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
1101
Vaccinated! (Still anxious.)
There’s no vaccine for Covid-19 anxiety. Nor is there one for those who aren’t ready to “go back to normal.” But, as Vox’s Sigal Samuel explains, there is hope.
25 min
1102
“Free the vaccine!”
President Joe Biden heeded calls from low-income countries to try to relax patents on Covid-19 vaccines so they can make cheaper generic versions. Big Pharma was furious.
25 min
1103
Fortnite fights Apple for your phone
One of the world's biggest video games is suing one of the world's biggest tech companies.
25 min
1104
Can we get to 70%?
That’s President Joe Biden’s new vaccination goal, and he’s got some fresh ideas on how to get there. Vox’s German Lopez explains.
23 min
1105
Congress takes on sexual assault in the military
Congress wants to change how the military prosecutes sex crimes. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand explains her bill.
24 min
1106
The bonkers housing market
 Is it a bubble? Is it going to pop? Do you need to bid over asking? Has it already sold? Are there any houses left? Will you ever find one? Vox’s Jerusalem Demsas explains.
23 min
1107
The enduring mystery of long Covid
An estimated 10 percent of people who test positive for Covid-19 experience long-haul symptoms. Vox’s Julia Belluz joins the Unexplainable podcast to sort out what’s known and what remains mysterious about long Covid.
23 min
1108
We scored Biden's first 100 days
Biden’s biographer, Evan Osnos, explains why the president is a weather vane for the Democratic Party.
25 min
1109
Apple vs. Facebook (feat. Privacy)
Apple updated its software and Facebook was very upset. Recode’s Sara Morrison and Peter Kafka explain. Roller derby is involved.
19 min
1110
Biden vs. Putin (feat. Navalny)
President Biden is cranking the pressure on President Putin, but it was Russian dissident Alexei Navalny who scored a victory by refusing his prison food.
26 min
1111
India’s SOS to the world
The world’s biggest vaccine manufacturer ended up with the world’s worst Covid-19 surge. Neha Arora, New Delhi correspondent for Reuters, explains.
23 min
1112
A plan to protect the planet
Or at least 30 percent of it.
28 min
1113
Is nuclear energy good or bad?
Listen to the Atlantic’s Robinson Meyer explain the arguments and then decide for yourself.
32 min
1114
It’s electric!
Norway has lapped the world in adopting electric vehicles. Vox’s Umair Irfan explains how the US might catch up.
26 min
1115
The case for climate optimism
In 2019, David Wallace-Wells wrote a book called The Uninhabitable Earth. Just two years later, he’s feeling hopeful — thanks to the world’s biggest polluters.
26 min
1116
Peanut butter and jellyfish
And other items from the lunch menu of 2050.
25 min
1117
America awaits a verdict
Arguments in the trial of Derek Chauvin have wrapped after a brutal week for policing in America. Minnesota Public Radio’s Jon Collins shares his reporting from Minneapolis.
25 min
1118
The Echo Park eviction
The recent police crackdown on a tent camp in Los Angeles has left the city divided. One thing everyone agrees on is the dire need for lasting solutions to the growing homelessness crisis in the United States.
27 min
1119
Gaetzgate
Vox’s Andrew Prokop explains Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz’s sex scandal.
25 min
1120
Johnson & Johnson & Problems
The US government is calling for an immediate pause in Johnson & Johnson vaccinations after six recipients (out of millions) developed blood clots.
23 min
1121
Vaccine passport, please
Recode’s Rebecca Heilweil explains how proving you got the shot became controversial.
20 min
1122
CICADAPOCALYPSE 2021
Or maybe, after listening to this episode, it’ll be more like CICADAPALOOZA!
24 min
1123
Taylor Swift rewrites her story
One of the biggest pop stars in the world is rerecording her first six albums at the artistic peak of her career. The Atlantic’s Shirley Li explains Swift’s gambit to reclaim her catalog.
25 min
1124
KKK High
A group of students in Topeka, Kansas, discovered their high school was named after an exalted cyclops of the Ku Klux Klan. Then they tried to change it.
27 min
1125
Hot Senate procedural news
On Monday night, the Senate parliamentarian gave Democrats an unprecedented blessing. Vox’s Ella Nilsen and Li Zhou explain what they might do with it.
16 min