Unhoused people. Criminal justice-impacted individuals. Substance use disorder. Birthing people.

• Several Democrats eyeing 2028 presidential runs say the party has a vocabulary problem as much as a messaging one, Axios' Mike Zapler writes.
• The left's embrace of "woke" buzzwords alienated working-class voters and drove many to Donald Trump, they say.

Why it matters: To win those voters back, they want more Democrats to speak like ordinary people — and less like progressive politicos or liberal arts professors.

🖼️ The big picture: Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has been the most vocal about Democrats' need to "talk like a normal human being."

• Beshear told Michigan Democrats in April that the party has repelled red- and swing-state voters with terms like "justice-involved population" rather than inmates, "food insecure" instead of "hungry," and "substance-use disorder" instead of "addiction."
• "Sometimes these terms make it feel like we're talking down to people, like we're talking at them, instead of to them," he said.

The terminology aimed to show more cultural sensitivity and include historically shunned groups.

• But many of the words only made sense to a subset of the left — and were weaponized by Republicans to portray Democrats as out of touch.

State of play: Beshear isn't the only potential 2028er hitting the theme.

• California Gov. Gavin Newsom has said Democrats need to become more "culturally normal" — a challenge he might face himself after governing one of the most liberal states.
• Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel argues the party should "ignore the culture police" and worry less about "a child's right to pick his pronouns" and more about "children who do not know what a pronoun is."
• Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) says Democrats need to speak the language of the "factory line, not the faculty lounge."

The centrist Democratic group Third Way created a guide to "woke" buzzwords it wants the party to stamp out.

⏪ Flashback: Much of the lexicon sprang from the period that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) — who's also weighing a White House run — recently dubbed "Woke 1."

• AOC was at the center of that chapter of Democratic politics but is now distancing herself from it.
• Buzzwords such as "Latinx," "intersectionality," "allyship" and "inclusivity" became increasingly common around the last competitive Democratic presidential primary, in 2020.

Zoom in: Prominent Democrats rarely talk this way anymore, but such words still show up in press releases and progressive circles.

• Newsom in May announced new apartments in Los Angeles for "formerly unhoused people."
• In January, Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Katie Britt (R-Ala.) announced a resolution praising community-based health systems for helping "birthing individuals" and "birthing people."

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Meta's landmark social media settlement marks the latest milestone in a decade-long unwinding of Big Tech's once-unfettered freedom to operate, Axios' Madison Mills writes.

• Why it matters: The AI industry is watching closely. Its expansion, already fraught with job risks and public anxiety, depends on building power-hungry data centers in communities where opposition is rising.

😡 State of play: "The last time we've seen the public this angry about an industry was during the financial crisis," Nidhi Hegde, executive director of the American Economic Liberties Project, told Axios.

• Meta's $17 billion settlement requires sweeping changes to how teens use Instagram and Facebook, including time limits and restrictions on certain beauty filters.

Meta is calling on competitors to adopt similar protections as the industry standard, arguing there won't be "meaningful progress" on teen safety without them.

• Meta took a full-page ad in today's New York Times headlined, "An open letter to TikTok and YouTube to join us in supporting teens."
• Within hours after the terms were announced, state attorneys general from both parties called for a wider industry push, with several naming TikTok, YouTube and Snap.
• Investors were relieved by the settlement, with Meta stock up 1% yesterday.

Between the lines: The pressure extends beyond Meta, as public frustration produces cash penalties and constraints on how tech companies operate.

• Amazon agreed last year to pay $2.5 billion to settle an FTC consumer-protection case over Prime subscriptions.
• Apple and Google have been forced to loosen their grips on their app stores after years of litigation.
• TikTok agreed just last week to pay $400 million to settle federal allegations that it violated children's privacy laws.

⚠️ Threat level: AI may be especially exposed because, unlike social media, its growth depends on a massive physical buildout in communities that can fight back.

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For the first time, U.S. officials — at least at the state level — have proven they're as serious about policing Big Tech as their European counterparts, Axios Media Trends expert Sara Fischer writes.

• European fines against American tech companies have totaled well over $15 billion over the past decade.
• The Meta settlement eclipses all of those combined.

This year's Democratic primaries revealed the rising influence of Black Gen Z voters untswayed by their elders' seniority, civil rights credentials or endorsements, Axios' Russell Contreras and Delano Massey write.

• Zoom in: Michigan's Democratic Senate primary offered a snapshot of the growing generational divide among Black voters.
• Civil rights icon Rep. Jim Clyburn, 86, campaigned for establishment-backed Rep. Haley Stevens, who lost to Abdul El-Sayed partly because she fared worse than expected in heavily Black and younger areas, according to a Washington Post analysis.

Black voters in Gen Z are especially willing to back progressives and reject establishment Democrats, Kaya Jones of Voters of Tomorrow told Axios.

• Many are willing to consider voting Republican, according to 2024 election data analyzed by Axios.

Between the lines: Young Black voters turn from establishment-backed candidates partly reflects their impatience with older Black political leaders.

• Gen Z Black voters see other paths to influence beyond the traditional route through civil rights and religious institutions.

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Apple sent invitations for a Sept. 9 event where it's expected to unveil its first foldable iPhone and other new products, Axios' Ina Fried writes.

• Why it matters: The launch would push Apple into a smartphone category it has long resisted — and give incoming CEO John Ternus a chance to put his stamp on the company's most important product.

🔭 Zoom out: Apple is preparing its latest devices as rising demand for AI computing pushes up memory and other component costs.

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Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick will hold fireside chats with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang during the U.S.-led G20 Innovation Ministerial in Chapel Hill, N.C., on Sept. 1–2.

Why it matters: The summit, co-hosted by the Commerce Department and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, is aimed at fostering global innovation in AI and other technologies.

Some of the world's most powerful trade and commerce ministers will converge on the college town, including from Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Poland, India and Saudi Arabia.

• Several represent countries with major Trump administration deals, including Japan's $550 billion U.S. investment commitment and South Korea's $350 billion commitment.
• Day 1 will focus on technology and digital ministers, followed by commerce and trade ministers on Day 2.

Zoom in: I'm told Altman will preview coming AI advances and discuss global economic implications.

• Altman is also expected to highlight OpenAI's work with North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein (D), including partnerships on hurricane recovery and cyberdefense.

LeBron James borrowed almost $300 million in 2018 from life insurers, backed by future off-court revenue, Bloomberg reports (gift link).

• "Athletes and artists are increasingly using future earnings like royalties and licensing deals to structure deals that help them unlock immediate capital."

But the deal also shows life insurers exploring more unusual investments "outside the industry's traditional focus on plain-vanilla assets to reliably pay out future claims."

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Dolly Parton had hundreds of concerts under her rhinestone belt, Axios' Jim Sergent and Carly Mallenbaum write.

• The big picture: The singer, songwriter and philanthropist performed at least 704 times in the U.S. during her nearly six-decade solo career, according to data from the crowdsourced database Setlist, which likely undercounts her total.

Zoom in: Raised in the Great Smoky Mountains, Parton played at least 90 shows across nearly three dozen locations in Tennessee.

The top 5 locations:

1. Las Vegas (61 shows)
2. Nashville (55)
3. Los Angeles area (42)
4. Lake Tahoe (36)
5. Pigeon Forge, Tenn., area (32)

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Bon Appétit's 2026 best new restaurants list highlights chefs who "double down on vision, then throw in a little humor, personality and fun."

• The 19 restaurants span New York; Los Angeles; Chicago; San Francisco; Philadelphia; Washington, D.C.; Houston; Seattle; New Orleans; Nashville; Austin; Kansas City, Mo.; Birmingham, Ala.; Boulder, Colo.; Santa Fe, N.M.; and Montecito, Calif.

Axios Kansas City's Abbey Higginbotham called Anjin's pork collar tonkatsu sandwich (above) the best sandwich she'd ever had.

• It comes on shokupan with crisp fried pork, miso egg salad and shredded cabbage.

Casa Juani in Boulder serves arroz con sepia (above), a cuttlefish rice dish. Axios Boulder's Mitchell Byars says its flan is the best he's ever tasted.

• See the list.