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
1
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
2
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
3
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
4
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
5
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
6
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
7
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
8
Trump country
Donald Trump won. Vox’s Andrew Prokop explains how and Semafor’s Shelby Talcott explains what comes next.
22 min
9
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
10
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
11
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
12
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
13
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
14
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
15
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
16
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
17
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
18
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
19
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
20
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.
22 min
21
Category 2024
WFAE’s Steve Harrison explains how North Carolina is readying itself for Election Day after Hurricane Helene. And CNN’s Sara Murray says other states have their own issues, too.
22 min
22
Reconsidering the Menendez brothers
A new documentary and a Ryan Murphy drama have Lyle and Erik Menendez back in the news. Vox's Aja Romano explains how new evidence and new attitudes about abuse survivors might help free the brothers.
22 min
23
Is Trump for real?
Donald Trump talked over the weekend about deploying the military against an "enemy from within." The Washington Post's Isaac Arnsdorf explains how Trump's comments fit into a broader pattern of alarming campaign promises, and New York Times reporter Shawn McCreesh explains whether Republican voters even take this sort of talk seriously.
22 min
24
The minds behind MAGA
Vox's Andrew Prokop and Zack Beauchamp explain the right-wing thinkers whose ideas could dominate Trump's next term.
22 min
25
Can Democrats win back rural voters?
Wisconsin wasn’t always a battleground state, but following Trump’s victory there in 2016, Democrats are trying to regain their footing among rural voters.
22 min