Good morning. We’ve been having a lot of fun sending you these emails. And it seems like you’re digging it, too? So, um, well, we were thinking of maybe seeing if you might want to take this to the next level and so we wanted to ask:

Will you fill out this DONUT Reader Survey?

It takes two minutes, and will genuinely help us serve you better. And ALSO, if that isn’t enough, we’re gonna give away three $50 gift certificates to the new hip indie shop Amazon.com.

So whaddya say – help us out and maybe win some moolah?🥺🙏 Here’s another link to the survey.

Thank you, truly.

In today’s edition:

• 📈 The she-conomy continues to expand
• 🐘 Live wooly mammoths are one step closer to reality
• 🗣️ President Biden's State of the Union address

… and more.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be about a 5.14-minute read.

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

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved."

–Helen Keller (1880-1968)

No Labels, a group aiming to run a third-party presidential candidate, is expected to move forward with a 2024 campaign following an internal vote held later today, according to an AP report.

While the group won’t name its presidential and vice presidential picks at today’s meeting, No Labels’ strategists have committed to running a bipartisan “unity ticket” featuring a presidential nominee from one major party (aka Democrat or Republican), and a vice presidential nominee from the other party.

Driving the move… No Labels says it sees an opening for its bipartisan presidential ticket after President Biden and former President Trump’s performances on Super Tuesday essentially guaranteed a rematch of the 2020 election.

• According to recent public polls, more than half of Americans say it would be better if Biden didn’t run for re-election, while roughly the same amount say it would be better if Trump chose not to run in 2024.
• Overall, roughly a fifth of Americans are “double-haters” who dislike both candidates, marking the highest figure in modern election history.

Big picture: Historically, third-party candidates have struggled to compete in US presidential elections. The most successful third-party run in modern US history – Ross Perot’s 1992 campaign – received just under 19% of the popular vote, and didn’t win any state contests or receive any electoral votes.

👀 Looking ahead… No Labels will reportedly unveil a formal selection process next week for potential candidates, who’d be selected in the following weeks. The candidates won’t include former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) or centrist Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), both of whom have opted against running on the No Labels ticket.

📊 Flash poll: Depending on the individual, would you be open to supporting a No Labels candidate in the 2024 presidential election?

• Yes
• No
• Unsure/other

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🇮🇱 Israel approved plans for 3,400+ new homes in West Bank settlements. Israel has built ~160 settlements housing around 700,000 Jews since it occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967, though the international community has long recognized that such settlements are illegal. The Palestinian Authority condemned the new construction plans, which Israel said came in response to a deadly Palestinian attack in the West Bank two weeks ago. A new WSJ investigation found that Israeli settlers have been rapidly constructing illegal roads and outposts across the West Bank since Hamas’ October 7 attack.

🌎 Last month was Earth’s hottest February on record, per the EU’s climate service. The Copernicus Climate Change Service found the global air temperature in February 2024 was 3.2°F warmer on average compared to February in pre-industrial times, marking the ninth straight month that’s the hottest on record. The world's oceans, which absorb 90% of Earth's heat, also set a new record in February with the highest monthly temperature in recorded history (69.9°F).

🇨🇳 China has reportedly issued a directive to “Delete America” from its technology. The directive requires state-owned companies to replace all foreign software with Chinese systems by 2027, per a new WSJ report. The previously unreported measure was issued in 2022 due to increasing US sanctions on Chinese tech companies. Separately, a US congressional probe of Chinese-built cargo cranes at American ports reportedly found communications equipment that doesn’t appear to support normal operations, fueling fears of espionage by Beijing.

It doesn’t take a professor in girl math to calculate that women are having a large and growing impact on the US economy.

According to a recent trend report from Yelp, female entrepreneurs opened more new businesses last year than ever before, and are making inroads in traditionally male-dominated industries like plumbing and HVAC repair.

• The number of women-owned businesses listed on Yelp grew 17% last year.
• These businesses encompassed a wide range of industries, with the most growth in hotels & travel (+44%), professional services (+40%), home services (+38%), and local services (+30%). Each grew above the national average in their respective categories.
• The cities that saw the biggest increases in women-owned businesses year-over-year were Austin (s/o DONUT HQ), Miami, DC, Denver, and Orlando.

Consumers are also leaning in. Searches for women-owned fashion businesses increased 1,613% in 2023 from 2022. Searches for women-owned Pilates studios increased 353%, while searches for women-owned skincare brands increased 49%.

💪 Zoom out: 2023 was a big year for the she-conomy. Taylor Swift and Beyoncé’s respective tours (and concert movies) lifted local economies, Barbie broke box office records, and the National Women’s Soccer League set a new attendance record.

Next up for 2024? According to Yelp, the first big consumer trend of the year is the “mob wife aesthetic,” inspired by the recent 25th anniversary of The Sopranos.

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Someone better call Ben Stiller, because history could soon be coming back to life. This week, Texas-based startup Colossal Biosciences announced a key breakthrough in its quest to create replicas of the extinct wooly mammoth and reintroduce them to the Arctic tundra.

First things first: Colossal isn’t technically planning to bring back the wooly mammoth. While the genomes of several frozen mammoths have been sequenced, there are major gaps which prevent exact mammoth clones from being made.

• Instead, the startup aims to create a new species of cold-resistant elephant that Colossal says will feature “all the core biological traits of the wooly mammoth,” including a coat of fuzzy fur and a layer of blubber.

So, what was the breakthrough? Colossal managed to successfully reprogram Asian elephant cells into a kind of stem cell that can turn into every other cell type. This process previously worked in humans, monkeys, and leopards – but had proven difficult to replicate in elephants due to their natural cancer resistance.

• It marks a significant first step towards Colossal’s plan to create gene-edited embryos of mammoth-like elephants.
• The overall process involves editing elephant cells for the proper genes, turning those elephant cells into stem cells, and finally transforming them into egg and sperm cells.

👀 Looking ahead… Colossal, which is currently valued at $1.5 billion, also has future plans to bring back the dodo bird and the Tasmanian tiger.

💬 Quoted… “It doesn’t make the news, but in thousands of cities and towns the American people are writing the greatest comeback story never told.”

• President Biden delivered his third State of the Union address last night, in which he addressed a wide range of topics including public concern over his age and fitness to hold office for another four years. He also proposed raising the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%, highlighted recent positive US economic indicators, and asked lawmakers to back additional funding for Ukraine. In the GOP’s response address, Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) criticized Biden’s foreign policy and his handling of immigration at the southern US border.

+Dive deeper: From the Left | From the Center | From the Right

🛒 Stat of the Day: If you’ve seen a recent spike in ads for mind-bogglingly cheap products, you’re not alone. Chinese e-commerce giant Temu spent nearly $2 billion on Facebook advertising in 2023, making it the platform’s top advertiser, per a new WSJ report. And it’s not just Facebook – Temu became one of Google’s top five advertisers by spending last year, in addition to booking four 30-second ads during last month’s Super Bowl. Overall, Temu’s increased marketing spend contributed to an average loss of $7 an order last year, according to a Goldman Sachs estimate.

🤔 Did You Know?... In George R. R. Martin’s book series A Song of Ice and Fire (aka the inspiration for Game of Thrones), there are more than 2,000 named characters and over 41,000 interactions between them.

📰 Worth a Read: How Hollywood Star Hedy Lamarr Invented the Tech Behind WiFi → (History)

• ☝️ An oceanfront penthouse in Miami Beach is in contract for north of $120 million – a price that would more than double the record for the most expensive condominium ever sold in the Miami area; the 10,500-square-foot unit also contains ~7,500 square feet of terraces and a private rooftop pool.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with bistroMD

• 💰 US markets rose across the board (S&P: +1.0%; Dow: +0.3%; Nasdaq: +1.5%); the S&P and Nasdaq once again closed at record highs.
• 🧸 Toymaker Mattel is aiming to take its Barbie blueprint – and the success that came with it – and apply it to its Fisher-Price and American Girl brands.
• 💼 Layoff announcements in February hit their highest level for the month since 2009, per outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

*From our partners: 💖 Delicious heart-healthy meals designed by a doctor and prepared by chefs… bistroMD features a selection of 150+ nutritious meals, delivered to your door. Eating healthy has never been easier. Save 50% and get free shipping on your first week with bistroMD.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🥳 South by Southwest (SXSW) – the annual film, tech, music, education, etc. festival held in Austin – kicks off today. | See the 20 most anticipated SXSW film premieres. (More)
• 🥊 Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson (57) and social media influencer/boxer Jake Paul (27) will face off in a boxing match on July 20; the fight will be streamed live on Netflix. (Read more)
• 🎶📝 Prosecutors dropped a case against three men charged with conspiring to sell handwritten lyrics to the famed Eagles hit “Hotel California.”

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Hers

• 🌌 The oldest “dead” galaxy ever observed was recently spotted by NASA’s James Webb telescope, per a new Nature study.
• ⚒️ Archaeologists recently discovered 1.4-million-year-old stone tools in Western Ukraine, marking the oldest-known ancient human artifacts found in Europe. | 🌲🌳 The oldest fossilized forest on Earth, which dates back ~360 million years, was recently uncovered in southwest England.
• 🐒🐝 Chimpanzees and bumblebees can learn complicated skills from their peers which they never could have mastered on their own, per a pair of new studies; this ability was previously thought to be unique to humans.

*From our partners: 😍 Say hello to thicker, fuller hair…. Through Hers you can access Rx ingredients with hair-supporting vitamins* to help your hair thrive. 100% online – no insurance required. Free shipping if prescribed. Check out Hers’ results and treatment options here.

MISCELLANEOUS

• 🇨🇳⚖️ A Chinese national and former Google software engineer was arrested for allegedly stealing AI secrets from the US tech giant while secretly working for Chinese companies. | 🇸🇪 Sweden officially joined NATO, ending decades of post-WWII neutrality.
• ⚡ Power lines ignited the massive wildfires across the Texas Panhandle, including the largest in state history, officials said yesterday. | 📱 TikTok users flooded the offices of House GOP members with phone calls over concerns that they could soon ban the app.
• 🕑 Daylight saving time is here: clocks will spring forward one hour on Sunday at 2 am local time. | 📜 See the history of daylight saving time. (More)

CLICKBAIT

• ☕ You’re brewing it wrong: The coffee-making myths that might be holding you back.

It’s time to find out – our weekly news quiz is live.

• Test your mettle against the team.

Grubhub delivery driver Alan Moncayo was out delivering meals when he spotted a dog in one of the customers' windows. 

Turns out the meal was for a manager at the Fairfax County Animal Shelter in Lorton, Virginia – and the dog in the window needed a forever home. 

🐾 Call it soulmates... "It was love at first sight," Alan told People. The delivery driver had his five-year-old daughter with him that day, and, as she immediately started playing with the black-and-white pit bull mix named Jihoo, he knew he had found their new fur baby.

• The duo decided to take Jihoo home that same day. The loving dog was a favorite among staff and had been in the shelter for more than 240 days. 
• "He's so gentle, loving," Alan shared. "He fits so perfectly in our family. We love him so much, it's such a blessing to our hearts."

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

☝️ Recipe #1:

• Chili powder
• Cumin
• Paprika
• Sea salt & pepper
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Dried oregano
• Red pepper flakes
• Lean ground beef
• Onion
• Garlic
• Chicken stock
• Diced tomatoes
• Tomato sauce
• Canned black beans
• Mild green chiles
• Dry pasta
• Corn
• Monterey Jack cheese
• Cheddar
• Black olives
• Cilantro
• Green onions
• Sour cream

✌️ Recipe #2:

• Flour
• Active dry yeast
• Nutmeg
• Milk
• Butter
• Sugar
• Salt
• Eggs
• Vanilla extract
• Lemon zest
• Poppy seed filling
• Raisins

3️⃣ Recipe #3:

• Olive oil
• White onion
• Celery
• Carrots
• Garlic
• Black pepper
• Thyme
• Oregano
• Vegetable broth
• Coconut milk
• Gnocchi
• Lemon
• Parsley
• Salt
• Grated parmesan cheese
• Red chili flakes

(keep scrolling for the answers)

☝️ Recipe #1: Cheesy taco pasta skillet

✌️ Recipe #2: Poppy seed kolache

3️⃣ Recipe #3: Creamy vegetable dumpling soup

*Based on separate individual studies of topical and oral finasteride and minoxidil.