Good morning, and welcome to December. On today’s docket:

• 🛻 Tesla’s Cybertruck is finally here
• 🎶 Behind the making of each Spotify Wrapped
• 🤔 “How did I end up in Indiana?”

… and more.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be about a 5.11-minute read.

P.S. First time reading? Subscribe here for free.

“The best of us sometimes eat our words.”

–Albus Dumbledore (1881-1997)

This week, the Supreme Court heard arguments in a three-part case challenging the constitutionality of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The case was brought by hedge fund manager George Jarkesy, who in 2013 was found guilty of fraud by the SEC and ordered to pay fines totaling nearly $1 million. Jarkesy sued the SEC shortly thereafter, claiming its process for fining him was unconstitutional because the agency used one of its in-house administrative law judges to hear the case, rather than filing a suit in federal court.

• Last year, a federal appeals court in New Orleans ruled in Jarkesy’s favor and found the SEC in-house courts unconstitutional for several reasons, including violating the Seventh Amendment right to trial by jury in certain circumstances.

🗣️ The arguments: Lawyers for Jarkesy claim cases heard by the SEC’s in-house judges – who are appointed by the same officials that determine which cases they hear – should instead be tried as civil cases in the federal court system, a point which most SCOTUS members seemed to agree with in oral arguments this week.

• On the flip side, the SEC claims its in-house court system falls under one of several exemptions to the Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial. Agency officials cite a 1979 Supreme Court precedent in which Justices unanimously agreed it was constitutional for federal law to impose civil penalties for workplace-safety violations through administrative proceedings, rather than jury trials.

👀 Looking ahead… The Court’s final decision in the case is expected by next summer. Depending on its scope, the ruling could open the door to legal attacks on administrative courts at other federal agencies, including the FTC, Department of Labor, and National Labor Relations Board.

📊 Flash poll: In your opinion, should the SEC be allowed to use its in-house court system to hear cases?

• Yes
• No
• Unsure/other

If you want to wake happier than a Disney princess (ones without evil stepmoms), look no further than the Original, from Coop…

As seen on the Today Show, The Original pillow is made adjustable – simply add or remove the hypoallergenic microfibre/memory foam blend to get the perfect height and maximum comfort. (No more sore neck or playing mix and match with 20 different pillows).

🏆 Coop even backs it with a 100-night risk-free trial, but don’t expect to send it back – it’s the top-rated pillow on Consumer Reports.

Buy more save more with Coop. Spend $150 - save 10%. Spend $200 - save 15%. Spend $250 - save 20%.

🇨🇦 Google and Canada reached a deal to keep links to news stories in Search and News. Google had previously vowed to remove news links in Canada in response to a new law set to take effect on December 19, which forces large internet companies to pay to host news links on their platforms. Under the new agreement, Google will pay ~$74 million annually (indexed to inflation) to eligible news agencies based on their number of full-time journalists.

🛢️ OPEC+ agreed to cut oil production by an additional 1 million barrels/day, and Saudi Arabia also agreed to extend its cut of 1 million barrels/day that was first implemented in June. Experts say OPEC+’s new deal will likely push up US oil prices – and, by extension, prices at the gas pump – over the short term. In a separate announcement, OPEC+ also agreed to allow Brazil into the trade bloc starting next month.

🇿🇦 A South African nonprofit is mass-producing HIV-preventative vaginal rings. The silicone rings release a drug in doses over the course of a month that reduce the chances of women getting HIV, the leading cause of death among reproductive-aged women in Africa, by up to 50%, per a pair of WHO-cited studies. About 500,000 rings have already been purchased by donors and are currently available to women in Africa at no cost, and Kiara Health of Johannesburg estimates it can produce 1 million rings annually after a few years.

Yesterday, Tesla delivered its first Cybertruck pickups to customers. And it’s been a long time coming.

Production challenges: The Cybertruck – initially unveiled at the infamous shattered-window product demo in 2019 – was slated to hit the market in 2021, but encountered years of challenges and delays. And many of these same issues will still need to be worked through for the company to scale up manufacturing.

• For example: the Cybertruck is built with stainless steel, which is strong and heavy but less malleable than the sheet metal typically used for car bodies – and that’s causing problems. Photos of the Cybertruck in the wild have shown misalignments and panel gaps wide enough to stick fingers through.

But Tesla is hoping that gold sits at the end of the Cybertruck rainbow. And there is great potential. Full-size pickup trucks made up ~13% of North American vehicle sales last year, but were responsible for ~40% of profits, according to Wells Fargo.

👀 Looking ahead… Tesla expects to produce 250,000 Cybertrucks per year, but not until at least 2025. The automaker revealed yesterday that the pickup will start at ~$61,000 (~$21,000 more than what was teased a few years ago), with a battery range of up to 340 miles that can be extended to 470 miles with an add-on.

When you’re short on time, making your own food can feel like a daunting chore, but with high-quality kitchen goods from Sabavi Home, home cooking is easier than ever. Known for their expert-curated home goods offered at the lowest possible prices, Sabavi Home is your trusted source for top-of-the-line kitchenware.

Save time with products like…

• 🪄 Sleek & simple sous vide stick by Zwilling
• 🥄 Compact & convenient parfait cups by Crystalia
• 🥕 Easy & efficient rotary grater by Gefu

Huge sales are taking place right now at Sabavi Home, so be sure to visit their site and take advantage of these amazing savings + easy returns with full refunds for up to 90 days.

Get FREE shipping on orders over $49 by visiting Sabavi Home today.

Spotify Wrapped 2023 is upon us.

The annual data-driven listening recap for Spotify users, which began in 2013, has now become so popular that you can expect a plethora of social media posts this time of year containing the words “Drake” or “Taylor Swift” – and for other companies to piggyback on the concept like a toddler during playtime.

How Spotify Wrapped gets put together:

• The data: Most of the stats are based on time listened/aggregated stream counts. Other tidbits, like your “listening character” (s/o my other Shapeshifters) or “Sound Town” (Scottsdale, AZ, where you at??), are a combo of data and creative.
• The copy: Each Wrapped is interspersed with little phrases like “This year, you had layers like an onion. But you listened to music, unlike an onion.” Per Spotify’s Global Executive Creative Director Alex Bodman, a creative team starts putting this copy together six months in advance, and approval consists of: “Taj [the company’s global head of marketing] and I sitting in a room and if… we laugh out loud, it’s approved.”

Given its popularity, other companies have also jumped on the Wrapped train. Apple Music, Duolingo, Twitch, Hulu, and Reddit have all unveiled similar features (paywalled link).

But not everyone is on the social- media- sharing train. A recent poll of 1,000 Spotify users found that 7 in 10 are too embarrassed to share their Wrapped. And, given how personal music choices (and other people’s interpretations of them) can be, who can blame ‘em.

💬 Quoted… “Of all the places in all the country, how did I end up in Indiana?”

• The answer to that question is an Indianapolis suburb named after a gooey, delectable treat: Carmel, Indiana. Over the past decade, the city has been consistently ranked among the top places to live in America by finance websites like Money and WalletHub, the latter of which named Carmel the best small city in America this year. But it might not stay in the small city category for long – Carmel’s population stood at nearly 102,000 as of last year, more than 4x higher than in 1990.

💼📝 Stat of the Day: The cost of college keeps going up, but the number of jobs requiring degrees is going down. About 78.4% of job postings in "college-level occupations" in 2023 require a degree, down from 82.5% in 2017 and 85% in 2010, according to data from labor analytics firm Lightcast reported by Axios.

🤔 Did You Know?... Last year, burgers accounted for ~40% of all US fast-food sales, with more than two-thirds of Americans eating at least one fast-food burger per month.

📰 Worth a Read: The spectacular failure of SPACs → (The Hustle)

• 👆 You’re looking at some of the contenders for the Wildlife Photographer of the Year People's Choice Award; you can vote on your favorite here.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Meowtel

• 📈📉 US stocks closed mixed across the board (S&P: +0.4%; Dow: +1.5%; Nasdaq: -0.2%); all three indexes turned in their best month in November since at least October 2022. | 🏘️ Pending US home sales dropped in October to the lowest level since the National Association of Realtors began tracking them in 2001.
• 📲⚖️ Meta filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Federal Trade Commission’s in-house court system; the FTC is currently seeking to tighten restrictions on Meta by modifying a $5 billion settlement it reached with the tech giant in 2020.
• 🤖 Microsoft secured a nonvoting board seat at OpenAI. (Background)

*From our partners: 😸🏆 Get five-star cat care when you need it this holiday season with Meowtel... 95,000 completed reservations. 40,000+ five-star reviews. #1 for a reason. Save $50 on your booking with code DONUT0910 (first 10 only).

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏀 USC’s LeBron “Bronny” James Jr. was cleared for a full return to basketball four months after he went into cardiac arrest during a workout. | ⚽️ Cristiano Ronaldo is facing a $1 billion lawsuit over his promotion of NFTs.
• ⛰️⛷️ Salt Lake City, Utah, was selected as the preferred host of the 2034 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.
• 🎶 The 100 best albums of 2023, according to Rolling Stone.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Paleovalley

• ☀️🌎 A powerful solar pulse is expected to bring the northern lights to the northernmost part of the contiguous US tonight.
• 🌌 The supermassive black hole in the center of our Milky Way galaxy, called Sagittarius A*, is spinning so rapidly that it’s altering the fabric of space-time around it, per a new peer-reviewed study.
• 🤖🧠 Tiny living robots made from human cells were able to repair damaged human neural tissue, per a study published yesterday in Advanced Science.

*From our partners: 🤤 Paleovalley 100% Grass-Fed Beef Sticks are so delicious… they guarantee that you’ll love them – seriously. Available in five delicious flavors, they’re naturally fermented, made with organic spices, and contain naturally occurring probiotics. Save 15% on Paleovalley here.

MISCELLANEOUS

• 🚰 The EPA unveiled a plan to require utility companies to replace 100% of all US lead water pipes over the next ten years.
• 🗣️ Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and California Governor Gavin Newsom held a televised debate last night moderated by Fox News’ Sean Hannity.
• 📲⚖️ A Montana judge ruled that a state law banning TikTok can’t go into effect next month, granting a preliminary injunction pending the outcome of an ongoing lawsuit.

CLICKBAIT

• 🧑‍🏫 This teacher’s side hustle brings in $125,500 a year – and costs $0 to start.

Jonathan the tortoise celebrated his 191st birthday earlier this week. 

The tortoise is the oldest land animal ever on record, with his 191 years being a rough estimate – it's likely he's even older. 

😎 Still kicking it... The life expectancy for his breed is 150 years, but according to his long-time vet, Joe Hollins, Jonathan is showing “no sign of slowing down." He's hopeful that Jonathan will see the start of his third century.

• The tortoise lives on the island of St. Helena at the governors home, where he arrived 141 years ago. 

The DONUT’s weekly news quiz is back. In just two minutes or less, see how your news superpowers stack up against our team.

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

☝️ Recipe #1:

• Rice noodles
• Chicken
• Salt & pepper
• Eggs
• Bean sprouts
• Green onions
• White onions
• Cilantro
• Peanuts
• Ketchup
• Fish sauce
• Sugar
• Garlic
• Peanut butter
• Lime
• Red pepper flakes
• Soy sauce

✌️ Recipe #2:

• Flour
• Cornmeal
• Sugar
• Baking powder
• Salt
• Butter
• Oil
• Milk
• Eggs
• Honey

3️⃣ Recipe #3:

• Lettuce
• Pepperoni
• Mozzarella
• Garlic croutons
• Cucumber
• Sunflower seeds
• Parmesan cheese
• Olive oil
• White wine vinegar
• Parmesan cheese
• Italian seasoning
• Sugar
• Dijon mustard
• Salt & pepper
• Red pepper flakes

(keep scrolling for the answers)

👆 Check out the referral prizes you can get, just for introducing people you know to little old us. 

What to do: Copy your unique link below, then send it to anyone who you think would like the DONUT. Once you hit each milestone, you'll get an email with a link to claim your prize. (Pro tip: there's no need to ration points, you're entitled to a prize at each tier.)

Start referring.👇

☝️ Recipe #1: Chicken Pad Thai

✌️ Recipe #2: Cornbread

3️⃣ Recipe #3: Italian green salad