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
651
From Kabul’s airport to Virginia’s burbs
The world watched in horror as tens of thousands fled Afghanistan last August. Today, Explained’s Haleema Shah meets with an evacuee still stuck in immigration limbo.
26 min
652
Banning Russian oil
Gas prices hit a record high in the United States today. Then the White House put an embargo on Russian oil. The Atlantic's Robinson Meyer explains.
22 min
653
Breaking Russia’s banks
The US and EU are denying a handful of Russian banks access to SWIFT, a key tool in the global financial system.
22 min
654
Volodymyr vs. Vladimir
Volodymyr Zelenskyy went from a middling peacetime president to a heroic wartime president. Kyiv Independent’s Oleksiy Sorokin explains from an undisclosed location in western Ukraine.
22 min
655
The Texas transgender panic
Gov. Greg Abbott has instructed child protection officials to investigate the parents of transgender children. Dallas Morning News reporter Lauren McGaughy explains why.
20 min
656
Why Ukraine has to fight Russia alone
And how the fight might end.
20 min
657
What Russians think of Putin’s war
It depends a lot on where they get their news.
25 min
658
Ketanji Brown Jackson
President Joe Biden’s Supreme Court nominee is historic but may have little impact on American law. Vox’s Ian Millhiser explains.
24 min
659
The real and imagined history of Ukraine
Vladimir Putin says Ukraine isn’t a country. He’s wrong.
25 min
660
A phone call from Ukraine
Kurii Vasyl and his niece Yulya try to make sense of Russia’s invasion of their country. And Kyiv Independent reporter Igor Kossov explains the latest from Ukraine’s capital.
20 min
661
Why Ukraine matters
Vox’s Jonathan Guyer explain how a Russian invasion of Ukraine could affect me and you and everyone we know.
26 min
662
The Olympics on thin ice
This year’s weird Winter Olympics were overshadowed by politics, Covid-19, and the threat of war. But as NPR’s Tom Goldman explains, the biggest scandals were still about the sports.
25 min
663
Weapons of cash destruction
The US hopes the threat of sanctions will dissuade Russia from invading Ukraine. Historian Nicholas Mulder explains the surprising history of economic penalties as a weapon of war.
27 min
664
Bitcoin Bonnie and Clyde
A tech investor and his rapper wife were busted for a multi-billion dollar bitcoin heist. They couldn’t really spend any of the money.
19 min
665
All-American divorce
In her Today, Explained debut, co-host Noel King heads to Atlanta to find out why some people in one of its wealthiest neighborhoods are trying to secede from the rest of the city.
26 min
666
What the truck is happening in Canada?
A convoy of truckers angry over Covid-19 mandates is disrupting life in Canada’s capital city. Their movement is gaining traction in cities around the globe.
22 min
667
Sarah Palin v. The New York Times
The New York Times published an editorial that made false claims about Sarah Palin. A lawsuit over the error could change American media.
24 min
668
The best and worst of Tom Brady
Quarterback Tom Brady will retire as the winningest football player in NFL history. ESPN's Seth Wickersham explains why so many people are happy to see him go.
32 min
669
How Brett Kavanaugh views time
When it comes to fixing discriminatory voting maps, nine months may not be enough for some justices. Ian Millhiser explains.
19 min
670
Why America loves a Jackass
The Oscar nominations are out, but the No. 1 movie in America features Johnny Knoxville and his friends hurting each other. He attempts to explain why, and Vox's Alissa Wilkinson picks up his slack.
26 min
671
How this Syria raid was different
President Biden gave strict orders to avoid collateral damage during a raid on an ISIS leader. Civilians still died, but it might be a sign of a shift at the Pentagon.
20 min
672
RIP SAT
Why are colleges ditching the test? A) The SAT is biased B) Colleges want to admit more diverse students C) The pandemic D) All of the above
22 min
673
Is everything trauma now?
Psychologists are worried that "trauma" is losing its meaning. A trauma survivor says they shouldn't be.
26 min
674
The case against masks
At least in schools.
27 min
675
Throwing money at the migrant crisis
Vice President Kamala Harris just attended Honduras’s presidential inauguration. Her trip was really about the US-Mexico border.
18 min