Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 👶 Tiny little liars
• 📺 From TikTok to TV
• 🤔 Magic number of close friends

…and much more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.08-minute read (1,084 words).

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“Don't spend major time on minor things.”

–Jim Rohn (1930-2009)

Turns out, children don’t wait until their teenage years to start bending the truth—or even their teenage months.

Babies can start practicing the art of deception before they have the ability to even walk or talk, according to a new study from the University of Bristol.

Tiny little liars

Researchers surveyed the parents of 750+ kids under the age of four from the US, Canada, UK, and Australia. They found deception is far from a rarity among babies under a year old, with the earliest reports of deception coming at eight months old.

• By 10 months, some 25% of parents say their kids were practicing some basic form of deceit, rising to 50% by the 17-month mark.
• Young kids started out with simple tricks like pretending not to hear their parents, breaking rules when no one is looking, and denying obvious wrongdoing (even with chocolate on their face).

By the age of three, most children become more proficient, creative, and frequent with their deception, the study found. This includes exaggerations like claiming to have eaten “all my peas” when they only had two bites, or selectively withholding information like saying a sibling hit them while omitting that they actually threw the first punch.

• Overall, researchers identified 16 different types of deception in kids.
• And once kids start such activity, they typically don’t stop: half of parents who said their child was a deceiver also reported them pulling something sneaky within the past day.

A cheat code for guardians: This research is particularly relevant for parents and educators, both to assure them that deception is normal in younger children and to help them learn what to expect at each age so they can stay one step ahead of their deceit, says study lead author Elena Hoicka, Professor of Education at the University of Bristol.

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That 45-minute TikTok rabbit hole you went down last night? Tubi is trying to make it into a TV show.

Last week, the Fox-owned free streaming platform partnered with TikTok to launch the “Creatorverse Incubator,” a program designed to turn internet creators into full-blown showrunners on Tubi.

TikTok → Tubi pipeline

A select group of short-form video creators will team up with Tubi to develop original long-form series, both scripted and unscripted. Think: dating shows, competition series, and whatever else your algorithm has already convinced you to watch at 2 am.

• Creators will keep creative control, while Tubi handles the funding and marketing to bring those ideas to life.
• TikTok’s global head of entertainment partnerships, Dawn Yang, frames the move as part of a bigger push to “empower creators” beyond short-form content.

Tubi says its first group of participating TikTok creators will be announced later this summer.

Driving the move: Tubi has been leaning hard into internet-native talent outside of the traditional Hollywood pipelines in recent years. The new TikTok partnership represents a shift towards prioritizing creators with built-in audiences, compared to previous programs like its Stubios initiative aimed at up-and-coming filmmakers.

Big picture: Tubi held a 6.2% share of total ad-supported streaming in the US as of December, per Nielsen data. That places the platform—and its 100+ million monthly active users—ahead of streamers like Netflix, Peacock, and Paramount+ in the ad-supported category.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 📈 US stocks close up across the board following Trump’s comments indicating “productive” US-Iran talks. (S&P: +1.1% | Dow: +1.4% | Nasdaq: +1.4%); S&P 500 futures and oil futures see an unusual burst of activity early Monday, minutes before market-moving social media post from President Trump.
• 🚗 Toyota to invest $1 billion total in US plants in Kentucky and Indiana as part of plan to invest up to $10 billion domestically over five years.
• 🙏 Leo Radvinsky, the reclusive billionaire who founded adult-content subscription service OnlyFans, passed away at 43 “after a long battle with cancer,” the company said.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏈 Seahawks WR Jaxson Smith-Njigba, last season’s NFL Offensive Player of the Year, reportedly agrees to four-yr, $168.6 million extension making him the highest-paid WR in history.
• 🏀 March Madness: Women’s Sweet 16 is finalized, with action set to tip off on Friday; on the men’s side, zero perfect brackets remain after the first weekend across all contests tracked by the NCAA.
• 🍿 Marvel renews Wonder Man for Season 2 on Disney+, with show’s main cast and co-creators set to return.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🏥 UK scientists create world’s first lab-grown esophagus, which was successfully transplanted into pigs and restored their ability to swallow.
• ☄️ Bright fireball spotted over southeastern Texas on Saturday was a meteor that likely broke apart over the Houston area, NASA confirms; one piece apparently crashed through the roof and two stories of a resident’s home.
• 🫀 Magnetically guided liquid injected into the heart could help prevent strokes in people with atrial fibrillation (who carry a ~5x higher risk), new research shows.

US, WORLD & POLITICS

• 💥 Iran war: Trump extends 48-hour deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, saying the US will hold off striking Iranian power plants for five days; Trump also says Iran wants “to make a deal” which would involve the US taking its enriched uranium, and that top US officials held talks Sunday with an Iranian leader; Iran spokesperson denies any negotiations have been held.
• 🏛️ US senators introduce bipartisan bill that would ban prediction markets from listing sports bets or casino-style games on their platforms. | 🗳️ Supreme Court hears oral arguments in case seeking to overturn state laws that allow counting of late-arriving mail ballots postmarked by Election Day; analysts say Justices appear to side with GOP arguments against such ballots.
• ✈️ Air Canada Express jet collides with fire truck after landing at LaGuardia Airport in New York City late Monday, killing both pilots and hospitalizing 41 passengers and crew; airport reopens last night after temporarily closing, with 600+ flights canceled.

👆 Scientists recently captured rare drone footage showing two sperm whales headbutting each other, marking the first time such behavior has been captured on video and described scientifically. The finding backs up long-standing reports from sailors going back to the 19th century.

🤔 Did you know? All three Spider-Man film couples have also had real-life romance between their two actors. Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst dated from 2001-02, Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone dated from 2011-15, while Tom Holland and Zendaya got engaged in December 2024 after several years together.

📰 Worth a read: What’s the magic number when it comes to close friends?

🖱️ What we’re clicking:

• 5 things people do in emotionally secure relationships—that most neglect
• Science shows clothes come back in style every 20 years
• World's first magazine cover with working game of Tetris

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Yesterday we covered oral arguments in a Supreme Court case seeking to overturn state laws that allow late-arriving mail-in ballots to count towards election results, so long as they’re posted by Election Day.

❓ Our question to you: In your opinion, should mail-in ballots that are postmarked by Election Day but not delivered until after still be counted towards results?

• Yes, they should count: 69%
• No, they shouldn’t count: 27%
• Unsure/other: 4%

Click here to read some of the most thoughtful longform responses.

+Note on sample size: We received 588 votes and 43 longform responses.

🌄 Lace ‘em up: Check out these 25 incredible hiking trails worldwide. Then get the calendar out and plan a trip.

🏈🤖 Nice try, kid: Why AI-enhanced college sports recruiting reels aren’t fooling scouts.

📖 Read: The incredible true story of the at-home pregnancy test.

📊 Join Poll Of The Day, where one sharp question cuts through the noise and gets straight to what people are really thinking about business, tech, and culture. It’s what everyone’s already wondering (but might not post), and you answer with a single click—no hot takes required.*

*A message from our partners

❓ Trivia: What’s the only land mammal that can’t jump?

🎓 True or false?…The New York underground metro system is the first and oldest in the world.

🤔 Riddle me this…I have no life, but I die all the time. What am I?

📞 While "867-5309" won't get you in touch with Jenny, the famous phone number is now connected to a free cancer helpline. The initiative is backed by Tommy Tutone, in reference to his 1981 hit. 

❓ Trivia: Elephant

🎓 T/F: False; that applies to London’s underground metro

🤔 Riddle: A battery

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