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Thursday marked two months since President Donald Trump’s inauguration, but I’m going to focus on another event that took place that day: the start of March Madness. 

My first real job was at Sports Illustrated, tucked in a corner of the 32nd floor of a skyscraper in midtown Manhattan. Our cubicles had tiny TVs with a full cable package, but I never used mine. March Madness was an exception. The start of the NCAA basketball tournament was a peak time to be at SI: major games during work hours, limited expectations for productivity, a day or two of office pizza. As games came down to the wire, there was always an important challenge — to figure out whose cable was running the fastest. So the lag between different TVs didn’t spoil a buzzer beater for half the office, we’d crowd around one screen to watch the final seconds. 

I was thinking about that last night while watching Drake upset Missouri with a smaller group huddled around a bigger screen. March Madness is always a happy distraction from whatever’s going on, and this year that includes a news cycle that won’t slow down. 

In that spirit, here’s one must-read politics story from Vox this week and a handful of others that will entertain and distract you until the next buzzer beater.

—Bill Carey, executive director of audience and membership 

This is why Kamala Harris really lost

Trump would’ve won by 5 points if everyone had voted? Of all the fascinating tidbits in this conversation between Eric Levitz and influential data scientist David Shor, that’s the point that most caught my attention. But there’s plenty more worth your time — on TikTok swinging voters right, on Trump winning voters under 30, on what the Democratic Party should learn. This is the definitive breakdown of what really happened in the 2024 presidential election that you’ve been waiting for. 

🎧 The AI revolution is here. Can we build a Good Robot?

I never realized how much the story of AI was a story of parables — parables understood and misunderstood, interpreted and riinterpreted. A world-ending paper clip optimizer, an octopus — and, on the third episode of Good Robot, a great mini-series from the Unexplainable team, the story of a drowning child. The implications and influence of that parable will change the way you think about the threat and opportunity of AI. 

The surprising thing I learned from quitting Spotify

Last summer, Adam Clark Estes quit Spotify. Now he’s back on the platform, and he’s got a lesson for all of us about how to optimize the many algorithms shaping our world. 

Think twice before you smear beef tallow and salmon sperm on your face

I can’t do a better job of selling you on this story from Sam Delgado than she does in the opening paragraph: “For a chance at a youthful complexion, you could slap rendered cow fat on your face, rub snail slime into your wrinkles, or get a salmon sperm facial right after a microneedling treatment.” The rest of the article is a fascinating look at the hidden costs of these unusual beauty trends. 

It’s spring. Take a breath. Read a book.

I delight every month when Constance Grady’s book recommendations newsletter hits my inbox. For March, she recommends four books “that offer us portraits of women in complicated, visceral detail.” I immediately requested two from the library, so you know I think this month’s choices are worth your time. But my recommendation to you is to sign up for the newsletter so you get help every month finding your next read. 

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