Good morning and HAPPY NATIONAL DONUT DAY!!! For both obvious and not-so obvious reasons, this is a wee bit of a big day for us.

• Obvious: The DONUT 💗 donuts.
• Not so obvious: It’s also our four year anniversary!! We sent the very first Daily DONUT newsletter to an audience of 13 people on National Donut Day in 2019.

And although we’ve got a few more subscribers now (119,436 or so but who’s counting), the heart of The DONUT has stayed the same: fast, impartial news that's actually enjoyable to read.

The big difference from that first issue to now is, well, you – the Dunkers. Y’all make us better and braver and more driven to get things right and explain what’s happening in a way that anyone can understand. Thank you. Here’s to four more years at DONUT Nation.

As a small token of our gratitude, we’ve convinced almost every major donut chain – including Dunkin’ and Krispy Kreme – to give you free donuts today. Seriously. Here’s a list of all participating chains.

And now, as four years ago, NEWS.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news takes 5.06 minutes to read.

"Stand up to your obstacles and do something about them. You'll find they haven't half the strength you think they have."

–Norman Vincent Peale (1898-1993)

Just over 3.66 million babies were born in the US last year, essentially unchanged from the previous year and 15% below the recent peak hit in 2007. That’s according to a new CDC report based on data from 99+% of all US birth certificates issued.

🔢 By the numbers… According to demographic experts, developed countries need a fertility rate of at least 2.1 – meaning an average of 2.1 children born to each woman – to maintain their current population over the long term. If rates fall below that level, it will eventually lead to an aging and shrinking populace.

The overall US fertility rate came in at 1.665 last year, virtually unchanged from 2021. In fact, the US fertility rate first fell below 2.1 in 1972 and has remained at or below that level ever since.

• As a result, the population of Americans aged 65+ is projected to surpass that of children under 18 for the first time in history by 2035, per the US Census Bureau.

💥 The (potential) impact: Some experts predict that America's current demographic trends could soon mean the US lacks enough younger taxpayers to finance programs like Social Security and Medicare, or to pay the interest on the growing national debt.

Others disagree, arguing that the average worker is more productive than in years past – and thus, capable of sustaining a higher population of older folks. Some climate experts also cite data that shows population growth in developed countries is linked to higher overall emissions.

📊 Flash poll: In your opinion, America’s current demographic trends will be ___ for the country.

Very/somewhat good

Very/somewhat bad

Neither good nor bad

🌎🏳️‍🌈 About 9% of adults around the world identify as LGBTQ. That’s according to a new global survey from Ipsos, which polled more than 22,000 adults across 30 countries in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. About 3% of respondents identified as lesbian or gay, 4% identified as bisexual, and a combined 2% identified as either pansexual/omnisexual, asexual, transgender, or non-binary. Adults among Gen Z were twice as likely as millennials to identify as LGBTQ, and four times as likely as Gen X or baby boomers.

🇮🇳🏭 India won’t build any new coal plants for at least the next five years. In a new national electricity plan released Wednesday, the Indian government said it plans to slowly phase out coal usage in the coming years, as part of its overall goal to reach net-zero emissions by 2070. Coal is currently used to generate 75% of the electricity India produces each year (416 gigawatts) – though the government is planning to add another 500 gigawatts worth of renewable energy to India’s grid by the end of this decade.

🇸🇪🚭 Sweden is on the verge of becoming the first “smoke-free” European country. New government data, published Wednesday, found the percentage of daily cigarette smokers in Sweden dropped from 6.4% to 5.6% over the past year – just shy of the 5% threshold health experts define as “smoke-free,” and well below the EU average of 18.5%. Swedish officials said the country’s relatively low smoking rate compared to other countries can be attributed to early bans on smoking in public places, high taxes on cigarettes, and strict restrictions on marketing such products.

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Someplace, somewhere, the Eat Mor Chikin cows are fist hoof pumping. Because US beef production is on track to drop by more than 2 billion pounds next year, its biggest annual decline since 1979, according to Agriculture Department data.

🥩📉 Where’s the beef?... Production has been on the decline since early 2020, when many meatpacking plants temporarily shut down due to Covid infections among workers. According to the USDA, daily capacity at US cattle and hog facilities temporarily declined as much as 45%.

And even once the plants were back up and running, the problems continued. Over the next year, meatpackers ran into issues recruiting enough workers to fully run their plants and had trouble meeting consumer demand.

But meatpackers are just one part of the beef supply chain – which, according to the WSJ, also includes feedlots. Feedlots fatten the cattle and sell them to meatpacking companies, which then slaughter the livestock and sell the meat to food companies, retailers, or restaurants (feedlots → meatpackers → grocery stores and restaurants). A disruption in one part of the chain can throw everything off.

• For example: inflation has driven up the cost of everything in the supply chain, from food to fuel to equipment. Many ranchers have thinned their herds to save money as a result.
• Combine this lack of supply with strong consumer demand and higher costs – and there you have a prime recipe for higher beef prices.

📈 Case in point: Prices for ground beef have gone up 20% since summer 2020, and could hit record-highs this upcoming summer, according to analysts.

It’s September 1917 in the trenches of eastern France. Four female Salvation Army volunteers realize their usual entertainment for the soldiers fighting in WWI – religious services, music, and hot cocoa – isn’t really cutting it anymore. Then, one of them had an idea – what if we could remind the men of home with…donuts.

The “Donut Lassies,” as they were later called, used shell casings and wine bottles as rolling pins. They fried the donuts in a soldier’s helmet filled with lard. After one day of work, they had made about 150 donuts – but soon, they were up to 2,000-9,000 per day. And that was just one of the 42 or so “lassie” outposts scattered across the frontlines.

• The freshly-made treats boosted soldiers’ morale, with one saying, “Looking through the doughnut hole gives me visions of mom back home.”
• And bring home they did – the Donut Lassies are credited in part with popularizing the donut’s rise in US popularity after the war.

🍩🙏 Bottom line: In 1938, the Salvation Army announced an annual National Donut Day to remember and honor the Donut Lassies. According to WWI historian Lora Vogt, the holiday’s focus is less about the donuts, and more on the impact one can make by volunteering within the community. (But we double checked and you can definitely still eat donuts. Phew.)

💬 Quoted… “Our rating mechanism has detected unusual voting activity on this title.”

The movie-rating website IMDB yesterday added a warning on its Little Mermaid page, warning users that an alternative algorithm will be applied to calculate the film’s rating, which is currently 7/10.

• The move is in response to what the platform believes to be an influx of “review bombing,” or when users give terrible reviews to a film they haven’t seen. IMDB did not provide specifics on how it is now weighing reviews or identifying which reviews aren’t authentic.

📝 Stat of the Day: When it comes to social issues, 68% of Americans say brands should only speak out when it connects directly to their stated beliefs or business activities, per a recent Axios/Harris Poll. And this belief is shared by folks across the aisle – 8 in 10 Republicans and 6 in 10 Democrats agree.

🤯 Did You Know?... You can only call something a “potato chip” if it's made by slicing a potato. That means Pringles, which are made from instant mashed potato powder, cannot legally call itself a “chip” product and goes by “potato crisps” instead.

📖 Worth a Read: The Man Who Knows What the World’s Richest People Want (and How To Get It) → (Vice)

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• ☝️ Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez recently closed on a $61 million LA mansion, per a new WSJ report; the estate includes 38,000 square feet of living space, 12 bedrooms, 24 bathrooms, a 12-car garage, and a sports complex.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Chartr

• 💰 US markets closed up across the board yesterday (S&P: +1.0%; Dow: +0.5%; Nasdaq: +1.3%).
• 👟 Adidas released the first batch of more than $1 billion worth of Yeezy-branded sneakers; the company previously said it’ll donate some of the proceeds to charity, and will also pay the agreed-upon royalties to Kanye West.
• 💰 Elon Musk has reclaimed the title of world’s richest person from LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault after shares of Tesla rose 24% last month, per new Bloomberg Billionaires Index data published yesterday.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏀 The Denver Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat 103-94 last night in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
• 🕷️🍿 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse debuted in theaters nationwide yesterday.
• ⭐🎤 Deceased rapper Tupac Shakur (2Pac) will receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame next week, 26 years after his death.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Pendulum

• 💉 The FDA issued an advisory yesterday warning Americans not to use off-brand versions of the popular weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, since they might not contain the same ingredients and could be unsafe or ineffective.
• 🚀 Boeing is further delaying the first crewed launch of its Starliner spacecraft after the company discovered two new issues; the launch, initially scheduled for April, has now been pushed back from July 21 to an undetermined date.
• 🧠😫 Psychological distress can result in real-world physical pain, per a new peer-reviewed study from the University of Michigan and Ohio State University.

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MISCELLANEOUS

• 🚨 An Austin, TX, man that police are describing as a serial killer turned himself in yesterday; authorities are investigating at least eight murders potentially linked to the man since 1975.
• 🎓 The Senate approved legislation to block the Biden administration’s student debt relief program yesterday, with a handful of moderate Democrats joining Republicans to form a 52-46 majority; the legislation has already passed the House, but is expected to be vetoed by President Biden. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)
• 🏛️ The Justice Department has obtained an audio tape in which former President Trump acknowledges that he kept a classified Pentagon document after leaving the White House, per multiple reports. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)

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It’s a bird, it’s a plane – no wait, it’s the DONUT’s weekly news quiz.

Find out how your news superpowers stack up against our team.

Dale Road in Keyworth, UK, won an unusual award last year: the biggest Hedgehog Street in Britain.  

🦔 Highway for hedgehogs... It all started when resident Jennifer Manning-Ohren encouraged other households on her street to drill holes in their concrete fences, so the critters could safely pass through. 

• When they began to notice more and more hedghogs using the pathways, residents started setting out "pit stops" for them, with feed stations and houses for the species – which is in population decline across the UK. 

Note: an earlier version of this story ran on October 6, 2022. Our Positive DONUT writer Kailyn is currently deep in 50-hour/week rehearsals for another slate of upcoming live shows in Europe (which is taking a lot of her focus).

Below are three lists of ingredients. All you have to do is give us the completed dish they make.

☝️ Recipe #1:

• Russet potatoes
• Olive oil
• Minced garlic
• Onion powder
• Salt
• Paprika
• Black cracked pepper
• Parmesan cheese
• Parsley

✌️ Recipe #2:

• Moroccan couscous
• Salt
• Olive oil
• Lemon
• Dijon mustard
• Garlic clove
• Cherry tomatoes
• English cucumber
• Feta cheese
• Walnuts
• Green onion
• Italian parsley
• Fresh dill
• Pomegranate seeds

3️⃣ Recipe #3:

• Red onions
• Apple cider vinegar
• Cane sugar
• Salt
• Bay leaves

(keep scrolling for the answers)

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☝️ Recipe #1: Crispy garlic potato wedges

✌️ Recipe #2: Couscous salad

3️⃣ Recipe #3: Pickled red onions