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.
A bill outlawing caste-based discrimination in California could become the first law of its kind in the US. Reporter Sonia Paul explains the backlash to the bill, and Georgetown University’s Ananya Chakravarti explains how India's ancient social hierarchy became a problem here.
23 min
252
We Need to Talk About Kevin
As House speaker, Kevin McCarthy worked with Democrats to keep the government open. Then Matt Gaetz worked with Democrats to get McCarthy fired. Semafor’s Jordan Weissmann returns to explain an unprecedented moment in American politics.
22 min
253
Crypto’s crown prince in court
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s trial begins today; a guilty verdict could represent the final nail in crypto’s coffin. Bloomberg’s Zeke Faux, who spent two years chronicling SBF’s downfall, explains.
23 min
254
Shutshow
The US government is open for business at the cost of Ukraine aid. Semafor’s Jordan Weissmann explains how we got here. And White House communications director Ben LaBolt explains how the Biden administration is justifying the compromise.
22 min
255
Hip-hop is 50 and it's having a midlife crisis
So much of the coverage of hip-hop’s 50th birthday has been congratulatory, in spite of its record of misogyny and anti-LGBTQ sentiment. In this episode of Into It, host Sam Sanders talks to journalist Kiana Fitzgerald about how the women of hip-hop are leading the way today, and he catches up with hip-hop scholar Jason England, who argues hip-hop's midlife crisis has left an empty shell of what the genre once was.
43 min
256
Blame Capitalism: Degrowing pains
Capitalism isn’t natural, was never inevitable, and endless growth is killing Earth. The final episode of “Blame Capitalism” examines the degrowth movement, whose proponents call to end capitalism as we know it.
23 min
257
Man’s best friend banned in UK
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says his government will ban a type of dog called the American Bully XL — a relative of the pit bull. Political editor Tom McTague and writer Bronwen Dickey explain the complex politics and charged history of an iconic dog.
23 min
258
Why the US is suing Amazon
The Federal Trade Commission has brought a landmark antitrust suit against Amazon. The Verge’s Makena Kelly and former FTC director Bill Baer explain how it’s part of chair Lina Khan’s effort to change the way the US regulates monopolies.
22 min
259
Should you blow up a pipeline?
Climate activists have tried marching and lobbying. Now, a growing flank of movement radicals want to take more extreme action. Author Dana Fisher tells us who they are, and sociologist Matthew Wolfe traces the history of radical environmentalism in the US.
23 min
260
Murder, Canada Wrote
Canada’s unprecedented decision to publicly accuse India of assassinating a Canadian citizen in Canada is upending the two countries' relationship.
23 min
261
Blame Capitalism: The 99%
Two wildly different political movements — Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party — emerged from the Great Recession. They forever changed the way Americans think about capitalism and democracy.
23 min
262
The six D-words of climate change
It’s climate week. To mark the occasion we’re talking to scientist Michael E. Mann about six D-words that help us understand where the conversation around climate change has been and where it’s going.
23 min
263
Taxing traffic
New York City wants to be the first in the nation to implement congestion pricing to charge people for driving during peak hours. New Jersey says fuhgeddaboudit.
23 min
264
Everybody’s moving to Florida
We’re not just talking snowbirds. The Sunshine State is the fastest growing in the nation despite, you know, climate change. Vox’s Marin Cogan and Umair Irfan explain why.
23 min
265
Autoworkers slam the brakes
The United Auto Workers union is on strike at three different factories. We ask the Wall Street Journal's Nora Eckert what the union workers want, and management professor Marick Masters explains why the Detroit Big Three are reluctant to give it to them.
22 min
266
Blame Capitalism: Profit over everything
Economist Milton Friedman published an essay in 1970 arguing that the job of a corporation was solely to make money for its shareholders. General Electric CEO Jack Welch pushed that idea about as far as it would go — and broke capitalism.
23 min
267
From North Korea with Love
Kim Jong Un took a bulletproof train to visit Vladimir Putin in Russia this week. Jenny Town at the Stimson Center explains how the two leaders have little to lose and much to gain from each other.
23 min
268
New variant just dropped
Seems like everyone’s got Covid again. Vox’s in-house epidemiologist, Dr. Keren Landman, delivers the good news and the bad news about Pirola.
22 min
269
In Google we antitrust
Google is headed to court over allegations its search engine violates federal antitrust law. The Verge’s Adi Robertson breaks down the case, and David Pierce explains how Google Search came to rule the internet.
23 min
270
Hunter becomes the hunted
Hunter Biden is set to be indicted this month. The WSJ’s Aruna Viswanatha goes over the evidence with us, and Politico’s Jonathan Lemire looks at what it all means for President Biden’s reelection bid.
23 min
271
Blame Capitalism: Souring on the system
Capitalism has entered its villain era. In a new series running Fridays this month, we look at how Americans came to blame it for just about everything.
26 min
272
From Pac-12 to Pac-2
The Pac-12 college football conference has lost nearly all its teams now that schools like USC and Colorado have announced they’re leaving for rival leagues. The Athletic’s Chris Vannini explains why fans are beleaguered.
23 min
273
Why American sunscreen sucks
Better sunscreen exists, you just can’t get it in the US. Amanda Mull and Elise Hu explain why.
24 min
274
The new Cold War
The Cold War started earlier than we think — and maybe never ended at all. Historian Calder Walton says understanding the US-Soviet conflict prepares us for this era of tensions with Russia and China.
23 min
275
…We’re trusting it anyway
Tech companies are racing to make new, transformative AI tools, with little to no safeguards in place. This is the second episode of “The Black Box,” a two-part series from Unexplainable.