Solo dining is having a moment, with reservations for one jumping 23% over the past year, Axios' Josephine Walker reports from OpenTable data.

• That growth may look like another sign of America's loneliness epidemic. But many solo diners say eating alone offers a rare chance to slow down, reflect and savor the small stuff.
• The restaurant platform says the most popular U.S. cities for solo dining are New York, Chicago, Las Vegas, San Francisco and D.C.

Veronica Selzler, a 36-year-old D.C. resident, tells Washington Post food critic Elazar Sontag that she regularly takes herself on solo dates.

• Selzler sits at the bar, brings a book or sketchpad, avoids picking up her phone, and enjoys watching the kitchen staff prepare meals.
• "I think I eat slower," she said. "I pay a lot more attention to the full sensory experience of a meal when I'm by myself, because I'm not chatting." (WaPo gift link.)

📊 By the numbers: In data shared with Axios, OpenTable found that solo diners spend $94 on average, up 7% year over year. (That's compared to $60 per person across all party sizes.)

• Thursday solo reservations rose 25%.
• 3 p.m. solo reservations are trending, although 6 p.m. bookings are the most popular overall.

The bottom line: Eating alone takes a certain level of confidence. But solo diners are unlikely to be judged — and may leave feeling more centered.

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SpaceX shares are falling again today after closing below their IPO price yesterday, Axios' Matt Phillips reports.

• That's amid questions about an AI bubble, the upcoming end of a lockup period for early investors, and yesterday's aborted Starship launch attempt.

👀 What we're watching: Nearly 1.4 billion SpaceX shares could hit the market after the company reports second-quarter results, likely in early August.

• That could roughly quadruple the supply of tradable shares, forcing the question: Will the buying public be eager to snatch them up?

The bottom line: We'll soon get a better idea of how the market truly values SpaceX.

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1. 🇬🇧 Andy Burnham, a former mayor from the North of England, is set to become the U.K.'s new prime minister on Monday after becoming leader of the Labour Party today. Go deeper.
2. ✈️ The Trump administration has notified Israel that it's sending dozens more refueling planes there before possibly expanding military operations against Iran, Axios' Barak Ravid reports.
3. 🤖 David Sacks, AI investor and White House tech adviser, warns on X that the U.S. could lose the AI race to China after the release of a new Chinese model that beats top American systems on several benchmarks. Go deeper.

DNA testing has revealed the identity of 246-year-old remains from the American Revolution.

• Pvt. John Pumphrey, a teenager from Maryland, died on Aug. 16, 1780, at the Battle of Camden in South Carolina.

🔬 Pumphrey's remains were found alongside those of about a dozen others in 2020, kicking off a long-shot forensics quest to identify "America's oldest John Doe."

• Allison Peacock, founder of FHD Forensics, a company that helped with the search, tells AP: "Nobody really knew for sure whether we could get genetic profiles suitable for a genealogy investigation on 240-plus-year-old remains. But we got lucky."

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