Good Morning. Cheesecake Factory now flags Ozempic as a business risk in its filings. Here’s how GLP-1s are reshaping the American restaurant.
We also share Murdaugh's overturned verdict, robot wolves vs. bears, and Jamie Dimon's five rules (forwarded this email? Join 523k readers).
TOP STORY TODAY
The Ozempic Effect
GLP-1 weight-loss drugs are reshaping how Americans eat out. A Cornell study of 150,000 households found those with at least one GLP-1 user cut spending at fast-food chains, coffee shops, and quick-service restaurants by 8% within six months of starting treatment.
More than 12% of Americans reported taking the drugs last fall, up from 6% in early 2024. J.P. Morgan analysts estimate 30 million users by 2030, up from 10 million today. Panera found 17% of its customers are on them, well above the national average.
Olive Garden rolled out a lighter portions menu, McDonald's is promoting protein counts, and KFC is leaning into snack sizes. Cheesecake Factory, Texas Roadhouse, and Papa John's have all flagged GLP-1s as a business risk in filings (More).
Murdaugh Retrial
South Carolina's Supreme Court overturned Alex Murdaugh's murder convictions Wednesday, ruling that the trial's court clerk improperly suggested the disgraced lawyer was guilty. Prosecutors announced plans to retry him for the 2021 shooting deaths of his wife Maggie and son Paul.
Justices unanimously found clerk Becky Hill told jurors to watch Murdaugh's body language and not be fooled by his testimony. The court said she placed her fingers on the scales of justice. Hill pleaded guilty to related charges in December 2025.
Murdaugh, 57, stays behind bars. He's serving a 40-year federal sentence plus 27 years state for stealing roughly $12 million from clients. Justices also barred most financial-crime evidence from the retrial, narrowing the case prosecutors can build.
Japan’s Robot Wolves
A Hokkaido firm called Ohta Seiki is fielding more orders for its "Monster Wolf" robots (video) than it can fill, after Japan logged 13 fatal bear attacks in fiscal 2025, more than double the previous record. The company has booked 50 orders this year alone.
The animatronic scarecrow features glowing red eyes, a swiveling head, and speakers that broadcast over 50 sounds audible up to a kilometer away. Units start around $4,000. Sightings hit 50,776 nationwide, also a record, with bears entering schools, supermarkets, and hot spring resorts.
Authorities culled 14,601 bears last year, nearly triple the prior total. Ohta Seiki is now adding wheels so the wolves can patrol, plus building a handheld version for hikers and schoolchildren. AI-camera models are in development.
TOGETHER WITH SKECHERS
What Runners Look for That Casual Buyers Miss
There's a tell with running shoes. Pick one up and bend it. Look at the bottom. Press the midsole.
What you want to find:
A super critical foam in the midsole. It's lighter and more responsive than standard foam. The Skechers AERO Razor uses HYPER BURST PRO, an award-winning version.
A rocker geometry, meaning a slight curve from heel to toe that rolls you forward instead of making your legs do all the work. AERO Razor calls this HYPER ARC.
A real performance outsole. Goodyear Performance Rubber is the same tech that goes on tires. It does not wear down at mile 200.
An arch system inside the shoe, not just an insole you can pull out and toss. Arch Fit is built in.
Most people never check any of this. The ones who do tend to keep their shoes twice as long.
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TODAY’S LIFE ADVICE
The Most Powerful Banker in America
Jamie Dimon runs JP Morgan Chase, the largest bank in the country, and he's been the most powerful person on Wall Street for nearly two decades.
Five lessons from his rise:
Build a fortress balance sheet. Dimon's obsession was never the upside, it was surviving the downside. When the 2008 crisis hit, JP Morgan was the last bank standing because he'd spent years cutting fat, dumping subprime exposure, and stockpiling capital while everyone else was dancing. The lesson scales down: keep more cash than you need, cut costs before you have to, and never assume the music keeps playing.
Skin in the game. When Dimon took over Bank One, he put $50 million of his own money into the stock. His rule: nobody should put others at risk without having harm to himself. If you're selling a course, take the course. If you're pitching a strategy, fund it yourself first.
Net worth is not self worth. Getting fired from Citigroup should have ended Dimon. Instead he went home, told his daughters they were fine, and started planning the comeback that would make him bigger than the man who fired him. The setback was the setup.
Treat everyone the same. Dimon refused to promote his mentor's daughter because she hadn't earned it. It cost him the throne at Citigroup. It also made him the kind of leader people trust at JP Morgan twenty years later. Short term loss, long term moat.
The best revenge is massive success. Quietly build the thing that makes the old door irrelevant.
Gwyneth Paltrow's Espresso Martini
There's a reason the best nights happen around a kitchen island. Not the dining table. Not the living room. The kitchen, where someone's stirring something and someone else is pouring, and the conversation drifts from podcasts to siblings to whatever happened last Thanksgiving. Here’s the recipe:
1.5 oz vodka (she uses King St.)
1 oz fresh espresso
0.5 oz coffee liqueur
Pinch of salt
Shake hard with ice, strain into a coupe
Garnish with three coffee beans
Make something simple with a friend this week. The recipe matters less than the standing-around-doing-it-together part.
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▲ CIA assassinated mid-level Sinaloa Cartel operative "El Payin" with car bomb on Mexican highway March 28
TOGETHER WITH WE-VIBE
A Stat Most Couples Don't Talk About
A 2026 survey of 1,000 US adults found that 77% of people who own at least one bedroom accessory report being satisfied with their sex life. Among those who don't own any, that number drops to 64%.
We-Vibe is running their May sale through the end of the month, with their best-selling couples and solo products marked down 17 to 34 percent. A few worth a look:
Chorus Pro (couples remote-controlled) - 17% off
Sync O (hands-free wearable) - 22% off
Vector+ and Moxie+ - 34% off
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Fun Links
Inside the mind of President Trump [Blog]
Why “staring at walls” reset the mind [Video]
World's first Neanderthal dentist [Blog]
1996 Pixar interview with Steve Jobs [Video]
This guy quits every single Thursday [Video]
Travel agents excel in digital age [Blog]
McConaughey on “going through hell” [Post]
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