Activity Overview
Episode publication activity over the past year
Amy Coney Barrett’s originalism
14 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The judge isn’t saying much in her confirmation hearing, but Vox’s Ian Millhiser explains how he...
The case for ending the filibuster
13 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Even if Democrats win the White House, take the Senate, and hold the House, most of their legislatio...
The Trump Years: Deregulator in chief
09 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In the first of our five-part series, Vox’s Matthew Yglesias explains why President Donald Trump s...
Did anyone defund the police?
08 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In June, nine members of the Minneapolis City Council stood onstage at a community rally and pledged...
1600 Coronavirus Avenue
07 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
After months of downplaying the risks, the White House has come down with Covid-19. Vox’s Aaron Ru...
Who are the Proud Boys?
06 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
President Trump told a fringe group of misogynistic racists to “stand back and stand by” at the ...
It’s time to talk about Mike Pence
05 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
President Trump is battling Covid-19 and the vice-presidential debate is days away. McKay Coppins fr...
Contact tracing President Trump
02 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The president had a very busy week, then tested positive for the coronavirus. Vox’s Aaron Rupar tr...
Missing Chapter
01 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A forgotten protest movement in a seaside Florida town helped end legal segregation in the United St...
Joe Versus the Volcano
30 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
While it might feel as though nothing could be worse than last night’s presidential debate, Vox’...
Amy Coney Barrett
29 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee first garnered attention after being questioned about her ...
$750
28 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
That's how much "billionaire" President Trump paid in federal income taxes his first year in office,...
Justice For Breonna Taylor (Part II)
25 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
One of the three officers who shot at Breonna Taylor’s apartment was indicted ... for endangering ...
Dr. Fauci on pandemic politics
24 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
With mounting concerns over the politicization of federal health agencies, Dr. Anthony Fauci explain...
Working from work
23 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What do a bus driver, a teacher, a McDonald’s employee, and a project manager with a conference on...
RBG’s seat
22 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Republicans appear ready to fill the seat left vacant by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg before the end ...
Supreme
21 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The fight over Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Supreme Court seat has already begun, but let’s not...
Class of Covid-19
18 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Colleges reopened. Outbreaks followed. Robert J. Jones, chancellor of the University of Illinois at ...
ICE and involuntary hysterectomies
17 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A whistleblower complaint alleges immigrants being detained by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement ...
A firefighter on battling wildfires
16 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
After 16 seasons of wildfires, Glen Haydon has figured out how to cope. For everyone else, there’s...
This is the future Joe Biden wants
15 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Trillions spent on the environment, caregiving, manufacturing, and the racial wealth gap: Vox’s Dy...
Can the Democrats take the Senate?
14 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Vox’s Ella Nilsen says the implausible is now looking possible. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplain...
Cupid-19
11 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The pandemic hasn’t stopped Americans from dating, hooking up, or tying the knot. In fact, lockdow...
What was Putin the tea?
10 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A chief political rival of Vladimir Putin has been poisoned in what Foreign Policy’s Amy MacKinnon...
The truth about herd immunity
09 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Some people think it’s the only way out of the pandemic. Those people are very wrong. Transcript a...
A Fake News Survival Guide
08 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As the election draws near, of fake news you must steer clear. For you (and your uncle), this episod...
The movies are back*
04 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
*But that doesn’t necessarily mean you should go see one. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained Le...
Is the stock market bull?
03 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Vox’s Emily Stewart clears up the mystery of the market, and Ella Nilsen offers an update on the s...
Let’s talk about ventilation
02 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Ventilation is key to reopening office buildings safely. But The Atlantic’s Derek Thompson says ma...
Is Facebook ready for the election?
01 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the company made an “operational mistake” in its handling of K...
Wakanda forever
31 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The actor Chadwick Boseman died of cancer on Friday, but because of Black Panther he’ll live forev...
The Island of Explained: A Summer of Protest
29 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
All summer long, we have been explaining complex news stories to kids. In our final summer camp jour...
Unconventional (Part II)
28 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The GOP proved that laws were made to be broken at its 2020 convention. Transcript at vox.com/todaye...
Kenosha
27 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Jacob Blake was shot in the back multiple times by police and the protests escalated all the way to ...
Optimism in 2020
26 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Being an optimist can seem ridiculous right now, but in the inaugural episode of The Cut podcast, ho...
Plasmania
25 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Covid’s hottest new treatment is plasma. Vox’s Umair Irfan explains why, and where the world sta...
What is QAnon?
24 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As the Republican National Convention gets underway, a bonkers (and dangerous) conspiracy theory is ...
Unconventional
21 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Democrats proved a virtual convention doesn't have to be a downer. Especially when Rhode Island ...
Who polices the police?
20 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
ProPublica's Eric Umansky explains how the New York Police Department's Civilian Complaint Review Bo...
Class is in quarantine
19 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Schools in the US are reopening even though kids play a key role in community transmission of Covid-...
A woman’s place is at the polls
18 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The 19th Amendment’s centenary is today, but the fight for universal suffrage in the United States...
The mail, man
17 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The House of Representatives is cutting its vacation short to block changes at the United States Pos...
The Island of Explained: Escape from Boredom
15 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
After hearing from kids around the world who are grappling with serious boredom, Noam Hassenfeld and...
Well, this is awkward
14 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The coronavirus is complicating our relationships with family, friends, and strangers. But it’s al...
2020 makes no census
13 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The 2020 census is fighting a losing battle against the coronavirus and President Trump. NPR’s Han...
Kamala
12 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Biden picked Harris. Vox’s Fabiola Cineas explains the role race is already playing in the electio...
The dictator vs. the homemaker
11 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The longtime leader of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, is facing nationwide protests and accusations ...
How Trump’s relief plan helps and hurts
10 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
President Trump wants to resolve the congressional deadlock over stimulus relief by himself. Vox’s...
TikTok, on the clock, Donald says your time is up
07 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
President Trump is threatening to ban TikTok, but Microsoft might be able to stop the clock. Transcr...
Florida’s Covid-19 tragedy
06 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The state saw Covid-19 coming. It still became an outbreak epicenter. Transcript at vox.com/todayexp...
What’s going on in Lebanon
05 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A chemical blast has made a very bad situation worse for Lebanon. Journalist Habib Battah explains f...
Everything that could go wrong with the November election
04 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A worsening pandemic. A poll worker shortage. A hobbled postal service. Russian hacking. Donald Trum...
Who’s “Karen?” And what’s BIPOC?
03 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A Washington Post columnist named Karen explains her feelings about “Karen.” A University of Ari...
The Island of Explained: Election Day
31 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It’s Election Day on the Island of Explained! Will the candidate with the most votes win, or will ...
Tim, Mark, Jeff, and Sundar
30 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The leaders of Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Google testified before Congress on Wednesday in what Th...
Life after Covid-19, explained by Carl (who had it)
29 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Some people walk away from Covid-19 feeling fine. Others are dealing with a long list of lingering h...
Stimulating America
28 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Democrats and Republicans have a $2 trillion disagreement on how to relieve Americans from the econo...
Rural America meets Black Lives Matter
27 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In Bethel, Ohio, a Black Lives Matter rally became a standoff between armed bikers and peaceful prot...
Houston, we have a problem
24 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Baseball’s back, but fans won’t get the chance to boo the cheating Astros. Transcript at vox.com...
The Anti-maskers
23 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The United States has now confirmed 4 million cases of Covid-19. Some Americans still don’t want t...
Biden’s $2 trillion climate plan
22 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Joe Biden is tacking to the left and embracing a historic climate plan. Vox’s David Roberts explai...
Tucker Carlson’s America
21 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The most popular host in the history of cable news returned from a week-long vacation after his head...
When the feds came to Portland
20 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
They came in military camouflage and unmarked vans. Now the state of Oregon is suing the federal gov...
The Island of Explained: Vaccines
17 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We return to the magical Island of Explained with a microbiologist and a talking moth to find out wh...
#CancelRent
16 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Eviction bans and expanded unemployment benefits are expiring, leaving millions of Americans at risk...
What happened to California?
15 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
California once looked like an example of how to handle the pandemic. Now it’s a warning for other...
The Washington Football Team
14 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The District of Columbia's football team is abandoning the name it adopted almost a century ago. Pau...
Stone free
13 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
President Trump commuted Roger Stone’s sentence in what Vox’s Andrew Prokop says is a particular...
A million international students in limbo
10 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Trump administration announced it would send a million international students home this week. Bu...
Supreme Tax Court
09 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Supreme Court issued its remaining decisions today for the 2020 term, including the biggie: Trum...
“SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL!!!”
08 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
President Trump says students and teachers must return to the classroom. Reality says this is going ...
Surfaces vs. droplets vs. aerosols
07 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
239 scientists have signed a letter urging the World Health Organization to warn people about airbor...
Netflix has no chill
06 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Netflix grew so popular during lockdown, it almost broke the internet. Land of the Giants: The Netfl...
How AI makes policing more racist
02 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Turns out it’s just as biased as people are. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn more ab...
A bounty on American troops
01 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Russia allegedly paid the Taliban to attack US soldiers in Afghanistan. But President Trump’s resp...
Helicopter policing
30 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Police across the country have responded to recent protests with military tactics and equipment. The...
Lockdown, reopen, repeat
29 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Hospitals are stretched to their breaking point in Texas, Arizona, and other states where Covid-19 c...
Justice for Breonna Taylor
26 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
There hasn’t been an arrest in the case in the three months since police shot and killed Taylor in...
Black Lives Matter is working
25 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
America is undergoing a new racial reckoning. The Atlantic’s Adam Serwer explains why this time is...
Brazil’s coronavirus disaster
24 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
President Jair Bolsonaro called it the "sniffles" and recommended hydroxychloroquine. Now the countr...
A world without bail?
23 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
With the wave of protests came waves of arrests and record-breaking donations to bail funds across t...
How not to fire someone
22 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Attorney General William Barr tried to quietly push out the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan on F...
Celebrate Juneteenth!
19 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The celebration of emancipation is as vital today as ever. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. L...
A good day for DREAMers
18 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In a major decision from the Supreme Court, DACA lives to fight another day. But it's not in the cle...
The return of sports
17 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
There are two ways to do it: safely or not so safely. Guess which one we’re heading toward in the ...
Welcome to CHAZ
16 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Some are calling six blocks of a Seattle neighborhood the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone. KUOW’s Cas...
A landmark LGBTQ ruling
15 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Supreme Court of the United States has decided the Civil Rights Act of 1964 applies to discrimin...
Copaganda
13 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
After 33 seasons, the reality TV show Cops was canceled this week. Should scripted police dramas fol...
Is this the second wave?
11 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Vox’s Dylan Scott says it’s hard to tell because the United States is riding 50 different Covid-...
Can Congress reform the police?
10 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The United States has a policing problem and Congress wants to fix it. Vox’s Li Zhou explains whet...
Minneapolis commits to “dismantling” the police
09 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Minneapolis City Council member Alondra Cano explains what the city wants to do and what might get i...
Biden his time
08 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Pandemic, protests, and the best poll numbers yet for Joe Biden. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplaine...
The Talk
05 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Two mothers talk to their teenage sons about race and police brutality in the United States. Transcr...
What “abolish the police” means
04 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It’s not what you think. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn more about your ad choices. V...
The problem with police unions
03 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Even after Derek Chauvin was captured on video killing George Floyd, he could still get his job back...
Antifa?
02 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
President Trump wants to blame the unrest on antifa. Vox’s Zack Beauchamp explains why he can’t....
American Nightmare
01 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Ibram X. Kendi explains how the protests and unrest are a result of black America’s livi...
“I can’t breathe.” Again.
29 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The former police officer who killed George Floyd has been charged with murder. But Floyd’s case i...
100,000 is an undercount
28 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It could take years for all the Covid-19 deaths to be counted properly. Vox’s Matthew Yglesias exp...
"First Hong Kong, then the world"
27 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
While most of the world was distracted by the pandemic, China unveiled a law to strip Hong Kong of i...