Dez Reads. McDonald’s is Losing the Snack Wrap Wars.

“I don’t eat much fast food,” said the parent, lying.

I average roughly 10 trips per week dropping my kids off at practices, games, recitals, and sleepovers. This doesn’t account for my wife’s even larger number. It’s a full-time job, and these kids need to eat. That means I’ve been to McDonald’s more in the last five years than the rest of my life combined.

Helen Taylor leads off this week with the deepest dive into the fast food industry we have ever featured in this newsletter. McDonald’s snack wrap supremacy is over, as Popeye’s has come up with yet another chicken-based innovation to disrupt its competitors when they least expected it. Helen has the details, as well as some thoughts on the internet’s fascination with this story.

I was also very excited to read about the Denali Park puppy cam from Anne Marie Malecha. Our Alaskan national parks are cornering the market on livestreams after Katmai NP turned Fat Bear Week into a global phenomenon. Now Denali is getting in on the action, broadcasting young sled pups for all the world to see.

Closing us out in a truncated edition this week, Maggie Johnston ponders whether a kid singing on an airplane is cute or annoying (both), and Will Kim appears to predict an impending natural disaster about a month from now.

Thanks, as always, for reading along with us.

Here we go.

Dining.

The Independent. McDonald’s finally unveils Snack Wrap release date after Popeyes launches competitor

Popeyes just did what McDonald’s couldn’t for nearly a decade: they brought a chicken snack wrap to market first. In the most delicious twist of fast-food fate, Popeyes rolled out their new Chicken Wraps nationwide on June 2, serving up their signature Louisiana boldness in a portable, generously sized package for $3.99 each. You get a hand-breaded chicken tender, crisp lettuce, shredded cheese, pickles, and your choice of classic, spicy, or honey mustard sauce, all wrapped in a tortilla inspired by the food chain’s famous biscuits. It’s a bold move, and the timing couldn’t be more perfect.

Because, almost immediately, McDonald’s finally blinked. After years of Snack Wrap fans flooding social media and even sending desperate emails, the Golden Arches announced their own long-awaited Snack Wrap return, hitting menus July 10. It’s the same formula as before: chicken, lettuce, cheese, tortilla. But this time, it comes with a side of déjà vu and a dash of “why did it take so long?”

The internet, of course, has some thoughts. One post I stumbled upon on X sums up the moment perfectly: “Someone else will raise your sons and daughters.” McDonald’s let the Snack Wrap legacy languish, and Popeyes swooped in, raising a whole new generation of wrap lovers before McDonald’s could even get out of bed.

This isn’t just a menu update – it’s a fast-food custody battle. Popeyes is flexing its chicken credentials, while McDonald’s is playing catch-up in a game it invented. The real winners? Us. This summer, we’re in Snack Wrap heaven. But let’s not forget: if you don’t give the people what they want, someone else will.

– Helen Taylor

Animals.

UnofficalNetworks. Denali National Park Puppy Cam is Live

This is more of a Dez Watches than a Dez Reads, but I promise it’s worth it. Denali National Park and Preserve has 6 million acres of Alaska’s interior wilderness. It’s home to North America’s tallest mountain peak, a diverse terrain of tundra, forest, and glaciers, and all different kinds of wildlife like bears, moose, caribou, wolves, and sheep.

It’s also home to Squall, Storm, Graupel, Dew and Fog – five Alaskan sled dog puppies born at the historic Denali sled dog kennel. The kennel breeds sled dogs to honor the thousands of years of traditional mushing that’s integral to Alaskan culture and heritage. Sled dogs are also a primary mode of transportation across the vast wilderness of the park in the winter.

The puppies, named to celebrate 100 years of weather data collection by Denali rangers, may live in Alaska, but thanks to a partnership between the Denali Park Store and Alaska Geographic, anyone across the world can check in on them via the Denali National Park Puppy Cam.

While the puppies are often sleeping, as puppies do, you can catch them eating and playing at least twice a day.

The park recommends tuning in at 11:45 AM and 4:45 PM AKST (4:45 PM and 9:45 PM EST) for the most action. Watch the puppies live: https://www.nps.gov/dena/learn/photosmultimedia/webcams-pups.htm

– Anne Marie Malecha

Culture.

People. Girl Sings to Passengers Over Plane Intercom During 2-Hour Delay, Sparking Mixed Reactions from Captive Audience

Imagine you’re stuck on the tarmac in a plane that has not moved in over two hours. Tensions are high. People are tired, hungry, and irritable. Then a little girl picks up the intercom and starts singing “How Far I’ll Go” from Moana. Some passengers smile. Others bury their heads in their hands. This is the story that has taken over TikTok this week, and I honestly think it’s kind of funny.

Some people are praising her for being bold. Others are blaming the parents for letting her annoy a full plane of tired travelers. Personally, I land somewhere in the middle. It’s cringy, but, overall, I think it’s harmless. Two or three minutes of singing on a delayed flight is not the end of the world. At worst it gave people a new story to complain about. At best it cheered someone up.

I’ll admit it would have driven me nuts in the moment. But now? It’s funny. And sometimes being a little annoyed is good for us.

I also think it’s healthy for kids to be embarrassed every now and then. That’s part of growing up. Sure, her classmates will definitely tease her. It will probably be shown at her wedding one day. But I hope she keeps singing anyway.

– Maggie Johnston

The Guardian. Holiday bookings to Japan are down - could a 90s manga comic’s earthquake prediction be to blame?

Would you like to have the power to predict natural disasters? My answer would be a resounding no; that is too much pressure for one person to handle. Unfortunately, that is the reality that a Japanese comic book artist named Ryo Tatsuki lives with. Back in 1999, Tatsuki published a graphic novel that details her “prophetic” dreams of a “great disaster” occurring in March 2011 in Japan. 12 years later, in March 2011, her prophecy was confirmed. Japan’s northern region experienced a 9.0 magnitude earthquake – the strongest ever recorded in the country – killing more than 15,000 people.

 And Tatsuki’s revelations do not end here. In her most recent edition of the novel, published in 2021, she predicted the next major disaster in Japan would occur this year on July 5. Some dismiss her as a lunatic, but there have been enough people on social media who believe her and tell people to avoid traveling to Japan this summer. Due to Tatsuki’s prediction, ticket prices to Japan for this summer are sitting at record lows.

If you think Tatsuki’s prophetic powers are just coincidental, you can ignore her and enjoy a trip to Japan this summer at a discounted fare. Personally, I will be playing it safe and living to travel another day.

– William Kim

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