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.
It’s been 11 days since Hamas attacked Israel, killing civilians and taking hostages. Israel’s retaliation has killed hundreds of Palestinians and created a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment Aaron David Miller and Middle East analyst Michael Wahid Hanna explain what role diplomacy will play in the coming days.
24 min
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So I unelected an authoritarian
The outcome of Poland’s election surprised the world. Vox's Jen Kirby explains what happened, and Anna Grzymała-Busse of Stanford University looks at what this hopeful turn means for all of Europe.
23 min
278
How Palestinians view Hamas
The US along with Israel and many of its allies have long considered Hamas a terrorist group. Khaled Al-Hroub, a professor at Northwestern University in Qatar, explains how its reputation is a lot murkier among Palestinians, who elected the group to political power in 2006.
23 min
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America’s most successful downtown?
And the ecological crisis that threatens everything. Today, Explained’s Miles Bryan heads to Salt Lake City.
24 min
280
RFK goes rogue
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is ditching his family’s party. David Freedlander explains how the candidate might have just gone from being a problem for the current president to a problem for the former one.
23 min
281
Driver’s license to kill
Across the country, traffic deaths are spiking. Vox’s Marin Cogan tells the tragic story of one grisly crash in Washington, DC, and we ask whether changes to traffic policing could be partly to blame.
23 min
282
Israel, Hamas, and how we got here
This Israel-Hamas war is unlike the ones that came before it, says Haaretz’s Allison Kaplan Sommer. But it was years in the making, says Vox’s Zack Beauchamp.
23 min
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Who shot ya, Tupac?
For 27 years there was no arrest in the shooting death of rapper Tupac Shakur. Slate’s Joel Anderson explains how that finally changed.
23 min
284
Caste away
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
285
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
286
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
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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
288
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.
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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
290
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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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.