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Before we get to the news, there’s a question I can’t stop turning over.
I watch the Artemis II coverage — astronauts circling the moon, sending back dispatches about how small the divisions look from up there, how obviously connected we all are. I hear the Pope’s Easter sermon about growing numb to violence. And I flip back to the war, the bombing updates, the daily drumbeat of us versus them, problems solved through force. We are so locked into this cycle. Everyone taking the most chips off the table for themselves.
So many of us who want another way feel there’s nothing we can do about any of it.
What if there is something we can do — just quieter than we’re imagining, more local, more rooted in this exact moment? What if the shift doesn’t begin in Washington or on a battlefield, but in how we treat the stranger walking next to us? What if we can make a difference simply by choosing to notice what someone else is carrying, and deciding to help?
This might sound corny. But extreme times call for unexpected responses. So I put this question to my Instagram audience over the weekend and got powerful responses. This one stopped me.
“I think because of all the cruelty and lack of kindness seemingly growing all around us, I’ve recently been noticing where and to whom I can be a helper. A woman with a cane was crossing the street beside me. There was a puddle. She asked for my hand. I reached out and helped her over. A woman at yoga — I’d only ever said hi to her before — after class I asked how she was doing. It just came out of my mouth. She said, ‘not good.’ I asked if she wanted a hug. She did. While I’m so angry and tired about what’s happening around me, I simultaneously feel like my empathy has grown exponentially. I feel this push to put back into the world what’s being taken out of it. Maybe because I just don’t know what else I can do. But this is something.”
It really is something. So many of you are feeling this — this pull toward empathy that seems to grow in direct proportion to the awful. I wonder if that’s the answer hiding in plain sight: make it local, make it personal, make it now. Let me know what you think.
Onto the news.
In today’s newsletter: Trump threatens Iran with “demolition” if the Strait isn’t reopened — clock ticking. Civilians in Iran face blackouts and food shortages. A downed US pilot is rescued. The Supreme Court gives Steve Bannon a win. America’s public lands are under threat. Savannah Guthrie returns to the Today show. A new profile calls the OpenAI CEO “unconstrained by truth.” And today, the Artemis II crew traveled further from Earth than any humans in history — and named a piece of the moon for someone they loved.
**Countdown to Deadline:**President Trump set a deadline for 8pm EST Tuesdaydemanding Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuzor face the “complete demolition” of its civilian infrastructure. This follows a threat he made Easter Sunday,warning Iranto “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastard, or you’ll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah.” Today he did not back off, warning they will “not have a country” if they don’t make a deal. So what is really happening? Iranrejecteda45-day ceasefire proposalmade by outside parties. Itcountered with a 10-point peace planto permanently end all fighting in the region, which Trump rejected as “not good enough.” And in a▶long press conference— in which he threatened to jail a reporter and also said he could be the next president of Venezuela — Trump suggested that ceasefire negotiations are and aren’t progressing and we may and may not be at the cusp of a deal. (We’re not being clever, that’s just what he said.)Happy Easter: Trumpsuggested on Mondaythat Iranians are “willing to suffer” for freedom and areasking him to keep bombing. In fact thecurrency has plummeted to record lowsand grain imports — which the country relies on — havedropped 92%, driving fears of a hunger crisis. And attacks on nuclear power plants and energy depots havecaused rolling 12 hour blackouts. There isno indication the people of Iran, including those who object to the regime, like or want this as they are bearing the brunt of the attacks. Defense Secretary Pete Hegsethsaid Monday and Tuesdaywould see “the largest volume of strikes” since the start of the war.Home Safe: The US successfullyrescued an air force colonelwho was stranded in Iran after his F-15E plane was shot down. The operation involved hundreds of personnel andresulted in the destruction of multiple aircraft. Trump onMonday said his administrationis searching for the “leaker” behind the initial reports of the crew member’s situation and threatened the reporter who “did the story” with jail time. You can read about the daring rescue and the CIA’s subterfuge operationhere.Pumped Up: US gas prices continue to rise. 55% of Americanssaid prices were higher than they expectedin March, up from 38% in February. Thenationwide averageon Monday hit $4.12, up 38% since before the war. But some states are already seeingprices far higher; in California the average price is nearing $6 a gallon. I paid $6.19 a gallon this weekend for the first time ever.Violence: Strikes continue throughout the region. Israel on Saturdaystruck Iran’s largest petrochemical plant. Israel’s militarysaid the facilityproduced “chemical materials used for weapons.” Iranian officialsargued it underpins“civilian industries that had nothing to do with military use.” Israel on Mondaykilled the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ intelligence chiefand theleader of the Quds force’s undercover unit. It alsostepped up strikes on Lebanon, killing dozens and ordering more villages to evacuate; medical workers havewarned the healthcare systemis being targeted. Iranlaunched multiple missiles at nationsthroughout the region,killing at least fourin a residential building in Haifa, in Northern Israel.
Loose Bannon: The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration tomove forward with clearingSteve Bannon’s criminal conviction. Bannon, a Trump ally andfar-rightconspiracy theorist, wasconvicted in 2024of contempt of Congress after he ignored a subpoena for information related to the Jan 6 attack on the Capitol. He served four months in prison. Bannoninsists that he didn’t“willfully” defy the subpoena, but instead followed his lawyer’s advice, which held that Bannon’s testimony wasprotected by Trump’s executive privilege. The Trump administrationsaid dismissing Bannon’s case“is in the interest of justice.” The Court’s rationale? The fact the Trump administration won’t defend Bannon’s conviction.Cut, Cut, Cut: The US Forest Service manages 193 million acres of public land and produces the research that guides how we manage America’s forests. The Trump administration is now restructuring it in ways critics say will gut it and lead to the dismantling of our public lands. TheTrump administration’s“sweeping restructuring” of the Forest Servicewould close57 (or 74%) of the agency’s research facilities, all nine of its regional offices, and will move thenational HQ to Salt Lake City. That last part matters: Utah is where thefederal government ownsnearly 63% of the land, where the state is currentlysuing to seize control of millions of acresof federal land, and where Senator Mike Lee has spent years pushing tosell off or transfer public landsto states and private developers. The USDAsays the movewill “boost logging” and bring leadership closer to “ranchers and timber producers.” Critics call it astrategic repositioning— putting the agency’s leadership inside the territory of its most aggressive opponents. Theywarn of an unprecedented purge. During Trump’s first term, he put the Bureau of Land Managementthrough a similar restructuring, and 87% of the main office’s staff left. (The BLM move was also to a Western state. DC staff resigned rather than relocate. Critics say that wasn’t a bug, it was the point.) The restructuring lands on top of cuts already underway. The Trump administrationslashedfunding(and hasrequested to do so again in 2027),pushed for eliminating forest research entirely, and DOGEaxed more than 16% of employees. Meanwhile, the administration isdoubling down on resource extraction, including mining and logging. The USDAreceived 14,000 commentsabout the planned restructuring; 82% were negative. Tribal leadersalso voiced concerns. The administration moved forward anyway. Morale in the Forest Service wasalready low, and thisdoesn’t seem to have helped. Oneemployee in the Midwest put it simply: “reactions range from crying to anger to silence.”
Choose Peace: Pope Leo XIV used his first Easter address Sunday tocall for peaceand a reconsideration of our own attitudes about violence and death. Unlike his predecessor, hedid not name a specific country or conflict, but instead urged “those who have the power to unleash wars” to “choose peace.” “We are growing accustomed to violence,…
