Today’s Big Story

Flattening the Happiness Curve

New data shows that young people aren’t as happy as they used to be

Maybe this is a good news, bad news situation. Happiness over one’s lifetime has been popularly described as looking like a U-shaped curve: The joys of youth are followed by the challenges of our 20s, 30s and 40s before an upswing later in life that reaches a peak after retirement. But now, that so-called “happiness curve” seems to be collapsing. Or rather, shifting?

This pattern has shown up yet again in a new study, published on Wednesday in the journal Nature Mental Health. They are the first publications based on the inaugural wave of data from the Global Flourishing Study, a collaboration between researchers at Harvard and Baylor University.

The data, collected by Gallup primarily in 2023, was derived from self-reported surveys of more than 200,000 people in over 20 countries. It found that, on average, young adults between the ages of 18 and 29 were struggling—not only with happiness, but also with their physical and mental health, their perceptions of their own character, finding meaning in life, the quality of their relationships and their financial security. The researchers combined these measures to determine the degree that each participant was “flourishing,” or living in a state where all aspects of life were good.

The study participants had relatively low measures of flourishing on average until age 50, the study found. This was the case in a number of countries, including the United Kingdom, Brazil and Australia. But the difference between the younger and older adults was largest in the United States, the researchers said.

A recent report from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, for example, found that young adults ages 18-25 in the United States reported double the rates of anxiety and depression as teens. On top of that, perfectionism has skyrocketed among college students, who often report feeling pressure to meet unrealistic expectations. Participation in community organizations, clubs and religious groups has declined, and loneliness is now becoming as prevalent among young adults as it is among older adults.

In fact, research from earlier this year by the University of California found that more often than not these days, happiness occurs in an inverted U-shape, where middle-aged adults reported the highest level of happiness, or no significant age-related trend at all. So for all the worrying we do about life and aging, maybe we shouldn’t be so focused on that. Perhaps middle age is an achievement to unlock, where our confidence and independence spikes (along with our salaries). Perhaps that’s the key to well-being. And if you’re not there yet, just hang in there.

Senate Fails to Rein in Trump’s Tariffs

A bipartisan measure stalled on a 49-49 tie, with two senators missing the vote

Everyone is seemingly worried about tariffs, right? Economic output is shrinking. The stock market has dropped sharply. And consumer confidence has tumbled to its lowest level since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Figures released by the Commerce Department Wednesday show that the United States' gross domestic product contracted at an annual rate of 0.3% in the first quarter of the year, after growing at a solid pace of 2.4% in the final months of 2024. But the Senate apparently isn’t worried.

A bipartisan effort to roll back Trump’s sweeping new tariffs failed in the Senate Wednesday after a dramatic 49-49 tie vote. Three Republicans — Rand Paul, Susan Collins, and Lisa Murkowski — joined Democrats in supporting the measure, which aimed to end the national emergency Trump used to justify the tariffs. But two additional key backers, Mitch McConnell (of Kentucky) and Sheldon Whitehouse (of Rhode Island), missed the vote.

Later on Wednesday, the Senate narrowly voted again 50-49 to block a Democratic attempt to force another vote next week, with Vice President JD Vance casting the tiebreaker. Of course, even if it had passed, the resolution faced major opposition in the GOP-controlled House, where Republicans recently added new procedural hurdles to overturning tariffs. The White House also said Trump would veto it. While the administration has repeatedly claimed in recent days that they've been making progress in negotiations to reach trade deals, they haven't disclosed any details, and they have dodged questions about when exactly announcements could be made about agreements reached.

The Latest Viral Debate

Could a gorilla take on 100 men? Why are we talking about this?

The internet is a wild ride sometimes. People have called it humankind’s greatest folly—a boundless ocean of vitriol, scams, misinformation and a shameless quest for clout. But then, sometimes, we are reminded of the true potential encoded in our digital platforms. One searing question will cut through the noise, demanding unified attention as if it is a matter of life and death, or perhaps the reason we have been brought together in the first place. And that’s why it seems like everyone is talking about fighting a gorilla.

Apparently first proposed on TikTok several years ago, the thought experiment galvanizing social media this past week falls into the classic “who would win” framework of a speculative knockout fight. In this case, the combatants are, to one side, a group of 100 unspecified men — and, on the other, a single gorilla, one of those noble herbivorous great apes found in equatorial Africa. Why such a confrontation would ever occur is irrelevant. The point is to argue the plausibility of either the humans or the lone silverback prevailing in a battle of brawn. Opinions differ, as you’d probably guess, and while many have insisted that dozens of mere men stand no chance against a mighty gorilla, it was a contrarian post on X that really kicked this conversation into high gear: “i think 100 n—-s could beat 1 gorilla everybody just gotta be dedicated to the shit,” wrote user @DreamChasnMike last Thursday, unleashing total gorilla-fight mania.

Of course, in a one-on-one brawl, the gorilla can make “human-mash” with one hand. There is no contest when discussing brute force and bare hands. But humans fight dirty. Which is why The Conversation had an evolutionary expert weigh in, who said “our strength as a species is our adaptability and our ability to collaborate in very large groups.” A fight between 100 men and one gorilla might lead to a lot of dead men, but we all know that men will come with weapons, strategies, drones, fire and other clever tricks.

The Zyn Boom Continues

Philip Morris already sold enough of those tiny packets in 2025 to span Route 66

Tobacco giant Philip Morris stock was at an all time high on Wednesday as the company reported earnings that beat Wall Street estimates, bolstered by the wild success of its Zyn nicotine pouches. The company has already sold more than 223 million cans of Zyn in the first three months of 2025—up more than 50% from the same period last year. Stacked side by side like a plastic tubular nicotine pipeline, that’s enough cans to span the length of US Route 66.

The company now expects to sell 800 million to 840 million cans in 2025, up from their original estimate of 780 million. In case you didn’t know, Philip Morris bought Swedish Match, the original maker of Zyn, in late 2022, and since then sales have exploded. Nicotine pouches are particularly popular with young people, who are increasingly moving away from cigarettes, and Zyn is the only nicotine pouch brand authorized by the Food and Drug Administration.

As Business Insider points out, the teens today don’t smoke. They don’t even vape. They just pop those little pouches. If you look up “Zyn” on TikTok, your feed will be littered with young people using it, commenting on the flavor options and demonstrating how to insert “upper deckies.” Adam M. Leventhal, the executive director of the USC Institute for Addiction Science and one of the authors of the study, told the site he had a feeling that pouch use would increase among teens, as demand for Zyn soared and caused continual shortages. In fact, sales are so strong that it’s prompting Philip Morris to run a Kentucky factory around the clock and invest in construction of a new $600 million Zyn plant in Aurora, Colorado.

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