8,200 calories a day...

We've got a story about the rarest Costco find ever, the smart characters we love, and a president who single-handedly supported the beef industry with his fork.

Author

Greg Sullivan
June 04, 2025

🧵Man, Costco Really Does Have Everything

Including, apparently, a kidney donor.

In 2018, a teenager named Karen Aguayo spotted something unexpected on a stranger’s shirt at Costco. Not a joke or a logo, but a plea: “Kidney donor needed, Type B+. Ask me how.”

Most people would keep walking. Karen didn’t. She asked.

The man, Robert Duran, was in stage five kidney failure. He and his wife had been wearing the shirts everywhere—from Costco to fake airport runs—hoping someone, somewhere, might see. Karen couldn’t offer a kidney, but she offered something else: a tweet.

It went viral. Like, 240,000-retweets viral. Strangers across the country lined up to see if they were a match. And in 2019, one of them was. Robert got his kidney.

Not bad for a Costco run.

Only about 4% of U.S. pet owners have pet insurance

Pet care costs are rising, yet not enough people are doing something about it. Pet insurance can significantly offset rising costs – all for as low as $10 a month. Want to join the 4% club?

🧠 Smart characters just hit different

Why do we love them? Because they don’t run upstairs when the killer walks in.

When a character actually uses their brain, it’s like a breath of fresh, well-reasoned air. No yelling at the screen. No plot holes the size of Gotham. Just clean, satisfying competency. That’s the thrill of watching Sherlock deduce, Watney science, or Batman “prep time” his way to victory.

From con men to colonels, Redditors recently rounded up their favorite fictional strategists—the ones who outthink, outmaneuver, and outlast. There’s a reason we root for Columbo’s wrinkled trench coat or Mike Ehrmantraut’s garden-hose sabotage. These aren’t just fun characters. They’re tributes to thinking clearly under pressure.

And let’s be honest: half of us watched The Martian and thought, “Yeah, I’d totally grow potatoes on Mars too.” (No, you wouldn’t.)

Hit the link to see the full list of 11 of the smartest characters you’ll wish were on your team.

🥩 8,200 calories a day? Taft said “yes, chef”

I had to read that number twice to believe it wasn’t a typo.

In the latest installment of Cookin’ with Congress, food writer Bennett Rea took on a truly Herculean culinary feat: eating like President William Howard Taft. Not “Presidential Diet” Taft, mind you—regular day Taft. As in: 8,200 calories, 472 grams of protein, three buttermilk waffles, two 12-oz steaks, and an actual opossum.

Yes, opossum. (Shipped by Rea’s dad, naturally.)

Watching Rea sweat and wheeze his way through Taft’s historical menu is half horror show, half history lesson. The cooking alone took nearly two hours. The eating? Four and a half. The cost? $232. The recovery time? A full day of no food and sharp, pug-like intakes of breath.

Turns out the 27th president wasn’t just making Supreme Court history—he was pioneering the "death by buffet" lifestyle and you can watch the arduous effort in Bennett’s post in the full story.

From the friends group text…

The nerds in the aviation community (I can call them that, I’m a member!) have their own version of 100 men vs 1 gorilla and… I mean… oof, this is tough.