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.

News
Daily News
Politics
326
Power-tripping sheriffs
A growing number of county sheriffs believe they hold ultimate power in their jurisdictions. Some have even stopped enforcing state and federal laws they deem unconstitutional. The Marshall Project’s Maurice Chammah explains.
23 min
327
The Moscow murders
Investigators are still trying to solve the brutal November killings of four college students in Moscow, Idaho. Making their work harder: the hordes of online sleuths who’ve latched on to the case.
23 min
328
Digging tunnels for cars
Elon Musk created The Boring Company to fix traffic, but his fantasy of underground Tesla tunnels is running on empty. Curbed’s Alissa Walker and author Paris Marx explain.
23 min
329
8 billion humans
The United Nations says humanity has reached 8 billion, but Western nations are worried about population decline. Africa isn’t, though. The continent is about to shape the rest of the century.
23 min
330
China’s biggest protests since Tiananmen Square
The protests in China might force the government to back down from its extreme Covid restrictions and ramp up its extreme surveillance programs. The Wall Street Journal’s Josh Chin explains.
23 min
331
Disney’s boomerang CEO
Disney’s board wished upon a star and brought back former CEO Bob Iger, who replaced his own replacement, the now-axed CEO Bob Chapek. The Hollywood Reporter’s Kim Masters explains.
23 min
332
Nancy podcast
Democrats vote on new leadership this week, meaning Nancy Pelosi is out. Time’s Molly Ball explains why the country might really miss her.
23 min
333
Can you spare some climate change?
In a UN-brokered agreement, more than 190 countries agreed to pay for “loss and damage” caused by climate change. But determining who owes what — and for what and to whom — will be a real challenge.
23 min
334
NASA wants to live in space
NASA’s Artemis mission is the first step toward a long-term human settlement on the moon. Vox’s Unexplainable examines whether humans are even capable of living far from Earth for an extended period of time.
30 min
335
Little influencers, big business
Parents are turning their kids into influencers on social media. What could go wrong?
23 min
336
Gen Z in the House
Florida’s Maxwell Frost, 25, is the first member of Generation Z elected to Congress. He tells us what he plans to get done.
23 min
337
Ticketmaster (Taylor’s Version)
It’s me, Ticketmaster. I’m the problem, it’s me.
23 min
338
World Cup: How 2 B a legend
Pelé. Maradona. Ronaldo. Soccer’s greats are so good, they’re typically known by one name. How winning the World Cup can turn a player into a legend.
23 min
339
Pushing the Russians back
In its biggest victory yet, Ukraine retook its vital port city, Kherson. The Guardian’s Luke Harding calls Russia’s retreat a turning point in the war — but a long, cold winter awaits.
23 min
340
An inconvenient glacier
While the world’s leaders are meeting at COP27 to discuss climate change, Antarctica’s massive Thwaites Glacier is melting. The world’s coastlines face catastrophic consequences. Rolling Stone’s Jeff Goodell went to see it with his own eyes.
23 min
341
The FTX cryptocalypse
With the collapse of one of its largest exchanges, crypto’s having its very own Lehman Brothers moment. Semafor’s Liz Hoffman explains the repercussions for the real world.
23 min
342
The tech boom is over
Mark Zuckerberg fired 11,000 employees at Meta. Elon Musk axed half his staff at Twitter. Other tech giants are slashing jobs and eliminating perks, too. Recode’s Peter Kafka says the era of big tech growth is over.
23 min
343
World Cup: They built this city
The people who built Qatar’s stadiums, hotels, and transit systems were employed under the country’s exploitative migrant worker system. Officials promised things would change before the World Cup, but a one-time worker says it’s only better on paper.
23 min
344
A vaccine for RSV
A respiratory virus called RSV has a lot of kids in critical condition and hospitals overwhelmed. Vox public health reporter and epidemiologist Keren Landman explains newfound hope for a vaccine.
23 min
345
No red wave
The midterms weren’t a clear victory for Republicans, and it’s still too early to know who’ll control Congress. Vox’s Andrew Prokop explains.
23 min
346
What if you HAD to vote?
Midterm elections are a tough sell in the United States. Half of eligible voters show up in a good year. On Election Day, we’re revisiting an episode about how things work down under, where “sausage sizzles” and “bathers” make mandatory voting feel like a party.
23 min
347
Kari Lake is MAGA’s rising star
Perhaps the most consequential midterms in US history are this week. Arizona’s Kari Lake, a former news anchor turned gubernatorial candidate, embodies much of what’s at stake. Stacey Barchenger from The Arizona Republic explains.
23 min
348
World Cup: Welcome to Qatar!
Soccer is sometimes called “the second religion of the Arab World,” and Qatar is the region’s first country to host the World Cup. But FIFA’s pick of the desert nation comes with boundless controversy.
23 min
349
Elon’s Twitter hell
Twitter is about to suck for you. But it’s going to suck for self-proclaimed “Chief Twit” Elon Musk too. Recode’s Shirin Ghaffary and The Verge’s Nilay Patel explain.
23 min
350
How does the war in Ukraine end?
The next Congress could be a whole lot less willing to keep spending billions on aid to Ukraine. It’s time to talk about how this war could end.
22 min