Good morning, everyone. I want to start today with our good news update. As I shared last night in the subscriber chat, I believe it’s important to keep this Sunday tradition going—because there is so much good in the world, even when it feels hard to find.
I’ll have another major Epstein files update for you in a few hours. I’m just finishing it up now. For transparency, I spent a large part of the night reviewing thousands more documents, and this morning I’ve been emailing the DOJ about documents that were not properly redacted.
I invite you to share one piece of good news from your own life this week in the comments so we can continue building this community together. For me, the past few days have been long—but deeply rewarding. One year ago, I left the law in part because I hated document review: millions of pages under impossible deadlines. That experience came full circle this weekend. It mattered. And I’m incredibly proud of our coverage of the Epstein files because we are centering survivors and refusing to stop pushing for accountability.
Here’s the good news:
- After becoming homeless following her husband’s sudden death, a grieving widow in Syracuse spent months sleeping on his grave until a compassionate police officer stepped in—securing her a hotel stay, temporary housing, and ultimately a permanent tiny home—transforming her life in just weeks and giving the story a deeply human, hopeful ending.
- Animal Rescue Corps saved 18 dogs from freezing winter storm conditions in southeast Missouri—including a pregnant dog who later gave birth to nine puppies safely at their Tennessee shelter—after the owners proactively asked for help, leading to the dogs’ rescue, medical care, and eventual placement with partner shelters for adoption.
- Irish golfer Patrick Duke, 67, who lost his arm in a workplace accident and later struggled with PTSD and depression, learned to play golf as a form of recovery, developed his own technique, and stunned friends by hitting a hole-in-one at Overstone Park in England—an achievement he says symbolizes how golf gave him confidence, community, and the will to live.
- A new study of nearly 2,900 adults over 50 in England found that grandparents who help care for their grandchildren—whether babysitting, playing, or helping with daily tasks—performed better on memory and verbal fluency tests and showed less cognitive decline over time, suggesting that simply being an involved caregiving grandparent may help protect brain health and reduce dementia risk.
- A long-term study of polar bears around Svalbard found that despite significant sea ice loss over the past 25 years, adult bears are in better physical condition with increased fat reserves since 2000—likely due to improved access to prey such as reindeer, walrus, and concentrated seal populations—though scientists caution that further ice decline could still threaten them.
- A citizen scientist manually reviewing old Kepler telescope data discovered an Earth-sized exoplanet, HD 137010b, orbiting in the habitable-zone fringe of a nearby star—an overlooked find that is now prompting astronomers to target it with the world’s most powerful next-generation telescopes in the search for potentially life-supporting worlds.
- Researchers at the Salk Institute found that the essential amino acid methionine—commonly obtained from diet—can dramatically improve survival in mice with infections by boosting kidney function to clear harmful inflammatory cytokines, effectively altering “disease trajectory” toward recovery without weakening the immune response, suggesting nutrition could play a powerful role in treating inflammatory illness.
- A record-breaking January aerial survey over Cape Cod spotted 33 critically endangered North Atlantic right whales in a single day—more than 10% of the remaining population—giving scientists hope for the species’ recovery and prompting protective measures like boat slow zones to reduce deadly ship strikes and entanglements.
- Researchers at the University of Rochester developed a spider-inspired, superhydrophobic aluminum tube design that traps air inside, allowing the tubes to remain buoyant even when damaged—an innovation that could lead to “unsinkable” ships, resilient floating platforms, and improved offshore renewable energy structures.
- Despite a five-year drought, Canadian farmers achieved record spring wheat harvests by combining modern technology with regenerative practices like zero-till farming, precision fertilizer use, drainage systems, and cover crops—boosting yields by more than 70% over 30 years while improving soil health and resilience to climate extremes.
- After heavy winter storms hit Washington, DC, volunteer “DC Snow Heroes” organized through the mayor’s Serve DC program fanned out with shovels to clear snow and ice from sidewalks for elderly, disabled, and overwhelmed neighbors—showcasing community kindness and neighbors helping neighbors when city crews were stretched thin.
- Guatemala not to renew an oil extraction lease inside the Laguna del Tigre Biosphere Reserve, closing the wells and transferring the land to state protection in order to safeguard the Mayan Biosphere’s rainforest and wildlife corridors—prioritizing jaguars, macaws, climate protection, and indigenous lands over fossil fuel revenue.
- England’s Knepp Estate rewilding project has driven a stunning 916% increase in breeding birds since 2007—growing from 55 to 559 individuals across 51 species, including many endangered ones—showing how restoring land to natural processes can rapidly revive biodiversity on even a relatively small patch of former farmland.
- An animal shelter in Nova Scotia has been closing its doors nearly empty day after day as cats and dogs of all ages— including seniors and animals with medical needs—are being adopted almost immediately, with many finding homes the same day they’re listed, reflecting an unprecedented surge in community demand for pets.
- Six American bison were reintroduced to an Illinois prairie for the first time in 200 years, marked by a ceremonial release with drumming and songs led by members of the Santee Sioux, as part of a partnership aimed at restoring native grasslands and reviving an ecologically and culturally vital species long absent from the region.
- A man in western France donated a large inherited field to his hometown on the condition it be turned into a shared community orchard and garden, a project now underway in the small village of Clussais-la-Pommeraie that has already brought residents together to plant fruit trees and reclaim the land for public use.
- A stunning new James Webb Space Telescope image reveals the Helix Nebula’s dying star expelling its final “breaths” in column-like streams of gas, showing in unprecedented detail how stellar material cools, spreads into space, and ultimately becomes the building blocks for future stars and planets.
- Michigan researchers found that encouraging American kestrel falcons to nest in cherry orchards dramatically reduced crop damage and food-borne disease risk, with kestrel-protected orchards seeing far fewer fruit-eating birds, an 81% drop in damaged fruit, and much lower levels of harmful pathogens, offering farmers a natural, low-cost alternative to chemical pest control.
See you soon.
— Aaron
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