| | Good morning. In this edition: - 🏛️ Recent IRS cuts could affect the agency’s operations
- 🖥️ Gen Z <3’s second screens
- ⚡ See where lightning strikes in real time
Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.93-minute read (1,312 words). Did someone forward you this email? Subscribe here for free. |
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💬 Daily Sprinkle | “Wrong turns are as important as right turns. More important, sometimes.” –Richard Bach (b. 1936) |
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🗣🌐 Dose of Discussion: A 360° Look at a Hot-Button Issue |  | Recent IRS cuts could affect the agency’s operations |  Image: Getty | Tax Day is right around the corner—and it could look a bit different this year on the federal government’s side, amid ongoing plans by the Trump administration to shrink the Internal Revenue Service. What’s going on?The IRS’ expansion, started under former President Biden in 2022, has been halted after President Trump took office this year and Republicans gained full control of Congress. In recent months, the Trump admin has: - Frozen all new IRS hiring.
- Granted buyouts to ~4% of the agency’s employees (~4,000 workers).
- Fired an additional ~7,000 probationary IRS workers—though they were later reinstated by a federal judge.
Additionally, Republicans in Congress have clawed back or frozen over half of the $79.4 billion allocated to the IRS in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. The debate: Trump admin officials frame the recent IRS cuts as a push towards shrinking overall federal bureaucracy and promoting greater efficiency, via consolidating many of the IRS’ critical functions and relying more on technology for taxpayer service and enforcement. - But critics of the cuts, including some Democrats and policy researchers, note that many of them target the IRS’ tax enforcement staff, arguing that retreating from greater enforcement will cost the US government tens of billions of dollars in annual revenue from tax dodgers (mostly wealthier taxpayers and corporations).
Zoom out: The IRS has seen a sharp decrease in audits over the past decade, per a recent NY Times analysis of federal data. The audit rate of individual taxpayers has decreased about two-thirds since 2010 (from 1% of returns to 0.36%), reaching its lowest level since at least 1950, while similar “steep declines” have been seen in corporate audits. Looking ahead…Further IRS job cuts are expected in the coming weeks or months. Multiple news reports say as many as 20,000 staffers—up to 25% of the workforce—will have their roles eliminated by mid-May, though the Treasury Department hasn’t announced a specific target. 📊 Flash poll: In general, how do you feel about the US government’s recent moves to reduce IRS headcount and funding? |
| | See a 360° view of what pundits are saying → |
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⏱💥 Speed Rounds: Quick, Impactful Stories | | Scientists achieve the “impossible” with biggest brain map ever |  A subset of ~1,000 brain cells from the 120,000 that were mapped; Image: Allen Institute | For decades, scientists have struggled to make sense of the brain due to its mind-boggling complexity. In fact, Nobel Prize-winning biologist Francis Crick (of Watson and Crick fame) concluded in 1979 that the anatomy and activity in just a single cubic millimeter of brain matter—as big as a grain of sand—would forever exceed humanity’s understanding. But the purported impossible has now been achieved, according to a new study published in Nature. It details how researchers recorded the cellular activity in a cubic millimeter of a mouse’s brain then used it to create the largest brain map to date, containing 523 million neural connections. The brain, explainedThe scientists’ process involved three main steps: - Taking a mouse genetically engineered to make neurons glow when they’re active, then treating it like a stoner with unlimited internet access—aka showing it YouTube clips of sci-fi movies, sports, animation, and nature—to record the reactions in its brain’s visual cortex.
- Analyzing this grain-of-sand-sized visual cortex. This involved shaving it into 25,000+ layers and taking ~100 million high-resolution images of the microscopic wiring contained within.
- Using AI tools to trace the entire wiring and paint each individual wire a different color. Researchers estimated the microscopic wiring contained in the cubic millimeter would measure 3+ miles long if laid out.
The impact: Scientists say the new map will allow them to study brain function in extraordinary detail, potentially revealing insights into hard-to-treat brain disorders and how complex traits like consciousness arise. |
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Americans love to read—so why aren’t we? |  Image: Giphy/Nickelodeon | A recent poll by NPR/Ipsos found that most American adults look at reading the same way a chocolate lab looks at a tennis ball—but can’t find the time to sit and turn the pages themselves. Of the 2,033 people surveyed: - 82% think reading is a useful way to learn about the world.
- 76% say reading is relaxing.
- A whopping 98% of respondents with children in their household want them to “develop a love of reading.”
But…While Americans largely hold positive opinions of the hobby, the same number aren’t actually picking up a book. Only 51% of respondents qualified as readers—defined as those who had read a book or listened to an audiobook in the past month. In comparison, ~80% watched streaming services, used social media, or watched a short-form video in the same time period. - The most common reported reason for not reading more was simply not having enough time because of “other life activities.”
It’s not a direct competition: Respondents who classified themselves as readers were more likely than non-readers to consume other forms of media, like TV, movies, and social media. And these forms of entertainment can also motivate non-readers to visit Barnes & Noble or dig into their growing stack of Audible credits. A 2023 survey found the average US TikTok user read/listened to 60% more books after discovering BookTok. |
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🖥️ Stat of the Day: Gen Z <3’s Second Screens | | 84% of Gen Zers admit to streaming shows and movies while working from home—and 48% say they've lied to their bosses about it, according to a Tubi survey of 2,502 US adults that stream for at least one hour/week. On top of that, 52% of Gen Zers say they’re hesitant to return to the office because they’ll lose their streaming time during the workday. Perspectives: The eyes of company leaders such as JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon are probably twitching at the news. But some HR leaders argue that Gen Z’s streaming may not necessarily impact their productivity—especially since the generation grew up in a digital-first environment. More Gen Z data: 44% admit to using the streaming login of a former romantic partner even after they broke up, while 73% prefer to watch original content over franchises/remakes (Hollywood, are you listening?). Zoom out: Viewers are spending more on streaming and paid TV subscriptions in a month ($129) than they are on clothes ($109), per the report. |
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🍩 DONUT Holes | | BUSINESS & MARKETS- 📉 US markets continued their seesaw ride; major indexes fell across the board one day after undergoing a historic upswing (S&P: -3.5%; Dow: -2.5%; Nasdaq: -4.3%). | 🇨🇳 Tariffs on Chinese imports are now 145%, the White House clarified yesterday.
- 📝 Inflation rose 2.4% YoY in March, per new data; that’s less than economists expected and down from 2.8% in Feb.; the month-over-month CPI fell 0.1%, its first monthly drop since May 2020. | 🏡 The average 30-year mortgage rate rose ~0.3% this week to reach 6.90%, per Mortgage News Daily.
- 🤝 Luxury purchase: Prada is buying Versace for ~$1.4 billion.
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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH- 🤖 OpenAI countersued Elon Musk, citing an alleged "relentless" yearslong campaign of "harassment"; the company also claims he wants to be “AGI dictator.”
- 🦭 An analysis of medieval books found many were bound using seal skin.
- 🧊 Europe’s climate got a lot colder for a century or two starting around 540 AD, per a new study; this “mini ice age” may have played a role in the fall of the Roman Empire. | 🌌 Researchers unveiled the most precise measurement yet of a neutrino; a better understanding of the tiny particles should help scientists better understand the universe.
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US, WORLD & POLITICSin partnership with The Knowledge - ✈️ Two American Airlines jets clipped wings on the runway at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport; the incident didn’t produce any injuries or major damage; six members of Congress were aboard one of the planes.
- 🇮🇷 The US will hold direct talks tomorrow with Iran regarding its nuclear program. | 🇨🇳 Chinese officials in a secret December meeting acknowledged that Beijing was behind years of widespread cyberattacks on US infrastructure, per a new Wall Street Journal report. | 🇷🇺 The US and Russia conducted a prisoner swap.
- 🏛️ The House voted 216-214 in favor of a Republican budget blueprint approved by the Senate; Speaker Mike Johnson made spending cut assurances to GOP holdouts. (Dive deeper: Congress is split over a new budget)
*From our partners: 🧠🗞️ Smart news for busy minds… Straight to your inbox, The Knowledge serves up daily world events with wit and wisdom in 5 minutes flat. Join 140k+ subscribers enjoying free, fuss-free news. |
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🧠 Tidbits | |  Image: S Entressangle | 👆 You’re looking at the “true face” of Lucy, the famous human ancestor who proved that our early relatives walked on two legs some ~3 million years ago before developing larger brains; Lucy’s face was recently reconstructed by an international team of scientists and 3D design experts. 🤔 Did You Know? Mount Everest, the world’s tallest mountain at 29,032 feet, gets 0.16 inches taller each year. Legend says that scientists figured this out by politely asking it to stand against a doorframe and measuring its height with a pencil. 📰 Worth a Read: The blood sport of competitive table setting 🖱️ Clickbait: Ranking the 100 best sci-fi movies of all time |
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🤗 Daily Dose of Positive | | 🪪 In an effort to help the younger generation connect with older people around town, a Japanese community center released a line of collectible trading cards featuring the town’s elderly citizens—which ended up taking off. 👗 Second-hand shopping is all the rage: check out UK’s the first clothing rental library. 🧚♀️ A new species of plant was recently discovered in the Malaysian state of Terengganu; the fantastical-looking buds have been nicknamed "Fairy Lantern" flowers. |
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✅ Recs | | |
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📰 Fun | | Let's get down to quiz-ness | Our weekly news quiz is live. How well did you pay attention this week? Let’s find out. |
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🤔 Trivia |  | Hungry, hungry DONUT | Below are three lists of ingredients. Your job is give us the completed dish they make. ☝️ Recipe #1: - Olive oil
- Lemon juice
- Red wine vinegar
- Oregano
- Garlic
- Salt & pepper
- Lamb
✌️ Recipe #2: - Whole milk
- Sugar
- Active dry yeast
- Flour
- Eggs
- Butter
- Salt
- Lemon zest
- Strawberry preserves
- Cheesecake filling
- Lemon curd
- Lemon juice
3️⃣ Recipe #3: - Greek yogurt
- Flour
- Eggs
- Baking soda
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🤔 Answers | | |
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