On Saturday, future President Donald Trump announced Kash Patel would lead the FBI. On Sunday, current President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter. Coincidence? The Washington Post’s Matt Viser and The Atlantic’s Elaina Plott Calabro explain.

Trump has named wrestling tycoon Linda McMahon to be his secretary of education. She’ll be tasked with his campaign promise of … closing the department she’ll run. Is it a good idea?

Fast Company’s senior fashion writer Elizabeth Segran explains how the company overcame a problematic history to pull off a renaissance in this rebroadcast of our episode from July.

Many of us think our individual actions can’t combat systemic problems. Vox's Rachel Cohen and Bowling Alone author Robert Putnam explain why volunteer work, no matter how small, can make a difference for you and for us all.

Two American presidents are trying to shape the future of the war in Ukraine at the same time.

US Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez was one of the few Democrats to win a swing district in the 2024 election. She explains what lessons Democrats can learn from her win and what she hopes to accomplish, even as a minority, in the 119th Congress.

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.

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.

College students in 2024 are less willing and able to read full books. Today, Explained asks whether that matters.

President-elect Donald Trump has promised mass deportations. "Operation Wetback" from the Eisenhower days is serving as inspiration.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Vox’s Joshua Keating explains how Trump’s foreign policy will influence some of the world’s biggest conflicts.

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.

Donald Trump won. Vox’s Andrew Prokop explains how and Semafor’s Shelby Talcott explains what comes next.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.