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
A green medal for Paris?
Paris wanted this to be the greenest Olympics ever. We assess.
24 min
27
Ecstasy Therapy: Bad trip
A clinical trial for MDMA-assisted therapy showed promising results. But participants who say they suffered afterward allege their experiences aren’t reflected in the data.
24 min
28
Riots in the UK
Disinformation after a knife attack in the UK transformed a local tragedy into nationwide upheaval. The Guardian's Robyn Vinter explains how it got to this point.
23 min
29
It's Tim Walz
The governor of Minnesota is Kamala Harris’s running mate. Minnesota Public Radio’s Dana Ferguson and Vox’s Andrew Prokop explain the Democratic ticket.
23 min
30
RIP Project 2025?
Project 2025 and J.D. Vance have brought fringe policies to the presidential campaign. Democrats are using both to label the Republican ticket "weird." Shelby Talcott of Semafor and Eli Stokols from Politico explain how this messaging strikes voters.
23 min
31
Ecstasy Therapy: How MDMA became medicine
Military veterans are unlikely collaborators with the psychedelic counterculture. The two groups’ efforts are being tested this month, when the FDA is poised to announce whether or not it’ll approve MDMA for PTSD.
25 min
32
Ecstasy Therapy: Penicillin for the soul
In 1980s Berkeley, an eccentric chemist and his wife, a self-taught therapist, experimented with MDMA. Their work would kickstart a decades-long campaign to mainstream psychedelics as a therapeutic tool — one that’s coming to a head this month, with a decision due from the FDA.
25 min
33
What will save men’s gymnastics?
2008 was the last time US male gymnasts won a medal at an Olympics. Justin Spring was on the team. He says that this week’s bronze medal and the team’s social media stars could help resuscitate the sport.
22 min
34
Why we’re all populists now
Donald Trump, J.D. Vance, and Kamala Harris all want to distance themselves from the inflation and bad vibes of President Biden’s economy. The Washington Post’s Jeff Stein explains why both parties are upending decades of economic norms.
23 min
35
Is your refrigerator running?
Fridges are our go-to way of storing food, but they’re not good for the planet or even good for a lot of our food. Gastropod’s Nicola Twilley, author of a new book on refrigeration, says there are chiller options for our cold storage challenges.
23 min
36
Breaking the Olympics
Breaking will dance its way into the Olympics this summer. B-boy historian Alien Ness says this is destiny.
23 min
37
Kamala’s meme-mentum
Kamala Harris memes have taken over the internet. Now she needs to figure out how to capitalize on them.
23 min
38
Abercrombie is back
Fast Company’s senior fashion writer Elizabeth Segran explains how the company overcame a problematic history to pull off a renaissance.
23 min
39
Dengue’s biggest year ever
More than 10 million people worldwide have contracted dengue from mosquitos this year. Now experts are worried it might show up at the Olympics.
23 min
40
You did it, Joe
All bets are off as President Biden exits the 2024 race. Vox’s Andrew Prokop and Democratic strategist David Axelrod explain.
23 min
41
Trump-a-mania at the RNC
Hulk Hogan delivered at the final night of the RNC, but did Donald Trump? We hear from two conservative strategists who do not agree on whether Trump's speech worked.
24 min
42
Why banning Juul backfired
The US cracked down on Juul after an uptick in teen vaping and a flurry of health concerns. Podcaster Leon Neyfakh explains how the ban inadvertently created a dangerous new market for unregulated Chinese e-cigarettes.
23 min
43
Trump just avoided 40 felony counts
A federal judge has thrown out Trump's classified documents case. Wall Street Journal Justice Department reporter C. Ryan Barber explains what that might mean for Trump's future.
23 min
44
VP J.D.
Donald Trump’s running mate is Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance. Politico’s Ian Ward describes Vance’s transformation from a self-described hillbilly to the political face of the Republican future.
23 min
45
Is this us?
The assassination attempt on Donald Trump is part of a steady uptick in political — and increasingly partisan — violence in the United States. With a push toward unity from Trump and President Biden, this could be a moment to pull the nation back from the brink.
24 min
46
The song of the summer is DEAD
Long live the song of the summer. But wait! Switched on Pop’s Charlie Harding disagrees. And Rolling Stone’s Brittany Spanos says maybe it never existed at all.
23 min
47
What is Project 2025?
Donald Trump is trying to distance himself from it. Joe Biden wants you to Google it. Semafor’s Shelby Talcott explains what’s going on with the conservative plan for a second Trump presidency.
23 min
48
The Supreme Court’s power grab
The Supreme Court just fundamentally changed how the federal government works. Vox’s Ian Millhiser explains.
23 min
49
Dancing in the Dark Money
Prosecutors ain’t nothing but tired of New Jersey’s political corruption. WNYC’s Nancy Solomon, host of the Dead End podcast, explains the cases against Sen. Robert Menendez and power broker George Norcross.
23 min
50
Joe Almighty
President Biden says only the “Lord Almighty” can get him to end his re-election campaign, though more and more Democrats are trying to sway him themselves.
23 min