Today, Explained

The humanitarian crisis at Rikers Island

30 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Twelve people at Rikers Island have died in custody so far this year. The pandemic is only part of the problem, explains Nick Pinto, who is covering t...

Are boosters good science — or just good politics?

29 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Former CDC Director Nancy Messonnier and former White House Covid-19 adviser Andy Slavitt join Sean at Code Conference in Los Angeles to explain the b...

Democrats play chicken

28 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Moderates and progressives are threatening to vote down different parts of their own party’s agenda, all while a government shutdown looms. Vox’s ...

Why is Guantanamo still open?

27 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A former Defense Department adviser says President Biden might succeed where President Obama failed, and the man formerly known as “Detainee 441” ...

Free college for everyone!

24 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

President Biden wants to give Americans four more years of free school: two years of pre-K and two of community college. In a two-part series, Today, ...

The cost of free preschool

23 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

President Biden wants to give Americans four more years of free school: two years of pre-K and two of community college. In a two-part series, Today, ...

The disappearance of Gabby Petito

23 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Vox’s Aja Romano explains why the internet stopped what it was doing to find one particular missing person. Today’s show was produced by Victoria ...

Haitians at the southern border

21 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Vox’s Nicole Narea explains the latest border crisis, and Ayibopost’s Widlore Mérancourt documents deported Haitians’ return to Port-au-Prince...

Xi Jinping cracks down on everything

20 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Chinese President Xi Jinping has kicked off a "rectification" campaign that’s affecting every sector of Chinese society and business. Lily Kuo, the ...

Zemari Ahmadi

17 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A US drone strike in Afghanistan was meant to take out an ISIS-K target. Reporting on the ground shows an aid worker and several children were kill...

Havana syndrome

16 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The US military is redoubling its efforts to figure out what’s behind reports of mysterious sonic attacks. So is Vox’s Unexplainable podcast. Tran...

Another bite at the Apple

15 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A California judge weighed in on whether Apple has a monopoly. NPR’s Bobby Allyn unpacks the ruling. Sen. Amy Klobuchar explains why she wants the g...

Biden’s second shot

14 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

President Joe Biden is taking a new approach to fight the pandemic. Former acting CDC director Richard Besser explains the vaccine mandates and the bo...

The ghost of Jeffrey Epstein

13 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Jeffrey Epstein has been dead for over two years, but his crimes and mysterious death still haunt his victims and friends. The Miami Herald’s Julie ...

The Jessica simulation

10 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A love story between a person who's alive and a person who is dead, told by the San Francisco Chronicle's Jason Fagone. Today’s show was produced by...

School’s back. Covid never left.

09 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

NPR’s Anya Kamenetz explains how America is sending its kids back to school while delta surges. Politico’s Lauren Gardner has the latest on vaccin...

Horse paste?

08 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Neigh! Today’s show was produced by Will Reid with help from Amina Al-Sadi, edited by Matt Collette, engineered by Efim Shapiro, fact-checked by Lau...

The cost of 9/11

07 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Department of Defense tracks how much US wars cost, but last week President Biden cited instead accounting from the Costs of War Project at Brown ...

The four-day workweek

02 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The pandemic has changed how we think about work. Vox’s Anna North says it might be time to change how much we work, too. Today’s show was produce...

The Texas abortion law

01 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Texas didn't just make it almost impossible to get an abortion, the state made it easy to sue somebody who gets one after about six weeks of pregnancy...

After the Afghan evacuation

31 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The United States’ 20-year war in Afghanistan is officially over. Vox’s Nicole Narea explains what’s next for the more than 100,000 refugees eva...

Recallifornia

30 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

California could elect a Republican governor in a few weeks. KPCC reporter Libby Denkmann explains how. And the dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law ...

ISIS-K

27 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The attack outside the Kabul airport on Thursday was perpetrated by an extremist group that doesn't think the Taliban is extreme enough. This episode ...

Jeopardy!

26 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

I’ll take public scandal for $1000. This episode was produced by Victoria Chamberlin, edited by Matt Collette, engineered by Efim Shapiro, fact-chec...

Fleeing Afghanistan

25 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Afghan refugee crisis started long before the US withdrawal. Al Jazeera English correspondent Ali Latifi explains from Kabul. This episode was pro...

Booster shots

24 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Vox’s Umair Irfan explains why you might need one. The Atlantic’s Sarah Zhang says the coronavirus is here forever, but ultimately, it might not b...

Addicted and alone

23 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The pandemic wiped out the slow but steady progress America had been making against another deadly disease: opioid addiction. The Washington Post’s ...

How to forgive

20 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Vox Conversations, the Atlantic’s Elizabeth Bruenig shares forgiveness strategies built for unforgiving times. Transcript at vox....

Taliban 2.0

19 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Taliban last controlled Afghanistan 20 years ago. They may be more pragmatic now, but their ideology hasn’t changed. Transcript at vox.com/today...

Who counts as white on the census?

18 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Some recent analysis of America’s changing demographics is inaccurate and dangerous. NPR’s Hansi Lo Wang makes sense of the 2020 census. Transcrip...

Back-to-back crises in Haiti

17 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

An assassination followed by an earthquake followed by a tropical storm strike a country where aid organizations often have more influence than Haitia...

How the Taliban took back Afghanistan

16 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

And did it faster than the US ever imagined. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Support Today, Explained by making a financial contribution to Vo...

Delta in the Delta

13 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Covid-19 is surging so high in several states, you’d think we didn’t have a vaccine. A Mississippi nurse who was initially skeptical explains her ...

The allies left behind

12 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

While the US withdraws from Afghanistan, the Taliban is surging, which is a likely death sentence for the thousands of Afghans who helped the US milit...

“Code red for humanity”

11 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A new UN report says humans are “unequivocally” causing climate change. Rich countries are to blame, but poorer ones, like Madagascar, are paying ...

Oye Cuomo va

10 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

People said New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo would never resign. Then he did. New York magazine contributing writer David Freedlander explains. Transcript a...

Were the Olympics worth it?

09 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The pandemic Olympics have come to an end. NPR’s Tom Goldman provides a highlight reel and an evaluation from Tokyo. Transcript at vox.com/todayexpl...

An MVP for the world

07 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Giannis Antetokounmpo went from hawking watches and DVDs on the streets of Greece to winning an NBA championship for the Milwaukee Bucks. The Ringer’...

The fight to ban evictions

05 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Democrats this week scrambled to extend a federal evictions moratorium amid the government's failure to deliver tens of billions of dollars to renters...

Who owns Amanda Knox?

04 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The new Matt Damon movie, Stillwater, is based on Amanda Knox’s story. She wishes someone had asked her to tell it. Transcript at vox.com/todayexpla...

Collect $5 billion. Do not pay taxes.

03 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Roth IRA was invented by Congress to incentivize middle-class retirement savings. ProPublica’s Justin Elliott explains how venture capitalist Pe...

The Provincetown cluster

02 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Vox’s Dylan Scott explains what an outbreak in a mostly vaccinated beach town taught the CDC about the delta variant. Transcript at vox.com/todayexp...

The spike in gun violence (Part II)

30 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A Philadelphia election tested progressive ideas on how to reduce shootings in America. ProPublica’s Alec MacGillis explains. Transcript at vox.com...

The spike in gun violence (Part I)

29 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The nation’s murder rate rose by almost 25 percent last year — the largest increase in at least 60 years. This year might be even worse. ProPublic...

The Capitol police speak

28 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Capitol police officers testified on Tuesday in the building they defended on January 6. Seamus Hughes, a former congressional investigator, explains ...

The Covid Olympics

27 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The 2020 Games were mired in scandal before they even started. Vox’s Jen Kirby explains how things are going now that the Olympics have finally ...

Panic! At The Delta

26 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Vox’s Umair Irfan explains why the United States is seeing another Covid-19 surge. Dr. Rhea Boyd says the country is getting unvaccinated people all...

Infrastructure Pete

23 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg explains what he and his boss are calling a once-in-a-generation spending plan. Transcript at vox.com/todayexp...

Human infrastructure

23 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

President Biden wants infrastructure spending to include child care, elder care, food assistance, even community college. Vox’s Anna North explains ...

Our No. 2 problem

21 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

America’s sewage system is total crap, but there’s a new plumber in town. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Support Today, Explained by maki...

Why we can’t have nice trains

20 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

And how it got so dam expensive to build things in America. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Support Today, Explained by making a financial con...

Hot infrastructure summer

19 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It’s a big week for President Biden’s infrastructure plans. Vox’s Li Zhou explains the obstacles in his way, and a historian says one of them is...

#FreeBritney was right

16 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Britney Spears returned to conservatorship court this week. Vox’s Constance Grady explains how Spears has rapidly become the face of a legal refor...

Cuba's had enough

15 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Cubans hit the streets for unprecedented protests against their communist government. CNN's Patrick Oppmann is on the ground in Havana with spotty wif...

The Lone Star strategy

14 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Republicans in Texas are legislating so far to the right the state’s Democrats up and fled to Washington, DC. Vox’s Nicole Narea explains. Transcr...

What’s happening in Haiti

13 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The assassination of President Jovenel Moïse is the latest in a long line of setbacks for Haiti’s stability. AyiboPost’s Widlore Mérancourt expl...

Postcards from pandemic purgatory

12 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Travel around the globe to hear how disparately people are experiencing the pandemic in July 2021. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Support Toda...

Where to go when the world burns

09 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

An estimated 143 million people will relocate to escape climate change in the next three decades. Quartz’s Amanda Shendruk explains how cities can t...

CAHOOTS

08 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Thirty years ago, Eugene, Oregon, figured out an alternative to the police. They called it CAHOOTS. Seriously. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. S...

Let’s talk about terror (Part II)

07 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

When people see Deeyah Khan's documentary about white supremacists, they tell her, "The real problem is jihad. You should spend time with jihadists." ...

Let’s talk about terror (Part I)

06 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Documentary filmmaker Deeyah Khan grew tired of receiving death threats from white supremacists so she traveled to a Detroit motel to meet up with one...

The case for drinking

02 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Getting buzzed helped build civilization.. The Atlantic's Kate Julian explains. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Support Today, Explained by ma...

Law & Order: Special POTUS Unit

01 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Trump Organization and its top lieutenant have been indicted for tax fraud. Andrew Prokop says the case could have uge implications for American p...

Unfair housing

30 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A housing watchdog says real estate companies often discriminate against low-income tenants who use federal rental assistance. Now it’s suing. Trans...

Canada’s residential schools

29 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The discovery of mass graves of Indigenous children in Canada has led to reckonings on both sides of the border. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained....

The doctors are not all right

28 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Doctors have suffered psychologically throughout the pandemic, but as Vox’s Julia Belluz reports, those who seek mental health treatment in the US p...

Food fight

25 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Restaurant delivery apps have made it possible to order pretty much anything we want to eat with the click of a button. The latest season of the Land ...

Bish, don't kill my vibe

24 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Catholic bishops want to deny President Biden communion, even though Pope Francis thinks that's a terrible idea. The Atlantic's Emma Green explains. T...

Why stuff is getting more expensive

23 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Vox’s Emily Stewart explains how scared you should be of inflation. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Support Today, Explained by making a fin...

The delta variant

22 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The fast-spreading coronavirus variant first detected in India is coming for the rest of the world. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Support Tod...

A $55,000 drug that doesn’t cure Alzheimer’s

21 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

After 20 years of waiting, there’s a new drug to treat Alzheimer’s. For some patients, it’s a glimmer of hope. For some scientists, it’s one o...

Tales from the crypto

17 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Cryptocurrency is everywhere! And now some people are saying it could be good for the environment?! New York Magazine's Jen Wieczner is here to explai...

Once more unto the Brexit

16 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Atlantic’s Tom McTague provides a halftime report on Brexit. It appears it’s going very well for Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Transcript at v...

Israel is under new management

15 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Benjamin Netanyahu is out. Israel has a new leader and a new coalition government. The question now is whether they bring anyone closer to peace. Tran...

QAmom

14 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

What to do when your mom is with Q. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Support Today, Explained by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.l...

The Kardashi-end

11 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Over 14 years and 20 seasons of “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” the show rewrote the rules of reality TV, social media, marketing, and popular ...

You know who kinda crushed Covid?

10 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Senegal. Vox’s Jen Kirby flew there to find out how. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Support Today, Explained by making a financial contribu...

Mare of New York

09 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

New York City is picking a new mayor with a new election system. What could go wrong? Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Support Today, Explained ...

Mexico’s deadly election

08 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Gangs and drug cartels killed dozens of candidates in Mexico’s midterm elections. Voters weren’t intimidated. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained...

Critical race theory

07 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Across the country, Republican lawmakers are pushing laws banning “critical race theory” in schools. It’s already had a chilling effect on teach...

It’s getting harder to vote in America

04 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Texas isn’t the only state advancing legislation that would disenfranchise voters in Democratic strongholds. Vox’s Ian Millhiser explains why some...

The lab leak theory

03 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The idea that Covid-19 emerged from a Chinese lab once sounded too fringe to take seriously. That’s starting to change. Transcript at vox.com/todaye...

Myanmar wants a revolution

02 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Despite a violent terror campaign by the military junta, protesters are still fighting for a new government. The latest conflict is uniting ethnic and...

The Tulsa massacre, 100 years later

01 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It was one of the worst incidents of racial violence in American history, but for a long time very few Americans learned what happened to the Black re...

The truth is out there

28 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

UFOs are having a renaissance. The New Yorker’s Gideon Lewis-Kraus explains what we stand to learn from an expected government disclosure, and why w...

MO Medicaid MO Problems

27 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Missourians voted for more Medicaid. Missouri lawmakers said no. St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum explains what happens when you bypass the ...

Why Belarus hijacked a plane

26 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The hijacking of Ryanair flight 4978 is a big escalation of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s attempts to hold on to power. It might also ...

You’re vaxxed. You test positive. Don’t panic.

25 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Nine New York Yankees tested positive for Covid-19, even though they were all vaccinated. Vox’s Brian Resnick says it’s proof the system is workin...

Remember the insurrection?

24 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Some would rather forget. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Support Today, Explained by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodc...

A million Muslims detained

21 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

China’s Uyghur minority has been subjected to torture, forced labor, religious restrictions, and even forced sterilization. NPR’s Throughline expl...

Ctrl+Alt+Divorce

20 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

For decades, Bill Gates exemplified the “good billionaire.” His reputation — tarnished almost overnight — highlights the danger of relying too...

America and Israel

19 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

An arms deal between the United States and Israel is drawing criticism from Democrats. It's part of a shifting tide in the American approach to the Is...

The 2020* Olympics

18 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

*Are being held this summer in Tokyo. And it’s a mess. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Support Today, Explained by making a financial contri...

Take this job and shove it

17 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Job growth has slowed, but there are plenty of positions posted. That's got politicians arguing about the cost of benefits. Matt Yglesias explains. Tr...

A new constitution

14 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This weekend, Chileans head to the polls to decide who will rewrite the country's constitution. CNN's Daniel Matamala explains why it's a historic exp...

Jerusalem

14 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Weeks of tensions between Israelis and Palestinians in Jerusalem have escalated into the region's worst violence in years. Two journalists in the holy...

How America’s gas got hacked

12 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The largest-known ransomware attack on American energy infrastructure is driving up gas prices and creating shortages. Wired's Lily Hay Newman says Co...

Liz Cheney and the Big Lie

11 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A push to remove Cheney from her House leadership position shows how Trump, marooned at Mar-a-Lago without Twitter, continues to hold sway in the GOP....

Vaccinated! (Still anxious.)

10 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

There’s no vaccine for Covid-19 anxiety. Nor is there one for those who aren’t ready to “go back to normal.” But, as Vox’s Sigal Samuel expl...

“Free the vaccine!”

07 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

President Joe Biden heeded calls from low-income countries to try to relax patents on Covid-19 vaccines so they can make cheaper generic versions. Big...