The 2020 census is fighting a losing battle against the coronavirus and President Trump. NPR’s Hansi Lo Wang explains how a decade of money and power are at stake.

Biden picked Harris. Vox’s Fabiola Cineas explains the role race is already playing in the election, and Ezra Klein argues Donald Trump is making things easy for his opponents.

The longtime leader of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, is facing nationwide protests and accusations that he stole Sunday’s election. His opponent, a 37-year-old homemaker who entered the race in place of her imprisoned husband, has fled the country.

President Trump wants to resolve the congressional deadlock over stimulus relief by himself. Vox’s Li Zhou rummages through the mixed bag.

President Trump is threatening to ban TikTok, but Microsoft might be able to stop the clock.

The state saw Covid-19 coming. It still became an outbreak epicenter.

A chemical blast has made a very bad situation worse for Lebanon. Journalist Habib Battah explains from Beirut.

A worsening pandemic. A poll worker shortage. A hobbled postal service. Russian hacking. Donald Trump. Vox’s Ella Nilsen explains the many obstacles facing the United States as Election Day nears.

A Washington Post columnist named Karen explains her feelings about “Karen.” A University of Arizona linguist named Sonja explains BIPOC and the capitalization of “Black” and “White.”

It’s Election Day on the Island of Explained! Will the candidate with the most votes win, or will the island’s Electoral College determine a different leader?

The leaders of Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Google testified before Congress on Wednesday in what The Verge’s Casey Newton says might have been the most important Webex in human history.

Some people walk away from Covid-19 feeling fine. Others are dealing with a long list of lingering health issues.

Democrats and Republicans have a $2 trillion disagreement on how to relieve Americans from the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus.

In Bethel, Ohio, a Black Lives Matter rally became a standoff between armed bikers and peaceful protesters. BuzzFeed’s Anne Helen Petersen explains.

Baseball’s back, but fans won’t get the chance to boo the cheating Astros.

The United States has now confirmed 4 million cases of Covid-19. Some Americans still don’t want to wear a mask.

Joe Biden is tacking to the left and embracing a historic climate plan. Vox’s David Roberts explains whether it stands a chance.

The most popular host in the history of cable news returned from a week-long vacation after his head writer was exposed as a raging bigot. The Washington Post’s Erik Wemple explains why the scandal won’t stick.

They came in military camouflage and unmarked vans. Now the state of Oregon is suing the federal government over its policing tactics. Oregon Public Broadcasting’s Conrad Wilson explains.

We return to the magical Island of Explained with a microbiologist and a talking moth to find out what it will take to produce a coronavirus vaccine.

Eviction bans and expanded unemployment benefits are expiring, leaving millions of Americans at risk of losing their homes by the end of the summer.

California once looked like an example of how to handle the pandemic. Now it’s a warning for other states looking to reopen.

The District of Columbia's football team is abandoning the name it adopted almost a century ago. Paul Chaat Smith, a curator at the National Museum of the American Indian, hopes the country is at long last ready to reckon with its past.

President Trump commuted Roger Stone’s sentence in what Vox’s Andrew Prokop says is a particularly troubling variety of political corruption.

The Trump administration announced it would send a million international students home this week. But Vox’s Nicole Narea says the students are collateral in a bigger political play.

The Supreme Court issued its remaining decisions today for the 2020 term, including the biggie: Trump’s tax returns.

President Trump says students and teachers must return to the classroom. Reality says this is going to be the toughest reopening yet.

239 scientists have signed a letter urging the WHO to warn people about airborne transmission of the coronavirus.

How Netflix has upended tech, Hollywood, and how we spend our free time.

Turns out it’s just as biased as people are.

Russia allegedly paid the Taliban to attack US soldiers in Afghanistan. But President Trump’s response may be the real scandal.

Police across the country have responded to recent protests with military tactics and equipment. The Washington Post’s Alex Horton investigated how two military helicopters were used as a show of force against protesters in the nation’s capital.

Hospitals are stretched to their breaking point in Texas, Arizona, and other states where Covid-19 cases are rising sharply. Vox’s Dylan Scott says the US could be in store for more lockdowns. And more reopenings. And more lockdowns…

There hasn’t been an arrest in the case in the three months since police shot and killed Taylor in her home in Louisville, Kentucky. But now the “Justice for Breonna” movement has the potential to unseat Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

America is undergoing a new racial reckoning. The Atlantic’s Adam Serwer explains why this time is different.

President Jair Bolsonaro called it the "sniffles" and recommended hydroxychloroquine. Now the country has over a million confirmed cases. Reporter Gustavo Ribeiro explains how Brazil could become the next epicenter.

With the wave of protests came waves of arrests and record-breaking donations to bail funds across the US, but reformers hope for a reckoning of one of the only for-profit bail systems in the world.

Attorney General William Barr tried to quietly push out the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan on Friday night. Then everybody noticed.

The celebration of emancipation is as vital today as ever.

In a major decision from the Supreme Court, DACA lives to fight another day. But it's not in the clear yet.

There are two ways to do it: safely or not so safely. Guess which one we’re heading toward in the United States?

Some are calling six blocks of a Seattle neighborhood the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone. KUOW’s Casey Martin spent a week within its loosely guarded walls.

The Supreme Court of the United States has decided the Civil Rights Act of 1964 applies to discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

After 33 seasons, the reality TV show Cops was canceled this week. Should scripted police dramas follow?

Vox’s Dylan Scott says it’s hard to tell because the United States is riding 50 different Covid-19 waves.

The United States has a policing problem and Congress wants to fix it. Vox’s Li Zhou explains whether the Democrats’ new bill will go anywhere.

Minneapolis City Council member Alondra Cano explains what the city wants to do and what might get in the way.

Pandemic, protests, and the best poll numbers yet for Joe Biden.

Two mothers talk to their teenage sons about race and police brutality in the United States.

It’s not what you think.

Even after Derek Chauvin was captured on video killing George Floyd, he could still get his job back. BuzzFeed’s Melissa Segura explains how.

President Trump wants to blame the unrest on antifa. Vox’s Zack Beauchamp explains why he can’t.

Professor Ibram X. Kendi explains how the protests and unrest are a result of black America’s living nightmare and what it will take to wake up.

The former police officer who killed George Floyd has been charged with murder. But Floyd’s case is just one of many recent incidents of police brutality in Minneapolis. The Marshall Project’s Simone Weichselbaum explains why police reform hasn’t worked in the city.

It could take years for all the Covid-19 deaths to be counted properly. Vox’s Matthew Yglesias explains why the Trump administration is pushing for an undercount.

While most of the world was distracted by the pandemic, China unveiled a law to strip Hong Kong of its autonomy, setting off a new wave of protests in the city.

For the first time in almost a decade, an American rocket is launching people into space. The Verge’s Loren Grush explains why the launch could fundamentally alter the future of spaceflight.

Sean and Noam break down all the original songs in Today, Explained's back catalog.

President Trump would like to.

Reopening America’s parks could help fight the pandemic. It’s a good time to rethink streets, too.

Ezra Klein has some thoughts.

Elon Musk fought the law and Elon won. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained.

Graduate? In this economy!? The Atlantic's Annie Lowrey explains the economic reality new graduates face and Sean offers one graduating senior a commencement speech.

Facebook has agreed to pay a $52 million settlement to its content moderators. Reporting by The Verge’s Casey Newton was a game changer.

Dozens of children have fallen ill with an inflammatory syndrome that may be linked to Covid-19. Harvard Medical School’s Dr. Kevin Friedman explains.

Two white men are accused of killing a black jogger. Georgia state Rep. Jasmine Clark wants to change the laws that could be used to defend them.

While the world was distracted by a pandemic, a ragtag team of Americans and Venezuelans attempted to overthrow President Maduro.

Think you’ve been having exceptionally strange dreams lately? Harvard psychologist Deirdre Barrett says it’s not a figment of your imagination.

Dr. Richard Besser, former head of the Centers for Disease Control, explains how states can reopen without putting lives in danger. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained.

The Kingdom of Sweden watched the world lock down and decided to do the opposite. Swedish journalist Nathalie Rothschild explains. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained.

The most popular course in Yale's 300-year history is all about achieving happiness. The pandemic has made it more relevant than ever.

Vox's Laura McGann explains the sexual assault allegation against former Vice President Joe Biden, and the implications for his campaign. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained.

Come with us to the magical Island of Explained, where we’ll climb trees and venture into caves to answer kids’ biggest coronavirus questions. Go to vox.com/todayexplainedlearning to find supplemental activities, from testing how far snot travels to coloring in a map of the Island of Explained. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained.

Vox's Alex Ward explains what's going on with North Korea's Kim Jong Un.

American farmers are destroying their crops while demand is mounting at food banks. Politico food and agriculture reporter Helena Bottemiller Evich explains.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered 1.4 billion Indians to stay home. The world had never seen anything like it.

Oil just went negative for the first time in history. Vox's David Roberts says that creates an opportunity to make more history.

As the state reopens, Vox's Jillian Weinberger zooms to rural Georgia to hear how a Covid-19 outbreak spiraled out of control.

Vox’s science editor, Eliza Barclay, arms you with the facts you need to fight your uncle’s favorite coronavirus conspiracy theories.

Cryptic treehunters. Unknown apples. Flowers fighting back. On the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, Vox’s Umair Irfan and Brian Resnick explain what we learned about the planet in the last year.

A nurse, a paramedic, and a physician’s assistant record themselves throughout the course of a day in the fight against Covid-19.

Covid-19's victims, and the people they leave behind.

It could be a year or more before the vaccine is ready, but there’s a radical plan to speed up the process.

President Trump wants to reopen the country yesterday. Bioethicist Zeke Emanuel, who served as a health policy advisor to former President Obama, offers a safe path.

The United States Postal Service is on the brink of collapse. Vox's Matthew Yglesias explains how and why the country should save it.

Essential workers in the food, transportation, and retail industries are being called American heroes. They want to be paid as such.

Friend of the show Ezra Klein speaks to Sen. Elizabeth Warren about several plans she has proposed to combat this pandemic.

Coronavirus has led to another pandemic: social isolation. Vox’s Ezra Klein says this sickness has a cure.

While a few religious leaders flout shelter in place ordinances, Easter, Passover, and Ramadan are inspiring most to get creative with worship.

Wisconsinites had to choose between catching Covid-19 and voting on Tuesday. Is the rest of the country next?

Madonna was wrong. Covid-19 isn't an equalizer. It's coming for America's most vulnerable populations.

A vaccine will take a while, but Vox's Umair Irfan says the global effort to test for immunity and treat Covid-19 is well underway.

In an about-face, the Centers for Disease Control would now like you to cover your mouth and nose when you go outside.

Last week's unemployment numbers shattered all records. This week, they doubled. Vox's Matthew Yglesias, host of The Weeds podcast, proposes a way out of this mess.

Arthur Longworth calls Sean from Washington State Reformatory to explain what it's like to serve a life sentence at a prison where the coronavirus is spreading.

Part rally, part media-bashing, part critical updates on the coronavirus crisis, President Trump's daily press briefings are muddying the message.

In this episode of Vox's Reset podcast Ed Yong from The Atlantic explains how a little spiky ball called SARS-CoV2 brought the world to its knees.

On today's show, more listener questions: Why isn't everyone social distancing? Will I be immune after I get it? When will this end? My anxiety is spiking!

The Atlantic's James Hamblin explains why America has a critical shortage of medical supplies. New York City ER doctor Calvin Sun says, “It’s like a lottery that we don’t want to play, but we’re forced to play.”

Congress has settled on an historic stimulus package, but Ezra Klein is worried it might not be enough.