The race to control critical mineral deposits has become a major driver of US foreign policy -- and is redrawing global alliances. This episode was made in partnership with Vox’s Future Perfect team. It was produced by Avishay Artsy, edited by Jolie Myers, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Andrea Kristinsdottir and Patrick Boyd, and hosted by Noel King. Listen to Today, Explained ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. Transcript at vox.com/today-explained-podcast. Mining for chromite at the Mughulkhil mine in Logar Province, Afghanistan. Photo by MARCUS YAM / LOS ANGELES TIMES). Help us plan for the future of Today, Explained by filling out a brief survey: voxmedia.com/survey. Thank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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In President Trump's second term, we've seen a lot of news about tariffs. Chinese imports into the U.S. now face a 30% tariff down. About Congress.
The one big beautiful bill enshrines into law and funds President Trump's promises.
About Elon Musk and Doge.
This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy.
Those are the loud stories of the Trump administration. There's a quieter story, though. President Trump's obsession with critical minerals.
We believe it's possible to extract enormous amounts of critical minerals and rare earths, which you know we need for technology and high technology in the process.
In South Africa, Ukraine, China, Greenland, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the ocean. What exactly is going on right now? That's coming up on Today Explained.
This is Peter Kafka, the host of Channels, the show about what happens when media and tech collide. And this week I'm talking to Katie Drummond, who runs Wired. She's found a way to breathe new life into that publication by covering news.
We started covering Doge, like several stories a day, every single day. And after like a week, I sort of looked around and was like, where is everyone else?
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