Today, Explained
Episodes
The many lies of George Santos
04 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
George Santos is supposed to become a member of Congress this week. We still have no idea who he is. This episode was produced by Amanda Lewellyn, ...
Let’s eat lab meat
03 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Happy New Year! Maybe you’re interested in trying new things? Sean and his mom are. In today’s episode, they drive to Alameda, California to try “...
Abortions before Roe
29 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Before Roe v. Wade, Eleanor Oliver was a Jane: a member of a group in Chicago that helped women get safe but illegal abortions. Sean Rameswaram sat do...
How to save kids from online extremism
28 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A lot of IRL violence starts with online radicalization. We revisit our conversation with writer and parent Joanna Schroeder, who wrote a guide for pa...
Why the Ukraine war happened
27 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Vladimir Putin believes Ukraine belongs to Russia, and he used that a pretense to invade. In an episode originally released in February, historian Tim...
What’s the dill with pickleball?
22 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Pickleball is bringing America together. Pickleball is tearing America apart. Sports Illustrated’s John Walters explains. This episode was produced ...
Why gaslighting is the word of the year
21 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It’s sooo 2016, but the word still mattered a lot in 2022. Merriam-Webster explains. This episode was produced by Haleema Shah, edited by Matt Colle...
Criminal referrals for Donald Trump
20 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The January 6 committee sent the Justice Department four criminal referrals against the former president, who it alleges engaged in an elaborate crimi...
The case against movie trailers
19 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Movie trailers are misleading audiences. Vox’s Alissa Wilkinson says you should stop watching them. This episode was produced by Avishay Artsy, edit...
Do I have to care about the Twitter Files?
16 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Maybe not, but you’re going to be hearing about them for a while anyway. Republicans are saying they’ll use them to investigate the Biden administ...
Megan Thee Stallion
15 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Megan Thee Stallion is everywhere — including in court, testifying against the rapper Tory Lanez, who is charged with shooting her. Vox’s Fabiola ...
Throwing soup at art
14 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Tensions are simmering in London as climate protesters turn up the heat on their soup-flinging activism. Rishi Sunak’s government is attempting to k...
Art-ificial intelligence
13 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Between chatbots and image generators, artificial intelligence has gotten scary good lately. The Verge’s James Vincent explains what’s behind the ...
Hint of crime
12 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Tostitos chips without real lime. Root beer made with fake vanilla. Instant mac and cheese that isn’t so instant. These products are among the hundr...
R-E-S-P-E-C-T (for Marriage Act)
09 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Sen. Tammy Baldwin managed to rally bipartisan support for a marriage equality bill, but she’s the first to admit the legislation is “humble.” A...
The prisoner swap for Brittney Griner
08 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
US officials are sending the “Merchant of Death” — a notorious arms dealer named Viktor Bout — back to Russia in exchange for the WNBA star’...
Power-tripping sheriffs
07 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A growing number of county sheriffs believe they hold ultimate power in their jurisdictions. Some have even stopped enforcing state and federal laws t...
The Moscow murders
06 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Investigators are still trying to solve the brutal November killings of four college students in Moscow, Idaho. Making their work harder: the hordes o...
Digging tunnels for cars
05 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Elon Musk created The Boring Company to fix traffic, but his fantasy of underground Tesla tunnels is running on empty. Curbed’s Alissa Walker and au...
8 billion humans
02 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The United Nations says humanity has reached 8 billion, but Western nations are worried about population decline. Africa isn’t, though. The continen...
China’s biggest protests since Tiananmen Square
01 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The protests in China might force the government to back down from its extreme Covid restrictions and ramp up its extreme surveillance programs. The W...
Disney’s boomerang CEO
30 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Disney’s board wished upon a star and brought back former CEO Bob Iger, who replaced his own replacement, the now-axed CEO Bob Chapek. The Hollywood...
Nancy podcast
29 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Democrats vote on new leadership this week, meaning Nancy Pelosi is out. Time’s Molly Ball explains why the country might really miss her. This epis...
Can you spare some climate change?
28 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In a UN-brokered agreement, more than 190 countries agreed to pay for “loss and damage” caused by climate change. But determining who owes what —...
NASA wants to live in space
25 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
NASA’s Artemis mission is the first step toward a long-term human settlement on the moon. Vox’s Unexplainable examines whether humans are even cap...
Little influencers, big business
23 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Parents are turning their kids into influencers on social media. What could go wrong? This episode was produced by Victoria Chamberlin, fact-checked b...
Gen Z in the House
22 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Florida’s Maxwell Frost, 25, is the first member of Generation Z elected to Congress. He tells us what he plans to get done. This episode was produc...
Ticketmaster (Taylor’s Version)
21 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It’s me, Ticketmaster. I’m the problem, it’s me. This episode was produced by Amanda Lewellyn, edited by Matt Collette, fact-checked by Laura Bu...
World Cup: How 2 B a legend
18 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Pelé. Maradona. Ronaldo. Soccer’s greats are so good, they’re typically known by one name. Men in Blazers soccer journalist Roger Bennett explain...
Pushing the Russians back
17 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In its biggest victory yet, Ukraine retook its vital port city, Kherson. The Guardian’s Luke Harding calls Russia’s retreat a turning point in the...
An inconvenient glacier
16 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
While the world’s leaders are meeting at COP27 to discuss climate change, Antarctica’s massive Thwaites Glacier is melting. The world’s coastlin...
The FTX cryptocalypse
15 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
With the collapse of one of its largest exchanges, crypto’s having its very own Lehman Brothers moment. Semafor’s Liz Hoffman explains the repercu...
The tech boom is over
14 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Mark Zuckerberg fired 11,000 employees at Meta. Elon Musk axed half his staff at Twitter. Other tech giants are slashing jobs and eliminating perks, t...
World Cup: They built this city
11 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The people who built Qatar’s stadiums, hotels, and transit systems were employed under the country’s exploitative migrant worker system. Officials...
A vaccine for RSV
10 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A respiratory virus called RSV has a lot of kids in critical condition and hospitals overwhelmed. Vox public health reporter and epidemiologist Keren ...
No red wave
09 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The midterms weren’t a clear victory for Republicans, and it’s still too early to know who’ll control Congress. Vox’s Andrew Prokop explains. ...
What if you HAD to vote?
08 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Midterm elections are a tough sell in the United States. Half of eligible voters show up in a good year. On Election Day, we’re revisiting an episod...
Kari Lake is MAGA’s rising star
07 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Perhaps the most consequential midterms in US history are this week. Arizona’s Kari Lake, a former news anchor turned gubernatorial candidate, embod...
World Cup: Welcome to Qatar!
04 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Soccer is sometimes called “the second religion of the Arab World,” and Qatar is the region’s first country to host the World Cup. But FIFA’s ...
Elon’s Twitter hell
03 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Twitter is about to suck for you. But it’s going to suck for self-proclaimed “Chief Twit” Elon Musk too. Recode’s Shirin Ghaffary and The Verg...
How does the war in Ukraine end?
02 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The next Congress could be a whole lot less willing to keep spending billions on aid to Ukraine. It’s time to talk about how this war could end. Thi...
The teen’s gambit
01 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The chess world is in chaos after its top player accused 19-year-old Hans Niemann of using AI to cheat. Niemann is responding with a $100 million laws...
A win for Lula (and democracy) in Brazil
31 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro vowed he wouldn’t accept the results of the Brazilian election if he lost. Then he lost. Samantha Pearson, Brazil...
Our annual Halloween hysteria
28 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This year’s fear of rainbow fentanyl in kids’ trick-or-treat bags is just the latest unfounded Halloween candy freakout. But the yearly panic has ...
Supermarket supermerger
27 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Grocery story giants Kroger and Albertsons want to become one mega-company. The chains say merging will allow them to lower their prices, but antitrus...
Teflon Ron
26 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has hit on a winning — if possibly unethical — campaign strategy: prosecuting people who accidentally committed voter fr...
A police sketch based on DNA
25 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Earlier this month, police in Edmonton, Canada, released a sketch of a suspect. The issue is, no one knows what the suspect looks like. This episode w...
Investigating women’s soccer
24 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Allegations of misconduct have rocked US women’s soccer for the last year. The Athletic’s Steph Yang breaks down a new report on the degree to whi...
On with Kara Swisher (and Stacey Abrams)
23 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Stacey Abrams is running for governor of Georgia, again … against Brian Kemp, again. The two last faced off in a heated contest in 2018, with Kemp’...
Nikola (not Tesla)
21 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The bombastic founder of an electric truck startup (no, not Elon) has been convicted for his role in his company’s “intricate fraud.” But even w...
Truss fall
20 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Liz Truss accomplished at least one thing in her 45 days as prime minister: She set a record for the shortest term in office. The Atlantic’s Tom McT...
The devil’s bargain on inflation
19 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Federal Reserve knows raising interest rates disproportionately hurts Black people. It just doesn’t have any better tools, says the Minneapolis ...
The Los Angeles city council meltdown
18 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Leaked audio revealed elected officials, including City Council President Nury Martinez, making xenophobic, homophobic, and racist statements about th...
Legal weed’s half-baked promise
17 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Pro-pot Californians said legalizing marijuana would end the state’s black market for reefer. Instead, says LA Times investigative reporter Paige St...
Made in China
14 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Chinese President Xi Jinping is a product of Mao Zedong’s revolution. On Sunday, he'll become the most powerful Chinese leader since the Communist P...
A new law to “save the animals”
13 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Endangered Species Act was transformative in protecting animals from extinction. Vox’s Benji Jones says its proposed successor, the Recovering A...
#MahsaAmini was just the beginning
12 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The 22-year-old Iranian died in police custody after being arrested for wearing her hijab improperly. Her death has sparked a protest movement calling...
If Republicans win the midterms
11 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
They’ve got a few legislative ideas and a LOT of investigative ones. Vox’s Rachel Cohen and Ben Jacobs explain. This episode was produced by Avish...
Fettermania
07 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
John Fetterman, the 6-foot-8, hoodie and cargo shorts-wearing Democratic candidate for Senate in Pennsylvania, may be the model for how progressives c...
Small nukes
06 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Vladimir Putin keeps threatening to use smaller nuclear weapons to win his war. Author J. Peter Scoblic says “there’s no such thing as small nukes...
Student loan forgiveMESS
05 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
President Biden’s plan to forgive billions of dollars in student debt is both historic and controversial. Now some red states are suing to block it....
Puerto Rico’s power crisis
04 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Days after Ian, most Floridians now have their power back. Weeks after Fiona, more than 100,000 Puerto Rican households and businesses are still copin...
The Supreme Court is back and “even more consequential”
03 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
According to Vox’s Ian Millhiser (and no, he hasn’t forgotten they just overturned Roe). This episode was produced by Siona Peterous, edited by Am...
Brett Favre and the Mississippi welfare fraud
30 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
An extraordinary case of fraud is unfolding in Mississippi, where a chummy cadre of nonprofit leaders, elected officials, and professional athletes re...
The ’90s throwback no one wants
29 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Elvedin Pasic lived through the Bosnian genocide in the early 1990s. So why is one of Bosnia’s leaders saying it never happened? And what happens if...
Europe’s looming energy crisis
28 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Pipelines are leaking, winter is coming, and concerns over an energy crisis in Europe are growing. Vox’s Jen Kirby heads to Oktoberfest to find out ...
Can Beto flip Texas?
27 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Republicans have firmly held the Texas governorship since 1995. Beto O’Rourke’s campaign is both a long shot and Democrats’ best challenge in de...
Putin’s fake elections
26 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Russian president is calling on reservists and holding fake referenda to legitimize his war. Washington Post reporter Mary Ilyushina explains. Thi...
I wish I was a little bit taller
23 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
I wish I was a baller. I wish there was a doc who’d break my legs, I would call her. This episode was produced by Miles Bryan, fact-checked by Laura...
Johnson & Johnson’s “bankruptcy”
22 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Thousands of people say Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder gave them cancer. They’re suing — but the consumer giant is using a bankruptcy strategy ...
Pakistan wants climate reparations
21 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
After catastrophic flooding, Pakistani people are demanding better disaster management from their government. Their government wants reparations from ...
Is Patagonia fleecing the IRS?
20 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The billionaire founder of Patagonia is giving away his company to fight climate change. He’s also getting a giant tax break. This episode was produ...
You can’t spell “dysfunction” without the UN
19 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The war in Ukraine has demonstrated just how dysfunctional the United Nations is. Uri Friedman, managing editor at the Atlantic Council, explains how ...
The true story of The Woman King
16 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The historical epic The Woman King, in theaters today, is set in the Kingdom of Dahomey in the 19th century. The kingdom’s elite all-female fighting...
I should have applied for a fraudulent PPP loan
15 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As the coronavirus pandemic disrupted business in the US, the government sent billions of dollars to people and businesses that were affected. That le...
Is Ukraine winning now?
14 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A recent Ukrainian counteroffensive seems to have caught Russia on its back foot. That could have consequences for Putin in the war — and at home. T...
When an election denier becomes election chief
13 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A quartet of 2020 election deniers are running for secretary of state this year in key swing states, raising questions about whether they could fairly...
“Bringing the border to Biden”
12 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Texas and Arizona's governors are giving migrants bus tickets to the capital. The mayor of Washington, DC, says it’s causing a humanitarian crisis i...
The queen is dead
09 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Long live the king. This episode was produced by Avishay Artsy and Hady Mawajdeh, fact-checked by Serena Solin and Amina Al-Sadi with help from Amanda...
The water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi
08 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What’s happening in Jackson is hardly unique: Cities and states across the US are setting themselves up for failure by postponing expensive but crit...
Your long Covid questions, answered
07 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Millions of people have long Covid; countless more could get it. Dr. Monica Verduzco-Gutierrez answers questions from Today, Explained listeners about...
Curious Georgia
06 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Prosecutor Fani Willis and a special grand jury have some questions for the man with the yellow hair. Georgia Public Broadcasting’s Stephen Fowler e...
It ain’t over 'til the crawdads sing
01 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Delia Owens’s runaway bestseller Where the Crawdads Sing tells the story of a killing in North Carolina’s marshland. The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Go...
Heat waves been faking me out
31 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As devastating heat waves like the recent one in China become more common, we’re going to need new ways of talking about them. Vox’s Neel Dhanesha...
What do we owe future humans?
30 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A new wave of philanthropists wants to make charity more effective. They’re focused not just on the present day but also thousands of years into the...
Instagram’s identity crisis
29 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
If you think Instagram sucks now, it’s by design. Vox's Rebecca Jennings and Platformer's Casey Newton explain. This episode was produced by Victo...
The Island of Explained: It’s electric!
27 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A magical theme park ride on the Island of Explained demonstrates the damage done by fossil fuels and why renewable energy might be the best way to po...
Is Russia a state sponsor of terror?
26 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Six months into its escalation of war with Ukraine, the calls to declare Russia a state sponsor of terror have never been louder. Delaney Simon from t...
Health care’s post-Roe nightmare
25 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe has implications far beyond abortion; it complicates access to vital drugs and delays essential care fo...
RIP OAN
24 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A cable news network tailor-made for the former president is getting canceled. The Daily Beast’s Justin Baragona chronicles the demise of One Americ...
Putin’s war comes to Russia
23 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A car bomb killed Russian commentator Darya Dugina over the weekend. The bomb may have been meant for her father, the far-right, pro-Putin, pro-war ph...
FREE YSL
22 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Two of the biggest rappers in the world, Young Thug and Gunna, are behind bars. And their bars will likely be used as evidence when they go to trial. ...
Hollywood’s IP industrial complex
20 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Noel and Sean join Sam Sanders to kick off the third episode of his new Vulture show, “Into It.” Sam then speaks to TV titan Damon Lindelof about ...
You know nothing, HBO
19 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
HBO hopes to win the streaming wars with House of the Dragon, a prequel to Game of Thrones. But GoT’s disastrous finale disappointed viewers, and th...
Merrick Garland’s dilemma
18 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Justice Department is investigating Donald Trump, but the ex-president's still-large base likely won’t want him prosecuted under any circumstanc...
The fatwa against Salman Rushdie
17 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Was never about Salman Rushdie. Journalist Robin Wright explains. This episode was produced by Avishay Artsy, fact-checked by Laura Bullard with help ...
Dark Brandon
16 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A meme that mocks President Biden has been transformed by supporters to celebrate his recent wins. But questions about whether he should run for reele...
Russia’s back-to-school plan for Ukraine
15 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Russia is paying teachers big bucks to teach a pro-Kremlin curriculum in Ukraine. It’s part of a campaign to formally annex occupied Ukraine into th...
The Island of Explained: Listen up!
13 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Kiarra and Izii are having an argument when they are unexpectedly transported to the Island of Explained. There, they meet an Engin-Ear and a magical ...
Liz Cheney is losing (and winning)
12 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Wyoming Republican will likely lose her primary, but she’s winning over a lot of Democrats in the process. This episode was produced by Amanda L...