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.
301
The Covid resurgence
Ezra and Matt on how America failed while the world made progress on the pandemic
48 min
302
Contagious enthusiasm
Dara, Jane, and Matt on Biden’s excitement gap.
58 min
303
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
304
The war on bad statues
Jane, Dara, and Matt on Confederate Memorials, Woodrow Wilson, and the battle for historical memory.
60 min
305
The Veepstakes
Ezra and Matt on Warren, Abrams, Harris, and the Tammies, and the links between racial and economic justice.
50 min
306
Talking about talking
Jane, Dara, and Matt explain “intersectional,” “structural” and the new language of identity discourse.
42 min
307
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
308
Fixing the police
Jane, Dara, and Matt on what we know about police reform and its limits.
67 min
309
America gives up on Covid-19
Ezra and Matt on the return of a virus that never went away.
50 min
310
After George Floyd
Jane, Dara, and Matt on America's dual reckonings with racism and police impunity
62 min
311
Defund the police?
Ezra and Matt on reformism vs radicalism and reimagining law enforcement
49 min
312
The global class war
Barron's economics commentary Matt Klein explains what's really behind international trade conflicts
69 min
313
Tweeting through it
Ezra and Matt on Trump's war on social media, plus Joe Biden's policy agenda.
54 min
314
Joe Biden ain't black
Jane, Dara, and Matt on gaffes and the racial politics of 2020
55 min
315
The stimulus failure
Ezra and Matt on Trump's pseudo-federalism and Pelosi's strange aversion to automatic stabilizers.
48 min
316
Actual enumeration
Dara, Jane, and Matt take a look at America's first pandemic Census.
48 min
317
The psychology of opening up
Ezra and Matt on the deep roots (or not) of the lockdown debate.
52 min
318
Will the economy bounce back?
Dara, Jane, and Matt on the road ahead for the worst labor market since the Great Depression.
61 min
319
Reopening without a plan
Ezra and Matt on America's lost month and what happens next.
48 min
320
How to win elections
Dara, Jane, and Matt break down the great mobilization vs persuasion debate.
63 min
321
Are Democrats getting rolled?
Ezra and Matt on congressional bargaining strategy and the China blame game
49 min
322
A faster Covid-19 vaccine
Jane, Dara, and Matt discuss the possibility of "human challenge trials" to speed vaccine development.
48 min
323
Who models the modelers?
Ezra and Matt on the failures of some popular epidemiological forecasts and a viral Silicon Valley essay urging America to build again
59 min
324
Opening up
Dara, Jane, and Matt on conservatives’ desire for a rapid reopening of American businesses.
53 min
325
Help is on the way (sort of)
Ezra and Matt break down the implementation problems that have bedeviled the CARES Act.
42 min