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.
The Economist’s Gregg Carlstrom explains. Jerusalem-based journalist Noga Tarnopolsky explores whether the unprecedented attack hurts or helps Benjamin Netanyahu.
23 min
177
America at war, now in theaters
The new movie Civil War delivers a sensational story about political polarization spilling into mass violence. If that seems reckless, it’s what apocalyptic films have done forever. The LA Times’s Mark Olsen and Northeastern University’s Nathan Blake explain.
23 min
178
Speaker Johnson's next test
Congress is back in session and the House speakership is once again on the line. The New Yorker’s David Kirkpatrick explains how Mike Johnson got the gavel and whether he’ll be able to keep it.
23 min
179
Prosecuting parents
The Oxford, Michigan, school shooter's parents will serve up to 15 years in prison. Jennifer and James Crumbley are the first parents held criminally liable for a mass school shooting in the US, but they likely won't be the last.
23 min
180
The man with a pig kidney
A pig’s kidney was just transplanted into a human. But Vox’s Dylan Matthews says we shouldn't need the pigs.
23 min
181
Is college still worth it?
More and more Americans feel like college isn’t a good deal anymore. One state thinks it’s found a way to turn things around.
23 min
182
The Sephora kids
Tweens are shopping for trendy, expensive skincare products. Gen Z worries it’s “aging like milk.” Are today’s young people too afraid of looking old? Allure editor-in-chief Jessica Cruel and Vox correspondent Rebecca Jennings explain.
23 min
183
Israel’s attack on World Central Kitchen
The Wall Street Journal’s Stephen Kalin explains what happened, and Refugees International President Jeremy Konyndyk lays out what this means for Gazans.
23 min
184
Project 2025
Donald Trump arrived at the White House in 2017 without a lot of plans to actually govern. The conservative Heritage Foundation wants to make sure that doesn’t happen again.
23 min
185
The fight for control of Disney’s kingdom
CEO Bob Iger is fighting off activist investor Nelson Peltz, who argues the company spends too much on message-based “woke” programming and is campaigning for seats on the Disney board.
22 min
186
Making taxes less taxing
The IRS finally has a brand-new, totally free tax-filing software for you. But not everyone’s excited about it.
23 min
187
The kids are all home
Living with your parents is so hot right now, with more adults doing it now than at any other time in the modern era. First, we hang out with a member of Gen Z who’s moved back in with the folks. Then, a closer look at the trend with Donna Butts of Generations United.
23 min
188
Buy a house? In this economy?
Home affordability hasn’t been this bad in decades. Wall Street Journal housing reporter Nicole Friedman explains the economic forces shaping the market. And Dave Ramsey, the popular, controversial finance guy, says this time isn’t that different.
24 min
189
The Baltimore bridge collapse
The Key Bridge disaster is yet another reminder of the vulnerability of global shipping.
23 min
190
Why ISIS attacked Moscow
The Moscow terror attack could mark the beginning of an even more brutal phase in Russia’s war in Ukraine — even if Ukraine had nothing to do with it. It's also a sign that ISIS-K is making a global comeback.
23 min
191
Spoiler alert: RFK’s VP
Robert Kennedy Jr. is set to announce his running mate this week. To mark the occasion, Semafor’s Dave Weigel explains whether third-party options can move the needle.
23 min
192
Beyoncé country
Beyoncé has a new country album. The first single has already broken records and drawn criticism from those who think of country music as a “white” genre. Except it’s not. Author and songwriter Alice Randall tells the story of country music’s very Black roots.
24 min
193
Can Caitlin Clark fix college sports?
The biggest star of this year’s March Madness basketball tournament isn’t one of the male players, explains SB Nation’s Ricky O’Donnell. The Wall Street Journal’s Laine Higgins says that’s great, but women are still somehow fighting for equality in college sports.
23 min
194
Can Congress ban TikTok?
Probably not. Punchbowl’s Andrew Desiderio and Kate Ruane from the Center for Democracy and Technology explain.
23 min
195
How gangs took over Haiti
Haiti’s latest crisis is being driven by something new: The country’s gangs have united, and they are demanding political power. Financial Times journalist Joe Daniels and peace activist Louis-Henri Mars explain.
22 min
196
Conned into the Russian army
Desperately low on troops for its protracted war with Ukraine, the Russian military is relying on men from countries like India to fill its ranks. Journalist Shalu Yadav tells the story of a man who was tricked into joining the army and managed to escape.
23 min
197
Live from SXSW: Noel King interviews Charlamagn...
In this no-holds-barred interview from the SXSW stage, Vox's Noel King asks comedian and radio host Charlamagne tha God and political commentator Angela Rye whether Black voters are turning away from Joe Biden and toward Donald Trump.
67 min
198
Hollywood’s still not back
Covid and last year’s strikes delivered a one-two punch that the entertainment industry still hasn’t recovered from. Entertainment journalists Mark Harris and Diane Haithman explain why this is bad news for the people who make movies and the people who watch them.
23 min
199
Lip gloss, gum, and the Pill
Soon you can buy them all at your local drugstore. The FDA approved an over-the-counter birth control pill that will be available later this month. Journalist Lux Alptraum and Megan Kavanaugh of the Guttmacher Institute explain why available doesn’t necessarily mean more accessible.
23 min
200
Where's Kate?!?
Two grainy paparazzi shots and an edited Mother’s Day photo are the only “sightings” of the Princess of Wales the public has had since Christmas. The Palace says she is recovering from abdominal surgery, but the internet … has some other theories.