Activity Overview
Episode publication activity over the past year
Let’s process food
22 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Doctor and journalist Chris van Tulleken wanted to know how ultra-processed foods affect us, so for ...
Shein wants to go public
21 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Chinese apparel company Shein, a favorite of Gen Z shoppers and the latest frontier in US-China ...
The stretched-too-thin blue line
20 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
FBI data shows police departments have been solving fewer violent crimes since 2020. Data analyst Je...
How Barnes & Noble survived
19 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The bookseller has gone from big-box villain to company on the brink of bankruptcy to bright spot in...
EU vs. AI
18 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The EU has advanced first-of-its-kind AI regulation. The Verge’s Jess Weatherbed tells us whether ...
Why millennials dread motherhood
15 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
American policy failures and bad PR have made millennials dread motherhood. Vox’s Rachel Cohen and...
An oily climate deal
14 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Semafor’s Tim McDonnell says what made COP28 successful was the same thing that made climate activ...
Long live your dog
13 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A drug that aims to increase life expectancy for dogs is getting closer to market. But pet ethicists...
The fight over campus antisemitism
12 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Three elite university presidents walk into Congress for a hearing on antisemitism. Only two still h...
A concrete solution to climate change
11 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Concrete is one of the world’s biggest sources of carbon emissions. Tech companies, including a st...
Are movies too long now?
08 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
No, movies aren’t getting longer. Even though, yes, it definitely does feel like they are. Slate’...
Get the lead out
07 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Biden administration wants all lead pipes ripped up. It’ll take billions of dollars and rarely...
Still hot and bothered
06 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Earlier this year the FDA approved a game-changing drug to treat hot flashes, a symptom of menopause...
They paved paradise
05 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In our quest to accommodate parked cars, we’ve paved over downtowns, polluted the planet, and made...
How Palestine went global
04 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
People with no direct connection to the Middle East have taken to seeing the Palestinian cause as an...
The Golden Bachelor was actually good
01 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
72-year-old Gerry Turner has handed out his final rose on ABC’s The Golden Bachelor. In a season f...
Kissinger’s long goodbye
30 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Noted American diplomat and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger is revered by few, reviled by ...
The American politics of Israel
29 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Israel-Hamas war is dividing the previously united Democrats and uniting the recently fractured ...
Taking Tuesday
28 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Package theft is on the rise, and it affects everyone, from the retailer, to shippers, to consumers....
The hostage deal (brought to you by Qatar)
27 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After 50 days of the Israel-Hamas war, both sides took a breather to save lives. And it couldn’t h...
Chaos at OpenAI
22 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s been a wild few days at OpenAI, whose board fired CEO Sam Altman on Friday only to rehire him...
How Cassie sued Diddy
21 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Sean "Diddy" Combs is the latest high-profile figure to be accused of sexual assault under New York’...
Inside the occupied West Bank
20 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
With the world focused on Gaza, Israeli settlers and soldiers are increasing attacks on Palestinians...
F1: Gears and Loathing in Las Vegas
17 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Formula 1 spent half a billion dollars to return to Las Vegas. Jalopnik’s Elizabeth Blackstock exp...
Speaker Johnson’s first test
16 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, infamous election denier, moved to the middle to make a budget de...
Who can fix 150% inflation?
15 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
That’s what voters are trying to figure out as they prepare for this weekend’s runoff election b...
A call from Gaza
14 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
People are desperately trying to escape Gaza as the siege on the strip continues. Mohammed Ghalaieny...
China’s soft (and fluffy) power
13 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Panda diplomacy couldn’t fix the US and China’s tense relationship. Perhaps a meeting between Pr...
A scam cost me $31k and a pool
10 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Writer Devin Friedman has wanted a pool since he was a kid. As an adult, he saved tens of thousands ...
Adjust the tip
09 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Tipping’s getting even more complicated thanks to a DoorDash change that will prioritize diners wh...
Ceasefire?
08 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Protesters, politicians, and the pope are calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, but the U...
There’s Something About Romney
07 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On his way out of the United States Senate, Mitt Romney gave one reporter unprecedented access to hi...
Should domestic abusers lose gun rights?
06 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Supreme Court will decide if Zackey Rahimi, a man accused of domestic violence and involved in a...
Is DEI DOA?
03 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The lawyer behind the Supreme Court case that overturned affirmative action in university admissions...
The view from Israel
02 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Israelis overwhelmingly disapprove of their government’s handling of the October 7 attacks, but th...
The law that broke immigration
01 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Supporters of the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act pledged it wouldn’t radically change immigr...
Pope friction
31 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Pope, his bishops, and some women walk into the Vatican. The National Catholic Reporter’s Josh...
Gaza’s humanitarian crisis
30 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Cut off from water and power and recovering from a communications blackout, Gaza is plunged deeper i...
The Dollar General will see you now
27 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The primary care physician shortage is ruining health care in America. Dollar General, Best Buy, and...
New Dork City
26 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Silicon Valley billionaires are battling local residents over plans to build a whole new city in Cal...
Why does the US always side with Israel?
25 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This was the top question we got from Today, Explained listeners. Joel Beinin, Middle East history p...
Trump, gagged
24 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The most indicted president in history has judges grappling with how to balance the right to free sp...
Hearts, minds, and likes
23 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
False information about what is happening in Israel and Gaza is taking over social media faster than...
Airbnbanned
20 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
To Airbnb, or not to Airbnb, that is the question. Wired’s Amanda Hoover and the Atlantic’s Kate...
Speakerless
19 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Republicans made history when they ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and they continue to make history ...
Biden goes to Israel
18 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s been 11 days since Hamas attacked Israel, killing civilians and taking hostages. Israel’s r...
So I unelected an authoritarian
17 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The outcome of Poland’s election surprised the world. Vox's Jen Kirby explains what happened, and ...
How Palestinians view Hamas
16 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The US along with Israel and many of its allies have long considered Hamas a terrorist group. Khaled...
America’s most successful downtown?
13 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
And the ecological crisis that threatens everything. Today, Explained’s Miles Bryan heads to Salt ...
RFK goes rogue
12 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is ditching his family’s party. David Freedlander explains how the candidate...
Driver’s license to kill
11 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Across the country, traffic deaths are spiking. Vox’s Marin Cogan tells the tragic story of one gr...
Israel, Hamas, and how we got here
10 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This Israel-Hamas war is unlike the ones that came before it, says Haaretz’s Allison Kaplan Sommer...
Who shot ya, Tupac?
06 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
For 27 years there was no arrest in the shooting death of rapper Tupac Shakur. Slate’s Joel Anders...
Caste away
05 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A bill outlawing caste-based discrimination in California could become the first law of its kind in ...
We Need to Talk About Kevin
04 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As House speaker, Kevin McCarthy worked with Democrats to keep the government open. Then Matt Gaetz ...
Crypto’s crown prince in court
03 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s trial begins today; a guilty verdict could represent the final nai...
Shutshow
02 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The US government is open for business at the cost of Ukraine aid. Semafor’s Jordan Weissmann expl...
Hip-hop is 50 and it's having a midlife crisis
30 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
So much of the coverage of hip-hop’s 50th birthday has been congratulatory, in spite of its record...
Blame Capitalism: Degrowing pains
29 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Capitalism isn’t natural, was never inevitable, and endless growth is killing Earth. The final epi...
Man’s best friend banned in UK
28 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says his government will ban a type of dog called the American Bully X...
Why the US is suing Amazon
27 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Federal Trade Commission has brought a landmark antitrust suit against Amazon. The Verge’s Mak...
Should you blow up a pipeline?
26 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Climate activists have tried marching and lobbying. Now, a growing flank of movement radicals want t...
Murder, Canada Wrote
25 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Canada’s unprecedented decision to publicly accuse India of assassinating a Canadian citizen in Ca...
Blame Capitalism: The 99%
22 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Two wildly different political movements — Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party — emerged from t...
The six D-words of climate change
21 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s climate week. To mark the occasion we’re talking to scientist Michael E. Mann about six D-w...
Taxing traffic
20 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
New York City wants to be the first in the nation to implement congestion pricing to charge people f...
Everybody’s moving to Florida
19 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We’re not just talking snowbirds. The Sunshine State is the fastest growing in the nation despite,...
Autoworkers slam the brakes
18 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The United Auto Workers union is on strike at three different factories. We ask the Wall Street Jour...
Blame Capitalism: Profit over everything
15 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Economist Milton Friedman published an essay in 1970 arguing that the job of a corporation was solel...
From North Korea with Love
14 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Kim Jong Un took a bulletproof train to visit Vladimir Putin in Russia this week. Jenny Town at the ...
New variant just dropped
13 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Seems like everyone’s got Covid again. Vox’s in-house epidemiologist, Dr. Keren Landman, deliver...
In Google we antitrust
12 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Google is headed to court over allegations its search engine violates federal antitrust law. The Ver...
Hunter becomes the hunted
11 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Hunter Biden is set to be indicted this month. The WSJ’s Aruna Viswanatha goes over the evidence w...
Blame Capitalism: Souring on the system
08 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Capitalism has entered its villain era. In a new series running Fridays this month, we look at how A...
From Pac-12 to Pac-2
07 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Pac-12 college football conference has lost nearly all its teams now that schools like USC and C...
Why American sunscreen sucks
06 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Better sunscreen exists, you just can’t get it in the US. Amanda Mull and Elise Hu explain why. Th...
The new Cold War
05 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Cold War started earlier than we think — and maybe never ended at all. Historian Calder Walton...
…We’re trusting it anyway
04 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Tech companies are racing to make new, transformative AI tools, with little to no safeguards in plac...
We don’t know how AI works…
01 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The researchers who create and study tech like ChatGPT don’t understand exactly how it’s doing w...
#SeAcabo: Spain’s World Cup reckoning
31 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Saying “it’s over,” Spain’s World Cup-winning women are using an unwelcome kiss to try to en...
The Real Housewives of Today, Explained
30 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Taking cues from striking actors and writers, reality TV stars are lobbying for better treatment fro...
Why top Republicans want to bomb Mexico
29 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Long-shot presidential candidate Ron DeSantis said he would send US forces into Mexico “on day one...
China’s young and restless
28 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
China’s ambitious youth planned to cash in on their country’s meteoric rise on the world stage. ...
America is so Messi
25 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
With Lionel Messi, footy may have finally arrived in the United States. The Athletic’s Tom Bogert ...
Death of a Hot Dog Salesman
24 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, the caterer-turned-warlord who recently attempted to overthr...
The other eight debate
23 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Fox News desperately wants you to watch tonight’s Republican presidential debate. The Washington P...
Back to school loans
22 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
President Biden can’t stop, won’t stop trying to forgive student debt, even as borrowers are sho...
Why Russians still support the war
21 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Putin's war is hurting Russians, too. Writer Masha Gessen and researcher Jade McGlynn explain why pu...
After the Green Rush
18 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Adelanto, California, was broke. Could legalizing marijuana cultivation offer a fix? Reporter David ...
RoboCab
17 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The San Francisco Standard’s Liz Lindqwister reports from San Francisco, where people are flipping...
Florida man indicted (again) (again) (again)
16 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Oft-indicted former President Donald Trump is at it again. Stephen Fowler, host of Georgia Public Br...
Why Maui burned
15 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Hawaii’s landscape has been rapidly changing for the last 200 years thanks to plantations, tourism...
A postpartum pill
14 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The FDA’s approval of a new pill that treats postpartum depression could be yet another signal tha...
Suing big food
11 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Tostitos chips without real lime. Root beer made with fake vanilla. Instant mac and cheese that isn’...
The Rikers takeover
10 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today a federal judge hears arguments on whether New York City Mayor Eric Adams should be stripped o...
Shein trouble
09 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Chinese apparel company Shein is a favorite of Gen Z shoppers and the latest frontier in US-Chin...
ESPN 4 SALE
08 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Disney CEO Bob Iger says the company is looking for a “strategic partner” to invest in the massi...
Hot topic
07 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When it comes to climate policy, President Biden has accomplished more than any of his predecessors....
The air-istocracy
04 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Private jets aren’t what they used to be. AOC is calling out Hollywood executives for having too m...
Battlechips
03 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Semiconductors are used in just about every piece of technology. The US wants to limit what China ca...