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 subway rider choked to death Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man known to New Yorkers for his impersonations of Michael Jackson. WNYC reporters Matt Katz and Samantha Max explain the complexity of the incident.
23 min
402
Charles in charge
King Charles is struggling to get his subjects to care about the historic coronation this weekend. Professor Brooke Newman explains the complicated road to ditching the monarchy.
23 min
403
Get used to higher interest rates
The Federal Reserve has once again raised interest rates, which means borrowing money for your mortgage or your business is once again more expensive. New York Times economics reporter Talmon Joseph Smith explains why this might keep happening.
23 min
404
Disney vs. DeSantis
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 Whelan explains the feud between the Walt Disney Company and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
23 min
405
The Supreme Court’s corruption crisis
In a hearing today, the Senate Judiciary Committee took on the Supreme Court’s lack of ethics standards. ProPublica’s Joshua Kaplan explains how his reporting on Justice Clarence Thomas’s history of accepting gifts from a conservative megadonor led to increased scrutiny of the court.
23 min
406
Why parents are suing social media
Congress has yet to pass legislation regulating social media companies, so parents are taking matters into their own hands. A lawyer representing them explains how a new spin on an old legal theory might lead to a big win.
23 min
407
Fake Drake
The Verge’s Nilay Patel explains how a spurious collaboration between Drake and The Weeknd started a copyright fight over generative AI. Holly Herndon introduces her AI alterego, Holly+.
24 min
408
Can Title IX protect trans athletes?
President Biden hopes so. His administration is preparing to roll out new rules that would counter state and local bans aimed at keeping transgender youth out of sports. ESPN’s Katie Barnes explains.
23 min
409
The new war in Sudan
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 line of civil conflicts worldwide that are trending longer and more complex.
23 min
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He’s running
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 have any competition.
23 min
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The Adderall shortage
There is a nationwide shortage of medications to treat ADHD. One culprit: the DEA. Vox’s Dylan Scott explains.
23 min
412
Cocaine hippos (and the case against pets)
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 ownership.
23 min
413
Make it rain
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.
23 min
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What does the Fox pay?
$787.5 million. (To Dominion Voting Systems, averting a defamation trial that could have been disastrous for the network. The Washington Post’s Erik Wemple explains.)
23 min
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Hollywood writers are ready to strike
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 Lucas Shaw explains.
23 min
416
The forever chemicals in your blood
The Biden administration has new plans to reduce the amount of PFAS or “forever chemicals” in America’s drinking water. Barbara Moran, WBUR’s climate and environmental correspondent, explains why that will only get us so far.
23 min
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The Discord leaks
Federal officials have charged a 21-year-old member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard with posting a trove of classified documents online. Politico’s Erin Banco explains.
23 min
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Phantom ghosts Broadway
The chandelier crashes for a final time as Broadway’s longest-running musical, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s extremely ’80s Phantom of the Opera, closes after 35 years and nearly 14,000 performances. Vulture’s Andrea Long Chu assesses its cultural staying power.
23 min
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Why stuff isn’t getting cheaper
The traditional explanation of inflation is simple: too much money chasing too few goods. But some experts are now wondering if companies’ aggressive pursuit of profit is driving up inflation as well.
23 min
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The new fight over abortion pills
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 drug that’s been legal since 2000.
23 min
421
Why Russia arrested an American reporter
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 manipulating the West.
23 min
422
Table for 10 billion, please
Feeding the world’s growing population is an increasingly difficult challenge, and climate change won’t make it any easier. Vox’s Kenny Torrella visited the Netherlands, a small country with big ideas about the future of food, to find out more about how the country is approaching the problem.
26 min
423
Uncle Sam really wants you
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 reputation of forever wars, veteran suicide, and sexual assault — is working to convince a new generation to enlist anyway.
23 min
424
Should you carry Narcan?
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 Journal’s Julie Wernau explains why she carries it with her everywhere she goes.
23 min
425
City Limits: Blame the mayor
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 city should do next. WBEZ’s Patrick Smith and Mariah Woelfel explain.