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.
The Maine senator has dodged decades of attacks, but President Trump’s low approval ratings could be her political deathblow.
23 min
27
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
28
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
29
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
30
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
31
Data centers fight back
Data centers have maybe the worst image in America right now. Enter the public relations professionals.
23 min
32
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
33
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
34
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
35
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
36
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
37
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
38
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
39
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
40
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
41
Mass-produced fashion slop
How algorithms and instant fashion killed style — and how to get it back.
27 min
42
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
43
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
44
What happened at Cornell
24 min
45
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
46
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
47
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
48
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
49
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
50
Everything is gambling now
From live auction sites like Whatnot to games like Monopoly Go!, mobile apps are now designed to addict kids as well as adults.