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
26
The passive income influencers
They promise you financial freedom with very little work, but these side hustles might just be the new pyramid schemes.
24 min
27
Susan Collins, political ninja
The Maine senator has dodged decades of attacks, but President Trump’s low approval ratings could be her political deathblow.
23 min
28
The quest for the perfect baby
Men and women are trying to maximize their reproductive health due to anxieties around declining fertility trends. But are we taking “embryomaxxing” too far?
26 min
29
Can you buy the midterms?
Republicans are entering the midterm home stretch with a staggering $1 billion campaign war chest. Will it make a difference?
33 min
30
Thirst trap politics
The internet has a crush on some of the candidates running for office this election season and it’s saying a lot about how Democrats and Republicans wield sexuality.
24 min
31
The Iran war is spreading
Saudi Arabia's dreams of becoming a global financial hub are running into the reality of regional war.
23 min
32
Data centers fight back
Data centers have maybe the worst image in America right now. Enter the public relations professionals.
23 min
33
Should we ban fraternities?
Cornell University’s president is wary of an outright ban, but the school’s sexual assault case has campuses around the country considering the question.
23 min
34
America’s death penalty problem
Support for the death penalty has dropped dramatically in the US, but in some places there's still a "death penalty assembly line" as this episode of The Gray Area explores.
23 min
35
The cost of loving your pet
Our emotional relationships with our pets have only grown since the pandemic — and so has the financial price we pay.
26 min
36
Can Dems flip state legislatures?
Most of the focus in this year’s midterms is naturally on Congress. But the battle to control state legislatures matters just as much, if not more.
31 min
37
Football's future is flag
Football is by far the most popular sport in the US, but that isn’t stopping the NFL from investing in one of the least popular sports in the US.
23 min
38
The dark side of surrogacy
The case of a California couple who had more than 20 kids via surrogacy before being charged with child abuse illustrates how a lack of regulation can lead to chaos.
23 min
39
The West Bank’s boiling point
Violent attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank — largely perpetrated by young militant Jewish settlers — have drawn international condemnation, but to little effect.
23 min
40
Why the right turned on Indians
A surge of hate against Indian immigrants and Indian Americans has broken out of the far-right influencer sphere and into mainstream Republican politics.
23 min
41
When Dems take the House
Hakeem Jeffries will almost certainly be the next Democratic speaker of the House. What will he and his party do with all that power?
23 min
42
Mass-produced fashion slop
How algorithms and instant fashion killed style — and how to get it back.
27 min
43
The GOP strategy: Ignore Trump
Can a Republican candidate run for governor in a red state without bringing up Donald Trump a single time? We went to Ohio to find out. 
19 min
44
Gas station opioids
Drugs like kratom and 7-OH are widely available at corner stores and smoke shops. They've remained largely unregulated until now.
23 min
45
What happened at Cornell
24 min
46
The limits of free speech
A recent law-school graduate in Texas is facing disciplinary action over her “overexuberant” response to Charlie Kirk’s murder.
24 min
47
The coming oil shock
You might not use diesel to fill up your car, but it fuels the US economy, and President Trump’s solution to lower diesel prices might just make things worse.
24 min
48
Our AI Cold War
The worries in China over AI are not the same as the worries in the US, but both countries agree they want to win the AI race for themselves.
23 min
49
The end of etiquette
It’s not just about being nice. Manners allow us to peacefully coexist at work, in transit, and out in the wider world.
27 min
50
The AI election
Polling says less than 1 percent of voters consider AI a top concern this election cycle. Michigan congressional candidate Will Lawrence sees things differently.
26 min