

Explain It to Me
Vox
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.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Aug 14, 2020 • 58min
What the hell is the Republican party doing?
Ezra and Matt on Republican policy nihilism and the Kamala Harris pick.Resources:"Kamala Harris Is Biden’s Choice for Vice President" by Alexander Burns and Katie Glueck, NYT"How inequality and white identity politics feed each other" with Paul Pierson and Jacob Hacker, Ezra Klein Show podcastHosts:Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Senior correspondent, VoxEzra Klein (@ezraklein), Editor-at-large, VoxCredits:Jeff Geld, (@jeff_geld), Editor and ProducerThe Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network productionWant to support The Weeds? Please consider making a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcastsAbout VoxVox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.Follow Us: Vox.comFacebook group: The Weeds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Aug 11, 2020 • 42min
What is the economy, stupid?
Vox's Emily Stewart joins Dara and Jane to discuss the relationship between "the market" and the "real economy."Resources:"The Stock Market Is an Engine of Civic Destruction" by Libby Watson, New Republic"Who gets to be reckless on Wall Street?" by Emily Stewart, Vox
Hosts:Dara Lind (@DLind), Immigration reporter, ProPublicaJane Coaston (@cjane87), Senior politics correspondent, VoxEmily Stewart (@EmilyStewartM), Reporter, VoxCredits:Jeff Geld, (@jeff_geld), Editor and ProducerThe Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network productionWant to support The Weeds? Please consider making a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcastsAbout VoxVox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.Follow Us: Vox.comFacebook group: The Weeds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Aug 7, 2020 • 50min
Veepstakes
Ezra and Matt on Susan Rice, Kamala Harris, and Trump’s increasingly chaotic authoritarianism.Resources:"What we know about Joe Biden’s possible vice presidential picks" by Ella Nilsen, Vox"Harris allies granted call with Biden campaign after Dodd blowup" by Christopher Cadelago & Natasha Korecki, Politico"Think the world is on fire? Obama’s national security adviser says things are better than ever." by Zack Beauchamp, Vox"How inequality is changing the Republican Party — and breaking American politics" by Ezra Klein, VoxHosts:Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Senior correspondent, VoxEzra Klein (@ezraklein), Editor-at-large, VoxCredits:Jeff Geld, (@jeff_geld), Editor and ProducerThe Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network productionWant to support The Weeds? Please consider making a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcastsAbout VoxVox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.Follow Us: Vox.comFacebook group: The Weeds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Aug 4, 2020 • 57min
The stimulus standoff
Jane, Dara, and Matt on the congressional deadlock over economic aid.Resources:"“The jobs aren’t there”: Why cutting off enhanced unemployment benefits would leave workers in the lurch" by Li Zhou, Vox"Senate GOP Coronavirus Bill Has Some Good Provisions but Needs Serious Work" by Adam Michel, Rachel Greszler, Lindsey M. Burke, & Brian Finch, Heritage Foundation"The Zombie Reaganism Trap" by Peter Spiliakos, National ReviewWhite paper
Hosts:Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Senior Correspondent, VoxJane Coaston (@cjane87), Senior politics correspondent, VoxDara Lind (@DLind), Immigration reporter, ProPublicaCredits:Jeff Geld, (@jeff_geld), Editor and ProducerThe Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network productionWant to support The Weeds? Please consider making a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcastsAbout VoxVox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.Follow Us: Vox.comFacebook group: The Weeds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jul 31, 2020 • 1h 11min
The Great Awokening
John McWhorter joins Matt to discuss the changing way we talk about racism in America.Resources:"“Latinx” is growing in popularity. I made a comic to help you understand why." by Terry Blas, Vox"Racist Police Violence Reconsidered" by John McWhorter, Quillette"The Virtue Signalers Won’t Change the World" by John McWhorter, The Atlantic"The Dehumanizing Condescension of White Fragility" by John McWhorter, The Atlantic"‘This Is How We Lost to the White Man’" by Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Atlantic"The Case for Reparations" by Ta-Nehisi Coates, The AtlanticIbram X. Kendi wants to redefine racism, The Ezra Klein Show, VMPNGuest:John McWhorter (@JohnHMcWhorter), Professor at Columbia University / Host of the Lexicon Valley podcast, SlateHosts:Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Senior correspondent, VoxCredits:Jeff Geld, (@jeff_geld), Editor and ProducerThe Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network productionWant to support The Weeds? Please consider making a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcastsAbout VoxVox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.Follow Us: Vox.comFacebook group: The Weeds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jul 28, 2020 • 51min
Trafficking, and trafficking panics
Dara, Jane, and Matt on Wayfair, massage parlors, and reality.Resources:"The modeling industry is filled with exploitation—this labor activist is fighting back" by Sara Ziff, Fast Company"American Airlines Reportedly Accused a Black Social Worker of Kidnapping the White Child In Her Care. Now She's Suing." by Elizabeth Nolan Brown, Reason"Sen. Josh Hawley Says He 'Took on an Asian Trafficking Ring' and 'Freed a Dozen Women in Sex Slavery.' That's Not True." by Elizabeth Nolan Brown, Reason"Trump has turned the war on trafficking into a war on immigrants" by Melissa Gira Grant & Debbie Nathan, The Appeal"ICE Agents Fight Sex Trafficking by Paying Potential Victims for Hand Jobs" Elizabeth Nolan Brown, Reason"'White slavery': the origins of the anti-trafficking movement" by Laura Lammasniemi, Open Democracy"Baltimore Mayor Says Men in White Vans Are Snatching Young Girls for Sex Trafficking" Lenore Skenazy, Reason"The allure of child trafficking conspiracy theories" Ben Sixsmith, Spectator"The Making of “The Trafcking Problem”" by Ine Vanwesenbeeck"American Fringes: How the extremes define our society" by Nick Fouriezos"The bogus claim that 300,000 U.S. children are ‘at risk’ of sexual exploitation" by Glenn Kessler, WaPoPolaris Statement on Wayfair Sex Trafficking ClaimsWhite paper
Hosts:Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Senior Correspondent, VoxJane Coaston (@cjane87), Senior politics correspondent, VoxDara Lind (@DLind), Immigration reporter, ProPublicaCredits:Jeff Geld, (@jeff_geld), Editor and ProducerThe Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network productionWant to support The Weeds? Please consider making a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcastsAbout VoxVox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.Follow Us: Vox.comFacebook group: The Weeds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

6 snips
Jul 24, 2020 • 57min
The evidence on crime and policing
The podcast discusses the importance of evidence and caution in addressing social problems, the challenges of police reform and the role of diversity and inclusion, the difficulties in disciplining police officers, the potential benefits of positive reinforcement and improved police-civilian interactions, the strange behavior of killer whales and its relation to prisoner reintegration, and embracing a culture of experimentation in the criminal justice system.

Jul 21, 2020 • 1h
Bad for the Jews?
Dara, Jane, and Matt on Nick Cannon, Louis Farrakhan, and antisemitic conspiracy theories.Resources:"The conspiracy theories behind the anti-Semitic violence in New York" by Jane Coaston, Vox"Nick Cannon let go by ViacomCBS over anti-Semitic comments" by Lisa Respers France, CNN"Calling out racism and anti-Semitism is a responsibility" by David Love, CNN"Black Demagogues and Pseudo-Scholars" by Henry Louis Gates Jr., NYT"July 20, 1992: Bias Is Poison" by Henry Louis Gates Jr., NYT"Why Tamika Mallory Won’t Condemn Farrakhan" by Adam Serwer, The AtlanticWhite paper
Hosts:Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Senior Correspondent, VoxJane Coaston (@cjane87), Senior politics correspondent, VoxDara Lind (@DLind), Immigration reporter, ProPublicaCredits:Jeff Geld, (@jeff_geld), Editor and ProducerThe Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network productionWant to support The Weeds? Please consider making a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcastsAbout VoxVox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.Follow Us: Vox.comFacebook group: The Weeds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jul 17, 2020 • 1h 6min
Biden reloaded
Ezra and Matt on Joe Biden’s unification strategy with the left.Resources:BIDEN-SANDERS UNITY TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS"How Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders joined forces to craft a bold, progressive agenda" by Ella Nilsen, Vox"It’s time to move past employer-based health insurance" by Ezra Klein, VoxHosts:Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Senior correspondent, VoxEzra Klein (@ezraklein), Editor-at-large, VoxCredits:Jeff Geld, (@jeff_geld), Editor and ProducerThe Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network productionWant to support The Weeds? Please consider making a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcastsAbout VoxVox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.Follow Us: Vox.comFacebook group: The Weeds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jul 14, 2020 • 59min
School’s out for Covid
Jane, Dara, and Matt on the school reopening debate and the political consequences of HIV/AIDS.Resources:"The debate over reopening America’s K-12 schools, explained" by Anna North, Vox"I’m an epidemiologist and a dad. Here’s why I think schools should reopen." by Benjamin P. Linas, Vox"‘I Don’t Want to Go Back’: Many Teachers Are Fearful and Angry Over Pressure to Return" by Dana Goldstein and Eliza Shapiro, NYT"In D.C. wards hit hardest by covid-19, sending kids to school is a risk some parents won’t take" by Perry Stein"Crucial Steps in Combating the Aids Epidemic; Identify All the Carriers" by William F. BuckleyWhite paper
Hosts:Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Senior Correspondent, VoxJane Coaston (@cjane87), Senior politics correspondent, VoxDara Lind (@DLind), Immigration reporter, ProPublicaCredits:Jeff Geld, (@jeff_geld), Editor and ProducerThe Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network productionWant to support The Weeds? Please consider making a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcastsAbout VoxVox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.Follow Us: Vox.comFacebook group: The Weeds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices


