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.
Writer Emi Nietfeld says she felt relief when she cut her mom out of her life. Clinical psychologist Joshua Coleman explains why family estrangement is on the rise.
23 min
2
Robert Fluoride Kennedy Jr.
If RFK Jr. leads the Department of Health and Human Services, he could radically reshape public health priorities in America, from vaccines to fluoride in the water.
22 min
3
The kids aren't reading all right
College students in 2024 are less willing and able to read full books. Today, Explained asks whether that matters.
22 min
4
Deportation nation
President-elect Donald Trump has promised mass deportations. "Operation Wetback" from the Eisenhower days is serving as inspiration.
22 min
5
Team America
President-elect Donald Trump has nominated some unconventional people to his Cabinet, including Fox News host Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense. Washington Post Pentagon reporter Dan Lamothe and military researcher Katherine Kuzminski explain what the picks say about Trump's national security agenda.
22 min
6
When docs cry
Prince is the subject of a new film from one of the greatest living documentarians, but it might never come out and almost no one’s seen it. We talk to someone who did: editor and writer Sasha Weiss. Meanwhile, the rise in pop star docs can be a good hang for fans, but when a film is a glorified press release, we miss out on a lot, says journalist Matthew Belloni.
23 min
7
There's a new tariff in town
Trump’s tariffs could remake world trade. The Wall Street Journal’s Greg Ip explains the president-elect’s plan and how the world is preparing.
23 min
8
The Bro Brogan presidency
An air of musky manliness settled over the 2024 presidential campaign and brought the bros to the polls. But a second Trump term has some women swearing off men — forever.
22 min
9
A live-forever diet?
The quest to live forever has taken us from diet fads to geographic fantasies like Blue Zones. But none of these ideas are based in reality, according to Washington Post health columnist Anahad O'Connor and Saul Justin Newman, a researcher on aging.
22 min
10
Does #Resist still exist?
It looks like Donald Trump will arrive in Washington without much of a movement in place to challenge him. Politico’s Melanie Mason and Vox’s Christian Paz explain how the left is bracing for Trump.
22 min
11
The world Trump inherits
Vox’s Joshua Keating explains how Trump’s foreign policy will influence some of the world’s biggest conflicts.
23 min
12
Pin the fail on the donkey
Democrats lost big on Election Day: the presidency, the Senate, and maybe the House too. Vox's Eric Levitz explains what went wrong, and political strategist Jeff Weaver imagines what comes next for the party.
22 min
13
Trump country
Donald Trump won. Vox’s Andrew Prokop explains how and Semafor’s Shelby Talcott explains what comes next.
22 min
14
The most important “most important election”?
It seems as though every election is “the most important election of our lifetime." Historian Jeffrey Engel and political scientist Julia Azari assess whether this is really the one.
22 min
15
How Gaza could decide the election
The key battleground state of Michigan could be decided by Arab American voters disappointed with Democrats' handling of the war in Gaza. Detroit Free Press opinion editor Khalil AlHajal and Michigan State University political scientist Matt Grossmann explain the stakes.
22 min
16
Why everybody's running marathons now
Marathon participation is surging, fueled in large part by 20-somethings who’ve embraced distance running as a way to deal with their quarter-life crises. Journalist Maggie Mertens and researcher Kevin Masters break down the state of the race.
23 min
17
Did the Dodgers save baseball?
Dodger Blue Dream podcast host Richard Parks III looks back on a cinematic season. The Wall Street Journal’s Jared Diamond explains whether it was enough to revive ratings.
24 min
18
Polar opposites
Florida is looking to turn one of its last apolitical offices into yet another partisan job. It's the latest example of political polarization making its way into nearly every aspect of American life.
22 min
19
How Trump could steal the election
Donald Trump doesn't want to let losing the election stop him from taking the White House. Politico's Kyle Cheney details the Trump plan to overturn a Harris win and explains what it would take to stop that from happening.
24 min
20
It's the economy, stupid
Economic concerns are shaping this year’s election, especially in Nevada. As candidates promise no taxes on you-name-it, it’s a glimpse into how each would reshape American taxes while in office.
22 min
21
Why do I keep getting these weird fundraising t...
In this special feed drop of the new Vox podcast Explain It to Me, we answer some of the questions you have asked Vox about the election, like why you’re getting so many urgent texts asking for money.
49 min
22
Is there a Dr Pepper in the house?
Dr Pepper has overtaken Pepsi as the second-bestselling soda in the US. Its rise helps explain dirty sodas, healthy sodas, and the overall explosion of the beverage market.
23 min
23
Musk’s million dollar giveaway
Elon Musk has become Trump’s most important fundraiser and his hands-on approach is breaking political norms, according to Tim Higgins and Dana Mattioli of the Wall Street Journal.
22 min
24
Demographics aren't destiny
Latinos and other groups that typically vote for Democrats are showing weaker support for Kamala Harris. Vox's Christian Paz and Cook Political Report's Amy Walter explain how that's shaking up this election.
22 min
25
The battle for Congress
Republicans are projected to take the Senate in November, but Democrats have a fighting chance to win the House — if they can turn out a broad anti-Trump coalition.