Explain It to Me
Episodes
A cheery discussion of global warming, Obamacare repeal, and death
31 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Ezra, Sarah, and Matt pick apart Trump's next executive order on climate, exhume the AHCA's corpse, and read a white paper about death. Learn m...
Weeds in the Wild: Postville
24 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
It was the biggest workplace immigration raid the U.S. had seen to date. 389 workers, almost all of them Hispanic, were detained at a kosher meatpacki...
Mad Dogs and Obamacare Repealers
21 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Ezra and Matt are joined by Yochi Dreazen to talk about national security policy in the Trump era, the latest on ACA repeal, and research indicating t...
CB-uh oh!
15 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt talk about Donald Trump's taxes, the disastrous CBO score of the GOP health care bill, and a study on how Chinese imports reduce...
AHCApalooza
08 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt discuss how to pronounce the big new Republican health law, plus analyze its content and the puzzling politics surrounding its i...
Don't Call It a State of the Union
01 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt try to discuss Donald Trump's address to a joint session of congress through the lens of actual policy. Learn more abou...
Death Panel If You Do, Death Panel If You Don't
22 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt talk fake news, town hall protests, and research on why your cell phone bill is so high. Learn more about your ad choic...
Weeds in the Wild: Sarah Goes to Kentucky
17 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In another episode of their new podcast, Sarah and Vox's Liz Scheltens explore why Obamacare enrollees in Kentucky voted for Trump. Learn mor...
Privet, Amerika!
15 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt talk about the latest Russia-related scandal engulfing the Trump administration, the White House's lack of progress on policy, a...
The Time Traveling Emanuel Brothers
09 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt talk about anti-Trump protests, cabinet confirmations, and health insurance age rating (exciting!) Learn more about you...
SCOTUS, DBCFT, and Hitler's Highways
01 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt talk about Neil Gorsuch, a controversial tax reform idea, and Nazi infrastructure building. Learn more about your ad choi...
The Don't-Call-It-A-Muslim-Ban
30 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Dara Lind joins Ezra and Matt to discuss Donald Trump's latest crackdown on immigrants and refugees. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit po...
Gag Order and Infrastructure
26 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt talk about widely-misunderstood Trump administration efforts to shut up career civil servants, talk about infrastructure, and as...
Inauguration Special
21 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Shortly after the inauguration ceremonies ended, Ezra, Matt, and Sarah gathered to analyze what it all means in the first Trump-era Weeds episode. ...
DeVos, Rigged Polls, and Quitting Bureaucrats
18 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt are joined by Libby Nelson to discuss Trump's not-so-great hires, not-so-great polls, and new research into how career staff act...
Trump Cabinet, Obamacare Update, and Heroin
10 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt talk about the rush to hold hearings on Trump's cabinet appointees, the sudden emergence of trouble in repeal paradise, and an e...
Sarah and Ezra Interview Obama About Obamacare
06 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Two weeks before he leaves office, President Obama sits down for a lengthy conversation about the lessons of the Affordable Care Act and the law's unc...
Happy New Year
04 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah and Matt offer predictions for 2017, and offer tax wonk tips about when to time your child's birth. Learn more about your ad choices. V...
Year-End Spectacular
28 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt each review one big thing they learned in a tumultuous year for policy and politics. Learn more about your ad choices. ...
Kentucky, the Rust Belt, and the Big Picture on Trade
21 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt talk about what Obamacare-using Trump voters are hoping for, which regions really need help, and a massive overview of the evide...
Russia and the American Dream
14 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Ezra and Matt discuss Russian hacking, Rex Tillerson, and inequality's role in reducing social mobility. Learn more about your ad choices. Visi...
Trump's Surprisingly Ambitious Education Agenda
07 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Matt is joined by Libby Nelson to discuss Donald Trump's big plans for K-12 education and his massive financial conflicts of interest. Learn mo...
Assessing the Trump Cabinet — and Exploring How Recessions Affect Health
30 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah and Matt take a deep dive into what Trump's cabinet picks say about how he will govern, with a particular focus on HHS Secretary-designate Tom P...
Conflicts of Interest, Trump and the Media, and Rethinking Teen Pregnancy
23 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt consider the extraordinary possibility of corruption during the Trump administration, the president-elect's unusual relationship...
Sneak peak: a new Vox podcast, about how policy effects real people
21 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
This is a pilot episode of a new show Sarah has been working on, looking at the real-life stakes of policymaking. The show's name? That's for you to h...
The Trump Agenda
16 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt talk about Obamacare repeal, deportations, and the House Democrats leadership fight. Learn more about your ad choices. Vi...
Trumpocalypse Now
09 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt look at the causes and consequences of Donald Trump's shocking win. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoice...
The Massive Policy Stakes of 2016
04 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
You may not know it from watching cable news — but both Trump and Clinton have very clear and very different policy visions for America. Ezra, Matt,...
Is Obamacare Failing?
26 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Ezra, Matt and Sarah go deep into what's going wrong with Obamacare's rising premiums — and take on a research paper that helps explain a lot about ...
Final Debate Special
20 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Ezra, Sarah, and Matt rally after a late night to talk about the third and mercifully last presidential debate. Learn more about your ad choice...
Second Presidential Debate Special
10 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The morning after Clinton and Trump's debate in St. Louis, Ezra, Sarah, and Matt head to the studio to talk about internal Republican divisions, Trump...
Veep Debate and Cranky Judges
05 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt debate Mike Pence's puzzling performance at the vice presidential debate and highlight new research on the surprising link betwe...
The First Debate and Pet Health Care
29 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt try to take the policy content of the Trump-Clinton debate seriously and discuss important new research into out of control heal...
An Interview with Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell
21 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The Weeds' Sarah Kliff heads to Capitol Hill to interview Secretary Burwell on all things health care. They talked about how to pay doctors to provide...
Best Census Ever, the Trump Foundation, and Class Discrimination
14 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt get deep into the weeds of the latest Census report on income and poverty, briefly consider Donald Trump's ridiculous charity, a...
Gender Wage Gap and the Mystery of State Legislatures
08 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Reunited after many summer vacations, Sarah, Ezra, and Matt take a deep dive into Claudia Goldin's theory of the gender pay gap and possible remedies....
EpiPen Prices, the Clinton Foundation, and Lead Exposure
31 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Why did EpiPen's price skyrocket 400 percent over the past decade? Sarah and Matt dive into the complex world of American drug pricing to find out. Al...
Obamacare Update and Aging America
24 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt are all together for a gloriously in-the-weeds discussion of the success and failure of the Affordable Care Act plus some hot ne...
Think Tanks, Transition, and What Drives Trumpkins
18 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Ezra and Matt talk about conflicts of interest in think tank funding, Hillary Clinton's transition team, and the biggest study yet of who supports Don...
Trump's tax plan, democratic legitimacy, and the Freakonomics of decisionmaking
12 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Ezra is joined by Dara Lind and Libby Nelson to talk about Donald Trump's new tax plan — how it shows the difference between Trump and reform conser...
Interview with Atul Gawande
03 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
With Ezra and Matt on summer vacation, Sarah is left to her own devices — and decides to share a fantastic interview from the Ezra Klein Show with s...
DNC-Palooza
28 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
With Matt dispatched to Philadelphia, Sarah and Ezra are left to make sense of the Democratic National Convention. They discuss why it feels so differ...
Republican Convention Special
22 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Matt, Sarah, and Ezra take a deep dive into the many detailed policies proposals discussed at the RNC in Cleveland. Learn more about your ad ch...
Basic Income and Police Shootings
15 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Andy Stern joins Ezra, Sarah, and Matt to talk about his new book, Raising the Floor: How a Universal Basic Income Can Renew Our Economy and Rebuild ...
Hillary Clinton. Yes, that Hillary Clinton.
14 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
A special presentation from the Ezra Klein Show: My interview this week is with Hillary Clinton. You may have heard of her.I won't bore you with Clin...
Free College, Email Extravaganza, and the China Shock
08 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Matt, Ezra, and Sarah talk about proposals to eliminate college tuition, the real issues behind Hillary's email server, and a new paper on a small pol...
Brexit 2, SCOTUS on abortion, and the missing male workers
01 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt discuss the United Kingdom's descent into political chaos, a big win for abortion rights at the high court, and a big labor mark...
Welfare reform, SCOTUS deadlock, and health care jerk
25 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt consider the alarming rise in deep poverty over the past 15 years, a fresh Supreme Court non-decision that imperils Obama's immi...
Guns, Brexit, and Free Condoms
17 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah and Matt discuss the nexus of terrorism and gun control, Britain's upcoming referendum, and an unintended consequence of school condom giveaways...
5uper Tue5day
10 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Hillary Clinton's clinch of the Democratic nomination gives Sarah, Ezra, and Matt a chance to go deep on what we know about women in electoral politic...
Accountable Care Organizations, more Swedish administrative data, and the big city recovery
03 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
With Ezra in sunny California, Matt and Sarah gets weedsier than ever as she attempts to explain to Matt the mysteries of ACOs before they discuss a b...
Health care innovation, did Dems rig the primary, and fetal stress
27 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Health care innovation, did Dems rig the primary, and fetal stress: Sarah, Ezra, and Matt look at a specific case in America's great productivity slow...
90s nostalgia, Obamacare lawsuits, and the truth about abortion
20 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Ezra, Sarah, and Matt look back at whether Bill Clinton deserves credit for the booming economy of the 1990s, survey the ongoing legal challenges to O...
Competition in Obamacare marketplaces and how low-income housing can boost poor neighborhoods
13 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt talk about which companies are succeeding and failure in the Affordable Care Act's new individual market and why, and delve deep...
Trump is the Republican nominee. What happens next?
06 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Trump is the last man standing in the Republican nominating contest — so Ezra, Matt, and Sarah spend this week's entire episode taking stock of what...
Interview with Secretary of Defense Ash Carter
02 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Max Fisher sits down with Defense Secretary Ash Carter to talk about the modern international environment, why Carter thinks great power rivalry is ma...
Land value taxes, soda taxes, and carbon taxes — oh my!
29 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Every policy nerd has their favorite tax proposal — and today on the Weeds, Sarah, Matt, and Ezra talk about a few of theirs. What would happen if w...
Our undemocratic primaries, Obama's new fiduciary rule, and the challenge of information polarization
22 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
With Sarah still on vacation Ezra and Matt ask what we want out of our presidential nominating system, explain a new regulatory initiative that could ...
Interview with Jason Furman
18 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The Obama administration's top economist talks to Vox's Dylan Matthews about the challenges facing the American economy. Learn more about your ...
Why inequality matters, Trump's delegate problem, and the geography of life expectancy
15 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
With Sarah on vacation, Matt and Ezra talk about the philosophical underpinnings of worries about inequality, take a look at Donald Trump's difficulty...
What the hell is going on with tax havens, explained
08 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Ezra, Matt and Sarah use the Panama Papers to discuss how tax havens and shell corporations became such a big deal, and why America has done so little...
A medical struggle to digitize, a tax calculator, and a paper that explains Trump
01 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
It would be really weird to walk into a bank and have the teller take down your information on pen and paper. But it happens all the time in medicine ...
Replacing No Child Left Behind, wonky March Madness, and Uber's productivity
25 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Special guest star Libby Nelson joins Sarah and Matt to explain the Every Student Succeeds Act, examine the strange history and economics behind the N...
Super(b) Tuesday special
16 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt discuss the results of the March 15 primaries and the state of the 2016 presidential election.Today’s episode is brought to yo...
The productivity slowdown, TrumpCare, and better textbooks
11 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt talk about why Silicon Valley's technical marvels aren't visible in economic statistics, dive into the details of Donald Trump's...
Super Tuesday/Exhausted Wednesday special!
02 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of the Weeds, Ezra, Matt and Sarah discuss the results of Super Tuesday. Everyone is tired, so it gets a bit weird. Topics include whe...
TPP, the Nevada Caucus, and the Great Texas Abortion clinic shutdown.
26 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
By popular demand, Sarah, Matt, and Ezra finally address the Trans Pacific Partnership before contemplating the GOP's ongoing self-immolation, and the...
The Supreme Court vacancy and the possible collapse of American democracy
19 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt consider the case for reforming America's current practice of granting life tenure to Supreme Court Justices, discuss the politi...
Could more corruption fix American politics?
12 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt use the New Hampshire primary results as a lens through which to discuss Jonathan Rauch's case for "political realism" as a gove...
The Iowa Caucuses
02 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Who wins the 2016 election will hugely influence what type of policies Washington passes — and that's why Ezra, Sarah, and Matt devote this entire e...
Will taxing the rich hurt growth – and will third parties save politics?
29 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
It’s one of the most fundamental disputes in Washington: what effect do taxes have on the economy? On this week's episode of the Weeds, Ezra, Matt, ...
Ross Douthat on campus conservatism, being thankful for Donald Trump, and how to write so liberals will read you
26 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In this preview of Ezra's coming interview podcast, he interviews New York Times op-ed columnist Ross Douthat. Douthat is the author of Privilege: Har...
Campaign finance and global inequality — with lead poisoning in between
22 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of the Weeds, Ezra, Matt, and Sarah dive into one of Bernie Sanders' favorite campaign trail arguments: that money causes more Congres...
Obama's Legacy, debating single payer, and Obamacare's jobs impact
15 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Matt, Sarah, and Ezra reflect on Obama's successes and failures, take a look at Hillary Clinton's new attack on Bernie Sanders, and consider some rese...
Immigration and the minimum wage — with an armed stand-off in between
08 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
America's immigration debate is peppered with terms like "path to citizenship" and "amnesty." Those catch phrases can mean vastly different things to ...
Teen births are plummeting — and economists are judging your Christmas gifts
25 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In a very merry Christmas day episode of the Weeds, Ezra and Matt talk to Sarah about how why teen birth rate fell in half since the mid-2000s — and...
Gentrification, a budget deal, and the decline of floating voters
18 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Matt, Sarah, and Ezra lay out what is and isn't troubling about gentrification, break down congress' latest fiscal deal, and discuss a paper that expl...
Ezra interviews Ben Bernanke
15 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In this special episode of The Weeds, Ezra interviews former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke about what it's like to manage the most powerful ec...
Why health premiums rise, and how partisans discriminate
11 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Ezra, Sarah, and Matt are reunited at last for a deep dive into why patients in and out of Obamacare are paying more for health insurance, the rising ...
Dietary fat and climate change
04 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Matt is joined by special guest stars Julia Belluz and Brad Plumer to discuss the science of eating fat, the Paris climate conference, and the public ...
Childbirth, retirement, and terror in between
20 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Ezra, Sarah, and Matt discuss the flaws in the DC elite's favorite idea: raising the retirement age, consider how to respond to terrorist a...
We know how to eliminate poverty. So why don't we?
13 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
On this week's episode of the Weeds, fellow Vox editor Dylan Matthews joins Sarah and Matt for what is certainly the most in-depth discussion of basic...
How politics is making us stupid
06 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Facts rarely seem to win any political debate — and on this episode of the Weeds, Matt, Ezra, and Sarah use political science research to explain wh...
Are we counting poverty all wrong?
30 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Ezra, Sarah, and Matt finally deliver the equivocal takes on gerrymandering that America has been waiting for, dive into the weeds of the b...
Want to fix inequality by taxing the rich? Good luck.
23 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's episode of the Weeds, Ezra, Matt, and Sarah dive head first into a new Brookings white paper about income inequality (and how to not to...
The Weeds: Can the government trick you into dieting?
16 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
On this week's episode, Ezra, Sarah, and Matt debate a little known Obamacare program, learn all about Nordic economies, and take on a new white paper...
Arthur Brooks on think tanks, happiness, and management
15 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In a special edition of The Weeds, Ezra interviews Arthur Brooks —head of the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute, a New York Times columnis...
Would single payer health care work in America?
09 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In the second episode of the Weeds, Ezra, Sarah, and Matt debate whether nationalized health care could work in America, what solutions are really nee...
Ezra, Matt and Sarah Try to Podcast
02 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In this first episode of the new Vox.com podcast the weeds, Ezra Klein, Sarah Kliff, and Matthew Yglesias look at why Hillary Clinton is trying to gut...