🌅 A Harvard doc’s 6-step morning routine that changes everything

If we’re not supposed to stay in our beds, then why are they so comfy?

I’m going to put the dealbreaker first, so you can scroll down to something else if it sounds impossible: the first step in this expert-endorsed plan for setting a day up for success is to become a morning person. Still here? OK, let’s carry on.

Once you’ve hauled yourself out of bed, what does Harvard professor and happiness expert Dr. Arthur Brooks suggest? For starters: delay your coffee (yep), eat a high-protein breakfast he calls “tryptophan time” (like that hour after Thanksgiving dinner), and absolutely do not check your email. The rest of his six-step ritual includes a surprising mix of soul work, science, and strict “no scroll” zones.

As Mark Wales shares in the full story, you don’t have to follow it to the letter (he doesn’t always either). But try a few steps, and you might just change your whole day.

Image of the day

Let’s build a GOOD Thanksgiving!

What would go on a GOOD Thanksgiving dinner table? Yesterday, we picked the main and first side (results come out tomorrow, you can still vote!), and tomorrow, we’ll reveal the whole menu and vote on how well we did. Let’s finish strong.

Come back tomorrow for the whole GOOD menu!

🚗 One week of Uber driving, one brutal reality check

You know the app takes a cut, but do you know how deep that cut goes?

Uber sounds simple. You need a ride. Someone wants to earn. The app connects you and takes a tiny cut. Win for all.

Except that “tiny cut” is enormous. In this story by Erik Barnes, an English driver shared his seven-day earnings and showed that Uber skimmed 1.5 percent for promotions he didn’t offer, 4.5 percent in fees, and a huge 26.1 percent for itself. After all that, he kept only 67.9 percent. Thirteen hours of work became pay for just under nine.

Riders were stunned. Drivers were livid. And both learned this isn’t a fluke. Studies from Oxford and Columbia found that Uber’s “dynamic” or “upfront” pricing pushes fares higher for passengers while shrinking driver pay behind the scenes.

Barnes notes that riders and drivers who want change may need to pressure both the companies and local officials because the people in the car deserve more than the platform watching from afar.

✨ Ben Stiller, bucket lists, and the best use of the internet all week

When your favorite show becomes real life: Ben Stiller's heart-melting reply to a fan with Stage 4 cancer

Emily Powell-Heaton, 34, has metastatic breast cancer. She also has impeccable taste in TV, counting Severance, Apple TV+’s existential workplace thriller, among her all-time favorites. So she shot her shot on X (are we still saying “formerly Twitter”?), tagging Ben Stiller with a humble request: could she meet him and the cast as a bucket list dream?

The man replied the same day. “DM me,” he wrote. That was it, no red tape, no PR filter, just a straight-up good guy moment from the director/producer himself.

And it worked. According to Emily, plans are underway. “Thank you so much @BenStiller and team for making my wish come true!” she wrote. “My husband and I are over the moon.”

In this story by Ryan Reed, we get a rare glimpse of social media doing what we want it to do: connecting real people and sparking real joy. No algorithm manipulation required.

On November 25th, 1783, New Yorkers lined the streets of Manhattan as the last British troops sailed from the harbor and George Washington led the Continental Army down Broadway to the Battery, an exhale after seven years of occupation.

The ceremonial snag? A British Union flag had been nailed to the fort’s pole, and that pole was then slicked with grease; only after a veteran named John Van Arsdale shimmied up (with hastily added cleats) could the Stars and Stripes rise, clearing the way for Washington’s triumphant entry.

Within days, Washington would gather his officers at Fraunces Tavern for an emotional farewell and then surrender his command, setting a democratic precedent as remarkable as the victory itself. It’s a rare holiday that begins with a prank, ends with grace, and foreshadows a future where former foes become close allies. 

The city marked the date for generations, parades, orations, and even annual “greased-pole” climbs, until late-19th-century Thanksgiving traditions gradually eclipsed it.

Do you have something GOOD to share?

We’re always on the lookout for uplifting, enlightening, and engaging content to share with readers like you. If you have something you think should be featured in the Daily GOOD, let me know!

💬 From the group text…

Tom Hanks shares some great acting advice that applies perfectly to, well… everything.

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