Activity Overview
Episode publication activity over the past year
Why the internet hates Amber Heard
24 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It’s not just Johnny Depp’s fans — it’s Amber Heard’s anti-fans, too. The Atlantic's Kaitl...
Finland and Sweden have entered the chat
23 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Their admission to NATO would further isolate Russia, leaving it the only Arctic country outside the...
Why the right is thirsty for Hungary
20 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Conservative Political Action Conference, which is like Republican Coachella, is usually held st...
So I elected an autocrat
19 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Noel King traveled to Hungary to talk to people who voted for Viktor Orbán, people being persecuted...
How to lose a democracy in 10,000 days
18 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The same man who helped usher in democracy in Hungary is the one who’s chipping away at it now. Am...
Formula None
17 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Millions of US parents are struggling to feed their infants due to a nationwide shortage of baby for...
Dr. Oz and the celebrity politician
16 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week Pennsylvania voters decide whether to give Dr. Oz a shot at the US Senate. To mark the occ...
Is abortion in the Constitution?
13 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Not explicitly, no. But neither is the right to travel from New York to New Jersey. NYU law professo...
Sri Lankans have had enough
12 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Sri Lanka’s “Go home, Gota!” protesters want to throw President Gotabaya Rajapaksa out of offi...
Dictator Jr.
11 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The son of repressive dictator Ferdinand Marcos was just elected president of the Philippines. All h...
Free Brittney (Griner)
10 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A week before Russia invaded Ukraine, it detained WNBA superstar Brittney Griner. Now the United Sta...
A priest explains Putin’s “holy” war
09 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Patriarch Kirill is the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church. A former colleague describes him as a...
A cure for sickle cell?
06 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Scientists have developed a long-sought treatment — perhaps even a cure — for sickle cell anemia...
Why little kids don’t have vaccines
05 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
And how the seemingly endless wait in the US is affecting their development. This episode was produc...
One man’s crusade against Roe v. Wade
04 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Indiana lawyer Jim Bopp has spent most of his life chipping away at Roe v. Wade. His incremental app...
Justice Alito’s opinion
03 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A largely unprecedented leak of a draft Supreme Court decision reveals the Court’s conservative ma...
Our (machine) gun problem
02 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
For less than $20 plus shipping everyday people can turn their handguns into machine guns. The Trace...
Trumpbilly Elegy
29 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Liberals turned to J.D. Vance’s book to better understand Donald Trump’s victory. Now the “Hil...
Twitter’s new Musk
28 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Elon Musk and Twitter have reached a deal. Recode’s Peter Kafka and Shirin Ghaffary explain what i...
The Senate’s age-old old age problem
27 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Dianne Feinstein’s colleagues are concerned the 88-year-old senator is struggling with memory loss...
ok groomer
26 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Accounts like “Libs of TikTok” are fueling right-wing media to label people who speak openly abo...
El Salvador’s bet on bitcoin
25 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
By making bitcoin a national currency, El Salvador tried to transform its economy. Rest of World’s...
A rough week for mask mandates
22 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A Florida judge ended the federal government’s mass transit mask mandate this week. Vox’s Dylan ...
Russia’s mercenary army
21 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Wagner Group, a superviolent (and supersecretive) team of Kremlin-aligned mercenaries, is doing ...
@elonmusk
20 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Elon Musk says he wants to buy Twitter, but is also making 420 jokes. Kara Swisher (who knows him) a...
How Dylan got inflation wrong
19 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Last year, Vox correspondent Dylan Matthews didn’t think inflation would be a big deal. He wasn’...
The threat of Russian cyberwar
18 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Russia is ramping up attacks on Ukraine’s digital infrastructure. The US could be next. This episo...
China’s grip on Hollywood
15 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Warner Bros. is censoring the newest Fantastic Beasts movie for Chinese audiences. It’s the latest...
The end of January 6
14 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The congressional committee investigating the Capitol insurrection has gathered an enormous amount o...
Let’s talk about Hunter Biden
13 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Hunter Biden may not be the archcriminal that conservatives describe, but his actions present proble...
Pakistan’s vote of no Khanfidence
12 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Pakistan’s prime minister was ousted. He blames the US. This episode was produced by Haleema Shah,...
A grande victory for Starbucks workers
11 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Starting a union can be a tall order, but many baristas have found it’s an effective way to venti ...
Canceling Russian culture
08 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Vladimir Putin says the West is trying to erase 1,000 years of culture. Arts organizations say they ...
Buffalo Billions
07 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Buffalo Bills are set to receive a record-breaking $850 million in public funds to build a new s...
Should Congress be able to trade stocks?
06 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A 2012 law tried to limit lawmakers' ability to make money on Wall Street. It hasn’t worked. This ...
The isolation of Vladimir Putin
05 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Russian president has come to rely on a skewed version of history and an increasingly small circ...
Did we just invent telepathy?
04 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A groundbreaking new study claims to have found a way for a fully paralyzed person to communicate en...
Umami Mama
01 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
For thousands of years, there have been four basic tastes recognized across cultures. But thanks to ...
Microdosing goes mainstream
31 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
There is growing support for psychedelics as performance enhancers, mood boosters, and a shortcut to...
Ukrainians (and Russians) meet US Border Patrol
30 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The US southern border remains closed to asylum seekers on account of Covid-19, unless you happen to...
The National Guard is tired
29 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
And in Texas, they’re trying to unionize. This episode was produced by Victoria Chamberlin, engine...
“The greatest night in the history of television”
28 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Oscars were bordering on irrelevancy until Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on stage. This episode ...
Is the war in Ukraine unwinnable?
25 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
One month in, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine isn’t going according to plan. Historian and retired ...
(Ukrainian) refugees welcome!
24 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As Poland welcomes almost 2 million Ukrainians in, it’s spending $4 million on a wall to keep Syri...
Mariupol under siege
23 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Russian military may have committed war crimes in its brutal attack on the Ukrainian city of Mar...
Permanent daylight saving time?
22 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A bill to make daylight saving time permanent slipped through the Senate. Now, the real fight for ti...
The Americans fighting for Ukraine
21 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
President Biden insists he won’t send American troops to join Ukraine’s war with Russia. Veteran...
South Korea’s incoming “anti-feminist” president
18 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
With its neighbor distracted by domestic culture wars, North Korea is making new moves. This episode...
“Don’t Say Gay”
17 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The furor over Florida’s latest culture-war legislation has Disney, among the state’s largest em...
Why Ukraine won’t quit
16 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Millions of people have fled Ukraine since Russia’s war begin. We check back in with Kurii Vasyl, ...
Defunding Covid-19
15 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The coronavirus pandemic isn’t over, but certain corners of Congress don’t want to spend a penny...
Beware the Madness of March
14 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Americans bet more than $50 billion on sports last year, and that record will likely be broken in 20...
Radio, someone still loves you
11 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The BBC is bringing back shortwave radio broadcasts to counter censorship and disinformation in Russ...
Putin’s war spills into space
10 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Russia has threatened to let the International Space Station plummet. The Verge’s Loren Grush expl...
From Kabul’s airport to Virginia’s burbs
09 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The world watched in horror as tens of thousands fled Afghanistan last August. Today, Explained’s ...
Banning Russian oil
08 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Gas prices hit a record high in the United States today. Then the White House put an embargo on Russ...
Breaking Russia’s banks
07 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The US and EU are denying a handful of Russian banks access to SWIFT, a key tool in the global finan...
Volodymyr vs. Vladimir
04 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Volodymyr Zelenskyy went from a middling peacetime president to a heroic wartime president. Kyiv Ind...
The Texas transgender panic
03 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Gov. Greg Abbott has instructed child protection officials to investigate the parents of transgender...
Why Ukraine has to fight Russia alone
02 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
And how the fight might end. This episode was produced by Hady Mawajdeh, edited by Matt Collette, en...
What Russians think of Putin’s war
01 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It depends a lot on where they get their news. Meduza’s Aleksey Kovalev reports from Moscow. This ...
Ketanji Brown Jackson
28 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
President Joe Biden’s Supreme Court nominee is historic but may have little impact on American law...
The real and imagined history of Ukraine
25 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Vladimir Putin says Ukraine isn’t a country. He’s wrong. This episode was produced by Miles Brya...
A phone call from Ukraine
24 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Kurii Vasyl and his niece Yulya try to make sense of Russia’s invasion of their country. And Kyiv ...
Why Ukraine matters
23 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Vox’s Jonathan Guyer explains how a Russian invasion of Ukraine could affect me and you and everyo...
The Olympics on thin ice
22 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This year’s weird Winter Olympics were overshadowed by politics, Covid-19, and the threat of war. ...
Weapons of cash destruction
18 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The US hopes the threat of sanctions will dissuade Russia from invading Ukraine. Historian Nicholas ...
Bitcoin Bonnie and Clyde
17 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A tech investor and his rapper wife were busted for a multi-billion dollar bitcoin heist. They could...
All-American divorce
16 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In her Today, Explained debut, co-host Noel King heads to Atlanta to find out why some people in one...
What the truck is happening in Canada?
15 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A convoy of truckers angry over Covid-19 mandates is disrupting life in Canada’s capital city. The...
Sarah Palin v. The New York Times
14 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The New York Times published an editorial that made false claims about Sarah Palin. A lawsuit over t...
The best and worst of Tom Brady
11 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Quarterback Tom Brady will retire as the winningest football player in NFL history. ESPN's Seth Wick...
How Brett Kavanaugh views time
10 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When it comes to fixing discriminatory voting maps, nine months may not be enough for some justices....
Why America loves a Jackass
09 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Oscar nominations are out, but the No. 1 movie in America features Johnny Knoxville and his frie...
How this Syria raid was different
08 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
President Biden gave strict orders to avoid collateral damage during a raid on an ISIS leader. Civil...
RIP SAT
07 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Why are colleges ditching the test? A) The SAT is biased B) Colleges want to admit more diverse stud...
Is everything trauma now?
04 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Psychologists are worried that "trauma" is losing its meaning. A trauma survivor says they shouldn't...
The case against masks
03 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
At least in schools. This episode was produced by Victoria Chamberlin, edited by Matt Collette, engi...
Throwing money at the migrant crisis
02 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Vice President Kamala Harris just attended Honduras’s presidential inauguration. Her trip was real...
Spotify’s Joe Rogan problem
01 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The podcast host built a massive audience by speaking to fringe figures in culture, business, and sc...
Honey, I shrunk the kids’ tax credit
31 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The US government let the expanded child tax credit expire ... just as researchers produced a study ...
Ukraine’s pipeline problem
28 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The US is negotiating to stop Russia from invading Ukraine, but a Germany-backed natural gas project...
Breyer to Reteyer
27 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Vox’s Ian Millhiser says American politics shifted during Justice Stephen Breyer’s career, until...
Joe Biden, r u ok?
26 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Build Back Blunders, and other presidential misadventures. This episode was produced by Miles Bryan,...
A Syrian war criminal is actually going to prison
25 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Crimes against humanity are rarely prosecuted successfully, but a Syrian colonel got a life sentence...
China’s Winter Olympics (feat. Covid-19)
24 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Games don’t begin until February 4, but the drama around the pandemic, free speech, and diplom...
10 Downer Street
21 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing political ruin because his aides partied while the UK...
The man with a pig heart
20 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
That’ll do, pig. That’ll do. Today's show was produced by Miles Bryan, edited by Matt Collette, ...
The James Webb Time Machine
19 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
To look into deep space is to look back in time. Ahead of the launch of the James Webb Space Telesco...
The James Webb Space Telescope
18 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This Sunday, the greatest telescope in the history of humanity is scheduled to reach its destination...
Chile’s millennial president
14 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The 35-year-old president-elect in Chile loves tattoos, Taylor Swift, and progressive policies. Gab...
Why Russia sent its janky version of NATO to Kazakhstan
13 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The speedy arrival of CSTO troops in Kazakhstan is unprecedented in the 30-year history of the Russi...
"Break the Senate"
12 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
President Joe Biden wants to change how the Senate works to pass voting reforms. Sen. Mitch McConnel...
Novax Djokovic
11 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
How the best-ranked men’s tennis player in the world went to Australia to become the greatest of a...
No substitutes for the substitutes
10 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when all the teachers get sick? Today’s show was produced by Miles Bryan with help fr...
The high cost of cheap clothes
07 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Fast fashion took over the apparel industry, but consumers are tiring of its poor labor and environm...
Life on the Russia-Ukraine border
06 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Russia has kept its military at Ukraine’s doorstep for almost a decade. But a recent escalation on...
Theranope
05 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A tech startup said it could start a medical revolution with a little machine and a drop of blood. I...
Will omicron speed up the pandemic’s end?
04 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The omicron variant is very transmissible, but it might make Covid-19 less miserable. Today’s show...
America still can’t agree on its insurrection
03 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
One year later, the United States is still trying to wrap its head around what happened on January 6...