Cobalt is powering the electric vehicle revolution, but much of the world’s supply is mined under deadly conditions in Congo. Journalist Nicolas Niarchos explains Congo's resource curse.

Thanks to South Africa, the world now has some data on omicron’s severity, transmissibility, and whether or not the vaccines will protect us from it.

A bodybuilder posing as a Muslim convert was welcomed into a California mosque. When he showed signs of extremism, members reported him to the FBI, only to learn that he was their informant. Now, their story is before the Supreme Court.

Most people get about eight minutes' advance warning of a tornado. This episode of Vox’s Unexplainable podcast explores how scientists need to confront more of these storms, head on.

While the nation’s attention has been focused on the opioid crisis, a new, more dangerous form of methamphetamine has swept across the country.

That’s what the United Nations says is taking place in Afghanistan right now.

Today, Explained returns to Cramer Hill Elementary School to explore the challenges of vaccinating children against Covid-19.

The mass killing at Oxford High School in Michigan may seem comparable to those that preceded it, but the aftermath has taken several new turns.

The world’s most illustrious museums are finally having to reckon with the stolen art in their collections.

Big Bird got vaccinated, an Asian-American Muppet moved in, and conservatives got really mad at Sesame Street.

A tennis star accused a former top Chinese official of sexual assault. Then she vanished. Now her case is changing sports in China.

The Supreme Court today heard oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health. Vox’s Ian Millhiser explains how the Court could undo Roe v. Wade without overruling it.

Russia blew up a satellite and almost put the International Space Station in a precarious position. Recode’s Rebecca Heilweil explains how humans are trashing space. A space environmentalist (!) explains what cleanup might look like.

AA-muh-kraan or OH-muh-kraan

A deadly salmonella strain is spreading through American poultry, and there’s not much the government can do to stop it. ProPublica’s Bernice Yeung explains.

After the Chicago Tribune’s Stacy St. Clair runs through the Rittenhouse trial and verdict, legal scholar Eric Ruben explains how “self-defense” can apply to shooting unarmed people in public.

But somehow it got very scary.

And why they're easy to find in Europe (though they don't seem to be helping much at the moment).

No. Vox's Jerusalem Demsas disproves a popular internet conspiracy theory.

Belarus is promising migrants passage to Europe knowing the EU will turn them away.

Consumer prices are rising at their fastest rate in 30 years. Vox’s Emily Stewart explains why this is bad news for for drivers, shoppers, and President Biden.

A third of American workers do gig work. In the third part of our series, The Future of Work, learn how the pandemic helped them discover their power.

China’s 1.4 billion people are averaging fewer than 100 cases of Covid-19 a day. All it takes is the willingness to shut down anything at any time.

Extremists in the right-wing militant organization known as the Oath Keepers are present in law enforcement and in the military. Now, thanks to reporting from ProPublica’s Isaac Arnsdorf, we know they’re in the government, too.

How a music festival became a death trap, and what it would take for it never to happen again.