Community college enrollment, buoyed by younger students and fresh interest in job-related programs, rose this spring for the first time in more than a decade, Axios' Erin Doherty reports.

• Why it matters: The high cost of college, economic anxiety and the hot labor market are leading students to reconsider how to get the most bang for their postsecondary buck.

What's happening: Community college enrollment edged up 0.5% from the year before, after falling 8.2% and 10.1% in 2022 and 2021, according to new data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.

• "I think that students are increasingly looking towards programs and majors that they can ... easily see a direct link to the workforce," Doug Shapiro, executive director of the National Student Clearinghouse, told reporters.

The labor market is going strong — incentivizing young Americans to jump in.

• Majors at two-year institutions that saw increases this spring include Computer and Information Sciences and Support Services (9.7%), Mechanic and Repair Technologies/Technicians (8.2%), Personal and Culinary Services (9.7%) and Transportation and Materials Moving (11.8%).

🖼️ The big picture: Overall postsecondary enrollment still lags heavily behind pre-pandemic levels.

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President Biden is adding an intellectual pitch to old-fashioned hardball as he scrambles to persuade skeptical congressional progressives to back his debt-ceiling deal, Axios' Andrew Solender and Alex Thompson report.

• Why it matters: Speaker McCarthy will need Democratic votes to pass the 99-page "Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023," given opposition from some members of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus.

Some members of the Congressional Black Caucus had complained they were losing the airwave war to the GOP.

• White House director of legislative affairs Louisa Terrell, one of Biden's debt-ceiling negotiators, responded that the administration has "pivoted now that we have an arrangement," and will "be really clear and crisp.”

🧮 By the numbers: More than 60 House Democrats have received calls about the deal from administration officials including Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, according to a White House official.

• The administration followed up with Zoom briefings for House and Senate Democrats yesterday. Six issue-specific briefings are planned for Democrats today and tomorrow.

The call also gave Democrats a chance to air their frustrations about being cut out of debt talks.

• "I feel that the White House has not provided ... direct communication and consistent outreach," said Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), who was echoed by colleagues in the Zoom chat, according to a screenshot shared with Axios.

🔮 What's next: The House is expected to return tomorrow, with votes on the debt-ceiling bill scheduled for Wednesday.

• Share this story ... 2-page White House summary ... House GOP statement.

Americans who've long wanted to put COVID in the rearview mirror are actively embracing the idea the pandemic is over, Axios' Adriel Bettelheim and Javier E. David report.

• For the first time, the majority of the public agrees the crisis has passed, according to the Axios-Ipsos American Health Index.
• 62% agreed that the pandemic is over — compared to 46% when we asked the question in February.

What's happening: Data show Americans are flocking to food, drink and entertainment venues in droves, underscoring our growing comfort with being in crowded spaces again.

• Tours by Taylor Swift and Beyoncé are selling to stadiums that are at or near capacity. Soaring demand has sent prices through the roof.
• Movies are drawing us back, with box-office receipts closing in on pre-pandemic levels.
• Seated diners skyrocketed by a staggering 81% in mid-May (coinciding with Mother's Day) versus the comparable time frame in 2022, according to figures from Open Table.

🥊 Reality check: For many, the desire for normalcy has been tempered by a lingering fear of the stealthy virus.

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Memorial Day is America's annual chance to come together "to reflect on the lives of those who served our country, who wore the uniform, who fell in combat," Mike Barnicle writes on his new Substack:

"Growing up, if my brothers and I behaved, my grandmother would let us wear one or another of my Uncle Gerry’s World War II medals at the annual Memorial Day parade in the city where we lived, Fitchburg, Massachusetts. He had several including a Purple Heart and the nation’s second highest military decoration, the Distinguished Service Cross. ...

"In cemeteries coast to coast, parents and siblings and some who shared service with the fallen will kneel on freshly mowed grass to utter a silent prayer or just stare at a name etched in granite."

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People who are getting the most out of chatbots (ChatGPT, Bing, Bard) are using variants of what New York Times personal tech columnist Brian X. Chen calls "the golden prompts" (subscription):

1. "Act as if." "Act as if you are a tutor for the SATs" or "Act as if you are a personal trainer" will guide the bot to emulate an expert, Chen writes.
2. "Tell me what else you need to do this." Chen's example: "Act as if you are my personal trainer. Create a weekly workout regimen and meal plan for me. Tell me what else you need to do this." The bot might then ask your age, height, weight, dietary restrictions and health goals.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan won his presidential runoff, 52% to 48% — his most difficult election in two decades in power, Axios World author Dave Lawler writes.

• Why it matters: The 69-year-old strongman was under pressure over high inflation, arguably exacerbated by his economic policies, and for the slow response to a devastating earthquake in February.

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Museums and libraries from London to Albuquerque are racing to record and digitize oral histories of the last generation of Holocaust survivors, Axios' Russell Contreras reports.

• Why it matters: Advocates fear the horrors of the Holocaust may slip from public memory.

Fewer than 50,000 survivors remain in the U.S., according to the Anti-Defamation League. The very youngest survivors are in their 80s.

• Some have spoken out against rising antisemitism — something they've seen before.

What's happening: At a time of rising concern about antisemitism, the growing online video archives of survivors' testimonies are essential, ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt tells Axios.

• "The need to teach the history and the universal lessons of the Holocaust couldn't be more urgent when you think about the rise of antisemitism, the rise of extremism," Greenblatt said. "When I talk to Holocaust survivors, they are alarmed."

Zoom in: The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington is adding new testimonies to its nearly 90,000 recordings of firsthand accounts from Holocaust survivors.

• USC's Shoah Foundation launched a "Last Chance Testimony Collection Initiative" as "an urgent effort to give voice to survivors and witnesses of the Holocaust" through online video testimonies.

Most U.S. states don't require public school students to learn about the horrors of the Holocaust, according to an Axios analysis of data from the National Conference of State Legislatures.

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The New Yorker's Evan Osnos was in the dressing room when the Miami rapper Flo Rida (pronounced "flow rider") recently played a bar mitzvah in a Chicago suburb for a 13-year-old, Andrew, whose dad works on Wall Street.

• Why it matters: "If you have a few million dollars to spare, you can hire Drake for your bar mitzvah or the Rolling Stones for your birthday party," Osnos writes.

What's happening: "Privates," as these gigs are known, used to be the redoubt of has-beens. Now, most stars will do them for the right price — Paul McCartney, Elton John, Rod Stewart, Sting, Andrea Bocelli, Jon Bon Jovi, John Mayer, Diana Ross, Maroon 5, Black Eyed Peas, OneRepublic, Katy Perry, Eric Clapton.

• Andrew's dad got a relative bargain: Flo's fee for private gigs in the U.S. runs $150,000 to $300,000, plus private jet travel for the star + eight of his backup performers and assistants
• Talent agency CAA now has a team dedicated to "privates," and booked nearly 600 dates last year.

💡 Osnos says two trends are fueling this boom:

1. Spotify, Apple and YouTube "pay artists only a fraction of what physical sales once delivered."
2. The "birth of a new aristocracy, which since 2000 has tripled the number of American billionaires and produced legions of the merely very rich."

"Carts of food arrived — truffle fries, grilled fish, champagne," Osnos tells us, but Flo, 43, "was nursing a bottle of Pedialyte, the rehydration secret for middle-aged stardom. The next morning, he was flying off to St. Louis."

• Keep reading.... The New Yorker's Music Issue.