Gen Z’s religious revival?

Plus: A massive turnover for Congress  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Ruairi Arrieta-Kenna | August 14, 2026   Happy Friday. In The Brief, we take a look at whether or not young people are really going through a religious revival. We also count the members of the 119th Congress who won’t be returning next year—a huge jump from previous cycles. Plus: Don’t miss our latest cover story on tennis phenom Aryna Sabalenka, and be sure to play today’s Linked. IN TODAY’S BRIEF A new class coming Tour de force Islamophobic fear-mongering A pediatric cancer potential breakthrough Gen Z’s religiosity McDonald’s dossier AOC’s egg-freezing journey     READ THIS FIRST Congress is headed for a massive turnover Al Drago—Bloomberg/Getty Images The 120th Congress is set to feature an unusually large number of new faces. Ahead of the November midterms, at least 83 incumbents across the U.S. House and the Senate won’t be returning to their seats. Even now, the 119th Congress already looks different from when it began in January 2025, after a handful of resignations as well as deaths.  But the expected turnover at the end of the term will be even higher. The reasons vary: some members announced their retirement after decades of service, others have sought different offices. More than usual have lost primaries. According to Ballotpedia, as of July, the number of lawmakers not seeking reelection is the highest since 2000. According to a TIME analysis, at least 70 sitting House representatives—30 Democrats and 40 Republicans—are not returning for another term. In the Senate, 13 incumbents also don’t plan to return next year. These counts do not include the 16 lawmakers who have resigned from or died during the 119th Congress. With some primaries still underway, not to mention the November general elections in which every House seat and 35 Senate seats are up for a vote, the number of new faces expected in the upcoming Congress will only increase. —Chad de Guzman and Miranda Jeyaretnam     SPONSORED Fresh-Roasted Coffee, Without Leaving the House A third-generation LA roaster ships 50+ coffees — single origins, flavored favorites, decafs, even teas — days after roasting. Mix and match Keurig®-compatible boxes for tiered savings up to 34% off. First order? Take an extra 15% off, automatically. Taste It Fresh     IN PROFILE How Aryna Sabalenka became the most compelling player in tennis Molly Cranna for TIME Aryna Sabalenka did not get completely drunk. In July, Sabalenka, the world’s top-ranked women’s tennis player, lost to Naomi Osaka in their round-of-16 match at Wimbledon. It was her first straight-­set defeat at a major in nearly a half-dozen years. What’s more, it was her second surprise exit in a row from a Grand Slam tournament. So when she took her place before the assembled media at her postmatch press conference, she did not mince words: “I just want to go get completely drunk,” she said, “forget about tennis and try to get better, in better shape.” The comment created worldwide headlines, but now she is ready to set the record straight. “I had a couple of drinks,” Sabalenka tells TIME some three weeks after the loss. “I danced a little bit, I forgot about tennis for a couple days. But I never get drunk.” —Sean Gregory     THE VIEW FROM D.C. GOP escalates anti-Muslim campaign against Abdul El-Sayed Jeff Kowalsky—AFP/Getty Images Back in March, Republicans thought they had found the avatar for everything their base needed to fear in James Talarico. The never-married boyish seminarian who ran a remarkable campaign to become the Democrats’ Senate nominee in Texas got almost everything hurled at him. None of it stuck. Now, a similar effort is underway to make Abdul El-Sayed the new face of the Democratic Party. This time, it’s not just the far-right ecosystem that has a problem with the newly nominated Senate hopeful. Some Jewish voters and staunch supporters of Israel are no fan of El-Sayed’s criticisms of Israel or his decision to campaign with Hasan Piker, an activist who has been accused of anti-Semitism. It’s created a surprising coalition of El-Sayed skeptics that Republicans are more than eager to inflate. After trying and failing to make hay out of Talarico’s lifestyle and personal life, their approach with El-Sayed is much simpler: he’s Muslim. “Two VERY DIFFERENT Americas,” President Donald Trump posted with an image of two married couples—he and First Lady Melania Trump on the left, El-Sayed and his hijab-wearing wife on the right. The tableau reveals an ugly reality about U.S. politics right now. The attacks against Talarico, a white man, weren’t meant to register on the scare factor. The ones against El-Sayed, the son of Egyptian immigrants, unequivocally are. —Philip Elliott     HEALTH CHECK An experimental pediatric cancer treatment shows promise in new research For this young cancer patient, getting back to biking was a dream (pictured here at the Bike Festival in Riva del Garda in May 2026). Courtesy of @mailo.grh In Germany, a 7-year-old boy had been diagnosed with kidney cancer. He had beaten it back with a series of treatments over about a decade and was able to live a relatively normal life, pursuing his love of riding his bike and becoming a serious cyclist. But by the time he was 17, the cancer had returned and spread to multiple organs, including his brain. He was out of options. The most his team could offer was an experimental treatment to buy a little time, says Dr. Christian Seitz, head of the Cell and Gene Therapy Program at Hopp Children’s Cancer Center in Heidelberg. Seitz and his colleagues found that the boy’s cancer carried a set of markers that could be targets for immune cells, called T-cells, that are specially programmed to hunt cancer, and although this type of solid tumor is not usually treatable this way, the team decided to proceed. As they describe in a new paper published Aug. 12 in the New England Journal of Medicine, a single infusion of the cells last year resulted in a complete remission. The boy just came in for his follow-up, Seitz says. More than a year later, he still has no detectable signs of cancer. The study suggests that doctors and scientists may be able to tailor immune cell treatments even for certain cancers that have been difficult to tackle with earlier forms of engineered immune cell therapy. —Veronique Greenwood     SPONSORED Daily news for curious minds. Be the smartest person in the room. 1440 navigates 100+ sources to deliver a comprehensive, unbiased news roundup — politics, business, culture, and more — in a quick, 5-minute read. Completely free, completely factual. Sign up now!     IN FOCUS Is there a ‘religious revival’ happening among Gen Z? Photo-Illustration by Chloe Dowling for TIME (Source Images: shutterjack/Getty Images; Bryan Anselm—The Washington Post/Getty Images) When Anthony Gross went to a Sunday mass at St. Joseph’s Church in New York’s Greenwich Village for the first time, he was “blown away.” “The place was packed,” Gross, 23, says. “You had to show up 10 minutes early. You could barely get a seat. Everybody was under the age of 30.” He says this is part of a broader religious revival among young people in the U.S.—a sentiment shared by many people in the Christian community. Pastors and priests in a number of cities have said that they’ve noticed more young people sitting in their pews. Media outlets have published articles about church being the new Gen Z “hot spot.” Throngs of young people are turning out for religious conferences and gatherings across the country: Just a couple weeks ago, nearly 2,000 people attended a Catholic youth conference in Houston, and thousands more will flock to California in November for the largest gathering of Catholic youth in the U.S. But researchers and political scientists have cast doubt on whether all these anecdotes are reflective of a widespread trend. In a report released in December, the Pew Research Center said that its polls, as well as other reputable surveys, “show no clear evidence” of a “nationwide religious resurgence” among young people” In fact, research shows that young adults are still less religious than older generations. According to Ryan Burge, a former pastor who is now a professor of practice at the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis, there’s no indication in the data of a religious revival among young people. “I do think that young people are just more open to the idea of religion because they don’t have all this religion background that prior generations did,” he acknowledges. “But at the end of the day, it’s butts in seats. That’s what religion is.” —Chantelle Lee     ONE NUMBER 515 When WIRED senior writer Reece Rogers requested, per his consumer rights in California, the data McDonald’s stored about him, little did he expect to receive from the fast-food chain a 515-page dossier about his preferences—as well as predictions about what and when he might order next. “McDonald’s secret sauce is really commercial surveillance,” Jeff Chester, executive director at the Center for Digital Democracy, told Rogers. SOURCE: WIRED     A VIRAL MOMENT What AOC wants you to see Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D, N.Y.) has attracted even greater attention on social media this week as the potential 2028 presidential candidate has begun posting video diaries chronicling her new journey of freezing her eggs.     SPONSORED Get 15% Off Coffee Pods Roasted Days Ago Angelino's roasts, grinds, and seals 50+ specialty coffees in-house at their LA roastery, then ships within days. Mix and match to unlock up to 34% off — and new customers get 15% off on top, applied automatically. No code, no subscription required. Get 15% Off Today     Linked In this addictive word-association game, find the steps that will unite two seemingly unrelated words in just four moves. PLAY NOW     ALSO WORTH YOUR TIME SPACE The Most Spectacular Photos of Europe's Total Solar Eclipse POLITICS Trump Is Sued Over Selling Early Access to Truth Social Posts HEALTH  The Rise of Telehealth ‘Pill Mills’   EMAIL US: thebrief@time.com More Newsletters from Click to sign up. D.C. 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