Good morning. This Thanksgiving marks the 10th anniversary of the Accidental Thanksgiving Invite, where a grandma texted a stranger (whom she believed to be her grandson) by mistake and invited him to dinner.

10 Thanksgivings in, Wanda and Jamal are still going strong (and this year’s gathering is sponsored).

P.S. We’re off Friday to celebrate Thanksgiving. See you back here Monday! Enjoy the holiday.

— Hannah Doyle & Syd Cohen

Yesterday, we hopped on the phone with former MrBeast content lead Jay Neo, the 21-year-old behind some of MrBeast’s most viral short-form videos (like Would You Fly to Paris for a Baguette?, which received north of 1 billion views). 

Neo recently teamed up with former Palantir software engineer Shivam Kumar and creator Harry Jones to launch Palo—a short-form video analysis tool. 

Here’s how it works  → 

“Generative AI is going to increase the supply of content—which means it’s going to get even harder for original creators to compete,” Neo told us. “So we’re giving them AI to help them beat AI. Not as a replacement but as a bionic arm.”

For the last eight months, Palo has been tested by users with over 1 million followers, including silent food creator Bayashi and Minecraft creator Fvdge. 

The company just emerged from stealth with $3.5 million in funding from VC firms like PeakXV, NFX, and EdgeCase Capital Partners. Subscriptions cost $250 per month and users must have a minimum of 100K followers to join.

Zoom out: MrBeast is slowly proving to be an incubator for big creator talent. Former strategist Erenesto Perez launched media company Swipe Up Studio in 2023. Talia Schulhof and Anthony Potero launched a brand agency, Pufferfish, last month. Editor Rachel Kisela runs women's editing community EditHers, and Rohan Kumar (who also invested in Palo) recently ran a viral brand campaign with financial company Ramp.

Running creators have the New York City Marathon. Film creators have the Oscars. And cooking creators have Thanksgiving. With over 46 million turkeys estimated to be eaten tomorrow, here’s how US food creators are preparing for the holiday.

Hailee Catalano is all about process. The New Jersey-based chef with an audience of 3 million has been testing Thanksgiving recipes since mid-October. In addition to providing her viewers with full recipes for turkey, side dishes, and desserts, Catalano shared her schedule—down to which food she preps the night before and how she maximizes oven time.

(P.S. I, Syd, make her green bean casserole every year and highly recommend.)

Tineke Younger mobilizes her audience. The short-form food creator, known for her Southern cooking and viral mac and cheese recipe, launched her Substack Roux Girl in the midst of her usual Thanksgiving content. Younger has seen a 44% increase in TikTok viewership between this month and last—benefitting from the extra eyeballs during a major cooking holiday.

Alton Brown brings his Food Network flair to YouTube. After a seven-month hiatus from his YouTube channel, Brown introduced a weekly series, Alton Brown Cooks Food. The first episode on roasting a turkey gained 1.5 million views in just three days—earning more views than his last 11 videos combined.

Sponsored by CTB

JOLLY is a YouTube channel where two friends, Josh and Ollie, try foods from around the world—often with a surprise guest or two.

Their latest episode? A BBQ showdown between British bangers and Texas brisket featuring Glen Powell and Edgar Wright, which passed one million views in just two weeks.

CTB is proud to support JOLLY behind the scenes as they create moments like this with incredible guests. After 26+ years in the industry, partnering with creators at this level is what we love most.

Looking to explore a high-profile collaboration for your channel?

CTB would love to work with you.

This week, Feed Me writer Emily Sundberg shared that her newsletter’s audience has grown 140% and her revenue has grown 280% in the last year (between paid subscriptions and partners like Meta, Uber, and Walmart). She’s sent a newsletter every day for the past three years and recently expanded into a podcast and guest columns.

Sundberg joins other daily news creators like TBPN that have seen explosive growth in 2025. The three-hour daily show recently launched a Substack and hired a president to grow ad revenue, aiming to reach $15 million in 2026. 

Big picture: While newsletter platforms adapt to cater to all facets of a creator business, daily news creators are building deep connections fast. Even agencies are taking note—CAA recently hired former CBS news producer Becky Van Dercook to consult on journalist clients’ digital presence.