Explain It to Me

Should I buy a house? Why do I say “like” so much? Should Gen Z bother to save for retirement?

Explain It to Me is the hotline for the issues that matter to your life. Send us your questions about health, personal finance, relationships, and anything else that matters to you. Host Jonquilyn Hill will take you on a journey to find the answers, whether it's to the halls of Congress or the local bar. You’ll get the answers you were looking for, and sometimes ones you didn't expect — and always with a dose of humor. New episodes every Sunday. Part of Vox and the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Society & Culture
Politics
Education
151
Pregnancy in a post-Roe America
Our maternal mortality rate was already bad. What happens now?
43 min
152
ConGRADulations, fellow kids
Ten months ago, the faculty of Cramer Hill Elementary set out to get their kids back on track after a year of mostly remote learning.
24 min
153
How the world became rich
A quick recap of thousands of years of economic history.
57 min
154
Does the US need a National Guard of nurses?
The country doesn’t have enough nurses. This could be one way to fix that.
40 min
155
The gun control stalemate, explained
There is no panacea for mass shootings.
42 min
156
The Most Dangerous Branch: A well-regulated mil...
With six conservative judges on the bench this term, the Supreme Court could rule in favor of the most sweeping gun rights laws yet.
63 min
157
Immigration, democracy, and the rise of the Wes...
The Weeds live at TruCon 2022
70 min
158
The scourge of the “time tax”
The miserable sludge of applying for government aid.
48 min
159
Ukraine and the global food supply crisis
What happens when the global breadbasket is empty?
41 min
160
What the Alito leak means for Roe — and everyth...
The draft opinion, explained.
54 min
161
The Most Dangerous Branch: Roe v. Wade
What does the future of abortion rights look like?
68 min
162
Why do we go to war?
An expert on why wars start and how to prevent them.
44 min
163
Weeds Time Machine: The Clean Air Act
How the landmark environmental policy changed America.
43 min
164
Tax time at the culture wars
Why Sen. Rick Scott’s 11-point plan to save America scares Mitch McConnell.
50 min
165
Taxes! Let’s get right Intuit.
Why filing your taxes is so annoying.
46 min
166
The Great Expiration
Saying goodbye to the Covid-era social safety net
51 min
167
The art of the gerrymander
Why a fair electoral map is more complicated than it looks
49 min
168
The myth of US energy independence
How can America call itself energy independent when it still relies on foreign oil?
49 min
169
Why it’s so hard to move in America
The cultural cost of high housing prices
40 min
170
Russia's terrible invasion
And what the US can do about it
64 min
171
A quick update
A brief message from Dylan about our spring schedule
1 min
172
Why San Francisco’s school board got booted
What a local election can say about our national political climate.
48 min
173
Democracy in crisis: The two-party problem
Just how worried should we be about the future of American democracy?
54 min
174
The curse of the midterms
Yes, Democrats should be worried.
55 min
175
Beijing, boycotts, and the enduring politics of...
What does a diplomatic boycott actually do?
34 min