Good morning. We have an exciting announcement to share: The DONUT has been officially nominated for a Webby Award, which, for those unfamiliar, is basically the Internet’s version of the Oscars – aka a Ron Burgundy-sized big deal.

The category we’re competing in is the “Best Email Newsletter from an Independent Publisher”...and we need your help to win🙏.

As of last night, the voting was neck-and-neck across the nominees; we’re sitting 2% away from first place. Meaning, there’s a chance – especially if you pls vote for us here (it’s free and only takes a minute or two).

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. When we sent our first newsletter out to 13 people almost five years ago, we would’ve never imagined we’d be in this position (though we definitely dreamed about it). And it’s all real because of you, our readers❤️.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~5.28-minute read (1,407 words).

“Never put off to tomorrow what you can do to-day.”

–Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

The first-ever criminal trial of a former US president officially kicked off yesterday, with Donald Trump appearing in a New York City courtroom for the start of jury selection.

More details… The case centers around allegations that Trump broke the law by covering up a $130,000 hush-money payment made months before the 2016 election to a woman who said she had an affair with Trump one decade prior.

• Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer, pleaded guilty in 2018 to campaign finance violations for initially making the hush-money payment, and later receiving reimbursement from Trump after he was elected president.
• Trump is facing 34 Class E felony counts – the lowest level of felony – over accusations that 34 separate business records were falsified to cover up the alleged hush-money payment, which itself isn’t illegal.

Trump’s defense: The former president has pleaded not guilty to all charges and denied having an affair with the woman. Trump has also acknowledged reimbursing Cohen, but said he didn’t know details about what Cohen was doing with the money. Trump’s lawyers are expected to portray Cohen as someone who strongly dislikes the former president, and whose testimony shouldn’t be trusted.

👀 Looking ahead… Jury selection in the case could take a week or more, while the overall trial is expected to take six to eight weeks. Trump is technically facing a maximum of 136 years in prison if convicted on all counts – though first-time offenders typically avoid any jail time.

• When it comes to the November election, experts say the New York criminal case won’t have any legal impact on his presidential campaign, even if Trump is convicted. But whether the case will impact Trump politically is still unclear.

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🪸🌏 Scientists say the world’s coral reefs are headed for a record mass bleaching event. Bleaching occurs when corals become stressed, typically due to excess heat, and lose the symbiotic algae they need to survive. Bleached corals can recover – but if the water surrounding them is too hot for too long, it leads to mass coral death. Yesterday, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and its international partners published a report warning that 54+% of the world’s coral reef areas have experienced bleaching in the past year, with that figure likely to surpass the recorded peak of 56.1% within the next few weeks.

🇸🇩 Sudan’s ongoing civil war passed the one-year mark. The war broke out between the Sudanese army and rebel paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces, who have been grappling for power following a military coup that deposed President Omar al-Bashir in 2019. The year-long war has killed 14,000+ people, driven 8.5 million Sudanese residents from their homes, and left 18 million people on the brink of mass famine.

🇨🇳 China has reportedly directed local telecom carriers to phase out foreign chips. Earlier this year, Chinese officials ordered state-owned mobile operators to replace non-Chinese semiconductors by 2027 in an effort to reduce reliance on US-made chips, per a new WSJ report. The move came in response to a recent US ban on Chinese-made telecom equipment over national security concerns, as well as American restrictions on chip sales to China.

Star Wars is slowly transitioning from on screen to in reality. Last week, the US Space Force announced a first-of-its-kind military exercise to test how it might counter “on-orbit” aggression from a hostile force.

What that means: Buzzwords aside, it’s feasible that at some point a hostile force will deploy a craft to either scope out or destroy US objects in orbit. And, when that day comes, the Space Force aims to be ready.

• The newly announced mission, named “Victus Haze,” has two commercial space partners: True Anomaly and Rocket Lab. These companies are responsible for designing and manufacturing spacecraft – to be delivered no later than fall 2025 – that will pose as a satellite from a potential adversary, like China or Russia (or aliens👽).
• At test time, True Anomaly’s spacecraft will be launched first. Rocket Lab’s will be on standby, awaiting a “go” from the Space Force.
• Once the “go” command is given, Rocket Lab’s spacecraft will be launched to inspect True Anomaly’s craft. If all goes to plan, the two spacecraft will then switch roles (object under inspection ↔️ pursuer).

Hazy geopolitics are underlying Victus Haze. Following decades of cooperation, the world’s space agencies are starting to forge their own paths for the future. The International Space Station – which is jointly run by the US, Russia, Canada, and 12 other nations – is currently set to retire in 2031, with no replacement planned. China will be the only country with an operational space station in Earth’s orbit at that point.

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If you’re struggling to stifle a yawn while reading this newsletter, you’re not alone.

For the first time in Gallup polling history dating back to 2001, a majority of US adults (57%) say they would feel better if they got more sleep, while less than half (42%) say they get as much sleep as they need, per a newly published survey.

By the numbers: The poll also asked Americans to report how many hours of sleep they usually get each night.

• Eight or more: 26% said they fall into this category, which is the amount most sleep experts recommend. That figure is down from 34% in 2013, when Gallup last polled Americans’ sleep habits – and significantly lower than the 59% reported in 1942.
• Six or seven: 53% reported getting this amount of sleep per night, roughly in-line with the average between 1990-2013.
• Five or less: 20% said they belong to this category, up from an average of 14% over the past three decades.

Gallup also found these sleep problems aren’t impacting everyone evenly. A greater proportion of women report not getting enough sleep compared to men, while younger Americans are less likely to feel well-rested than their older counterparts.

📝 Bottom line: Gallup experts said polling data and other scientific research show a strong connection between sleep, stress, and overall health. In other words: 74% of people’s Plan A’s should be getting more Z’s.

💬 Quoted… “Hoping to change the world one stool at a time.”

• A pair of European companies are leaning hard into the concept of “waste not, want not.” Last week, Hungarian budget airline Wizz Air announced a deal to buy jet fuel made of human waste from a UK startup called Firefly, which says its human stool-based product is “chemically indistinguishable” from conventional jet fuel and emits ~70% less carbon. The deal, which could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars over the next 15 years, is aimed at bringing Wizz Air in line with EU laws requiring airlines to use at least 20% sustainable jet fuel by 2035.

💊 Stat of the Day: The US faced a total of 323 active drug shortages in the first three months of this year, representing the highest figure on record dating back to 2001, per data from the University of Utah Drug Information Service. Affected medications include Adderall, Ozempic, epinephrine, amoxicillin, chemotherapy medications, and some injections commonly used in intensive care.

🤔 Did You Know?... SpaceX’s Starlink internet service is responsible for more than half of all active satellites orbiting Earth (~5,400 out of ~9,500 total satellites).

📰 Worth a Read: What’s the Fastest Language in the World? → (Atlas Obscura)

• ☝️ The 128th annual Boston Marathon took place yesterday; Kenyan Hellen Obiri took home her second straight title on the women’s side, while Ethiopian Sisay Lemma won his first Boston race on the men’s side.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Pair

• 💰 US markets closed down across the board (S&P: -1.2%; Dow: -0.7%; Nasdaq: -1.8%).
• 📉 Trump Media shares closed down more than 18% after the Truth Social owner disclosed plans to allow existing investors to exercise stock warrants.
• 🚘 Tesla is laying off 10+% of its global workforce, equating to ~14,000 jobs; two top executives are also leaving the EV company. | 🛻 Tesla has reportedly halted Cybertruck deliveries to address an issue with the accelerator pedal.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• ⚖️ Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer for the movie Rust, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for involuntary manslaughter over the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins by actor Alec Baldwin.
• 🏀 Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark was selected by the Indiana Fever with the No. 1 overall pick of last night’s WNBA draft; see the full draft results here.
• 🎤📺 CBS will re-air the 100th show of Billy Joel's residency at Madison Square Garden after Sunday’s broadcast cut out two minutes early – right in the middle of Joel performing “Piano Man.”

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with BestBodiesforLife

• 🚀🪐 NASA said its mission to return rock samples from Mars to Earth to see if they contain traces of past life will need a complete overhaul; the space agency said its current mission design couldn’t return the materials before 2040, and current faster alternatives are too expensive.
• 🤖 Adobe released its Acrobat AI assistant yesterday, which starts at $4.99/month.
• 📸 The world’s fastest camera was able to capture footage at 156 trillion frames per second, according to a new study published in Nature Communications.

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MISCELLANEOUS

• ⛈️ A series of severe thunderstorms are projected from now through Thursday in states across the Plains, Midwest, and Mid-South regions; strong tornadoes are possible over several central states today.
• 🌉🚢 The FBI has reportedly opened a criminal investigation into the cargo ship that slammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore last month, causing it to collapse.
• 🗣️💻 President Biden announced $6.4 billion in grants to Samsung for expanding chip production in the Austin (TX) area; it marks the latest distribution of funds from the 2022 bipartisan CHIPS Act to support domestic chip manufacturing. (Background)

CLICKBAIT

• 🏡 The states where you can still afford to buy a home if you earn <$75,000.

Here are five stats from this past week that made our team go “whoa.” Hopefully you will, too.

• 🕛🍽️ The number of 24-hour restaurants in America has declined by 18% since 2020, per Yelp. (Read more)
• 🍅🥒 Low-income Americans are ~2x more likely to identify as vegetarian compared to others. (Read more)
• 💰 23% of US teens between the ages of 13-17 own an investment account, per Fidelity. (Read more)
• 🏥 17% of Americans say they typically know the cost of a health-care service or product before receiving it. (Read more)
• 🏀👀 Average resale prices for tickets to see the WNBA’s Indiana Fever – who selected college superstar Caitlin Clark in last night’s draft – have nearly tripled since last season, from $60 to $174. (Read more)

Yesterday, we covered a successful House vote to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act – a controversial US spy program which some lawmakers consider crucial to national security, and others say violates Americans’ privacy rights.

❓ Our question to you: Do you support Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act?

• 👍 Yes: 24%
• 📝 Yes, but with a warrant requirement for US data: 38%
• 👎 No: 23%
• 🤷 Unsure/other: 15%

Click here to read some of the best longform responses.

+Note on sample size: We received 3,420 votes and 379 longform responses.

On April 7th, runner Russ Cook crossed the finish line in Tunisia, Africa, as part of a race he had started 352 days prior.

Grit and perserverance... Russ, who calls himself "The Hardest Geezer," ran the entire length of Africa to raise money for homeless young people and clean water for Africa. 

• His journey took him through jungles, brought him face to face with thieves, and even gave him a brief kidnapping scare, but he made it to the finish line with a smile on his face. 

🍹 Well deserved: Russ celebrated with a dip in the Mediterranean Sea and strawberry daiquiri. 

🧠 Trivia: In which country was Albert Einstein born?

🤔 Riddle Me This: What ancient invention allows people to see through walls?

👆 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.

Start referring.👇

🧠 Trivia: Germany

🤔 Riddle: Windows