Thanks for the pointer. I wasn't aware of this new related box. It still seems to be a test. As to what I think of it, I'm not entirely sure yet. I mean, on YouTube I often find interesting content through the related videos side column. So I actually like the related video thing on YouTube. It rarely stops me from finishing the video I'm currently on. So something similar could be helpful on Medium too.

I would have to encounter the related box a few times in the wild myself to see whether I actually find it distracting.

Also keep in mind that the related box can drive traffic to your stories when it appears on someone else's story too. It's not just that it drives traffic away.