Today, Explained
Episodes
Theranope
05 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A tech startup said it could start a medical revolution with a little machine and a drop of blood. It was a fraud, but research into smarter, less inv...
Will omicron speed up the pandemic’s end?
04 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The omicron variant is very transmissible, but it might make Covid-19 less miserable. Today’s show was produced by Miles Bryan with help from Hady M...
America still can’t agree on its insurrection
03 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
One year later, the United States is still trying to wrap its head around what happened on January 6, 2021. (It was an insurrection.) This year, our d...
2021
30 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This song was written and performed by Sean Rameswaram and Noam Hassenfeld, produced by Noam, engineered by Efim Shapiro, and features additional voca...
Giannis Antetokounmpo’s American dream
29 Dec 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. In this repo...
Taylor’s version
28 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
One of the biggest pop stars in the world is rerecording her first six albums at the artistic peak of her career. In this repodcast, the Atlantic’s ...
The spike in gun violence
27 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
America's homicide rate rose by almost 30 percent in 2020. It was the biggest spike in 60 years, and the murder rate was even higher in 2021. In this ...
Four days of work?
23 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The pandemic changed how we think about work. In this repodcast, Vox’s Anna North says it might be time to change how much we work, too. Today’s s...
Good news
22 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
2021 was better than 2020. Here's proof. Today’s show was produced by Matt Collette, edited by Jillian Weinberger, engineered by Efim Shapiro, fact-...
Vanessa Nakate’s climate optimism
21 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate has been ridiculed, erased, and let down by the world's most powerful people. She explains how she remains hop...
We scored Biden’s first year
20 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We scored Biden’s first year The New Yorker’s Evan Osnos evaluates President Biden’s first year in office and whether Biden managed to lower the...
Who killed Malcolm X?
17 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Nearly 60 years after the assassination of Malcolm X, some of the men wrongly put in prison for killing him are finally being redeemed. Abdur-Rahman M...
The blood diamond of batteries
16 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Cobalt is powering the electric vehicle revolution, but much of the world’s supply is mined under deadly conditions in Congo. Journalist Nicolas Nia...
(Some) omicron answers
15 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Thanks to South Africa, the world now has some data on omicron’s severity, transmissibility, and whether or not the vaccines will protect us from it...
Operation Flex
14 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A bodybuilder posing as a Muslim convert was welcomed into a California mosque. When he showed signs of extremism, members reported him to the FBI, on...
Why we still can't predict tornadoes
13 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Most people get about eight minutes' advance warning of a tornado. This episode of Vox’s Unexplainable podcast explores how scientists need to confr...
The new meth
10 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
While the nation’s attention has been focused on the opioid crisis, a new, more dangerous form of methamphetamine has swept across the country. Toda...
The fastest economic collapse ever
09 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
That’s what the United Nations says is taking place in Afghanistan right now. Today’s show was produced by Will Reid, edited by Matt Collette, eng...
Are you vaxxed, fellow kids?
08 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Today, Explained returns to Cramer Hill Elementary School to explore the challenges of vaccinating children against Covid-19. Today’s show was repor...
The shooter's parents
07 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The mass killing at Oxford High School in Michigan may seem comparable to those that preceded it, but the aftermath has taken several new turns. Today...
Africa wants its stuff back
07 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The world’s most illustrious museums are finally having to reckon with the stolen art in their collections. Today’s show was produced by Haleema S...
C is for Culture War
03 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Big Bird got vaccinated, an Asian American Muppet moved in, and conservatives got really mad at Sesame Street. Today’s show was produced by Haleema ...
What happened to Peng Shuai
02 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A tennis star accused a former top Chinese official of sexual assault. Then she vanished. Now her case is changing sports in China. Today's show was p...
Unraveling Roe
02 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Supreme Court today heard oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health. Vox’s Ian Millhiser explains how the Court could undo Roe v. Wade...
Space trash
30 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Russia blew up a satellite and almost put the International Space Station in a precarious position. Recode’s Rebecca Heilweil explains how humans ar...
Omicron
29 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
AA-muh-kraan or OH-muh-kraan Today’s show was produced by Miles Bryan and Will Reid, edited by Matt Collette, engineered by Efim Shapiro, fact-check...
Salmonella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh
23 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A deadly salmonella strain is spreading through American poultry, and there’s not much the government can do to stop it. ProPublica’s Bernice Yeun...
Kyle Rittenhouse and the “self-defense” defense
23 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
After the Chicago Tribune’s Stacy St. Clair runs through the Rittenhouse trial and verdict, legal scholar Eric Ruben explains how “self-defense”...
The Future of Work: Retirement should be fun
19 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
But somehow it got very scary. Today’s show was produced by Victoria Chamberlin, edited by Matt Collette, engineered by Efim Shapiro, fact-checked b...
Why it's hard to find rapid tests in the US
18 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
And why they're easy to find in Europe (though they don't seem to be helping much at the moment). Today’s show was produced by Miles Bryan with help...
Is Zillow really buying all the houses?
17 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
No. Vox's Jerusalem Demsas disproves a popular internet conspiracy theory. Today’s show was produced by Hady Mawajdeh, edited by Matt Collette, engi...
Belarus manufactures a migrant crisis
16 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Belarus is promising migrants passage to Europe knowing the EU will turn them away. Today’s show was produced by Haleema Shah with help from Amina A...
Inflation nation
15 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Consumer prices are rising at their fastest rate in 30 years. Vox’s Emily Stewart explains why this is bad news for for drivers, shoppers, and Presi...
The Future of Work: The gig is up
12 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A third of American workers do gig work. In the third part of our series, The Future of Work, learn how the pandemic helped them discover their power....
China’s pursuit of ‘Zero Covid’
11 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
China’s 1.4 billion people are averaging fewer than 100 cases of Covid-19 a day. All it takes is the willingness to shut down anything at any time. ...
So I elected an Oath Keeper
10 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Extremists in the right-wing militant organization known as the Oath Keepers are present in law enforcement and in the military. Now, thanks to report...
Astroworld
09 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
How a music festival became a death trap, and what it would take for it never to happen again. Today’s show was produced by Haleema Shah and Hady Ma...
Trillion-dollar Biden
08 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
You win some and you lose some. Just ask President Biden, who started last week with electoral setbacks and ended it with a big f***ing deal. Today’...
The Future of Work: OOO
05 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
They said the office would never be the same. In part two of our series, The Future of Work, what happens to your workplace when they're right. Today’...
The case for climate reparations
04 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
While world leaders have descended on Glasgow to try to figure out how to slow emissions in the future, New York magazine’s David Wallace-Wells argu...
Sudan’s coup
03 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
After a bloody fight for democracy, Sudan is sliding back into the hands of the military. CNN’s Nima Elbagir says a successful military coup could h...
School board brawl
03 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It's Election Day in the USA. This time around, the nasty political fights and insurrections are going local. NPR's Anya Kamenetz explains. Today’s ...
For whom the door bells
01 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
While the doorbell recovers from Halloween, Nice Try explains how it’s an essential part of the American dream. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained...
The Future of Work: “I quit!”
29 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
There are millions of job openings in America, and millions of Americans are still not able to find work that suits. In the first part of our series, ...
Facebook’s Meta-morphosis
28 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
From the company that brought you alternate facts comes an alternate reality! Today’s show was produced by Will Reid, edited by Matt Collette, engin...
Chappelle's Show(down with the trans community)
27 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Vox's Aja Romano explains how Dave Chappelle's latest standup special led to a reckoning at Netflix. Vulture's Craig Jenkins assesses whether there's ...
The Alec Baldwin shooting
26 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Variety’s Brent Lang explains how cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died on the Rust film set—and how the tragic shooting might catalyze positive ch...
Ruthless County, Tennessee
25 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
For 11 years, a Tennessee judge sent kids to jail for a crime that doesn’t exist. Nashville Public Radio’s Meribah Knight explains why that judge ...
The Supreme Court’s legitimacy crisis
22 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Since the Supreme Court’s "shadow docket" decision to allow the Texas abortion ban to go into effect, a growing chorus of politicians and legal expe...
Steve Bannon in contempt
21 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The House is holding Steve Bannon in criminal contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena as part of its January 6 investigation. Journalist Andrea Be...
Out of stock
20 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
All I want for Christmas is a functional supply chain. Today’s show was produced by Miles Bryan, edited by Matt Collette, engineered by Efim Shapiro...
What does Kyrsten Sinema want?
19 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Tim Murphy from Mother Jones explains how Sen. Kyrsten Sinema went from a left-wing activist to a Biden obstructionist. Today’s show was produced by...
Iran’s hostage industrial complex
18 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Iran is entering its fifth decade of taking hostages. One who made it out tells his story. Today’s show was produced by Victoria Chamberlin, edited ...
How the iPhone changed everything
15 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In 2007, Steve Jobs introduced a product that would change our lives forever. The new season of Land of the Giants explores “The Apple Revolution.”...
How Squid Game won Netflix
14 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
And whether the show’s message is being lost in the shuffle. Today’s show was produced by Miles Bryan, edited by Matt Collette, engineered by Efim...
Covid little pill
13 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Vox’s Umair Irfan explains how a new pill that might soon be authorized by the FDA could fill major gaps in treating Covid-19. Today’s show was pr...
Why body cameras don’t work
12 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Body cameras were supposed to bring greater transparency to law enforcement. The case of Ronald Greene suggests police departments are still learning ...
The Fyre Festival of vaccine rollouts
08 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The city of Philadelphia put an opportunistic 22-year-old in charge of its vaccine rollout. Nina Feldman of WHYY’s Half Vaxxed podcast explains how ...
A vaccine for malaria
07 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
But also, should we kill all the mosquitoes? Today’s show was produced by Will Reid with help from Miles Bryan, edited by Matt Collette, engineered ...
Drill, baby, drill
06 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
An energy expert explains why offshore oil spills keep happening and whether they’ll ever stop. Today’s show was produced by Victoria Chamberlin, ...
The Facebook whistleblower
05 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Facebook kicked off the week with an outage and followed that up today with a whistleblower testifying before Congress. The Wall Street Journal’s Je...
How do you do, fellow kids?
04 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
School’s been back for a month. Today, Explained spent a month checking in with Cramer Hill Elementary to find out how it’s going. Today’s show ...
The $5,000 butt
01 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Brazilian butt lift isn’t just a cosmetic surgery; it’s a lifestyle. Vox’s Rebecca Jennings explains how influencers gave a decades-old pro...
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...