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
51
Republicans are getting raunchy
Conservatives have started claiming hot girls as a culture war victory. Vox's Constance Grady explains why.
22 min
52
Your phone is banned, fellow kids
Educators and politicians across the nation are banning cellphones in classrooms. Today, Explained’s Miles Bryan visits a school in Philadelphia to find out how kids feel about it.
22 min
53
The return of easy money
The Federal Reserve is set to make its first interest rate cut since the pandemic ended. Marketplace's Kimberly Adams explains how the move could impact the US economy and politics.
22 min
54
The Ohio pet panic
No, Haitian immigrants aren’t eating anyone’s pets. USA Today-Ohio’s Erin Glynn and the Verge’s Gaby Del Valle explain why Republicans are talking about it anyway.
22 min
55
We can't trust photos anymore
This week Apple announced its first AI iPhone with features that will make it even easier to edit your photos. But manipulating reality worries photojournalists like Fred Ritchin, who says these advancements pose a lot of ethical questions.
23 min
56
Stop the steel
Once the world's largest corporation, the now-struggling US Steel wants to sell itself to Japan's Nippon Steel. The United Steelworkers oppose the deal, and President Biden is backing the union. The Washington Post's David Lynch explains how the steel giant's future became an election-year issue.
22 min
57
Who took debait?
A conservative and a liberal wrangle over how the Harris-Trump debate should have gone.
23 min
58
The Pope’s big bet on China
One of the most significant parts of Pope Francis’s Asia tour might be a country he isn’t visiting: China, home to 10 million Catholics, with whom the Vatican has long dreamed of strengthening ties.
23 min
59
Revenge of the regulators
The arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov by French authorities is part of a broader shift away from the free speech absolutism long championed by Big Tech. The Washington Post’s Will Oremus explains.
24 min
60
Antibiotics for coral reefs
Vox’s Benji Jones takes us diving in a coral reef to learn how scientists are trying to save them.
24 min
61
How sanctions backfire
American sanctions can destroy a country’s economy. The unintended consequences are massive in places like Venezuela and Syria. Jeff Stein of the Washington Post explains why the US is so committed to a mistake.
23 min
62
How Trump wins
Donald Trump hasn’t yet figured out how to run a disciplined campaign against Kamala Harris. In the meantime, he’s leaning into the weird.
22 min
63
The silent war
The story of Army specialist Austin Valley highlights a crisis the US military can’t seem to solve: More service members die by suicide than in combat. A veteran psychologist told Congress what to do about it, and today he tells us.
27 min
64
Equal-opportunity murderball
For the first time, a woman is playing on the US wheelchair rugby team at the Paralympics. It’s a sign of progress in the complicated arena of co-ed sports.
22 min
65
Israel vs. Hezbollah
The two are on the brink of starting a regional war. An analyst and a negotiator say without a ceasefire in Gaza, the Middle East could spin out of control.
24 min
66
Minion Jesus
A meme of a Minion being crucified went viral on TikTok in a very unusual way. Today, Explained’s Laura Bullard investigated and connected the dots all the way to the 2024 election.
23 min
67
Hackers probably stole your Social Security number
Vox’s Adam Clark Estes explains why that might be a good thing.
23 min
68
Stuck in space
Bloomberg’s Loren Grush explains how two astronauts got stuck on the International Space Station and astronaut Cady Coleman tells us why she is jealous of them.
23 min
69
How Kamala wins
Noel closes out her week in Chicago with a recap of Kamala Harris’s speech. Political strategist Mike Podhorzer looks ahead.
23 min
70
The migrant crisis, via Chicago
Around 50,000 migrants have poured into Chicago in the last two years. Some Chicagoans are furious. We talk to residents, clergy, and migrants on Chicago's South Side about an issue that may be Kamala Harris's biggest liability.
23 min
71
Kamala's party
The Democrats call Black women the "backbone" of their party. We ask three Black women delegates in Chicago about making history, Gaza, and Black men voting for Trump.
23 min
72
What kind of Democrat should Kamala Harris be?
The last two Democratic presidents took distinct approaches toward leading their party and the nation. New York magazine’s Jonathan Chait explains why he thinks Kamala Harris should embrace Barack Obama’s style of governance over Joe Biden’s.
23 min
73
The Chicago DNC everyone wants to forget
When Chicago hosted the Democratic National Convention in 1968, it descended into riots in the street and chaos on the floor. Historian Rick Perlstein talks about whether 2024 risks a repeat.
22 min
74
Dating sucks right now
But it doesn't have to. Myisha Battle, a sexologist and host of KCRW’s How's Your Sex Life?, tells us how to move beyond the apps.
23 min
75
The late, great Hannibal Lecter
Donald Trump keeps referencing the infamous fictional cannibal in his speeches. Intelligencer’s Margaret Hartmann attempts to explain why.
23 min