Today’s Big Story

Zyn Is the New Vaping

Just how harmful are these little nicotine pouches and how are they tied up with contemporary masculinity?

Remember when Juul was the new thing? Smoking wasn’t that cool anymore—rates had plummeted among U.S. adults and teens—but then came those sleek, addictive e-cigs with flashy advertising tactics and it took off like wildfire (without the smoke).

But just like that, Juul is out and Zyn is in. It’s even more discreet than Juul—you simply tuck a small pouch of nicotine (along with some additives and flavorings) under your lip and let a steady hit of nicotine seep into your system. It delivers more nicotine than a single cigarette, just much more slowly. And like Juul, it contains no tobacco.

And suddenly it’s everywhere, right? Sales are rising dramatically, with 385 million cans shipped in the U.S. in 2023, up 62% year-over-year. According to GQ, they’ve been spotted with Major League baseball players skirting tobacco bans, on the Joe Rogan Experience, and behind the lip of Tucker Carlson, who recently gave what sounded like an infomercial on the Full Send podcast, calling the pouches a “massive life-enhancer” that he uses around the clock. Now even fashion bros are trading in their cigs and popping the pouches.

Vox reports that suddenly, Zyn has become part of a particularly politicized 2024 vision of masculinity: It’s about efficiency, rising and grinding, and “taking on the world”. Call it mascuzynity. “A man with nicotine, protein, caffeine, and creatine coursing through his veins is an unstoppable force,” Greg Price, the communications director at the State Freedom Caucus Network, a group that works to get conservatives elected to state legislatures, recently told Semafor.

But just how worried should we be about these tiny (but oh-so-potent) packs of nicotine-laced power? Just last month, the government called for a crackdown: “These nicotine pouches seem to lock their sights on young kids,” Senator Chuck Schumer said, warning that they could hook a new generation on nicotine. A 2023 study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that nearly 2% of middle and high school students reported using nicotine pouches in the last 30 days. And because Zyn and similar pouches are relatively new, their long-term health effects aren’t yet clear, said Minal Patel, a senior principal scientist at the American Cancer Society told the New York Times. They’re clearly addictive, but the cancer risks are still unclear, however many experts warn that the additives may contain other carcinogens.

The Super Tuesday Everyone Expected

Trump and Biden cemented an all-but-certain rematch

Nikki Haley notched a surprise victory in Vermont, but the rest of Super Tuesday pretty much went the way everyone was predicting. President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump took big steps toward making their seemingly inevitable rematch official, as both notched huge wins in several states—both were projected to win Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

The vote also propelled the country closer to the official start of the contentious Trump-Biden rematch that has effectively been underway for much of this year. As the race ramps up, Trump and Biden are crossing paths more frequently; they recently held dueling events near the southern border in Texas and are on course to collide again on Saturday in Georgia, a top battleground state that holds its primary March 12.

While Trump doesn’t quite yet have the necessary delegates for a third consecutive presidential election, he moved much closer, and demonstrated that the door for Haley is all but shut. And for Biden, despite a boatload of difficult headlines over the last few months—approval ratings remain low, and the general election horse race polling is worrisome for Democrats—he dominated with more than 80% of the vote. Even with an estimable protest vote popping up in a number of states, CNN says “he clearly has the backing of his party’s rank-and-file.”

The SATs Go Digital

In a first, American test-takers won’t need any pencils

After two pandemic-disrupted application cycles, many colleges and universities are still wondering how important (or necessary) standardized testing really is in terms of admitting future students. However, there are still plenty of people taking them. And for the first time in history, the SAT—which for nearly a century was completed using paper and pencil—will now officially be completed digitally.

This week, students in the U.S. will begin taking the new SAT on their own devices—including a tablet or a laptop—or on school devices. The test is also one hour shorter (down from three hours), has shorter reading passages and uses digital tools, like a highlighter, a graphing calculator and a bookmark to go back to skipped questions.

Priscilla Rodriguez, the College Board’s vice president for college readiness assessments, told Inside Higher Ed that the organization had been talking about a possible pivot to digital since before the pandemic. When the vast majority of colleges switched to test-optional policies, sending the number of test takers plummeting, College Board leaders knew they had to adapt to a changing world.

A New Danger for Diet Soda Drinkers

They may boost risk of dangerous heart condition by 20%, a new study finds

Even though I don’t drink it much these days, as a former Diet Coke addict, I still don’t like hearing any disparage for my fizzy former love. And let’s be real: There’s a good chance you’ll be reading about diet soda studies until the day you die. (But the odds are exceedingly good it won’t be the soda that kills you.)

But the latest study has just come out and found that drinking two liters or more per week of artificially sweetened beverages—the equivalent of a medium-sized fast-food diet soda a day—raised the risk of an irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation by 20% when compared to people who drank none. If the condition sounds familiar, it’s because it’s fairly common and has afflicted public figures like President Joe Biden and Billie Jean King.

A-fib is the leading cause of stroke in the U.S. and can also raise your risk of heart attack, blood clots and dementia. It's important to note the research does not show consumption of sugar-sweetened or artificially sweetened beverages alters one’s risk of A-fib. But it suggests consumption “may predict AF risk beyond traditional risk factors,” according to the paper. While the research could only show an association between artificially sweetened drinks and A-fib, the relationship remained after accounting for any genetic susceptibility to the condition. A 2017 study found people with European ancestry had about a 22% risk of inheriting the condition.

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