Explain It to Me

Is my dentist scamming me? Why do political campaigns cost so much? Should Gen Z bother to save for retirement?

Explain It To Me is the hotline for all your unanswered questions. Sometimes explanations are hard to find, misinformation is rampant, and those internet searches and AI asks can come up empty. Call 1-800-618-8545 with what’s on your mind, and host Jonquilyn Hill will be your friendly guide to the answers you're looking for — and maybe even the ones you don’t expect. New episodes every Wednesday starting September 18. 

Part of Vox and the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Education
Society & Culture
Politics
251
Trump's second term agenda
Dara, Jane, and Matt break down the policy stakes in 2020
55 min
252
Go For Broke: Inside the Dot-Com Bubble
38 min
253
Email scandals are back!
Ezra and Matt discuss Hunter Biden’s laptop, social media regulation, and the ongoing stimulus standoff
52 min
254
What is critical race theory, anyway?
Ian Haney Lopez joins Jane to discuss critical race theory: what it is and what it isn't.
49 min
255
By the People: The Supreme Court's war on democ...
What the Supreme Court will do to our voting rights
58 min
256
The stimulus standoff
Ezra and Matt on the deadlock in congress and the VP debate.
53 min
257
On biracial identity (with Thomas Chatterton Wi...
Jane and Thomas Chatterton Williams talk about mixed-race identity, race and racism, and what being biracial means now.
57 min
258
By the People: Blame the Constitution
How America’s constitution is rigged against democracy
62 min
259
Fighting back against factory farming
The human costs of the meat we eat
56 min
260
A dark, dangerous debate
Ezra and Matt on the disturbing presidential showdown.
67 min
261
By the People: How to make sure your vote is co...
The pandemic election
56 min
262
Dianne Feinstein, please listen to this episode!
Ezra and Matt discuss the past and future of the US Senate.
60 min
263
After RBG
Vox’s judiciary expert Ian Milhiser joins the panel to explain Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s legacy and the future of American jurisprudence
54 min
264
By the People: How to rig an election
America’s voter suppression problem
63 min
265
One Billion Americans
Ezra and Matt discuss the early days of blogging, Twitter, climate change, and Matt's case for having 1 billion Americans.
88 min
266
How Trump closed the border
Rep. Veronica Escobar joins Jane, Dara, and Matt to talk about Texas politics and the use of the pandemic as a pretext to clamp down on asylum.
56 min
267
The definitive case against the filibuster
Ezra joins Matt to workshop his latest article — and save American democracy.
49 min
268
Steal this podcast
Meredith Haggerty joins Jane and Matt to debate looting and corporate cooptation of social justice.
52 min
269
LAW AND ORDER
Matt and Ezra discuss why crime is rising in certain American cities, and the country's growing housing crisis.
59 min
270
Trump sells out
Dara, Jane, and Matt discuss Jane’s argument that the GOP establishment changed Trump more than he changed the party
61 min
271
The Trump Show
Ezra and Matt on the GOP convention and the politics of "law and order".
53 min
272
The Cut: Optimism
Avery explores what optimism means in 2020, and why some people are better at conjuring it, and how those who aren’t can change their own mindset.
29 min
273
Trump's peddling a fake Covid-19 cure
Jane, Dara, and Matt on convalescent plasma, FDA reform, and the politics of science
47 min
274
Democratic convention special
Ezra and Matt stay up late to review Joe Biden's big speech and the Democrats' big week
62 min
275
WTF is happening with USPS
Jane, Dara, and Matt on the health and history of the postal service, the political games being played, and what it means for November's election.
49 min