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
126
The Most Dangerous Branch: Roe v. Wade
What does the future of abortion rights look like?
68 min
127
Why do we go to war?
An expert on why wars start and how to prevent them.
44 min
128
Weeds Time Machine: The Clean Air Act
How the landmark environmental policy changed America.
43 min
129
Tax time at the culture wars
Why Sen. Rick Scott’s 11-point plan to save America scares Mitch McConnell.
50 min
130
Taxes! Let’s get right Intuit.
Why filing your taxes is so annoying.
46 min
131
The Great Expiration
Saying goodbye to the Covid-era social safety net
51 min
132
The art of the gerrymander
Why a fair electoral map is more complicated than it looks
49 min
133
The myth of US energy independence
How can America call itself energy independent when it still relies on foreign oil?
49 min
134
Why it’s so hard to move in America
The cultural cost of high housing prices
40 min
135
Russia's terrible invasion
And what the US can do about it
64 min
136
A quick update
A brief message from Dylan about our spring schedule
1 min
137
Why San Francisco’s school board got booted
What a local election can say about our national political climate.
48 min
138
Democracy in crisis: The two-party problem
Just how worried should we be about the future of American democracy?
54 min
139
The curse of the midterms
Yes, Democrats should be worried.
55 min
140
Beijing, boycotts, and the enduring politics of...
What does a diplomatic boycott actually do?
34 min
141
Affirmative action could be doomed (again). Wha...
A conservative-leaning Supreme Court could mean the end of affirmative action.
36 min
142
It’s not about Ukraine. It’s about Putin.
It’s not about Russia, either.
48 min
143
Think of the children
What two studies about early childhood poverty interventions can tell us about pediatric brain development
41 min
144
Unions!
Why unions are stronger yet smaller than ever
52 min
145
What happens to voting rights now?
The plan to make it easier to vote has been fili-busted.
40 min
146
Are corporations winning at inflation?
If they are profiting from inflation, can we do anything about it?
40 min
147
What BBB means for climate policy
Can the White House and Congress see eye-to-eye on climate?
65 min
148
How the 1918 flu pandemic ended
What the deadliest pandemic in history can tell us about Covid-19
33 min
149
The case for more babies
We need to talk about the slowing population growth.
49 min
150
The building blocks of radicalization
What happens when political extremism goes mainstream
52 min