Today, Explained
Episodes
Can Democrats win back rural voters?
15 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Wisconsin wasn’t always a battleground state, but following Trump’s victory there in 2016, Democrats are trying to regain their footing among rura...
Pennies don’t make cents
11 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Pennies cost more than a cent to make — and no one spends them. The New York Times Magazine’s Caity Weaver explains why we can’t get rid of them...
A hurricane of misinformation
10 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Lies about disaster relief are spreading like never before this hurricane season, and it’s making FEMA’s job harder. Juliette Kayyem, author of Th...
Mysterious Melania
09 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Book critic Martin Pengelly read MELANIA so you don’t have to. Intelligencer’s Margaret Hartmann says the book is the latest in a long line of Tru...
Abortion on the ballot
08 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ten states have an initiative on the ballot that would protect access to abortion. KJZZ’s Camryn Sanchez explains how Arizona's Proposition 139 coul...
The future of Gaza
07 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It's been one year since Hamas attacked Israel and started a war in Gaza. Israelis and Palestinians look back, and Vox's Joshua Keating says Israel's ...
Puberty hits different now
04 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Kids are going through puberty earlier, and scientists think they have found another reason why. Pediatrician Dr. Cara Natterson and puberty educator ...
Christmas in October
03 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro landed himself on the naughty list for stealing an election. He's hoping an early Christmas will improve his stan...
Mr. Veep
02 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Vox's Andrew Prokop says the vice-presidential debate between Tim Walz and JD Vance was about policy, but in a weird way. Professor and pollster Dan C...
Israel’s escalation
01 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Tanks, rockets, missiles, and the death of Hassan Nasrallah. Israel is asserting itself as the most powerful player in the Middle East. This episode w...
How to win Pennsylvania
30 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Vox’s Christian Paz and Miles Bryan head to Philadelphia and Lancaster to see what the Harris and Trump campaigns are doing to win the state. This e...
The office vs. everyone else
27 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Amazon is the latest high-profile company to mandate in-person work five days a week. Today, Explained heads to Miami, where many people are back in t...
Leaving America for work-life balance
26 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today, Explained flies to Portugal to find out how the dust has settled on the pandemic-era quest for better living and working conditions. This episo...
AI’s nuclear option
25 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Microsoft needs so much energy for its AI data centers that it’s helping to reboot Three Mile Island, the site of the US’s worst nuclear accident....
War in Lebanon?
24 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It looks a lot like all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah. Semafor’s Sarah Dadouch has the latest from Beirut and CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh explai...
Start the steal?
23 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A partisan election board in Georgia has been trying to change the rules around voting and election certification. It's giving 2020. In the first epis...
Everybody's gone country
20 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Country music is cool again!!!!! Billboard's Melinda Newman explains. This episode was reported and produced by Avishay Artsy, edited by Amina Al-Sadi...
Republicans are getting raunchy
19 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Conservatives have started claiming hot girls as a culture war victory. Vox's Constance Grady explains why. This episode was produced by Haleema Shah ...
Your phone is banned, fellow kids
18 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Educators and politicians across the nation are banning cellphones in classrooms. Today, Explained’s Miles Bryan visits a school in Philadelphia to ...
The return of easy money
17 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Federal Reserve is set to make its first interest rate cut since the pandemic ended. Marketplace's Kimberly Adams explains how the move could impa...
The Ohio pet panic
16 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
No, Haitian immigrants aren’t eating anyone’s pets. USA Today-Ohio’s Erin Glynn and the Verge’s Gaby Del Valle explain why Republicans are tal...
We can't trust photos anymore
13 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week Apple announced its first AI iPhone with features that will make it even easier to edit your photos. But manipulating reality worries photoj...
Stop the steel
12 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Once the world's largest corporation, the now-struggling US Steel wants to sell itself to Japan's Nippon Steel. The United Steelworkers oppose the dea...
Who took debait?
11 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A conservative and a liberal wrangle over how the Harris-Trump debate should have gone. This episode was produced by Avishay Artsy and Amanda Lewellyn...
The Pope’s big bet on China
10 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
One of the most significant parts of Pope Francis’s Asia tour might be a country he isn’t visiting: China, home to 10 million Catholics, with whom...
Revenge of the regulators
09 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov by French authorities is part of a broader shift away from the free speech absolutism long championed by Big Te...
Antibiotics for coral reefs
06 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Vox’s Benji Jones takes us diving in a coral reef to learn how scientists are trying to save them. This episode was produced by Avishay Artsy, edite...
How sanctions backfire
05 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
American sanctions can destroy a country’s economy. The unintended consequences are massive in places like Venezuela and Syria. Jeff Stein of the Wa...
How Trump wins
04 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Donald Trump hasn’t yet figured out how to run a disciplined campaign against Kamala Harris. In the meantime, he’s leaning into the weird. This ep...
The silent war
03 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The story of Army specialist Austin Valley highlights a crisis the US military can’t seem to solve: More service members die by suicide than in comb...
Equal-opportunity murderball
30 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For the first time, a woman is playing on the US wheelchair rugby team at the Paralympics. It’s a sign of progress in the complicated arena of co-ed...
Israel vs. Hezbollah
29 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The two are on the brink of starting a regional war. An analyst and a negotiator say without a ceasefire in Gaza, the Middle East could spin out of co...
Minion Jesus
28 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A meme of a Minion being crucified went viral on TikTok in a very unusual way. Today, Explained’s Laura Bullard investigated and connected the dots ...
Hackers probably stole your Social Security number
27 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Vox’s Adam Clark Estes explains why that might be a good thing. This episode was produced by Miles Bryan, edited by Matt Collette, fact-checked by L...
Stuck in space
26 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Bloomberg’s Loren Grush explains how two astronauts got stuck on the International Space Station and astronaut Cady Coleman tells us why she is jeal...
How Kamala wins
23 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Noel closes out her week in Chicago with a recap of Kamala Harris’s speech. Political strategist Mike Podhorzer looks ahead. This episode was produc...
The migrant crisis, via Chicago
22 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Around 50,000 migrants have poured into Chicago in the last two years. Some Chicagoans are furious. We talk to residents, clergy, and migrants on Chic...
Kamala's party
21 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Democrats call Black women the "backbone" of their party. We ask three Black women delegates in Chicago about making history, Gaza, and Black men ...
What kind of Democrat should Kamala Harris be?
20 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The last two Democratic presidents took distinct approaches toward leading their party and the nation. New York magazine’s Jonathan Chait explains w...
The Chicago DNC everyone wants to forget
19 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When Chicago hosted the Democratic National Convention in 1968, it descended into riots in the street and chaos on the floor. Historian Rick Perlstein...
Dating sucks right now
16 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
But it doesn't have to. Myisha Battle, a sexologist and host of KCRW’s How's Your Sex Life?, tells us how to move beyond the apps. This episode was ...
The late, great Hannibal Lecter
15 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Donald Trump keeps referencing the infamous fictional cannibal in his speeches. Intelligencer’s Margaret Hartmann attempts to explain why. This epis...
So you toppled an autocrat
14 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Bangladeshis are about to find out if a Nobel laureate can run their government better than a nepo baby. This episode was produced by Haleema Shah wit...
The tech titans backing Trump
13 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are vying for Silicon Valley's support. Democrats typically get it. But Elon Musk threw his weight behind Trump in an i...
ClassGPT
12 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Students are returning to college campuses this month armed with generative AI tools. One professor who has banned them and one who has embraced them ...
A green medal for Paris?
09 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Paris wanted this to be the greenest Olympics ever. We assess. This episode was produced by Denise Guerra, edited by Amina Al-Sadi, fact-checked by La...
Ecstasy Therapy: Bad trip
08 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A clinical trial for MDMA-assisted therapy showed promising results. But participants who say they suffered afterward allege their experiences aren’...
Riots in the UK
07 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Disinformation after a knife attack in the UK transformed a local tragedy into nationwide upheaval. The Guardian's Robyn Vinter explains how it got to...
It's Tim Walz
06 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The governor of Minnesota is Kamala Harris’s running mate. Minnesota Public Radio’s Dana Ferguson and Vox’s Andrew Prokop explain the Democratic...
RIP Project 2025?
05 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Project 2025 and J.D. Vance have brought fringe policies to the presidential campaign. Democrats are using both to label the Republican ticket "weird....
Ecstasy Therapy: How MDMA became medicine
02 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Military veterans are unlikely collaborators with the psychedelic counterculture. The two groups’ efforts are being tested this month, when the FDA ...
Ecstasy Therapy: Penicillin for the soul
01 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In 1980s Berkeley, an eccentric chemist and his wife, a self-taught therapist, experimented with MDMA. Their work would kickstart a decades-long campa...
What will save men’s gymnastics?
31 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
2008 was the last time the US men’s gymnastics won a team medal at the Olympics. Justin Spring was part of that team, and he says that this week’s...
Why we’re all populists now
30 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Donald Trump, J.D. Vance, and Kamala Harris all want to distance themselves from the inflation and bad vibes of President Biden’s economy. The Washi...
Is your refrigerator running?
29 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Fridges are our go-to way of storing food, but they’re not good for the planet or even good for a lot of our food. Gastropod’s Nicola Twilley, aut...
Breaking the Olympics
26 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Breaking will dance its way into the Olympics this summer. B-boy historian Alien Ness says this is destiny. This episode was produced by Hady Mawajdeh...
Kamala’s meme-mentum
25 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Kamala Harris memes have taken over the internet. Now she needs to figure out how to capitalize on them. This episode was produced by Peter Balonon-Ro...
Abercrombie is back
24 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Fast Company’s senior fashion writer Elizabeth Segran explains how the company overcame a problematic history to pull off a renaissance. This episod...
Dengue’s biggest year ever
23 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
More than 10 million people worldwide have contracted dengue from mosquitos this year. Now experts are worried it might show up at the Olympics. This ...
You did it, Joe
22 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
All bets are off as President Biden exits the 2024 race. Vox’s Andrew Prokop and Democratic strategist David Axelrod explain. This episode was produ...
Trump-a-mania at the RNC
19 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Hulk Hogan delivered at the final night of the RNC, but did Donald Trump? We hear from two conservative strategists who do not agree on whether Trump'...
Why banning Juul backfired
18 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The US cracked down on Juul after an uptick in teen vaping and a flurry of health concerns. Podcaster Leon Neyfakh explains how the ban inadvertently ...
Trump just avoided 40 felony counts
17 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A federal judge has thrown out Trump's classified documents case. Wall Street Journal Justice Department reporter C. Ryan Barber explains what that mi...
VP J.D.
16 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Donald Trump’s running mate is Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance. Politico’s Ian Ward describes Vance’s transformation from a self-described hillbilly to the...
Is this us?
15 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The assassination attempt on Donald Trump is part of a steady uptick in political — and increasingly partisan — violence in the United States. Wit...
The song of the summer is DEAD
12 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Long live the song of the summer. But wait! Switched on Pop’s Charlie Harding disagrees. And Rolling Stone’s Brittany Spanos says maybe it never e...
What is Project 2025?
11 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Donald Trump is trying to distance himself from it. Joe Biden wants you to Google it. Semafor’s Shelby Talcott explains what’s going on with the c...
The Supreme Court’s power grab
10 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Supreme Court just fundamentally changed how the federal government works. Vox’s Ian Millhiser explains. This episode was produced by Victoria C...
Dancing in the Dark Money
09 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Prosecutors ain’t nothing but tired of New Jersey’s political corruption. WNYC’s Nancy Solomon, host of the Dead End podcast, explains the cases...
Joe Almighty
08 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
President Biden says only the “Lord Almighty” can get him to end his re-election campaign, though more and more Democrats are trying to sway him t...
Why “Country Roads” feels like home
03 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
John Denver’s ode to West Virginia might be more popular abroad than it is in the United States. This Independence Day, we’re asking why. This epi...
Criminalizing homelessness?
02 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Supreme Court has weighed in on homelessness for the first time in decades. The Economist's Steven Mazie tells us what the decision means, and Vox...
Once again, immunity is back up for grabs
01 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Supreme Court sent the question of Donald Trump’s presidential immunity back to the lower courts. Vox’s Andrew Prokop explains. This episode w...
Panic! At The White House
28 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Joe Biden needed to win the debate. He didn’t. Vox’s Christian Paz explains if Democrats can find a better candidate. This episode was produced by...
How Spotify picks its winners
27 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
No, Sabrina Carpenter probably isn’t paying the streamer to play “Espresso” every time you’re listening to music. But the app is making change...
The end of Made in China?
26 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
President Biden recently raised Trump-era tariffs, which could lead to even higher prices on Chinese imports. US Trade Representative Katherine Tai ex...
It’s not Islamophobic, it’s anti-Palestinian
25 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Islamophobic and antisemitic incidents are on the rise. Author Moustafa Bayoumi and Vox’s Abdallah Fayyad tell us about another kind of invisible di...
Why investors look past Elon’s musk
24 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Elon Musk has had inappropriate relationships with SpaceX employees. Tesla shareholders knew that, and chose to reward him with a massive payday anywa...
How UFC explains USA
21 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Ultimate Fighting Championship went from niche bloodsport to multibillion-dollar league. Donald Trump might be its biggest fan. Journalists Luke T...
It’s not easy being a green conservative
20 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Fighting climate change is not a very common Republican position. Climate activist Benji Backer argues it should be, and Climate Capitalism author Aks...
France's far-right youth
18 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
President Macron has called snap elections in France that could lead to him sharing power with the far right. Le Monde's Gilles Paris explains how the...
Save Darfur, again
17 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A bloody civil war is spreading famine and fear through Sudan. It’s a near-repeat of a crisis from two decades ago, but this time Sudan is not comma...
Party in the USA?
14 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How do you talk about colonialism and slavery at a birthday party? New York City is trying to tackle that question this year as it turns 400, and the ...
Will LGBTQ voters come out for Biden?
13 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The LGBTQ+ voting bloc has traditionally favored Democrats, but as Vox's Christian Paz explains, this year their support may be slipping. California R...
We’re drowning in credit card debt
12 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Americans owe more than $1 trillion to credit card companies, a record sum that’s likely to keep growing as rising interest rates prevent cardholder...
Was that antisemitic?
11 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Since October 7 there has been a lot of debate over what is and isn’t antisemitic. Rabbi Jill Jacobs and Harvard law professor Noah Feldman explain ...
Tiktalk therapy
10 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Some therapists are turning to TikTok as a way to make more money and avoid burnout, but is a nightly scroll through therapy content enough to help so...
The last good day on the internet
07 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Remember when the only thing anybody could talk about was white and gold versus blue and black? NatGeo’s Brian Resnick does. And the Atlantic’s Ch...
A win for democracy in India
06 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
India's prime minister suffered a humiliating win this week. Vox's Zack Beauchamp explains a shocking election. This episode was produced by Peter Bal...
Immigration lemonade
05 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When it comes to immigration solutions, the federal government is handing out lemons. Denver Mayor Mike Johnston is making lemonade. This episode was ...
Our immigration identity crisis
04 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Americans hold contradictory views on immigration: They’re more supportive of it than ever before, while also calling it the nation’s most divisiv...
The backlash to America’s racial reckoning
03 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The murder of George Floyd and the protests that followed looked like a turning point in the fight against systemic racism. Except, as Vox’s Fabiola...
Florida man convicted
31 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Former President Donald Trump is now also convicted felon Donald Trump. It didn’t have to be this way. New York magazine’s Andrew Rice explains. T...
Can Mexico’s first woman president fix Mexico?
30 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The AP’s Megan Janetsky and Falko Ernst of the International Crisis Group explain how Mexico’s first woman president will inherit and address the ...
Chasing the storm
29 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Aaron Rigsby has built a career out of documenting tornadoes, hurricanes, and other extreme weather up close. So he’s seen just how much more extrem...
The Hamas org chart
28 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Seven months in, Israel has not “eliminated” Hamas leadership. Newsweek’s Tom O’Connor introduces them, and Mairav Zonszein from International...
America’s shellfish behavior
27 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Americans consume more shrimp than salmon and tuna combined. But where’s it all coming from? Listen to this episode of Gastropod before you throw an...
How to steal a team
24 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The billionaire owner of the Oakland A’s is trying to move his team to Vegas, and he wants public money to do it. Writer Dan Moore explains how A’...
Red Lobster’s bankrupt-sea
23 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The seafood chain found itself deep in the red after a disastrous unlimited shrimp promotion. Wall Street Journal restaurant reporter Heather Haddon e...
The AI hype machine
22 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Big Tech companies have rolled out a new batch of AI-powered products, improving upon what came before. But as Wired's Will Knight and investigative j...