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
201
Taxes! Let’s get right Intuit.
Why filing your taxes is so annoying.
46 min
202
The Great Expiration
Saying goodbye to the Covid-era social safety net
51 min
203
The art of the gerrymander
Why a fair electoral map is more complicated than it looks
49 min
204
The myth of US energy independence
How can America call itself energy independent when it still relies on foreign oil?
49 min
205
Why it’s so hard to move in America
The cultural cost of high housing prices
40 min
206
Russia's terrible invasion
And what the US can do about it
64 min
207
A quick update
A brief message from Dylan about our spring schedule
1 min
208
Why San Francisco’s school board got booted
What a local election can say about our national political climate.
48 min
209
Democracy in crisis: The two-party problem
Just how worried should we be about the future of American democracy?
54 min
210
The curse of the midterms
Yes, Democrats should be worried.
55 min
211
Beijing, boycotts, and the enduring politics of...
What does a diplomatic boycott actually do?
34 min
212
Affirmative action could be doomed (again). Wha...
A conservative-leaning Supreme Court could mean the end of affirmative action.
36 min
213
It’s not about Ukraine. It’s about Putin.
It’s not about Russia, either.
48 min
214
Think of the children
What two studies about early childhood poverty interventions can tell us about pediatric brain development
41 min
215
Unions!
Why unions are stronger yet smaller than ever
52 min
216
What happens to voting rights now?
The plan to make it easier to vote has been fili-busted.
40 min
217
Are corporations winning at inflation?
If they are profiting from inflation, can we do anything about it?
40 min
218
What BBB means for climate policy
Can the White House and Congress see eye-to-eye on climate?
65 min
219
How the 1918 flu pandemic ended
What the deadliest pandemic in history can tell us about Covid-19
33 min
220
The case for more babies
We need to talk about the slowing population growth.
49 min
221
The building blocks of radicalization
What happens when political extremism goes mainstream
52 min
222
Why hasn’t student debt been canceled?
A look at the policy merits and political implications of canceling student loan debt.
50 min
223
Best Of: The coming climate exodus
A look back at The Weeds from earlier this year.
55 min
224
America’s Public Health Experiment: Federal fai...
Did the government fail in its public health response for the American people?
52 min
225
America's Public Health Experiment: More checks...
How automatic stabilizers could help prevent future economic disaster.
49 min