Good morning. In this edition:

• 📈📉 A fake tariff headline sent US stocks on a $2+ trillion ride
• 🐺 From Game of Thrones → back to reality
• 🍿 Americans' ideal movie length

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.77-minute read (1,270 words).

Did someone forward you this email? Subscribe here for free.

"In matters of principle, stand like a rock; in matters of taste, swim with the current.”

–Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

US markets fell victim to the world’s biggest game of telephone yesterday, when a wild stock swing based on false tariff information added trillions in value—then erased it almost as quickly.

How things went down

• ~10:10 AM ET: News began circulating on social media that Kevin Hassett, President Trump’s top financial adviser, said Trump was “considering a 90-day pause in tariffs for all countries except China.” The exact origin of the report remains unclear.
• 10:14 AM: The (fake) news of a possible tariff pause was picked up by CNBC’s TV channel, where anchors noted the source was unconfirmed.
• 10:18 AM: CNBC ran a news chyron at the bottom of the screen with no attribution that indicated Trump was considering a 90-day tariff pause (☝️).
• 10:20 AM: Reuters sent the same news over its wires, attributing it to CNBC.
• 10:26 AM: CNBC reversed course and confirmed on-air that its report of a possible 90-day tariff pause was incorrect after talking to White House officials.

The markets went on a wild ride, too. The S&P 500 added $2.4 trillion in market value between 10:08–10:18 am ET, according to Dow Jones Market Data. By 10:41 am, that entire amount had been wiped out.

A possible mixup? Kevin Hassett did give a Fox News interview Monday morning in which he was asked about pausing tariffs, and his answer started with the word “yeah”—but he was just acknowledging the question, and didn’t go on to say or even imply that Trump was considering a pause.

In other tariff news: Trump yesterday threatened to impose additional 50% tariffs on China should Beijing not drop a set of retaliatory tariffs and export controls on the US, but left the door open for talks to lower tariffs on other countries.

The next James Bond casting race has Kalshi users picking their favorite to wear the famous tuxedo, with Henry Cavill currently projected at 24% to secure the iconic role. He was previously passed over when auditioning for the role in 2005.

• 🤵🏻‍♂️ Cavill leads the pack, with Aaron Taylor-Johnson trailing at 20%
• 🍸 Damson Idris and Richard Madden are tied as dark horse candidates at 9%
• 🤔 Some fans speculate Cavill is too famous for the part, citing exorbitant costs of securing an A-lister for a multi-picture deal

Got a hunch? Kalshi is the first CFTC-regulated prediction market, letting you bet on entertainment, politics, and everyday events.

Real-life dire wolves: Yet another thing that’s arrived before George R. R. Martin’s next Game of Thrones book.

De-extinction company Colossal Biosciences yesterday announced the “rebirth” of the dire wolf with three new genetically-modified pups, who represent the “world’s first successfully de-extincted animal[s].”

How they did it: The process became possible in 2021, when scientists retrieved DNA from the fossils of dire wolves—a massive species measuring ~3 feet tall and ~6 feet long that went extinct 10,000+ years ago.

• Based on the dire wolf DNA, Colossal researchers made edits to genes of gray wolves to give them key features of dire wolves.
• Embryos were created from those edited gray-wolf cells, then implanted them in surrogate dog mothers.
• The result? Three healthy wolves—two 6-month-old males (Romulus and Remus) and a 2-month-old female (Khaleesi)—that share some dire wolf traits, including their dense, pale coats and abnormally large size.

The company who cried wolf?

However, some scientists outside of Colossal don’t consider Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi to be truly resurrected dire wolves. They note that the animals are likely missing a large portion of the genes that set dire wolves apart from other species. And the new pups also aren’t being raised in dire-wolf packs, nor are they eating a prehistoric diet to acquire their ancestors’ unique intestinal microbes.

Zoom out: Colossal is also currently working to “resurrect” the wooly mammoth, the dodo bird, and the Tasmanian tiger using similar methods.

A legal hearing took place yesterday that could officially reverse the amateur model that’s governed college sports since 1906.

What’s at stake: The NCAA and America’s five largest athletic conferences (the Power Five) last year agreed to a settlement, pending a judge’s approval👆, that would involve schools paying athletes directly for the first time. It would also distribute $2.8 billion in back-payments to ~14,000 student-athletes who have competed at Power Five schools since 2016.

• Under the future model, D1 schools could distribute up to 22% of the average athletic department’s revenue—initially capped at ~$20 million/year—to their athletes, with full discretion over how those funds are distributed.
• The deal wouldn’t affect existing laws allowing athletes to profit from their own name, image, and likeness (NIL). But the NCAA would impose roster limits, potentially cutting thousands of players and commits. 

Also...While top schools make bank, the median FBS school’s athletic department lost ~$20 million in 2022. In order to make the math math better and drum up additional funds to pay athletes, some schools are raising concession prices and adding additional fees to tuition costs.

Looking ahead: Should the settlement be approved—the judge is expected to render a decision soon—expect more court cases to follow. There are already 12+ lawsuits about various questions that remain open despite the settlement, such as how it applies to Title IX and whether players should legally be classified as employees.

Did you know some credit cards can actually help you get out of debt faster? It may sound too good to be true, but here’s the secret: Find a card with a 0% intro APR on balance transfers.

• By moving your debt to one of these cards, you could pay it down faster without worrying about interest.

Right now, some of the best balance transfer cards offer 0% intro APR until nearly 2027—giving you plenty of time to make progress without extra costs. These hand-picked cards are perfect for those looking to pay down debt, not add to it. Don't let high interest hold you back.

Select press members were recently allowed a sneak peek inside Universal’s third and newest theme park, Epic Universe, which is set to officially open on May 22 in Orlando, Florida.

That’s epic: Epic Universe is believed to be the largest theme park in the world, at 750 acres all-in. And while Universal hasn’t commented on the park’s cost, outside experts say it likely took up to $7.7 billion to build.

• The park is made up of five themed worlds based on popular content from Universal and Nintendo, including Harry Potter and How to Train Your Dragon.

Big picture: Epic Universe is part of Universal’s larger plan taking aim at (much-bigger) rival Disney. Epic Universe is projected to draw ~1 million visitors away from Disney World from 2025-2026, per equity research publisher MoffettNathanson.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• ✈️ Ted Christie, CEO of Spirit Airlines, stepped down from his role effective yesterday.
• 🏭 President Trump ordered a new national security review of Nippon Steel’s acquisition of US Steel; the ~$14 billion deal was blocked by former President Joe Biden. | 🍏 Apple plans to source more iPhones from India as a potential tariff fix, according to The Wall Street Journal.
• 🤖 Shopify won’t make new hires unless managers can prove AI isn’t capable of doing the job, per a new memo from CEO Tobi Lütke.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

in partnership with Niphtio

• 🌴 The White Lotus Season 3 finale attracted 6.2 million US viewers, marking the third consecutive week of record-highs for the series; it surpassed last week's total by 30%.
• 🪽 Blondie drummer Clem Burke passed away at 70.
• 🏆 Florida beat Houston 65-63 on a last-second defensive stop to win the third men’s CBB national title in school history. | 🏀 Carmelo Anthony, Sue Bird, Dwight Howard, Maya Moore, and the 2008 USA Men's Olympic Team (the “Redeem Team") headline the list of 2025 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductees.

*From our partners: 💻 Your 847+ bookmarks are collecting digital dust… Break the cycle with Niphtio, the browser extension helps you easily save, retrieve, and organize all that golden content that was important enough to save. Now compatible with Bluesky. Get Niphtio free.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🏆 The 2025 Breakthrough Prizes—aka the “Oscars of Science”—were awarded to six laureates across Life Sciences, Fundamental Physics, and Mathematics; each winner received $3 million.
• 🪐 A day on Uranus is longer than scientists previously thought, per new findings from the Hubble Telescope.
• 🛰️ The NOAA’s newest weather satellite is now operational, providing critical new data to forecasters ahead of hurricane season.

US, WORLD & POLITICS

in partnership with Commons

• 🎓 Harvard University plans to borrow $750 million from Wall Street as part of contingency preparations following the Trump admin’s threat to eliminate ~$9 billion in federal grants and contracts over antisemitism allegations.
• 🇺🇸🇮🇷 President Trump said the US will hold direct, high-level talks with Iran about its nuclear program this Saturday.
• ⚖️ The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the Trump admin can continue to use a wartime law (the 1798 Alien Enemies Act) to carry out mass deportations of alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador, but ruled that migrants must get a court hearing before they’re deported. | 🧑‍⚖️ Chief Justice John Roberts paused a deadline of midnight Monday for the Trump admin to return a Maryland man mistakenly deported to a prison in El Salvador.

*From our partners: 🌎 Join Commons for the 2025 Earth Summit on Apr. 21-22…. Hosted in San Francisco (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.

👆 You’re looking at some of the winners from the International Pet Photography Awards, which drew 3,000+ entries from 41 countries.

🤔 Did You Know? Legendary director Steven Spielberg requires every big movie star he works with to forgo an upfront salary and take backend compensation only, with examples including Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan and Tom Cruise in Minority Report.

📰 Worth a Read: Whiskey-Drinking Rockstar Transforms Into West Africa’s Most Dangerous al Qaeda Leader

🖱️ Clickbait: YouTuber arrested after visiting isolated Indian tribe

Here are five stats from this past week that made our team go “whoa.” Hopefully you will, too.

• ⚾ Toronto Blue Jays 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr. signed a 14-year, $500 million deal; it represents the largest contract extension in MLB history (and third-largest deal overall).
• 📲 Any potential TikTok buyer would inherit ~1,500 pending lawsuits, with billions of dollars in potential exposure over issues related to safety, privacy, and more.
• 🇺🇸🇨🇳 Duolingo saw a 216% spike in the number of new American learners of Mandarin over the year-long period ending January 2025.
• 🍿 The ideal movie length for the average American stands at 92 minutes, while the average runtime of this year’s Oscar Best-Picture nominees was 144 minutes.
• 📉 The world’s 500 most affluent people lost $536 billion in wealth due to stock market declines last Thursday and Friday.

Yesterday we covered how President Trump’s recent decision to enact across-the-board 10% tariffs plus higher rates for other trade partners has elicited a series of reactions with major implications for the US economy.

❓ Our question to you (long-form): In general, what are your thoughts on the current Trump administration tariff approach?

• “This approach lacks credibility & does not reflect actual trade practices. I agree with the experts who caution that the move could lead to retaliatory tariffs, disrupt global supply chains & threaten economic growth. Not to mention that his use of emergency authorities to set punishing tariffs is an egregious violation of the constitutional separation of powers. “
• “I know this won't work overnight, but over time these tariffs will even the playing field in world trade and put us in a more secure position, and I think that's what most people aren't willing to see. It's a long game and when it's done, Trump will have made this country great again. Hopefully Americans will start budgeting for a rough year and see the bigger and greater picture.”
• “I am a Republican, but Trump’s tariffs are a massive mistake. I miss the days when my party stood up for free-trade and consumer rights over an impossible ideal of US self-sufficiency. This policy will cost everyday Americans thousands of dollars just to enrich a select few in blue collar industries that do not employ many workers.”
• “Wait and see what happens…it will be a short term pain for a long term gain. We need to be self-sufficient as a nation and that is the ultimate outcome that President Trump is trying to obtain. If America is not put first now, our country will cease to exist in the future.”

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

+Note on sample size: We received 209 longform responses; some may have been edited for length.

👆🍌 The City Museum of St. Louis gathered 300+ people to break the world record for the Most People Wearing Banana Hats.

🏃 40-year-old Rob Bounds is running 50 ultra-marathons in 50 days to raise money for the Australian homeless community.

🥦 A group of Baltimore women are creating a network of food pantries and community fridges across the city for those in need.

❓ Trivia: How many tiles does each player start with in Scrabble?

🎓 True or false? No number before 1,000 contains the letter "a."

🧌 Riddle me this: Every night I’m told what to do, and each morning I do what I’m told. But I still don’t escape your scold. What am I?

k

e

e

p

s

c

r

o

l

l

i

n

g

❓ Trivia: Seven

🎓 T/F: True, same with "b" and "c"

🧌 Riddle: An alarm clock