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.
51
The fate of affirmative action
What you need to know about the upcoming SCOTUS ruling on affirmative action
55 min
52
Why is child labor making a comeback?
America’s history with child labor, explained
49 min
53
The Weeds, Live – Anti-trans legislation, expla...
Live from the Crosscut Ideas Festival
42 min
54
Policymaking on the high seas
Getting into the (sea) weeds of the high seas treaty
40 min
55
How Secretary Buttigieg wants to make America’s...
Transportation policy is cool now. Thanks, Pete.
49 min
56
Mifepristone and the FDA’s exhaustive approval ...
The fight over the abortion pill and the future of the FDA
33 min
57
How corporations got all your data
The history of how corporations and governments became so interested in collecting our personal data — and how they got away with it
49 min
58
Do assault weapons bans work?
Revisiting the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban.
40 min
59
Medicaid’s “Great Unwinding”
Medicaid’s continuous enrollment, discontinued.
42 min
60
Why Illinois wants to end cash bail
A look at the cost of pretrial justice and what it means for public safety.
48 min
61
The debt ceiling drama
Build back … budget?
38 min
62
What East Palestine can tell us about the rail ...
Railroad regulation, explained
40 min
63
How a 1996 US immigration policy changed everyt...
The most consequential immigration policy you’ve probably never heard of.
46 min
64
Will the Supreme Court ruin the internet?
The algorithm goes to court.
43 min
65
The Ukraine war: past, present, and future
Where Ukraine goes from here.
50 min
66
$14 trillion and no mules
A framework for paying reparations.
51 min
67
The Biden policy that could change your neighbo...
How Biden wants to revamp the Fair Housing Act.
47 min
68
Insulin is for the world
What some states are trying to do to lower the cost of insulin.
41 min
69
Weeds Time Machine: The Voting Rights Act
The legislative and judicial history of the VRA, explained.
50 min
70
Reintroducing The Weeds
1 min
71
The great American gerrymander
Our messy history with election maps, explained.
27 min
72
The scourge of the “time tax”
The miserable sludge of applying for government aid.
46 min
73
Climate optimism in 2023
Finally, some good climate news.
40 min
74
Our mental health doom loop
The revolving door of mental health care in the US.
42 min
75
The bipartisan bill that could protect elections
Why lawmakers are trying to reform a 135-year-old law.
41 min