom way in on an area, then tap the binoculars icon at the bottom left. Tap the Look Around preview to move through streets. No binoculars? Your city may not support it yet.
🔗 Instagram’s free billboard: Selling something or promoting your business? Add a clickable link to your bio. Open your profile, then tap Edit profile > Add link. Enter the URL, add a title and save. For Stories, tap the sticker icon and choose Link. Easy promo, zero ad spend. Now about that follower count…
🔄 Windows 11’s big June update: New features should be rolling out today. Your PC may feel snappier, with faster app launches, clicks, face unlock and fingerprint unlock. “Shared Audio” is coming for two Bluetooth headphones at once, and webcams can work in multiple apps. Go to Settings > Windows Update. Fingers crossed your printer survives. 😅
❌ Office 2019’s Mac cutoff: Mac folks, mark July 13 on your calendars. Microsoft Office 2019 for Mac will stop letting you create, edit or save files. You’ll still be able to open documents, but that’s about it. Before the lockout, move your work to Google Docs and Sheets (free). You’re welcome.
WHAT THE TECH?
Image: Netflix
🐶 Ruh-roh, realism
For 56 years, Scooby-Doo has been a talking cartoon dog who solved mysteries and ate impossible amounts of sandwiches. Netflix revealed the star of Scooby-Doo: Origins, and for the first time ever, Scooby is an actual dog.
This series reimagines the gang as summer camp teens, where a lost Great Dane puppy gets tangled up in a supernatural murder mystery. Production is underway. Global premiere slated for 2027.
Check it out. I’m not sure if I love it or hate it yet. My Bella is cuter, just sayin’.
LOGGING OUT …
🔜 Tomorrow: That maddening puzzle asking you to prove you’re human? AI aces it faster than you do. I’ll expose the twist nobody told you.
😴 The answer: B) A podcast built to bore you unconscious. It’s called Sleep With Me. Host Drew Ackerman, a former librarian, tells rambling bedtime stories that get duller by the minute until you drift off. Launched in 2013, it has 600-plus episodes and pulls in 2 million to 3 million downloads a month.
Here’s the kicker. Of the total 4.7 million podcasts, around 400,000 are still active. The rest quietly died after a few episodes. So the show built to knock you out is wide awake, while most podcasts fell asleep for good.
I tried writing a sleep joke, but I kept resisting a rest. (Was that a groan I heard or are you hungry?)
🚶🏼♀️ Stay active longer: One of my favorite reader notes came from Julie, who said she’s back hiking and running, thanks to ImproveLife Joint Support. If your joints occasionally remind you they’re there, this formula is definitely worth a try. Get up to 33% off plus free shipping.**
🤖 The smartest people I know aren’t asking “Will AI replace me?” They’re asking, “What can I build with it?” Have questions? Ask me here. — Kim
Kim Komando • Komando.com • 510+ radio stations • Trusted by millions daily
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