Today, Explained
Today, Explained is Vox's daily news explainer podcast. Hosts Sean Rameswaram and Noel King will guide you through the most important stories of the day.
Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
226
The cocaine comeback
Demand for cocaine around the world has exploded. Production is at record highs. Law enforcement can barely keep up. Cocaine is back in a big way.
23 min
227
A sit-down with Zohran Mamdani
New York City's Democratic socialist mayor takes office on January 1. Can he follow through on all those campaign promises? We ask him.
23 min
228
The rise of baby Botox
More people are getting facial injections — and they're starting younger too.
23 min
229
How to fix blue cities
This year Abundance went from a bestselling book to a political practice powering Democrats from New York to Seattle.
26 min
230
The Epstein Files are still a "cover-up"
The Trump administration was ordered to release all the Epstein Files. They didn’t. Lawmakers say they are breaking the law.
23 min
231
Is your brain lying to you?
Our brain constructs the world we hear, see, and feel — but tinnitus shows how that superpower can backfire.
26 min
232
Your pop music is influenced by God
Popular music went more Christian this year, but religion has had a long history of influencing secular sounds.
23 min
233
JD Vance is just getting started
From Twitter feuds to memes to providing cover for President Trump, the vice president had a big year. Up next, the midterms. And then — the presidency?
23 min
234
AI: 1 — Humanity: 0
President Trump's new executive order makes it harder for states to regulate AI, giving a powerful industry even more power.
23 min
235
The Price is Rigged
23 min
236
GOP women are over it
Some Republican women in the House are so frustrated with the leadership of speaker Mike Johnson that they're turning on him.
23 min
237
Let AI replace you
If AI handles all our busy work and optimizes our resources, it may also give us the one thing there never seems to be enough of: time.
25 min
238
Pop culture is conservative now
Why books, movies, music, and fashion all took a turn to the right.
22 min
239
The ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ economy
Trump calls the idea of “affordability” a hoax. Nonetheless, he pressured the Fed to fix it. It's just one example of Trump prizing loyalty over economic expertise.
23 min
240
Everyone’s fired now
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on a case that could give President Donald Trump the power to fire…just about anyone.
23 min
241
The Republicans bucking Trump
From a redistricting fight in Indiana to a wave of GOP retirements from Congress, there are signs MAGA's chokehold on the Republican Party may be loosening.
24 min
242
Fear and uncertainty in Venezuela
It's a waiting game inside the country, where the US is threatening military action.
27 min
243
The rise of the introverts
Turns out those personality tests you’re taking online are all wrong.
23 min
244
I fell in love with my AI
Two humans — and their AI lovers — spill it all.
24 min
245
Fishy business
Fish farms promise to grow massive amounts of seafood to feed a hungry planet, and to do it ethically. But what’s good for the humans isn’t always good for the salmon.
23 min
246
Bettor living through Polymarket
Polymarket is making it easier than ever to bet billions on anything — including politics. But should we be able to?
23 min
247
Can Rubio end the Ukraine war?
The Trump administration is trying to sell its latest peace plan to Russia — and it's enlisted the help of former Russia hawk Marco Rubio.
23 min
248
Data center backlash!
AI data centers are driving up the cost of energy — and it's starting to get political.
23 min
249
The DOJ's revenge agenda
A judge just threw out indictments against some of Trump's sworn enemies. It's part of a long year of chaos and confusion at the Justice Department.
23 min
250
MAGA’s other immigration battle
The debate over high-skill work visas is revealing cracks between President Trump and his base.
23 min