Today’s Big Story

How Much Meat Is Too Much?

Americans are eating so much meat, Dawn had to reformulate its dish soap

Here’s an interesting stat: In 2017, the most consumed household food in America was coffee. In 2024, it was meat. In recent decades, the average American has steadily increased their consumption of meat to a staggering 224 pounds of red meat and poultry a year. In fact, the average American male eats three hamburgers per week—for a national total of nearly 50 billion burgers per year. That’s a lot of cows!

Now, don’t get me wrong, meat provides many beneficial things: It’s a good source of protein and vitamins and minerals like iron, zinc and B12. But eating too much—especially processed products and red meat—has long been linked to health problems. Research links processed meat such as sliced ham and bacon to heart disease, stroke and some types of cancers, and unprocessed red meat might raise the risk of diabetes. But men’s love for it runs deep.

“Men associate meat with strength and power, particularly red meat,” Rob Velzeboer, a researcher in the Men’s Health Research Program at the University of British Columbia, tells the Wall Street Journal. He notes that public-health messages that encourage people to consume less meat may be counterproductive for many men. “It comes across as a threat” to their freedom and, by extension, their masculinity, he says.

Vox reports that there’s a growing chasm in American meat consumption—as more people cut back and introduce more plant-based options into their diets, others are doubling down and eating more meat. But the dominance of animal products on Americans’ plates has had grave consequences for animals, nearly all of which are factory-farmed, and has also accelerated climate change and the polluting of America’s waterways.

There are also some unexpected downstream effects in other areas of our lives—including how our dish soap is formulated. On Tuesday, Dawn introduced a new supercharged liquid soap called “Dawn Powersuds”. It has twice the degreasing power of the old Dawn, with bubbles that promise to “stay white longer” and dishes that rinse more easily. The more interesting point is that the formulation is the direct response to cultural practices around a protein-rich, fat-laden diet.

Trump Upends Generations of U.S. Policy Towards Russia

U.S. and Russia hold first talks on Ukraine without NATO allies, Kyiv

President Trump on Tuesday blamed Kyiv for starting the war between Russia and Ukraine as his top aides concluded initial talks in Saudi Arabia on ending the conflict that included Russia but excluded Ukrainian and European officials. Ukraine “should have never started it,” Trump told reporters. “... I could have made a deal for Ukraine that would have given them almost all of the land.”

The remarks came amid complaints from U.S. allies about Trump’s handling of the diplomacy, which ruled out NATO membership for Ukraine. In fact, some are saying that he is willing to abandon America’s allies to make common cause with Russian President Vladimir Putin. It signals that the days of isolating Russia are over and is seen as “one of the most jaw-dropping pivots in American foreign policy in generations,” a 180-degree turn that will force U.S. allies and foes to recalibrate in fundamental ways.

According to the Washington Post, Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s discussions with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the first such high-level U.S.-Russian meeting since Moscow’s 2022 invasion, yielded an agreement to form negotiating teams and held out the possibility of “historic economic and investment opportunities” for Russia if the conflict is brought to a successful end. “Today is the first step of a long and difficult journey but an important one,” he told reporters after the talks.

But U.S. officials did not specify what role the Ukrainian government, which was not invited to the meetings, would play in future negotiations. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky protested his exclusion from the discussions by canceling his own planned trip to the Saudi capital.

Instagram Tests Out Downvotes

Dislike but say it in a whisper

At first, I thought “Oh, just what social media needs … more negativity.” But, it turns out, Instagram is testing a new feature in order to combat negative discourse. The new button allows users to downrank comments that they don't like, be it because they're harmful or maybe just because they disagree with them. To be clear, this is just for comments, not for posts entirely.

As explained by Instagram chief Adam Mosseri: “This gives people a private way to signal that they don’t feel good about that particular comment.” The service will not show a dislike count, though Mosseri says that dislikes will eventually contribute to comment ranking. In other words, this feature is most like the Reddit downvote button.

A Meta spokesperson told TechCrunch that the primary purpose of the dislike button is to improve the quality of the comment section. This is just a test for now, so the button is only available to a “very small group of people.” It may get a broader rollout down the line. But Mashable says this isn't the first time Meta has tested out downvotes, and, as is true with many Meta tests, this doesn’t necessarily mean the feature will come to Instagram widely any time soon—or ever.

Nike Bets Big on Kim Kardashian

Can the Skims founder be Nike’s next Michael Jordan?

In 1984, Nike took a big gamble with Michael Jordan, but the resulting partnership helped Nike become the name in basketball sneakers. Now the brand is betting that Kim Kardashian can help it do the same for women’s activewear. On Tuesday, the sportswear company announced the creation of NikeSKIMS, a new brand in partnership with the shapewear behemoth co-founded by Kardashian.

As Jacob Gallagher at the New York Times points out, this marks the first time that Nike has joined with an existing, outside company to introduce a new brand. According to his reporting, it was SKIMS that first reached out and the two companies have been working on the collaboration since October 2023.

“We’re energized by the opportunity to build a new brand and shake things up for the next generation of athletes with NikeSKIMS.,” Heidi O’Neill, President of Consumer, Product & Brand, Nike, Inc., said in a statement. The collection will be a lifestyle-leaning womenswear line encompassing clothing, accessories, and of course sneakers—the latter of which is a new category for SKIMS. The announcement comes weeks ahead of the first collection's digital launch in spring 2025. With an international release planned for 2026, it sounds like NikeSKIMS has world domination on the brain—in other words, just another day for SKIMS.

Comparison only stifles growth.