Today, Explained

Get used to higher interest rates

04 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Federal Reserve has once again raised interest rates, which means borrowing money for your mortgage or your business is once again more expensive....

Disney vs. DeSantis

03 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Once upon a time, a Magic Kingdom took issue with a ruler’s law and, well, everyone ended up suing each other. The Wall Street Journal’s Robbie Wh...

The Supreme Court’s corruption crisis

02 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In a hearing today, the Senate Judiciary Committee took on the Supreme Court’s lack of ethics standards. ProPublica’s Joshua Kaplan explains how h...

Why parents are suing social media

01 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Congress has yet to pass legislation regulating social media companies, so parents are taking matters into their own hands. A lawyer representing them...

Fake Drake

28 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Verge’s Nilay Patel explains how a spurious collaboration between Drake and The Weeknd started a copyright fight over generative AI. Holly Hernd...

Can Title IX protect trans athletes?

27 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

President Biden hopes so. His administration is preparing to roll out new rules that would counter state and local bans aimed at keeping transgender y...

The new war in Sudan

26 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Foreign powers are arming and funding opposing military leaders in Sudan, who are now battling for control of the country. It’s just the latest in a...

He’s running

25 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The oldest president in the history of the United States wants a second term. Vox’s Andrew Prokop and Dylan Matthews explain why Joe Biden doesn’t...

The Adderall shortage

24 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

There is a nationwide shortage of medications to treat ADHD. One culprit: the DEA. Vox’s Dylan Scott explains. This episode was produced by Miles Br...

Cocaine hippos (and the case against pets)

21 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The descendants of Pablo Escobar’s pet hippopotami are wreaking havoc in Colombia. They can teach us non-druglords a thing or two about pet ownershi...

Make it rain

20 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Colorado River is disappearing and the government is now spending millions on one wild idea to ease the pain: seeding clouds to make it rain. This...

What does the Fox pay?

19 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

$787.5 million. (To Dominion Voting Systems, averting a defamation trial that could have been disastrous for the network. The Washington Post’s Erik...

Hollywood writers are ready to strike

18 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

TV and film writers just voted to authorize a strike, which could leave studios without fresh scripts as soon as May 1. Bloomberg business reporter Lu...

The forever chemicals in your blood

17 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Biden administration has new plans to reduce the amount of PFAS or “forever chemicals” in America’s drinking water. Barbara Moran, WBUR’s ...

The Discord leaks

14 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Federal officials have charged a 21-year-old member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard with posting a trove of classified documents online. Polit...

Phantom ghosts Broadway

13 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The chandelier crashes for a final time as Broadway’s longest-running musical, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s extremely ’80s Phantom of the Opera, closes...

Why stuff isn’t getting cheaper

12 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The traditional explanation of inflation is simple: too much money chasing too few goods. But some experts are now wondering if companies’ aggressiv...

The new fight over abortion pills

11 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A federal judge in Texas invalidated the FDA’s decades-old approval of the abortion drug mifepristone. Vox’s Anna North explains the battle over a...

Why Russia arrested an American reporter

10 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Evan Gershkovich’s detention is a callback to the last time a US journalist was accused of espionage in Russia — and to a Soviet-era tactic for ma...

Table for 10 billion, please

07 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Feeding the world’s growing population is an increasingly difficult challenge, and climate change won’t make it any easier. Vox’s Kenny Torrella...

Uncle Sam really wants you

06 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The US military faces its worst recruiting crisis since the draft ended in 1973. Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth — aware of the military’s...

Should you carry Narcan?

05 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The drug that brings people overdosing on opioids back from the brink of death in minutes just got approved for over-the-counter use. The Wall Street ...

City Limits: Blame the mayor

04 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Chicagoans feel unsafe, and many blame Mayor Lori Lightfoot. The two Democrats on the ballot to replace her have starkly different views on what the c...

City Limits: Crime vibes

03 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Americans aren’t going downtown like they used to, and a lot of them say it’s because they don’t feel safe there. Today, Explained got the data ...

Florida man indicted

31 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump is the first US president to be indicted. Now what? Vox’s Andrew Prokop explains. This episode was produced by Haleema Shah and Amanda ...

The fake nation of Kailasa

30 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Newark officials rescinded a sister city agreement with the United States of Kailasa after finding out it wasn’t actually a real place. Reporter Sus...

How an AI pope pic fooled us

29 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

An AI-generated image of Cool Pope in immaculate drip went viral over the weekend and most everyone thought it was real. The Verge’s James Vincent e...

The Israeli-Israeli conflict

28 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Far-right judicial reforms have inspired what might be the largest protests in the history of Israel. If adopted, the reforms could spell the end of d...

New Mexico low-key fixes child care

27 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The US has a child care crisis. But New Mexico just figured out a way to fix it (hint: they’re paying for it). This episode was produced by Victoria...

City Limits: Should public transit be free?

24 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Transit agencies nationwide are facing an existential crisis. Washington, DC’s city council has a paradoxical solution: make subways and buses free....

Rep. Frost and David Hogg on what Gen Z wants

23 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Five years after March for Our Lives, one of the historic protest’s organizers and his historic friend explain why it’s easy to forget how much pr...

A tents standoff at the VA

22 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When the Veterans Administration failed to build the homes it promised, unhoused vets built a tent city across the street — in one of the wealthiest...

The US is obsessed with China

21 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

There’s rare bipartisan consensus in Washington: China is a threat to be countered. Cornell professor Jessica Chen Weiss says the American approach ...

7,300 days

20 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The war in Iraq has been declared over by nearly every president since the one who started it 20 years ago today. But it’s still not done. At SXSW i...

City Limits: Beware the Doom Loop

17 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Pandemic restrictions are mostly over, but cities are still struggling to recover. Empty offices threaten to set off a downward spiral of falling tax ...

The “Lean In” era is over

16 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Execs like YouTube’s Susan Wojcicki and Meta’s Sheryl Sandberg paved the way for women in tech. Now they’re leaving the industry — and being r...

The Republicans breaking up with Tucker Carlson

15 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Fox News host aired a splashy exclusive this month about the January 6 insurrection. Some Republican senators saw his coverage — and publicly ca...

The kids defying family court

14 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Two siblings in Utah are defying a court order to reunite with their father, who they allege abused them. ProPublica’s Hannah Dreyfus explains a con...

Silicon Valley Bank goes bust

13 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

SVB’s collapse is the biggest bank failure since 2008. Insider’s Ben Bergman explains why the bank collapsed, why the Biden administration interve...

Top Fun: Oscars vs. blockbusters

12 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Huge hits like Top Gun: Maverick and Avatar: The Way of Water got nominated alongside Tár. In this episode of Into It, which is now available twice a...

The war on drag

10 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Melissa Brown, a state politics reporter for The Tennessean, spills the tea on Tennessee’s new drag restrictions. And drag performer Bella DuBalle p...

Congress is daddy

09 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

DC is baby. This episode was produced by Miles Bryan, edited by Amina Al-Sadi, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Paul Robert Mounsey, and h...

Auditing Ukraine

08 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Congress wants more oversight of how the billions in US aid to Ukraine are being used. But our own military can’t even seem to pass an audit. This e...

How to save a murderer

07 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Should past trauma prevent a convicted killer from being executed? The Marshall Project’s Maurice Chammah reports on “mitigation specialists” wh...

The fight for affordable insulin

06 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Insulin was the poster child of overpriced life saving drugs, but a manufacturer finally capped the cost at $35. Vox’s Dylan Scott explains how phar...

The rockstar maestro

03 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Gustavo Dudamel brought classical music to the masses in Los Angeles. Now he’s announced that he’s taking his talents to New York, which could rev...

Why newspapers fired Dilbert

02 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Newspapers across the country pulled the long-running comic “Dilbert” after its creator uploaded a racist tirade about Rasmussen poll results. Jou...

Block the sun, save the earth?

01 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Solar geoengineering — the idea of cooling the planet by deflecting the sun’s rays — is so risky that scientists and policy experts can’t even...

Biden’s border orders

28 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

President Biden promised a more humane approach to immigration when he entered office. After two years and a flurry of activity on asylum policies, t...

The shadow war on Russian yachts

27 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Bloomberg's Stephanie Baker and the New Yorker’s Evan Osnos explain the fight to seize (and maintain) billionaire boats. This episode was produced b...

Another phone call from Ukraine

24 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

On the morning Russia invaded Ukraine, we called Yulya and Kurii. A year later, we’re calling them back. This episode was produced by Victoria Chamb...

Pharrell Vuitton

23 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Pharrell Williams was happy to be named the new head of Louis Vuitton’s menswear, but his appointment had fashion industry hopefuls feeling like the...

Just how dangerous is the Ohio train crash?

22 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The derailment of a train carrying toxic chemicals has residents of East Palestine, Ohio fearing for their health and safety. Two weeks after the inci...

Ban TikTok?

21 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Politicians across the United States are calling for an outright ban on the popular social media platform. Alex Heath, deputy editor at The Verge, exp...

Honey, they stole the bees

17 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Humanity can’t survive without bees, which is why bees are big business for thieves. Today, Explained’s Haleema Shah heads to the capital of sting...

Turkey's man-made catastrophe

16 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Thousands of buildings collapsed after Turkey’s massive earthquakes. Now President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is facing a backlash for an amnesty program...

Nikki Haley kicks off a Republican mutiny

15 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, is running for president. Vox’s Andrew Prokop says she’s likely the first of many prominent Re...

Democratizing spying

14 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

“Zero-click spyware” is making it easier for governments to get their hands on individuals’ personal data. New York Times investigative reporter...

Pow pow power grid

13 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Attacks on vulnerable electrical infrastructure are surging. The tactic — embraced by everyone from copper-seeking vandals to chaos-minded white nat...

The great American cattle swindle

10 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Cody Easterday was ranching royalty in Washington state until he was sentenced to 11 years in prison for swindling two companies out of $244 million. ...

Decisions after Dobbs

09 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade is reshaping the way a lot of Americans think about pregnancy and abortion. Vox’s Marin Cogan...

One earthquake, two recoveries

08 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Turkey is digging itself out from the devastating earthquake that has killed thousands across the country. Recovery efforts have been more difficult i...

The fight over AP African American Studies

07 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The College Board piloted an AP course on African American Studies. Then, after conservative pushback, it debuted a revised curriculum. But the group ...

Hullaballoon

06 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The balloon crisis is blown up. Politico’s Alex Ward deflates it for us. This episode was produced by Amanda Lewellyn, edited by Matt Collette, fact...

Paying ex-gang members to stop shootings

03 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Policymakers across the country are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on “violence interruptor” programs to try to stop shootings before th...

Sickened chickens

02 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Poultry farmers are in flock-down. The bird flu known as H5N1 is being called “the largest foreign animal disease outbreak in US history.” Vox’s...

Dry February?

01 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

New national health guidelines in Canada say any amount of alcohol consumption could lead to serious health risks. The guidance comes as more and more...

The police killing of Tyre Nichols

31 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Memphis braced for an explosive reaction to footage of the deadly police beating. It never came. Wendi C. Thomas of the nonprofit newsroom MLK50: Just...

“Okay, Google, what’s a monopoly?”

30 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Department of Justice wants Google to break up its advertising business. The Wall Street Journal’s Keach Hagey explains how the DOJ’s antitrus...

Why are businesses acting like there’s a recession?

27 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Wealthy companies like Google and Microsoft are announcing unprecedented layoffs — all while the economy is trending in the right direction. Vox’s...

Peru’s democracy crisis

26 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Dozens have died in anti-government protests in Peru. Journalist Simeon Tegel reports from Lima on how the mounting anger over corruption and inequali...

Fine dining isn’t fine

25 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Chef René Redzepi said his Copenhagen restaurant, Noma, deemed the best in the world, isn't sustainable and will close next year. But if an establish...

Why Mexico’s top cop is on trial in NYC

24 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The US and Mexican governments trusted Genaro Garcia Luna to crack down on the drug trade. Now he’s on trial for conspiring with El Chapo’s Sinalo...

Thanks but no tanks, Ukraine

23 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine desperately needs tanks to fight Russia. The US, which has provided many other weapons, is refusing. This e...

The politics of India’s biggest blockbusteRRR

20 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Most people watch RRR and see one of the greatest action epics in the history of cinema. But some see an insidious brand of Hindu nationalism that’s...

It’s debt ceiling season

19 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

House Republicans are refusing to raise the US debt ceiling without huge concessions. Vox’s Dylan Matthews explains why we have a debt ceiling to be...

The half-baked gas stove debate

18 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

No, the government isn’t coming for your gas stove. Vox’s Rebecca Leber explains why you might want to switch anyway. This episode was produced by...

Compost yourself

17 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Remember you are dirt and to dirt you shall return. Science journalist Eleanor Cummins and law professor Tanya Marsh explain the rise of human compost...

What’s up, docs?

13 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What do a Delaware garage and a Florida palace have in common? We dig into Joe Biden’s classified document mess. This episode was produced by Siona ...

Too much water for California

12 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Rain is good for California, but the state was not prepared for what might be a megastorm. KQED’s Dan Brekke assesses the damage from the San Franci...

The Taliban vs. women

11 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When the Taliban took power, it promised a place for women in its new Afghanistan. Now, hardliners are embracing policies that do the opposite. This e...

Brazil’s January 6?

10 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Except it was on January 8. The Brazilian Report’s Gustavo Ribeiro explains from São Paulo. This episode was produced by Miles Bryan, edited by Mat...

Andrew Tate: The king of toxic masculinity

09 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Controversial manfluencer Andrew Tate is in a Romanian prison, accused of rape and human trafficking. Vox’s Rebecca Jennings and sociolinguist Rober...

Will Kevin McCarthy become speaker?

06 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The 118th Congress has begun with a showdown over who will be elected House speaker. Vox’s Andrew Prokop argues that this is the culmination of a de...

Why we’re all on antidepressants

05 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ray Osheroff was a successful doctor in the DC area until his depression became debilitating. The way he was treated — and not treated — changed p...

The many lies of George Santos

04 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

George Santos is supposed to become a member of Congress this week. We still have no idea who he is. This episode was produced by Amanda Lewellyn, ...

Let’s eat lab meat

03 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Happy New Year! Maybe you’re interested in trying new things? Sean and his mom are. In today’s episode, they drive to Alameda, California to try “...

Abortions before Roe

29 Dec 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...

How to save kids from online extremism

28 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A lot of IRL violence starts with online radicalization. We revisit our conversation with writer and parent Joanna Schroeder, who wrote a guide for pa...

Why the Ukraine war happened

27 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Vladimir Putin believes Ukraine belongs to Russia, and he used that a pretense to invade. In an episode originally released in February, historian Tim...

What’s the dill with pickleball?

22 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Pickleball is bringing America together. Pickleball is tearing America apart. Sports Illustrated’s John Walters explains. This episode was produced ...

Why gaslighting is the word of the year

21 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

It’s sooo 2016, but the word still mattered a lot in 2022. Merriam-Webster explains. This episode was produced by Haleema Shah, edited by Matt Colle...

Criminal referrals for Donald Trump

20 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The January 6 committee sent the Justice Department four criminal referrals against the former president, who it alleges engaged in an elaborate crimi...

The case against movie trailers

19 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Movie trailers are misleading audiences. Vox’s Alissa Wilkinson says you should stop watching them. This episode was produced by Avishay Artsy, edit...

Do I have to care about the Twitter Files?

16 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Maybe not, but you’re going to be hearing about them for a while anyway. Republicans are saying they’ll use them to investigate the Biden administ...

Megan Thee Stallion

15 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Megan Thee Stallion is everywhere — including in court, testifying against the rapper Tory Lanez, who is charged with shooting her. Vox’s Fabiola ...

Throwing soup at art

14 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Tensions are simmering in London as climate protesters turn up the heat on their soup-flinging activism. Rishi Sunak’s government is attempting to k...

Art-ificial intelligence

13 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Between chatbots and image generators, artificial intelligence has gotten scary good lately. The Verge’s James Vincent explains what’s behind the ...

Hint of crime

12 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Tostitos chips without real lime. Root beer made with fake vanilla. Instant mac and cheese that isn’t so instant. These products are among the hundr...

R-E-S-P-E-C-T (for Marriage Act)

09 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Sen. Tammy Baldwin managed to rally bipartisan support for a marriage equality bill, but she’s the first to admit the legislation is “humble.” A...