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.
1
Internet bad
Once a place of serendipity and discovery, the internet now thrives on feeding us toxic rage bait designed to piss us off. Can we get the good internet back?
26 min
2
Are boyfriends embarrassing?
We investigate.
25 min
3
The cocaine comeback
Demand for cocaine around the world has exploded. Production is at record highs. Law enforcement can barely keep up. Cocaine is back in a big way.
23 min
4
A sit-down with Zohran Mamdani
New York City's Democratic socialist mayor takes office on January 1. Can he follow through on all those campaign promises? We ask him.
23 min
5
The rise of baby Botox
More people are getting facial injections — and they're starting younger too.
23 min
6
How to fix blue cities
This year Abundance went from a bestselling book to a political practice powering Democrats from New York to Seattle.
26 min
7
The Epstein Files are still a "cover-up"
The Trump administration was ordered to release all the Epstein Files. They didn’t. Lawmakers say they are breaking the law.
23 min
8
Is your brain lying to you?
Our brain constructs the world we hear, see, and feel — but tinnitus shows how that superpower can backfire.
26 min
9
Your pop music is influenced by God
Popular music went more Christian this year, but religion has had a long history of influencing secular sounds.
23 min
10
JD Vance is just getting started
From Twitter feuds to memes to providing cover for President Trump, the vice president had a big year. Up next, the midterms. And then — the presidency?
23 min
11
AI: 1 — Humanity: 0
President Trump's new executive order makes it harder for states to regulate AI, giving a powerful industry even more power.
23 min
12
The Price is Rigged
23 min
13
GOP women are over it
Some Republican women in the House are so frustrated with the leadership of speaker Mike Johnson that they're turning on him.
23 min
14
Let AI replace you
If AI handles all our busy work and optimizes our resources, it may also give us the one thing there never seems to be enough of: time.
25 min
15
Pop culture is conservative now
Why books, movies, music, and fashion all took a turn to the right.
22 min
16
The ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ economy
Trump calls the idea of “affordability” a hoax. Nonetheless, he pressured the Fed to fix it. It's just one example of Trump prizing loyalty over economic expertise.
23 min
17
Everyone’s fired now
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on a case that could give President Donald Trump the power to fire…just about anyone.
23 min
18
The Republicans bucking Trump
From a redistricting fight in Indiana to a wave of GOP retirements from Congress, there are signs MAGA's chokehold on the Republican Party may be loosening.
24 min
19
Fear and uncertainty in Venezuela
It's a waiting game inside the country, where the US is threatening military action.
27 min
20
The rise of the introverts
Turns out those personality tests you’re taking online are all wrong.
23 min
21
I fell in love with my AI
Two humans — and their AI lovers — spill it all.
24 min
22
Fishy business
Fish farms promise to grow massive amounts of seafood to feed a hungry planet, and to do it ethically. But what’s good for the humans isn’t always good for the salmon.
23 min
23
Bettor living through Polymarket
Polymarket is making it easier than ever to bet billions on anything — including politics. But should we be able to?
23 min
24
Can Rubio end the Ukraine war?
The Trump administration is trying to sell its latest peace plan to Russia — and it's enlisted the help of former Russia hawk Marco Rubio.
23 min
25
Data center backlash!
AI data centers are driving up the cost of energy — and it's starting to get political.
23 min