• 👆 Illinois residents earlier this month voted on a new design for the state flag…and they ended up selecting the current flag, nicknamed “SOB” (or Seal on a Bedsheet), in a landslide.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 📉 US markets closed down (S&P: -0.3%; Dow: -0.4%; Nasdaq: -0.5%); GM fell ~7% following Trump’s auto tariff announcement; Ford dropped ~4%; Rivian rose ~8%.
• ☕ Starbucks set a four-minute delivery target for drive-thru orders, echoing its four-minute target for in-store orders; chain didn't previously have companywide service time goals. | 🍽️ Solo dining reservations in the US have increased 64% since 2019, according to OpenTable data.
• 💰 Robinhood is rolling out wealth management and private banking services for retail investors.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

in partnership with Niphtio

• 🏆 BAFTA TV Award nominees: Baby Reindeer leads the pack with eight, followed by Slow Horses and Rivals with six apiece. | 🎥 AMC Entertainment is bringing ScreenX and 4DX Premium Formats to the US for the first time.
• 🎤 Lady Gaga announced her first arena concert tour since 2018; dates are scheduled for North America and Europe.
• 🏀 The Sweet Sixteen for men’s March Madness tipped off yesterday and continues today; the women’s Sweet Sixteen begins this afternoon. | ⚾ MLB Opening Day was held across the US (and Toronto) yesterday; check out the scores and highlights.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🌑 A partial solar eclipse will be visible in the US Northeast shortly after sunrise on Saturday, according to NASA.
• 🏆 Japan’s Masaki Kashiwara was awarded the 2025 Abel Prize—often referred to as the Nobel Prize in mathematics—for his work that combined different mathematical fields to investigate geometry and symmetry.
• 💻 JPMorgan says it produced truly random numbers using a quantum computer; this first-of-its-kind breakthrough could have applications for security and trading.

MISCELLANEOUS

in partnership with Commons

• 🏥 Health insurers were double-paid by the Medicaid system for hundreds of thousands of patients who signed up in two different states, costing taxpayers $4.3+ billion over three years, per a new Wall Street Journal investigation.
• 🏛️ Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced plans to cut 10,000 jobs within the department and seek 10,000 additional buyouts; the combined cuts represent ~25% of HHS’ workforce.
• 🎓 Around 300 US student visas have been revoked over allegations that their holders participated in disruptive protests, including recent detentions at Tufts and Columbia, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.

*From our partners: 🌎 Join Commons for the 2025 Earth Summit on Apr. 21-22…. Hosted in Oakland (in-person & FREE virtual tickets available), this event will be an Earth Day celebration and contemplation of collective power, company accountability, and community resilience. Learn more and get tickets here.

CLICKBAIT

• 🤓 The Ford Executive Who Kept Score of Colleagues’ Verbal Flubs