Vox Sentences - How to be alone with your thoughts 💭

Every time I think about how, yes, it is in fact an election year, I simply shut down. What do you mean it’s 2024? Wasn’t it just 2020 like three days ago?

As deputy editor of Future Perfect — Vox’s section on the myriad challenges and efforts in making the world a better place — I’m always looking ahead at what’s next. AI, improvements in the human condition, and the future of public health are all avenues I find myself digging deep into and curious to learn more about. 

That means day-to-day news can sometimes be on the back burner for me. It’s hard to keep up with every little update in the politics world. That’s why I’m so grateful for my colleagues’ coverage of the Republican primaries this week. In two razor-sharp pieces, Andrew Prokop explains how a Nikki Haley presidency would be better (and worse!) than Trump’s as well as what it would take for her to win.

So many political pundits are saying it’s time for Haley to throw in the towel without explaining why. I appreciated Andrew’s clear-sighted way of telling me what the stakes are, and why primaries are the way that they are. When it feels like the future of the US, and the world, is at stake, I want it explained to me with no horse-race jargon, and I want to know what’s actually important.

Here are a few of the other articles, podcasts, and videos from my colleagues that I appreciated this week.

—Izzie Ramirez, deputy editor of Future Perfect

Why would anyone be against life-saving malaria bednets?

Mosquito bednets can help prevent malaria, dengue, and a whole slew of other diseases. Despite the fact they save more than a million lives every year from malaria, there’s a billionaire out there who thinks they’re bad! Dylan provides sorely needed clarity here on why. 

🎧 How to be a (realistic) climate optimist 

I loved this interview on Vox podcast The Weeds with data scientist Hannah Ritchie, one of our 2023 Future Perfect 50 honorees. It’s so easy to feel overwhelmed by all the bad things happening every day, but Ritchie provides a data-backed framework to think about climate change: Hope, not doom, is a motivator for action. 

📹 What your credit score actually means

I’m in my “I need to start getting serious about money” era. I had a lot of loose knowledge about credit scores and how they figure into mortgages and whatnot in the US — but the history and mechanics are a whole other ball game, and I learned so much from this video. 

How to be alone with your thoughts

In case it wasn’t abundantly obvious from my past two recommendations, Vox excels at providing smart frameworks for thinking through problems in your life. In addition to my 2024 resolutions about money, I’m also trying to incorporate more meditation and mindfulness into my life. (It helps that I edit Oshan Jarow, the absolute GOAT at explaining why those two practices matter.) Allie’s expert-informed piece encourages us to embrace negative self-talk as it comes — discomfort becomes easier if you do. 

Hawaii’s out-of-control, totally bizarre fight over stray cats 

Okay, if you love a) cats, b) incredible photography, and c) a nuanced dive into community and academic tensions, Benji’s got you covered. I’m not a cat owner (I’m allergic), so I had no idea what kind of ecological impacts feral and pet cats could have. 

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