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🌊 New King of Conservative Media
Plus: Death penalty for Luigi, "Liberation Day" in America, & Hooters goes bust
While my wallet gently weeps…
Folks, it’s never been done before, but four movies about The Beatles — one for each Beatle — will hit theaters simultaneously in April 2028. The madman behind the project is director Sam Mendes, whose work includes 1917, Skyfall, and American Beauty. His record is impressive, but he’s never taken on a challenge so daunting as getting people to pack a theater for Ringo Starr.
Sony executives are calling the project the “first binge-able theatrical experience.” We hope it’s a success and that they can do the same thing for the Blue Man Group.
🇺🇦 Elections coming soon to Ukraine
😳 Death penalty for Luigi?
🪦 Hooters goes bust
–Max and Max
KEY STORY
Newsmax to the Moon?
Shares of conservative cable news station Newsmax have surged ~2,000% since it went public on Monday
Newsmax was founded in 1998 by a former New York Post journalist and close friend of President Trump. In 2024, it reported a $75M loss on $171M in revenue
Newsmax’s shares opened on Monday at $14. When markets closed on Tuesday, they were trading at $233
Newsmax’s stock surge pushed its valuation past Fox News – the largest cable news company by far – despite drawing an average of 309,000 prime-time viewers compared to Fox’s 3.1M
The surge made Newsmax’s CEO a multi-billionaire, with his shares now valued at over $9B
Dig Deeper
Following the 2,000% surge, Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy said, “This incredibly successful offering…provides us with the capital and financial freedom to accelerate our growth initiatives”
Many market analysts are drawing parallels to the IPO of President Trump’s media company, which spiked to a $10B+ valuation after going public before falling to roughly $4B since. Similarly, Trump’s company reported a $400M loss on $3.6M in revenue in 2024
KEY STORY
Elections in Ukraine?
Ukrainian President Zelensky is looking to hold elections after a full ceasefire, per The Economist
Zelensky's term was set to end in 2024, but Ukraine’s constitution bars elections during martial law
Per The Economist, Zelensky is now exploring holding an election as soon as this summer pending a full ceasefire. That decision hinges on whether Ukraine’s parliament votes to extend martial law
Ukraine’s former army chief, Valery Zaluzhny – who Zelensky fired in 2024 – is widely viewed as Zelensky’s strongest potential challenger
Dig Deeper
Per a poll conducted by The Economist, 62% of Ukrainians reject holding elections until the war is officially over, 19% would support one only during a ceasefire, and 14% want one immediately
Meanwhile, a SOCIS Center poll found that Zaluzhny is Ukraine’s most trusted public figure, with 62% of Ukrainians expressing confidence in him versus 50.5% for Zelensky
QUOTE OF THE DAY
There are only four people who knew what the Beatles were about anyway
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KEY STORY
“Liberation Day”
President Trump is set to impose sweeping tariffs on April 2, which he has labeled “liberation day”
On Tuesday, the Washington Post reported that White House advisors drafted plans for 20% tariffs on all trading partners. While a final plan hasn’t been set, it follows Trump saying he’d “start with all countries”
Some economists say tariffs set at that rate would trigger an almost immediate, long-lasting recession. Trump and his advisors argue an economic reorientation is needed to reshore manufacturing
Major US trading partners, including the EU, have threatened to retaliate with tariffs of their own
Dig Deeper
The prospect of tariffs has sparked condemnation from many US trading partners
On Tuesday, the president of the EU Commission, which negotiates the bloc’s trade agreements, told EU policymakers, “Europe has not started this confrontation. We do not necessarily want to retaliate, but if it is necessary, we have a strong plan to retaliate”
The EU Commission’s president added, “Europe holds a lot of cards, from trade to technology to the size of our market”
According to Chinese state media, China, Japan, and South Korea agreed to respond jointly to Trump’s tariffs, though South Korea downplayed the threat as “somewhat exaggerated”
KEY STORY
Mangione Facing Death Penalty
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced she is seeking the death penalty for Luigi Mangione
Mangione – a 26-year-old Ivy League grad – faces state and federal charges for the alleged murder of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO last December
Bondi called the attack a “premeditated, cold-blooded assassination,” adding, “I have directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty”
Mangione pleaded not guilty to the state charges but has not entered a plea for the federal ones
Dig Deeper
The previous Trump Administration resumed the death penalty at the federal level after a 17-year pause, ultimately putting 13 inmates to death
President Biden suspended use of the death penalty in 2021 and, in one of his final acts as president, took 37 inmates off federal death row, switching their sentences to life imprisonment
The current Trump Administration has indicated it will resume executions
Only three individuals currently remain on federal death row: The Boston Bomber, the Tree of Life synagogue shooter, and the killer of nine members of a black church in South Carolina
RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office
🇷🇺 Vladimir Putin ordered the conscription of 160,000 men, the largest draft since 2011, per Russian state media
🇺🇸 Republican Randy Fine won the race for National Security Adviser Mike Waltz’s former House seat in Florida with 54% of the vote – far closer than President Trump and Waltz’s 30-point margin in November
🇨🇳 Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz is in talks to buy TikTok from its Chinese owner as the 75-day delay on the app’s ban is set to expire on April 5
🤑 Japan’s Softbank closed a $40B investment in OpenAI that values the AI company at $300B – the largest investment in a private tech company ever
🚗 The EU fined 15 major car companies $495M for their role in a vehicle recycling cartel that colluded to jointly conceal their cars’ recyclability and the materials used in new cars
What does Roca Nation think?
🧠 Yesterday’s Question: Pop star Chappell Roan says none of her friends who are parents with little kids seem happy. Is that true in your experience?
Absolutely not. It’s been the opposite; our kids have made our lives even better. Are there daily challenges that come up? Of course. Do we get to do all the fun things we want? No, but it is worth it. It’s all about perspective— Chappell has a completely different worldview than my friends and I and if I had to take a guess, her friends share a similar worldview. One that sees kids as more of a burden and interruption to the life you want rather than a gift and opportunity to enjoy them and make them feel like the most loved people in the world. We all genuinely enjoy our life with kids — it just looks… different than it used to.
Is this question an April Fools joke? Children absolutely equal happiness! My children are 4 and 1; they bring me a joy that I never experienced before their existence. Having children gives life purpose and meaning. I have friends that don’t ever want children and sometimes I wonder, “what gets you out of bed in the morning?”
Couldn't disagree more as a father to two (3year old boy and 1 year old girl) with number 3 on the way.
My wife and I are constantly saying to each other how truly blessed we are with our little family. The amount of time I have true uncontrollable laughter from the funny things the little ones say and do is 10 fold the amount I would laugh before kids.
Admittedly we are fortunate enough to live with only one parent working which unquestionably makes the work load more manageable with kids. We've made the deliberate choice of putting time with kids above some more financial luxuries and it's been a great decision.
They aren't little long and we wanted to enjoy it as much as possible. Once they are teenagers and know how lame their old parents are we will work longer hours!
From the outside looking in- I can see that it may come off that way to someone without young kids. We tend to complain about the hard stuff because venting feels good...but there's a whole other side of indescribably wonderful, life changing and self-affirming moments happening simultaneously that sometimes are too precious to even speak of. We are growing and transforming as we watch our kids grow- it probably looks so messy from other's point of views but it's worth every friggin second.
🧐 Today’s Question: Why do you think older people are happier? (Virtually every happiness study/survey finds this to be true).
POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour
⚽ Matchday Matchmaking: Premier League team Arsenal is launching a dating show called “The Big Match” that will feature blind dates between fans held at the Emirates Stadium
💰 Hooters Going Bust? Hooters, the chain often called a “breastaurant” for its scantily-clad waitresses, has filed for bankruptcy protection amid mounting debt
🇯🇵 Ye Olde Bunker: Kanye West's former Malibu bunker, designed by renowned Japanese architect Tadao Ando, sold for over $30M just a week after hitting the market
🧑⚖️ Buskers Silenced: A judge ordered a London council to stop street musicians following a lawsuit claiming that repetitive performances forced some local restaurant staff to work in cupboards
🏀 NBA’s French Connection: The NBA is in talks to establish a presence in Paris, with the Qatari owners of soccer team Paris Saint-Germain reportedly eyed as the main shareholder for a French expansion
ROCA WRAP
The “Big One”
Japan
A report by this country’s government warned that the "big one" could kill nearly 300,000 people.
Japan sits along the Pacific "Ring of Fire," making it one of the world's most seismically active countries. The island nation has long prepared for major earthquakes, particularly after the devastating 2011 magnitude 9.0 tremor and tsunami that struck its northeastern coast. A new government report published Monday has now updated predictions for what experts consider Japan's most feared seismic threat.
The forecast focuses on a worst-case scenario earthquake (“The Big One”) in the Nankai Trough, a 900km-long ocean trench where tectonic plates intersect along Japan's Pacific coast.
Government experts predict a magnitude 9 quake here could kill nearly 300,000 people, create 12.3M evacuees, and cause $1.8T in economic damage – roughly half the country's annual GDP. The most devastating scenario would occur if the quake struck on a winter evening, when people are crowded on public transport or using heating and cooking appliances in wooden homes.
Similar to the 2011 disaster, the greatest threat would come not from the earthquake itself, but from the resulting tsunami, which could claim about three times as many lives as the initial tremor and building collapses.
Together, the earthquake and tsunami could injure about 950,000 people and destroy 2.4M houses. Shizuoka Prefecture, an industrial region, would suffer the heaviest toll, with projections suggesting more than 100,000 deaths possible in that region alone
A government panel of experts said in January there's an "around 80 percent" chance of a magnitude 8-9 earthquake occurring in the Nankai Trough within the next 30 years.
Still, there was some good news buried in the frightening report: The worst-case death toll is now 30,000 – 10% – lower than the projected total in the previous version of the report, released in 2015. That fall has been accredited to the strengthening of buildings, warning systems, and general preparedness, suggesting that caution is the best defense.
EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts
Max F is currently in the air on the way to Pakistan. In addition to prepping for the trip and polishing up upcoming We The 66 newsletters, Max F watched the new Bob Dylan movie, A Complete Unknown. Now he’s wearing sunglasses and can’t stop mumbling — time to reshape Pakistanis’ American stereotypes.
Max T, on the other hand, has this to say on the Question of the Day: With a brother who has three young boys, I’ve seen the challenges of being a parent up close, but the joy that comes with it makes those challenges look small and a tradeoff not worth considering. Maybe some young parents don’t like to brag about this joy to people without kids — especially to the type whose definition of fun involves bottle service at Vegas — and this skews the perception of life with young kids.
Have an amazing day, Roca Nation.
–Max and Max