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.
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
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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
78
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
79
So you toppled an autocrat
Bangladeshis are about to find out if a Nobel laureate can run their government better than a nepo baby.
22 min
80
The tech titans backing Trump
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are vying for Silicon Valley's support. Democrats typically get it. But Elon Musk threw his weight behind Trump in an interview last night on X. The Wall Street Journal's Emily Glazer examines a shift in the valley's values.
23 min
81
ClassGPT
Students are returning to college campuses this month armed with generative AI tools. One professor who has banned them and one who has embraced them explain why.
23 min
82
A green medal for Paris?
Paris wanted this to be the greenest Olympics ever. We assess.
24 min
83
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
84
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
85
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
86
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
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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
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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
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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
90
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
91
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
92
Breaking the Olympics
Breaking will dance its way into the Olympics this summer. B-boy historian Alien Ness says this is destiny.
23 min
93
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
94
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
95
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
96
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
97
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
98
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
99
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
100
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.