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
1201
The flamethrowers and the fire extinguishers
Infighting among Republican lawmakers reached a breaking point this week. The Atlantic’s McKay Coppins explains why and the tough road ahead for the GOP.
33 min
1202
How security at the Capitol failed
Washington Post national security reporter Dan Lamothe explains how a number of agencies and politicians put together a historically bad security plan for Congress on Wednesday.
25 min
1203
The breach, explained by Rep. Maloney (locked i...
Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York explains what it was like to live through today’s violent transfer of power.
11 min
1204
The virus gets more contagious
Viruses mutate, but this time it’s different.
18 min
1205
All eyes on Georgia
Tuesday’s election will decide who controls the Senate, but the president is still hung up on the election he already lost.
25 min
1206
The year in revue
It’s been a year.
6 min
1207
How 2020 changed us
In the final episode of our five-part series, “You, Me, and Covid-19,” people look back on a very long year.
26 min
1208
Animals catch Covid-19, too
In the fourth of our five-part series, “You, Me, and Covid-19,” a reminder that we’re not the only animals who got Covid-19 this year. Science writer David Quammen explains why our health and theirs are intertwined.
20 min
1209
Dr. Fauci’s nightmare before Christmas
In the third of our five-part series, “You, Me, and Covid-19,” Dr. Anthony Fauci reflects back on his pandemic year, what he’s learned, and what he’d do differently.
21 min
1210
The year live music died
In the second of our five-part series, “You, Me, and Covid-19,” musicians explain how they got creative when live shows and tours were canceled.
26 min
1211
Moving home
In the first of our five-part series, “You, Me, and Covid-19,” millennials are moving back in with their parents (again), but they are discovering multigenerational living has its perks.
18 min
1212
A climate change of address
An estimated 143 million people will relocate to escape climate change in the next three decades. Quartz’s Amanda Shendruk explains how cities can transform themselves into climate havens.
19 min
1213
How Netscape created our tech world
In this episode of the Go for Broke podcast, host Julia Furlan travels back to the mid-’90s to explain how a bygone web browser set the stage for modern tech.
29 min
1214
Pornhub just deleted 80% of its videos
One of the most popular porn sites on the internet just purged more than 10 million videos. Vice’s Samantha Cole explains why.
18 min
1215
Your vaccine questions, answered
The Covid-19 vaccine is being distributed in the United States, and you have questions. Vox’s Umair Irfan has answers.
29 min
1216
India’s farmers strike
The world’s biggest democracy is contending with what might be the world’s biggest labor stoppage.
21 min
1217
How movie theaters might survive
On this episode of the Decoder podcast, host Nilay Patel speaks with Shelli Taylor, the CEO of Alamo Drafthouse.
41 min
1218
The vaccine, explained by Martin (who got it)
Martin Kenyon was one of the first people to get the Covid-19 vaccine this week. He talks about his experience, and an epidemiologist explains how to talk to the “vaccine hesitant” people in your life.
21 min
1219
No coup for you!
Joe won. And won. And won. Rudy can fail. And fail. And fail.
22 min
1220
How Melbourne eradicated Covid-19
Melbourne, Australia, had a first wave. Then it had a second wave. Then it decided it was done with Covid-19.
18 min
1221
It’s beginning to look a lot like stimulus
In an end-of-year plot twist, Congress is working on a fresh bipartisan stimulus bill.
22 min
1222
A woman’s work is never done
Millions of women left the workforce as Covid-19 forced school closures, but that doesn’t mean they have less on their plates. Is government-funded child care the answer?
20 min
1223
God-given right?
The Supreme Court ruled that New York State can’t limit how many people gather in church, even during a pandemic. Vox’s Ian Millhiser explains why this is one of the most significant religious liberty cases in the last 30 years.
21 min
1224
America Offline
Low-income students are dropping out of college because many don’t have a reliable way to get online. Vox’s Emily Stewart says the solution is simple: Give everybody the internet.
18 min
1225
The key to the Cabinet
President-elect Biden has started announcing his Cabinet nominees, but Matthew Yglesias says the most important positions aren’t the ones you’d think.
20 min