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.
Pennies cost more than a cent to make — and no one spends them. The New York Times Magazine’s Caity Weaver explains why we can’t get rid of them.
22 min
2
A hurricane of misinformation
Lies about disaster relief are spreading like never before this hurricane season, and it’s making FEMA’s job harder. Juliette Kayyem, author of The Devil Never Sleeps: Learning to Live in an Age of Disasters, explains.
22 min
3
Mysterious Melania
Book critic Martin Pengelly read MELANIA so you don’t have to. Intelligencer’s Margaret Hartmann says the book is the latest in a long line of Trump grifts.
23 min
4
Abortion on the ballot
Ten states have an initiative on the ballot that would protect access to abortion. KJZZ’s Camryn Sanchez explains how Arizona's Proposition 139 could swing the presidential election.
22 min
5
The future of Gaza
It's been one year since Hamas attacked Israel and started a war in Gaza. Israelis and Palestinians look back, and Vox's Joshua Keating says Israel's occupation is looking permanent.
22 min
6
Puberty hits different now
Kids are going through puberty earlier, and scientists think they have found another reason why. Pediatrician Dr. Cara Natterson and puberty educator Vanessa Kroll Bennett explain why it should also change the way we talk about puberty.
23 min
7
Christmas in October
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro landed himself on the naughty list for stealing an election. He's hoping an early Christmas will improve his standing.
23 min
8
Mr. Veep
Vox's Andrew Prokop says the vice-presidential debate between Tim Walz and JD Vance was about policy, but in a weird way. Professor and pollster Dan Cassino explains how these two men represent the future of American masculinity.
22 min
9
Israel’s escalation
Tanks, rockets, missiles, and the death of Hassan Nasrallah. Israel is asserting itself as the most powerful player in the Middle East.
22 min
10
How to win Pennsylvania
Vox’s Christian Paz and Miles Bryan head to Philadelphia and Lancaster to see what the Harris and Trump campaigns are doing to win the state.
22 min
11
The office vs. everyone else
Amazon is the latest high-profile company to mandate in-person work five days a week. Today, Explained heads to Miami, where many people are back in the office, to see how they feel about it.
23 min
12
Leaving America for work-life balance
Today, Explained flies to Portugal to find out how the dust has settled on the pandemic-era quest for better living and working conditions.
23 min
13
AI’s nuclear option
Microsoft needs so much energy for its AI data centers that it’s helping to reboot Three Mile Island, the site of the US’s worst nuclear accident. Evan Halper of the Washington Post explains.
22 min
14
War in Lebanon?
It looks a lot like all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah. Semafor’s Sarah Dadouch has the latest from Beirut and CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh explains Israel's strategy.
22 min
15
Start the steal?
A partisan election board in Georgia has been trying to change the rules around voting and election certification. It's giving 2020. In the first episode of our battleground state series, we go to Georgia to learn how election guardrails will protect the vote.
23 min
16
Everybody's gone country
Country music is cool again!!!!! Billboard's Melinda Newman explains.
23 min
17
Republicans are getting raunchy
Conservatives have started claiming hot girls as a culture war victory. Vox's Constance Grady explains why.
22 min
18
Your phone is banned, fellow kids
Educators and politicians across the nation are banning cellphones in classrooms. Today, Explained’s Miles Bryan visits a school in Philadelphia to find out how kids feel about it.
22 min
19
The return of easy money
The Federal Reserve is set to make its first interest rate cut since the pandemic ended. Marketplace's Kimberly Adams explains how the move could impact the US economy and politics.
22 min
20
The Ohio pet panic
No, Haitian immigrants aren’t eating anyone’s pets. USA Today-Ohio’s Erin Glynn and the Verge’s Gaby Del Valle explain why Republicans are talking about it anyway.
22 min
21
We can't trust photos anymore
This week Apple announced its first AI iPhone with features that will make it even easier to edit your photos. But manipulating reality worries photojournalists like Fred Ritchin, who says these advancements pose a lot of ethical questions.
23 min
22
Stop the steel
Once the world's largest corporation, the now-struggling US Steel wants to sell itself to Japan's Nippon Steel. The United Steelworkers oppose the deal, and President Biden is backing the union. The Washington Post's David Lynch explains how the steel giant's future became an election-year issue.
22 min
23
Who took debait?
A conservative and a liberal wrangle over how the Harris-Trump debate should have gone.
23 min
24
The Pope’s big bet on China
One of the most significant parts of Pope Francis’s Asia tour might be a country he isn’t visiting: China, home to 10 million Catholics, with whom the Vatican has long dreamed of strengthening ties.
23 min
25
Revenge of the regulators
The arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov by French authorities is part of a broader shift away from the free speech absolutism long championed by Big Tech. The Washington Post’s Will Oremus explains.