🌊 Return of the Pope

The Office turns 20.

20 years ago today, The Office premiered on NBC. Based on a British show with Ricky Gervais that your most pretentious friend swears is superior, The Office’s first season only ran for six episodes. Apparently the network wasn’t sold on the premise that a show about a paper company in Scranton starring a beet-farming savant and a boss who’d make even a seasoned HR rep weep into their coffee would be a big hit. Thankfully it was, and an entire generation of Americans got free workplace harassment training.

–Max and Max

KEY STORY

ChatGPT → Loneliness?

Higher use of chatbots like ChatGPT may correspond with increased loneliness and less time spent socializing with others, per a new study from MIT and OpenAI

• The study had researchers follow ~1,000 randomly selected people for a month. Subjects were given a text or voice version of ChatGPT and told to carry out open-ended chats

• Researchers found that those who spent more time with ChatGPT each day reported higher levels of emotional dependence on the chatbot and increased levels of loneliness

• They also noted that people who tend to get more emotionally attached in human relationships were also more trusting of the chatbot

Dig Deeper 

• Researchers also analyzed 3M conversations and found that very few ChatGPT users engage in emotional conversations with the chatbot relative to other uses

• They said more study is needed and that it’s still unclear whether chatbots cause people to feel lonelier or whether people prone to loneliness have those feelings worsened by chatbots

KEY STORY

No China Plans for Musk

After multiple reports, the Pentagon declined to show Elon Musk plans for a potential war with China

• On Thursday, the New York Times and Wall Street Journal reported that defense officials were set to brief Musk on top-secret plans for a potential war with China. The reports sparked a backlash, particularly given Musk’s significant business interests in China

• On Friday, the Pentagon said that Musk received no confidential information and said that he had an informal meeting with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth

• President Trump responded to the reports on social media by writing, “China will not even be mentioned or discussed…Elon has businesses in China. And he would be susceptible, perhaps, to that”

Dig Deeper

• Musk is a top contractor for the Pentagon, including through SpaceX and Starlink, yet he also has significant investments in China, including much of Tesla’s manufacturing. A Tesla factory in Shanghai is the company’s largest outside the US. Musk has also maintained close ties with high-ranking Chinese leaders

• Musk criticized the anonymous defense officials cited in the reports, saying he looked forward to “the prosecutions of those at the Pentagon who are leaking maliciously false information to NYT”

QUOTE OF THE DAY

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KEY STORY

Pope Released from Hospital

Pope Francis was released from the hospital after five weeks of intensive care

• Pope Francis was admitted to the hospital on February 14 after experiencing bronchitis symptoms. His condition worsened, resulting in an infection and pneumonia in both lungs

• On Saturday, Francis left the hospital and made a public appearance, waving at a group of well-wishers gathered outside before delivering flowers to a church he frequently visits

• His recent hospital stay was the most serious of his 12-year papacy

Dig Deeper

• Though the pope has returned home to the Vatican, his doctors have said it will take "a lot of time" for his body to fully recover and heal

• They have ordered two more months of rest and told him to avoid large or stressful meetings. The Pope’s personal physician said he hoped Francis could travel to Turkey at the end of May, in addition to welcoming King Charles III at the Vatican on April

KEY STORY

Columbia Concedes

Facing a cut of $400M in federal dollars, Columbia University agreed to overhaul numerous policies

• Trump had threatened to cut the funding over Columbia’s perceived tolerance of anti-Semitic protests and progressive academics

• On Friday, Columbia said it would hire a new security force with the power to arrest students; prohibit the wearing of face masks for the purpose of concealing one’s identity; and adopt a formal definition of antisemitism, which will reportedly prohibit “celebrating violence against [Jews or Israelis]”

• The university will also appoint a new official to oversee the Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies Department, which critics had accused of promoting anti-Israel ideas

Dig Deeper

• Many at the university expressed dismay about the changes, characterizing them as surrender by the university to the Trump Administration’s conservative agenda. Others celebrated them as curbing what they saw as progressive excesses at a leading university

• The University of Pennsylvania, another Ivy League university, appears to be Trump’s next target: Last week, he threatened to freeze $175M in federal funding to the school unless it prohibited transgender women from participating in women’s sports

RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office

🇨🇦 Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called elections for April 28, kicking off a five-week campaign against Pierre Poilievre, the Conservative leader and main challenger

🇺🇦 The US envoy leading negotiations over Ukraine said he expects to see “real progress” in the coming days. US officials met Ukrainian officials on Sunday and will meet the Russians on Monday

✈️ The Pentagon deployed a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East as the situation there deteriorates. In the last week, Israel has renewed attacks on Gaza; the US has carried out strikes on the Houthis in Yemen; and Lebanese militants and Israel have renewed attacks on each other

👟 Nike shares hit a five-year low after warning about low earnings

🥊 George Foreman – the legendary boxer who parlayed his success into a grill company – passed away at 76

What does Roca Nation think?

🧠 Today’s Question: Should people have big dogs in big cities?

Reply to this email with your response!

POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour

🇮🇪 Punching Above His Weight?: Former UFC champion Conor McGregor announced he's running for the Irish presidency on an anti-immigration platform, vowing to oppose the EU's new migration pact if elected

🐂 Bullfighting Ban: Mexico City lawmakers overwhelmingly voted to ban bullfighting, sparking outrage from fans and praise from animal rights groups

🏞️ Nature Nurtures: A new study found that watching nature videos can reduce a person’s pain levels

🐩 Big Dollar Dogs: An Indian dog enthusiast purchased what he claims is the world's most expensive dog – a rare "wolfdog" cross between a wolf and Caucasian Shepherd – for $5.3M

🏀 Aura Madness: One March Madness upset was enough for McNeese State men's basketball student manager Amir "Aura" Khan to net a dozen NIL deals "totaling well into the six figures." His new sponsors include TurboTax and Buffalo Wild Wings

ROCA WRAP
Crime Emergency

Lima

Peru's government declared a state of emergency in this city after a popular singer was shot dead.

Lima, Peru's sprawling capital city on the Pacific coast, is home to over 10M people and serves as the country's political and economic center. In many ways a vibrant, modern metropolis, Lima has recently seen a surge in criminal activity, particularly extortion rackets targeting businesses.

The situation escalated dramatically last week, when Paul Flores, a prominent musician, was shot and killed early Sunday when the bus he was traveling in came under fire from unknown armed assailants.

The government responded by imposing a 30-day emergency decree for Lima and neighboring Callao province. The declaration grants authorities additional powers to deploy military personnel to combat lawlessness alongside police forces. Soldiers have already begun patrolling the streets in an effort to restore order.

The emergency declaration follows weeks of escalating violence blamed on criminal groups that often target businesses, including transport companies. President Dina Boluarte expressed outrage following the singer's death, stating she would like to see murderers face the death penalty. That may be complicated by two things: Not only does Peru only allow execution for convicted traitors, but many crimes go unpunished.

For a city once celebrated as a culinary capital and tourist destination, Lima now faces the difficult task of reclaiming its streets from the shadow of fear.

EDITOR’S NOTE
Trump's Craziest Claim Was... True

During Trump's State of the Union, he made the claim that the National Institutes of Health spent $8M on "transgender mice." In the two weeks since, late night hosts and the media in general have mocked him. We decided to investigate the claim to see if it was true or definitively false, as Bill Maher, Jimmy Kimmel, CNN (initially), and others have confidently asserted. Watch this video to learn the truth.

EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts

We watched 40 hours of basketball this weekend and can honestly say… weekend well spent. Between the Maryland buzzer-beater and battle of the Italians in Providence between Pitino and Calipari, March Madness gave us exactly the respite we needed.

We hope you also had a great weekend — perhaps a more fulfilling one — and that you’re ready for another week with better weather and longer days. Let’s ride!

–Max and Max