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.
276
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
277
Trump's peddling a fake Covid-19 cure
Jane, Dara, and Matt on convalescent plasma, FDA reform, and the politics of science
47 min
278
Democratic convention special
Ezra and Matt stay up late to review Joe Biden's big speech and the Democrats' big week
62 min
279
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
280
What the hell is the Republican party doing?
Ezra and Matt on Republican policy nihilism and the Kamala Harris pick.
55 min
281
What is the economy, stupid?
Vox's Emily Stewart joins Dara and Jane to discuss the relationship between "the market" and the "real economy."
39 min
282
Veepstakes
Ezra and Matt on Susan Rice, Kamala Harris, and Trump’s increasingly chaotic authoritarianism.
47 min
283
The stimulus standoff
Jane, Dara, and Matt on the congressional deadlock over economic aid.
53 min
284
The Great Awokening
John McWhorter joins Matt to discuss the changing way we talk about racism in America.
67 min
285
Trafficking, and trafficking panics
Dara, Jane, and Matt on Wayfair, massage parlors, and reality.
47 min
286
The evidence on crime and policing
Texas A&M's Jennifer Doleac joins Matt to explain what we know (and don't know) about criminal justice.
53 min
287
Bad for the Jews?
Dara, Jane, and Matt on Nick Cannon, Louis Farrakhan, and antisemitic conspiracy theories.
56 min
288
Biden reloaded
Ezra and Matt on Joe Biden’s unification strategy with the left.
62 min
289
School’s out for Covid
Jane, Dara, and Matt on the school reopening debate and the political consequences of HIV/AIDS.
55 min
290
The Covid resurgence
Ezra and Matt on how America failed while the world made progress on the pandemic
48 min
291
Contagious enthusiasm
Dara, Jane, and Matt on Biden’s excitement gap.
58 min
292
Land of the Giants: The Netflix Effect
Land of the Giants is a podcast from our friends at Recode and the Vox Media Podcast Network that examines the most powerful tech companies of our time.
21 min
293
The war on bad statues
Jane, Dara, and Matt on Confederate Memorials, Woodrow Wilson, and the battle for historical memory.
60 min
294
The Veepstakes
Ezra and Matt on Warren, Abrams, Harris, and the Tammies, and the links between racial and economic justice.
50 min
295
Talking about talking
Jane, Dara, and Matt explain “intersectional,” “structural” and the new language of identity discourse.
42 min
296
The legal doctrine that protects brutal policing
Cato's Clark Neily joins Jane to discuss Qualified Immunity - where is came from, why it exists, and what's being done to eliminate it.
42 min
297
Fixing the police
Jane, Dara, and Matt on what we know about police reform and its limits.
67 min
298
America gives up on Covid-19
Ezra and Matt on the return of a virus that never went away.
50 min
299
After George Floyd
Jane, Dara, and Matt on America's dual reckonings with racism and police impunity
62 min
300
Defund the police?
Ezra and Matt on reformism vs radicalism and reimagining law enforcement
49 min