Today, Explained
Episodes
You can't have your cake
04 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Today the Supreme Court issued a decision in Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, or as it’s colloquially known, the “g...
2 Big 2 Fail
01 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Congress is rolling back the bank regulations implemented after the 2008 financial crisis. Vox’s Matthew Yglesias explains why, and what it means fo...
Why does everyone hate George Soros?
31 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
There are three things you need to know about George Soros: 1) You’re pronouncing his name wrong. 2) He’s richer than rich. 3) He’s one of the m...
Roseanne gets canned
30 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
ABC canceled the popular reboot of Roseanne after its star likened President Obama’s former advisor, an African-American woman, to an ape on Twitter...
We've updated our privacy policy
29 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
You know those privacy policy emails flooding your inbox lately? Turns out those are thanks to the European Union’s crackdown on websites that colle...
The poorest rich country in the world
25 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Venezuela has been crippled by poverty, starvation, five-figure inflation, and on Sunday, an election that many countries didn’t recognize as legit....
We'll never have Singapore
24 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
President Trump cancelled his historic Singapore summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un today. The announcement comes after a North Korean offici...
Kneecapped
23 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Today the National Football League released a statement saying players will be fined if they kneel during the national anthem. It’s the ultimate res...
Arbitration Nation
22 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The Supreme Court may have taken away your ability to file a class action lawsuit against your employer. In a 5-4 decision yesterday, the Court decide...
Ireland's great divide
21 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This Friday, Ireland holds a historic vote that could overturn one of the strictest abortion policies in the world. The race is razor-tight: Facebook ...
A cynic's guide to the royal wedding
18 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you might have heard that there’s a royal wedding happening this Saturday. (Even Sean’s mom is tuning in...
Go ahead. Legalize it.
17 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This week, the Supreme Court of the United States fundamentally changed... sports. It struck down a 1992 law that prevented states from legalizing spo...
Hawaii versus the volcano
16 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Explosions are ramping up on Hawaii’s Big Island this week, as the Kilauea volcano continues to spew lava and blow a 12,000-foot plume of ash into t...
What you need to know about Gaza
15 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sixty Palestinians were killed at the Israel-Gaza border yesterday, the day the U.S. moved its embassy to Jerusalem. Vox’s Yochi Dreazen breaks down...
Jordan Peterson explains himself
14 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Jordan Peterson has gone from being an obscure Canadian academic to a kind of political rock star for the right. Overnight. Vox’s Zack Beauchamp unp...
#MeToo's big betrayal
11 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman resigned Monday after four women accused him of physical assault. The news was a rough blow to the #MeToo ...
Dial C for Cohen
10 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Stormy D, AT&T, and nine Fabergé eggs. The investigation into the president’s personal lawyer keeps getting more colorful. This week, it was confir...
No deal!
09 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
President Donald Trump has pulled the United States out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Everyone else - including France, Russia, China, even Iran - ha...
"We tortured some folks"
08 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Tomorrow is the Senate confirmation hearing for Gina Haspel, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the C.I.A. The 33-year veteran of the organizatio...
This is America
07 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The NRA announced a new president today: Fox News contributor and Iran-Contra alum Oliver North. The news caps a big weekend for the organization. Ten...
The $5,751 ice pack
04 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Imagine a world where a Band-Aid costs $629. Bad news: you live in that world. Vox’s Sarah Kliff explains how American hospitals tack on “facility...
Too Juul for school
03 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
On Tuesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration sent warning letters to 13 companies that appear to market their vaping products directly to kids. E...
Nowhere to go
02 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Forty-nine Central Americans seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border were granted entry today. They're part of a caravan of around 200 migrants who a...
Golden State Killer opens Pandora's box
01 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
After 40 years, police say they have finally caught the Golden State Killer, a man responsible for at least 12 murders, 50 rapes, and 100 break-ins in...
There's something about Sean
30 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sean Hannity is curiously close to President Donald Trump — so close that some say he may as well have a desk in the Oval Office. In recent weeks, t...
Just call us "Korea"
27 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
For the first time in history, the leader of North Korea took a trip to South Korea today. Kim Jong Un met with President Moon Jae-in to talk unificat...
Oh, SNAP!
26 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Next up on the chopping block? Food stamps or SNAP as it’s now known. A new farm bill, fresh out of the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture, could f...
Don't drink the water
25 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Four years ago today, Flint, Michigan switched water supplies to save a few million dollars. To date, that decision has cost over $400 million. Govern...
SEE YOU IN COURT
24 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The Supreme Court wraps up its term with a bang tomorrow: Trump v. Hawaii, the travel ban case. The Court will hear arguments on whether the ban excee...
Too little, too latte?
23 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
On May 29th, Starbucks will shut 8,000 locations and lose millions of dollars to provide racial bias training for employees. The training comes after ...
Yes we cannabis
20 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Today Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced a plan to decriminalize marijuana federally. But the debate over legalization rages on at the loc...
"I don't get confused"
19 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Nikki Haley has had a rough week. On Sunday, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations announced sanctions against Russia. On Monday, the White House ...
Congress just broke the Internet
18 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Donald Trump signed FOSTA into law a week ago today. The “Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act” looks good on paper, but Vox’s Aja Romano says it al...
The $43,000 phone booth
17 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Scott Pruitt, the embattled head of the Environmental Protection Agency, is facing a host of new scandals: a $43,000 soundproof phone booth, a securit...
Why did the U.S. just bomb Syria?
16 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
President Trump and United States allies bombed chemical weapons facilities in Syria on Friday. The attacks came in response to President Bashar al-As...
Mile-high mutiny
13 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
When its corporate owner introduced new budget cuts and layoffs, journalists at The Denver Post decided to fight back. They ran a front-page editorial...
He said, she said, she said, she said....
12 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Today is Day 4 of Bill Cosby’s retrial. The first trial ended in a hung jury, but this time things are different. Five new women are testifying, acc...
The raid
11 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
President Trump today called the raid on the office of his personal lawyer Michael Cohen “unthinkable.” Vox’s Zachary Fryer-Biggs explains what ...
What's my wage again?
10 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Today is Equal Pay Day. Vox’s Sarah Kliff reveals the real reason why working women earn about 82% as much as men. Then Valerie Wilson of the Econom...
1, 2, 3, 4... I declare a trade war
09 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
President Trump said he would “always be friends” with China’s leader, but the two countries have been acting anything but these past few days. ...
It’s never too late to understand the war in Syria
06 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
President Trump announced this week he wants to withdraw US troops from Syria over the next six months. The country’s civil war has killed an estima...
They're not gonna take it
05 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The West Virginia teacher strike has ended, but walkouts are just getting started in Kentucky and Oklahoma, where lawmakers are scrambling to pass bil...
20 shots and a cell phone
04 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
289. That’s the number of people who have been shot and killed by police in 2018 alone. One of them was Stephon Clark, a 22-year-old black man from ...
Mark Zuckerberg Explains Himself
03 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg seldom gives interviews, but in the wake of the massive Cambridge Analytica privacy breach, he made an exception to speak...
Gerrymandering 101
02 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The Supreme Court is currently deliberating two cases that could reshape the entire country’s political maps. At issue is partisan gerrymandering—...
Quitting the Border Patrol
30 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Mexican-American Francisco Cantú never expected to become a U.S. Border Patrol Agent. But for nearly four years, Cantú both detained and rescued mig...
Chief Wahoo Strikes Out
29 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
It’s Opening Day — peanuts, cracker jack, and for some, racism. Sundance, a Native American activist, has been protesting the Cleveland Indians ma...
The New Abortion Wars
28 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Kentucky just joined a wave of states attempting to severely limit when a woman can terminate her pregnancy. Vox’s Anna North surveys the growing re...
Bolton's Back
27 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
President Trump announced John Bolton will be his new National Security Advisor just as the White House prepares for historic talks with North Korea. ...
The Survivors
26 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Dantrell Blake traveled from Chicago to Washington, D.C., to join hundreds of thousands for the March of Our Lives on Saturday. Sean Rameswaram spent ...
Flagrant Foul
23 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The FBI is investigating over twenty colleges for paying athletes under the table, reigniting the age-old debate: Should college athletes be formally ...
Me Too, Mr. Trump
22 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
A judge gave the green light this week for a woman to sue President Trump for defamation. Summer Zervos claims Donald Trump sexually assaulted her; he...
Cambridge Analytica
21 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Today Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted the social media giant “made mistakes” in the Cambridge Analytica scandal and vowed to fix them. The U...
It's Been Six Months
20 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Today is the six-month anniversary of Hurricane Maria, one of the worst natural disasters in American history. But Puerto Rico remains without fully-r...
One Man vs. InfoWars
19 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The white nationalist rally in Charlottesville sparked outrage when a driver barreled through the crowd, killing one woman and injuring more than 30. ...
Lady and the Trump
16 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
A president. A porn star. A lawyer with a $130,000 payoff. The allegation is Donald Trump had an affair with Stormy Daniels and his lawyer paid her to...
The Colder War
15 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
There’s a new Cold War being fought in the North Pole between the United States and Russia (but also China, Finland, Norway, Canada, Greenland and m...
Default in Our Loans
14 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos told states to back off regulating the nine private companies that lend money to students last week. That could mean m...
Rexit
13 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Twitter. That’s how Secretary of State Rex Tillerson found out he was fired today. The news came on the heels of Tillerson calling Russia “an irre...
The United States vs. California
12 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Donald Trump takes his first trip to California as president tomorrow. Making matters awkward, his administration sued the Golden State last week over...
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?
09 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
After months of name calling and test missiles, Donald Trump will be the first sitting United States president to meet with a North Korean leader. Vox...
The Disability Belt
08 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Out of the ten counties with the most adults on Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), nine voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump. But in the pr...
That'll Teach 'Em
07 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
An historic walkout in West Virginia ended yesterday. Teachers managed to shut down every single public school in the state for nine days to demand hi...
What's the Deal with Steel?
06 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
President Trump announced that he's okay with a trade war late last week and he's got the tariff proposals to prove it: 25% for steel, 10% for aluminu...
Inclusion Riders, Explained
05 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Quick bonus episode! Frances McDormand won the Academy Award for Best Actress last night for her performance in “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Mi...
President for Life
05 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
China's National People's Congress opened its annual two-week meeting today. The country’s parliament is expected to change China’s constitution t...
The Gun Problem No One Wants to Talk About
02 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
It was a week of whiplash in the national fight over gun control. First, major retailers like Dick’s and Walmart raised the gun-buying age from 18 t...
The Deep Fake
01 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
There’s a new kind of algorithm that allows you to take a video of one person and map the face of another person onto his or her body. Not surprisin...
The Quiet War on Obamacare
28 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
A coalition of 20 states filed a lawsuit claiming Obamacare is unconstitutional yesterday. Vox’s Sarah Kliff says that’s just the latest pushback ...
Mueller 101
27 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Today, special counsel Robert Mueller dropped over 20 criminal counts against former Trump campaign official Rick Gates, just days after Gates agreed ...
Give Us Your No One
26 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Today, the United States Supreme Court denied a request from the Trump administration to expedite a decision on DACA. This keeps the Deferred Action f...
This Time Could Be Different
23 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Something changed this week. Teenagers managed to break the deadlock over gun control. Marches, walkouts, and serious policy debates are on the way. T...
Countdown to Day Zero
22 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Cape Town is just a few months away from being the first major city to shut off its taps in the history of the modern world. Day Zero - the day Capeto...
Breaking the Ice with North Korea
21 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
North and South Korea are on opposite sides of a demilitarized zone, separated by barbed wire, tank traps, and guard towers. But in the 2018 Winter Ol...
Black Panther Is the Most Important Movie of 2018
20 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
"Black Panther" is the biggest movie in the world, but what makes this comic book adaptation more important than the nearly 20 Marvel movies that came...
Six Easy Steps to Nuclear War
19 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Today we launch our show, but it turns out it's a lot easier to launch a nuclear weapon. Vox's Alex Ward walks us through the six easy steps and tells...