did it rain during your college visit?

ALSO: the growing insider trading suspicions surrounding Team Trump, the Coachella cashgrab, an AI-run store in SF, and more

Apr 21, 2026

Happy Tuesday, April 21st!

FYSA, every Tuesday and Friday, I’ll be in your inbox with the latest in politics, tech & social media, culture, and other relevant topics – and I’ll share some notes and tips on what I’m keeping my eye on.

And don’t forget to head to the bottom of the newsletter for the GCC JOBS CORNER! Today, we’ve got Senator Chris Van Hollen’s office and Whatnot (the thrifting platform!).

I’M ALSO LOOKING FOR MORE PEOPLE TO DO MINI INTERVIEWS FOR OPEN TABS :) Tips, thoughts, concerns, good jokes, bad jokes, tea, etc?

And finally, if you enjoy this newsletter and want to share it with your network (and/or your chronically online friends), or buy me a matcha, that would be so appreciated 🙏

QUICK NOTE: Very excited to see some of y’all on the AV happy hour circuit tonight! Looking ahead, I will NOT have Friday sends this week (4/24) or the following week (5/1). I’m headed into finals – and if anyone else did 1L in their late 20s, please drop tips for how to deal with the neck tension and back pain?? 😭

The insider trading suspicions looming over Trump’s presidency

It found a consistent pattern of spikes just hours, or sometimes minutes, before a social media post or media interview was made public. Some analysts say it bears the hallmarks of illegal insider trading, whereby bets are made by people based on information that is not available to the general public. (BBC, 4/20 – free version)

The Onion Has a New Plan to Take Over Infowars

Mr. Heidecker has been working on his impression of Mr. Jones. But eventually, when that joke gets old, Mr. Heidecker hopes to turn Infowars into a destination for independent and experimental comedy, he said. (NYT gift link, 4/20)

Big-city politicians are starting to worry about the World Cup

For cities and states that competed for years for the privilege of hosting matches, the economics of doing so now look very different than when soccer’s governing body FIFA awarded the tournament to the United States, Canada and Mexico in 2018. Rather than offering a triumphal turn in the international spotlight, the World Cup has become a case study in the local hazards of staging a spectacle at a moment of global disruption. (POLITICO, 4/20)

War Memes Are Turning Conflict Into Content

Memes are not only made by users. States increasingly communicate in the same visual language: short clips, cinematic edits, gaming references, AI-generated scenes, triumphant captions, soundtrack-first storytelling. They are also speaking to audiences already conditioned by decades of mediated conflict. For many users, war is familiar less as lived experience than as theater: fast edits, heroes, villains, clean victories, and consequence-free destruction. (WIRED, 4/20 – free version)

Netflix embraces vertical video with major mobile app update

The mobile redesign follows a big update for Netflix’s TV app that it launched last year. When that rollout was announced, Netflix also shared that it would start testing a vertical video feed showing clips of Netflix shows and movies that you could tap into if you wanted to watch a full episode or movie. (The Verge, 4/16 – free version)

We visited San Francisco’s AI-run store so you don’t have to

In-store, customers can interact with Luna to ask questions or make purchases. If you want to make a purchase or inquire about an item, you simply pick up a phone and ask Luna. Reactions among customers were mixed during my visit, with some going out of their way to visit after hearing about the AI experiment and others just learning about it as they walked in. (Axios San Francisco, 4/20)

It Started as a Festival. Now Coachella Means Cash for Creators

Creators aren’t the only ones who are cashing in. From a marketing standpoint, a brand may pay a creator thousands of dollars for the event or give tickets in exchange for sponsored posts. But with engagement rates on Coachella-related content continuing to grow every year, a single post from an influencer in the desert could grab more social impressions than an entire month of consistent marketing from a brand’s team. (Rolling Stone, 4/18 – Google Docs version)

Lucy’s note: I’m telling y’all!!!

The Hidden Factor in Choosing a College: Did It Rain on Your Tour?

Researchers at Amherst College found that poor weather on a campus visit actually reduces a student’s likelihood of applying—and the impact is notable, according to a study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research. Applications dipped 10.1% when a tour was hot and 5.9% when it was cold, relative to moderate temperatures. They also dipped 8.3% when there was precipitation and 4.9% when it was cloudy, compared with sunny days. (WSJ gift link, 4/19)

Is it normal to talk to yourself?

“Our ‘inner voice’ lets us keep information active in our minds ... simulate and plan for the future, motivate and control yourself, and weave together narratives that help us understand who we are,” Kross says. This could have a biological component, too, he explains. (USA Today, 4/14)

You Are Not Prepared to Learn the Size of Neanderthal Infants

That means the babies of Neanderthals, extinct cousins to us contemporary humans, were real life versions of the distinctly sturdy cave baby Bamm-Bamm Rubble from the iconic animated show “The Flintstones.” (Futurism, 4/18)