Pande-mic Drop?: The masks are coming off. We’re beginning to reconnect with our old lives. But we’re all a little worried that this is timeout, not game over. Is the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic behind us? We asked 8 experts.

+ Lose Your Illusion: “Volodymyr Zelensky’s courage has moved people, even the hard-bitten CEOs of oil companies, even dull diplomats accustomed to rote pronouncements. Vladimir Putin’s paranoid ranting, meanwhile, has frightened even people who were lauding his “savvy” just a few days ago. He is not, in fact, someone you can do business with, as so many in Berlin, Paris, London, and Washington falsely believed; he is a cold-blooded dictator happy to murder hundreds of thousands of neighbors and impoverish his nation, if that’s what it takes to remain in power. However the war ends—and many scenarios are still imaginable—we already live in a world with fewer illusions.” The excellent Anne Applebaum in The Atlantic: The Impossible Suddenly Became Possible.

+ Texas Hold Everything: “According to the lawsuit’s complaint, the DFPS employee, identified only as Jane Doe, was placed on administrative leave on Feb. 23, the day after Abbott’s letter. On Feb. 25, an investigator showed up at the house where she lives with her child, who the suit said has been diagnosed with gender dysphoria and is receiving ‘medically necessary care,’ including puberty blockers and hormone therapy.” A Mother Is Suing After Texas Launched A “Child Abuse” Investigation Over Her Teen’s Gender-Affirming Care.

+ Opening Daze: Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack… MLB Owners: “You can only have one or the other and there’s no longer a prize in the Cracker Jack.” What we know and don’t know as MLB delays Opening Day. (Thousands of organizations are boycotting Russia. Only the MLB has the guts to boycott everything.)