👋 Good morning. Have a showtune stuck in your head? It might be because of Broadway’s big year. The 2025-26 season generated a record-breaking $1.9B in ticket sales, according to The Broadway League. The surging sales are surprising given tickets are anything but cheap: The average Broadway ticket cost $131 this season, with tickets alone for a family of four often topping $500 before transportation, meals, or the glorified adult sippy cups of wine you buy at the show.
NEWS FLASH
🚽 One small flush for man… Researchers at the University of North Dakota are testing a mobile wastewater treatment system for NASA that could one day convert human waste into plant food in space. The mobile facility has three bioreactors, each handling a specific type of waste from toilets, showering, laundry, and food. The new system would be a major improvement for astronauts: NASA Apollo crew members left 96 bags of human waste behind on the moon in the 1960s.
⌨️ Times New Human: Writer, designer, and type practitioner Keya Vadgama says we’re in a “serif renaissance” as AI companies are increasingly using sophisticated serif typefaces like Times New Roman — as opposed to clean, simpler sans serif ones like Arial — to appear more human. Such fonts “have an origin in calligraphy,” she told Wired, suggesting a “very human, fluid way of making letterforms.” Other critics are less generous, calling the shift “tasteslop.”
🍿 The producers: Quilty is an AI startup that claims its bot can read a script and predict whether it’ll be a hit film. In a recent interview with The Verge, co-founder Simon Horsman said the idea was to “enable human creativity” by providing as much info as possible “to make an informed green light decision.” Users pay $50 per analysis, but can get discounts on bulk purchases. Is it accurate? Well, it thought Sydney Sweeney’s star power would lead Christy, a biopic flop, to top Sinners, a box office sensation and Academy Award winner. So, YMMV.
MORE NEWS TO KNOW
- Everything’s toootally fine: Anthropic is warning that AI development is moving so fast that one day models might be able to develop themselves without human involvement, which could “increase the risks of humans losing control over AI systems.”
- The perfect crime: A burglar used a Waymo autonomous car to steal yoga clothes, taking a ride to a yoga studio before grabbing the clothing, jumping back in the robotaxi, and riding away.
- Handy: Kaylee Serena Calderolla, developer of Safari ad blocker Wipr, has launched Filtr, a new Wipr add-on tool that, for a $5 annual fee, blocks ads across iPhone, iPad, and Mac apps. TechCrunch’s Zack Whittaker wrote, “The relief was immediate.”
- Fine, I’ll do it myself: Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky says he’s starting an AI lab. TechCrunch notes Chesky is one of several Silicon Valley types looking into their own AI labs because they can’t find what they need in a model among any of the larger companies.
TRY NEW AI TOOLS
Tool stacks used by top founders
Late Checkout founder Greg Isenberg likes:
- Perplexity Comet (to replace Google Chrome)
- Shortcut AI (for financial tracking and analysis)
- Wispr Flow (for “typing” 45 wpm → 220 wpm)
But Tiny founder Andrew Wilkinson prefers:
- A healthy dose of Lindy and Claude, for just about everything, from social post content to tax-time assistance.
See how 10+ founders are saving time and money with AI tools that do the heavy lifting.
THE BIG IDEA
Pet acupuncture: Promising remedy or dubious pseudoscience?
From high-end furniture and beauty products to luxury travel, pet owners go to great lengths to pamper their furry friends.
That's also true when it comes to medical care, including the one in three pet owners who spend more on their animal than their own health needs.
So, it's no surprise that many pet parents are turning to acupuncture to manage their pets' pain, per The Wall Street Journal.
Moving the needle
While the medical community remains at odds over acupuncture — including the human variety — many veterinarians are increasingly seeing potential benefits to the practice alongside conventional medical treatments.
Dr. Kristen Miller began her career as a conventional veterinarian, but launched a mobile acupuncture business a decade ago.
She was convinced to make the leap after witnessing the mobility and vitality return to her arthritic golden retriever after weekly acupuncture sessions when medications stopped working.
- Dr. Miller enrolled in Chi University, which trains vets in traditional Chinese medicine, including acupuncture.
- She now charges $300 to $500 for house calls and has a waitlist.
- She's found that treats and home visits help calm and distract the animals.
And she's not alone:
- An estimated 4k-5k of the ~127k US veterinarians are certified to perform acupuncture, according to the American Board of Veterinary Acupuncture.
- Around 80% work with small animals, 10%-20% with horses, and a small percentage with farm animals, exotics, and zoo animals.
Many critics, however, argue that the effectiveness of acupuncture on pets is largely anecdotal and lacks sufficient scientific support.
While some studies have found no significant difference in the use of acupuncture for pain relief in pets, others find the treatment can be effective at managing pain, along with reducing inflammation and improving circulation, cognitive awareness, and quality of life.
And hey, if owners can convince typical vet-wary pets to sit still for a barrage of needles and potential pain relief, that seems like a worthwhile effort.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Five luxury brands. Five different strategies. One branding expert breaking down the bizarre economics of paying for a handbag logo.
NEWSWORTHY NUMBER
The frequency proliferating streaming platforms and social media, where you can find a growing collection of songs and meditation soundscapes tuned to the lower pitch, which many are convinced is the “frequency of the universe,” per AP News.
While there’s little scientific evidence to back up the frequency’s supposed benefits, who really cares when the vibes are vibing? Certainly not listeners, who claim it helps them relax, focus, and connect with nature, or musicians and orchestras, most of whom now tune their instruments closer to the pitch.
AROUND THE WEB
📅 On this day: In 1948, the first Porsche, a prototype, was completed.
🎧 Haha: Radiohead’s "OK Computer," but it’s Nintendo.
🍸 That’s interesting: The history of the gin and tonic.
⛅ Game: Guess the city based on the weather.
🦌 Aww: A tiny visitor.
SHOWER THOUGHT
If you put crushed up tortilla chips in a bowl of dip, does that make it cereal? SOURCE
Today's email was brought to you by Juliet Bennett Rylah, Danny Jensen, and Singdhi Sokpo.
Editing by: Sara "Needle little help" Friedman.
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