Today, Explained

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...

The New Right’s pay pal

11 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

From politicians to podcasters, one man’s money unites the New Right. Bloomberg’s Max Chafkin explains how Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel ...

Meet the New Right

10 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The newest conservative dissidents want to radically reshape the Republican party and American democracy. Journalist James Pogue explains the confound...

Raid-a-Lago

09 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Florida man's beach house searched by FBI. This episode was produced by Haleema Shah and Avishay Artsy with help from Hady Mawajdeh, edited by Matt Co...

Brittney Griner for the Merchant of Death

08 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Viktor Bout might be the most successful arms dealer in history. The US could let him go free if Russia releases the WNBA star, who was just sentenced...

Authoritarianism, baby!

05 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán traveled to Texas for CPAC this week. Back home, he’s trying to fight population decline by paying some citizens to have ...

Monkeypox is a queer emergency

04 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Gay men, queer people, and their partners represent an overwhelming majority of monkeypox cases. But even though the WHO just declared the disease a g...

Did Joe Manchin just save the planet?

03 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Probably not, but he did finally compromise on the Inflation Reduction Act (née Build Back Better), which could be the most significant climate spend...

Pelosi in Taiwan

02 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

China didn’t want Speaker Nancy Pelosi to visit Taiwan. Neither did the White House. Politico’s Alex Ward explains why she went anyway. This episo...

America has Afghanistan’s money

01 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The US froze billions in Afghanistan’s central bank reserves when the Taliban took control. Now it’s wrestling with how to trust the Taliban with ...

The Island of Explained: Plant-based party

30 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

An invitation to a vegan party sends producers Kiarra and Izii to the Island of Explained, where a giant who once ate people explains why he switched ...

Fighting climate despair

29 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Climate change has driven some environmental activists to extremes. We talk about overcoming despair with Terry Kaelber, whose husband David Buckel to...

Are we in a recession?

28 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The US economy has shrunk for two consecutive quarters. That’s technically a recession. But economists aren’t so sure we’re actually in one. Mad...

Riding in Cars with Robots

27 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The data is in on autonomous cars: They are crashing, but they're still doing a lot better than regular cars driven by humans. The Verge’s Andrew Ha...

Replacing Boris Johnson

26 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Britain’s Conservative party is spending the summer choosing its next prime minister. The Atlantic’s Tom McTague introduces the candidates vying t...

McMoscow

25 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The 1990 opening of a McDonald's in Russia heralded not just burgers and fries but, get this, a new era of peace and prosperity. The Economist’s Pat...

Wrestling with Vince McMahon

22 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The CEO who turned World Wrestling Entertainment into a global brand has retired after nearly 40 years, amid allegations of sexual assault and infidel...

Dry Hot American Summer

21 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

As the world heats up, the American West is drier than at any period in the past 1,200 years. But don’t expect people to stop watering their lawns. ...

FYI those telescope photos are kinda fake

20 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

But the images from the Webb Space Telescope still provide our best look yet at the formation of the universe. NASA astrophysicist Amber Straughn and ...

BA.5 and DIY Covid

19 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Surging cases, Paxlovid rebounds, and apathy everywhere. Vox’s Dr. Keren Landman explains how to navigate the do-it-yourself era of the pandemic. Th...

What the January 6 committee has found (so far)

18 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A congressional committee set out to offer the definitive story of the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Things got dramatic. This episode was...

The Island of Explained: The missing firefly

16 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Luz the firefly is missing, and producers Izii and Sara want to know why. They take a trip to the Island of Explained, where they learn why whole spec...

“To [REDACTED] a Mockingbird”

15 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Some conservative parents are trying to get books about race and sexuality banned from libraries and schools. Author Clint Smith says it’s dangerous...

Shinzo Abe’s call to arms

14 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe may have given his agenda to militarize Japan new life. Abe biographer Tobias Harris explains. T...

The case of the fake Basquiats

13 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Art crime is booming and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s paintings (or at least some very realistic forgeries) are the loot du jour. Reporter Brett Sokol and...

Joe Biden’s Saudi vacation

12 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Candidate Biden said he would make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” on the world stage. Now President Biden is traveling there, asking for the kingdom’...

Joe Biden’s tampon shortage

11 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

No, President Biden didn’t cause the tampon shortage — or any of the recent shortages. But that won’t stop him from taking the blame.  This epi...

UFOMG

08 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Congress just had its first hearings on UFOs in over 50 years. We revisit a 2021 episode where the New Yorker’s Gideon Lewis-Kraus explained why the...

What if you could talk without speaking?

07 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A groundbreaking new study claims to have found a way for a fully paralyzed person to communicate entirely via thought. But as we learned in an episod...

How the US learned to love sanctions

06 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The US hoped sanctions would end Russia’s war in Ukraine quickly. We revisit our conversation with historian Nicholas Mulder who explains the surpri...

Ask for Jane

01 Jul 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...

This country is a lot right now

30 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The past week/month/year/pandemic has taken a toll on a lot of people’s mental health. And the US has proven woefully incapable of dealing with ment...

Roe v. Wade v. God

29 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A rabbi, a priest, and an imam walk into the abortion debate. The priest wins. This episode was produced by Victoria Dominguez and Haleema Shah, edite...

Abortion pills

28 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

It’s safe and easy to end a pregnancy during the first trimester using a pair of FDA-approved pills. Accessing them is the latest abortion battlegro...

Trigger bans

27 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The Supreme Court’s decision was most immediately felt in states that pegged abortion bans to the fall of Roe v. Wade. This episode was produced by ...

The end of Roe v. Wade

24 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The Supreme Court overturned a 49-year-old precedent that secured the right to an abortion. Irin Carmon from New York magazine breaks down the case an...

Is Ukraine losing now?

23 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The US is spending billions to arm Ukraine against Russian invaders. But without the proper training or supplies, Javelin missiles can only do so much...

The rise and fall of the “millennial lifestyle subsidy”

22 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Venture capitalists spent years subsidizing the price of things like Uber rides and food delivery. The Atlantic’s Derek Thompson explains why they’...

From Russia with cash

21 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Oligarchs from Russia and beyond stash their cash in British banks, which play a central role in the global offshore economy. This episode was produce...

What if we saw the gunshot wounds?

17 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

John Temple was the editor of Rocky Mountain News in April 1999, when two students committed mass murder at Columbine High School. The photos he publi...

A gun policy game-changer

16 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

America’s gun violence epidemic is a public health crisis. After 24 years of blocked funding, Congress is finally starting to treat it like one. Thi...

Gun laws that work

15 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says tougher gun laws wouldn’t have stopped the Uvalde shooter. He’s wrong. This episode was produced by Avishay Artsy, edi...

Let’s untangle the Second Amendment

14 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

It wasn’t until 2008 that the US Supreme Court established what a confusing sentence in the Constitution really meant for gun ownership. Sean Ramesw...

Has the gun control movement failed?

13 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

You might look at school shootings and think “Yes, obviously.” But two people who have been studying and participating in the movement for decades...

ConGRADulations, fellow kids

10 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Ten months ago the faculty of Cramer Hill Elementary set out to get their kids back on track after a year of mostly remote learning. Today, Explained’...

Adderall via Instagram

09 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The mental health startup Cerebral benefited from pandemic-era changes to federal telehealth laws. But its easy-to-get prescriptions for tightly regul...

Ugraine

08 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Russia is weaponizing food by blockading Ukraine’s grain exports and withholding its own until other countries come to Putin to ask for it. This epi...

Boris Johnson presents: Motel Rwanda

07 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The British government will deport UK-bound migrants to Rwanda. It’s part of a larger trend of rich countries offloading asylum seekers to poorer co...

Innocence is not enough

06 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The Supreme Court is going to let Arizona kill Barry Jones, a man whose rape and murder convictions were vacated in 2018. This episode was produced by...

Let’s vent about guns

03 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We opened up our hotline. You called and asked questions. We found answers. This episode was produced by Victoria Chamberlin and host Sean Rameswaram,...

Why the economy feels bad right now

02 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The stock market tumble and crypto crash are symptoms of a broader shift in the US economy. Jacob Goldstein explains the end of the “Goldilocks Era....

How often can you get Covid?

01 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Does your immunity still last for months? We asked a researcher who has been studying omicron reinfections. This episode was produced by Jon Ehrens, e...

Can women fix the police?

31 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Police departments across the US are signing a pledge to increase the share of women in their ranks, hoping the move will help reduce excessive force ...