By Eric Bradner, CNN

(CNN) — Spencer Pratt might be a candidate uniquely suited for the moment: An elder millennial with everywhere-all-the-time social media instincts, bluntly spelling out Los Angeles’ challenges with homelessness, crime and mismanagement and laying blame at the feet of its entrenched Democratic establishment.

The 42-year-old former reality television star’s willingness to be raw and provocative, on the bet that authenticity is the coin of today’s political realm, helps explain the growing buzz — particularly among Republicans who see in Pratt traits similar to those that catapulted Donald Trump into the White House twice — around his run against unpopular Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass ahead of the nominally nonpartisan June 2 primary.

But it also might severely limit the ability of Pratt, a registered Republican, to win a general election once voters narrow the field to two candidates. And it explains why 72-year-old Bass and her allies are trying to set up a head-to-head race in November against Pratt, rather than facing a more nuanced campaign against her chief progressive rival, 44-year-old city councilwoman Nithya Raman.

“Being louder doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s actual support for him in the city of L.A.,” said Democratic strategist Michael Trujillo.

Pratt’s emergence has jolted a race that long looked much more likely to pit Bass against a challenger from her left. But with ballots already mailed to voters and Pratt drawing the nation’s eyes to Los Angeles, the question voters will answer is whether the strains of dissatisfaction he is tapping into can overcome the reality of the city’s deep-blue bent.

“For as creative and as imaginative and as fun as Spencer Pratt’s campaign is, they run into a real math equation come June 3, if they make the runoff,” Trujillo said. “The fact that Spencer is still a registered Republican will be reasons one, two and three for Democrats to reject him.”

The Trump-Pratt parallels

Comparisons of Pratt and Trump are natural: Former reality television stars with scant political experience and penchants for sucking up most of the oxygen in an election. Plain-spoken, often combative language that can be jarring on the debate stage. Claims of simple and sweeping solutions to decades-old, intractable problems. Strategists analyzing polling and voter registration data and sensing a hard cap on their support — ceilings that Trump repeatedly broke through, and that Pratt is now attempting to shatter.

However, Trump lost the county of Los Angeles, which encompasses the city, by 49 percentage points in 2016, 44 points in 2020 and 33 points in 2024 — and the city is bluer than the county. Registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans in the city of Los Angeles by about a four-to-one margin. Billionaire real estate developer Rick Caruso, an independent-turned-Democrat, tried to challenge Bass from the center in the 2022 mayoral election, and lost that race by 10 points.

Pratt, the villain of “The Hills,” will have to appeal much more broadly for voters to give him the opportunity he wants to become Los Angeles’ hero.

And he’ll have to do so against the backdrop of a polarized national electorate, with Democrats seemingly motivated to vote in races up and down the ballot as a counter to Trump.

The sense of momentum behind his campaign is driven in part by national buzz — seen most vividly in the reaction to an AI-generated video created by filmmaker Charles Curran portraying Pratt as Batman.

In the video, P

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By Madeline Holcombe, CNN

(CNN) — If you want to live a long and healthy life, you’d be better off in South Korea than the United States.

In the 1980s, our country was about average in terms of life expectancy for developed nations. But since then much of the world has improved, and the United States has dropped toward the bottom of that list.

On the other side of the world, life expectancy has been growing fast in South Korea, with a massive leap of 7.94 years from 2000 to 2021, according to the World Health Organization.

What South Koreans are doing right and what Americans can learn when it comes to longevity boils down to actions you can incorporate now.

More vegetables at all ages

When journalist Kara Swisher visited a South Korean school at lunchtime, she said she was surprised by what she saw on students’ trays: lettuce wraps, radish-chive salad, kimchi and seasonal fruit. Those are not necessarily what her own young children would reach for, she said.

But throughout their time in school, Korean children are provided a free school lunch, which is tailored for both nutrition and education by a school nutritionist, Yeonju Kim, a school nutritionist, told Swisher.

In 2023, a report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that nearly half of kids ages 1 to 5 don’t eat a vegetable every day, and a third don’t eat a daily fruit, citing a survey of parents.

And the problem isn’t just picky kids –– it persists into adulthood. Nearly half of American adults eat a poor-quality diet, according to a 2025 study. The quality of their diet was evaluated against the American Heart Association’s primary diet score, which favors diets that are high in fruits and vegetables, made with whole grains, healthy proteins and fats with minimally processed foods.

Diets high in these areas, including MIND and Mediterranean eating, have been associated with both living longer and lowering the risk for cognitive decline in later years. (The MIND diet stands for Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay.)

It can be hard to feel the impacts of healthy eating in the moment, but over time the results are apparent.

Activity of all kinds

When it comes to studying South Korean “SuperAgers” — older adults with cognitive abilities expected in people decades younger — some of the most influential lifestyle factors have been physical exercise, social interaction and new, challenging activities, said Dr. Geon-Ha Kim, a neuroscientist at Ewha Womans University Medical Center in Seoul.

For lessons on activity, Swisher spoke with the social media star known as “Korea Grandma,” Park Mak-rye. The 79-year-old shares her healthy cooking recipes, skin care regime and exercise routines online. Those elements, in addition to her close group of friends, are keys to her health, she told Swisher.

The data on activity of all kinds is clear.

Regular exercise that increases your heart and breathing rate has been associated with an up to 40% decreased risk of early death. Those who experience loneliness and social isolation had a 32% increased risk of dying early from any cause, according to a 2023 study. And engaging with a