Explain It to Me

Dylan Scott joins Sarah and Matt to talk about Paul Ryan's retirement, his legacy, and the Weedsiest health reform of all. References: Sarah's all-payer rate setting explainer Dylan's piece on Paul Ryan's legacy Melanie Mason's piece on California's healthcare bill RTI evaluation of all-payer rate setting Health Affairs evaluation on changes in hospital use in Maryland Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sirens galore, as the team races through Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt's many, many scandals and a white paper about unnecessary ambulance use. References: Trump's defense of Scott Pruitt A good explainer on the Pruitt scandal How EPA deregulations impact toxic air pollution Michael Grunwald's piece on Pruitt's rollback of Obama era environmental regulations Elaina Plott's pieces on Scott Pruitt and more Working paper on ambulance usage in New York Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dylan Matthews joins Sarah and Matt to break down the history of Sinclair Broadcast Group, its politics, and the regulatory favors that fueled its growth. References: Dylan's piece on the Sinclair media takeover Timothy Burke's Sinclair anchor mashup Alving Chang's piece on Sinclair media, see if your local news station is owned by Sinclair Martin and McCrain's paper on local news and national politics Good Mother Jones piece on Sinclair's local news takeover Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sarah, Dara, and Matt talk about the citizenship question, funding, and the potential consequences of a botched enumeration. Plus a weedsy dive into potential redistricting mischief, and research on Jose Canseco's malign influence on Major League Baseball. References: Dara's piece on the 2020 census Carlos Waters' video on the 2020 census The baseball white paper Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Weeds/Worldly crossover event continues: Jennifer Williams tries to persuade Dara and Matt they're wrong about an Islamophobic shift in Trump's new cabinet, and the old-fashioned democracy-promoting hawkery of George W. Bush. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matt, Sarah and Ezra on a new, blockbuster study on racial mobility — and whether Mark Zuckerberg should shut down Facebook. References: Race and Economic Opportunity in the United States Dylan Matthews' piece Income Mobility Charts for Girls, Asian-Americans and Other Groups. Or, Make Your Own Extensive Data Shows Punishing Reach of Racism for Black Boys Matt's case against Facebook Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Andrew Prokop, senior politics reporter for Vox.com, joins Dara and Matt to break down the scandal that’s rocking the worlds of technology and politics. References: The Jane Mayer piece on the Mercers Dara mentioned A study on Big Five personality attributes and voting behavior SCIENCE! on the Cambridge Analytica model A big five personality test you can do at home  Andrew's Cambridge Analytica explainer Matt's good Facebook take Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An economics working paper finds that access to Naloxone, a drug to reverse opioid overdoses, may increase opioid abuse. Sarah and Ezra explain the paper that started a social media firestorm — and what it means for combating the opioid epidemic. References: Doleac and Mukherjee working paper A good summary of the debate from The Atlantic Health Affairs blog post  Working paper from Daniel Rees People are dying because we misunderstand how those with addiction think A lifesaving drug for overdoses doesn’t reduce opioid deaths? Be skeptical Trump’s opioid crisis plan: more death penalty, fewer prescriptions, more treatment Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dara and Matt break down the history of Immigration & Customs Enforcement: how it got this way, and why some on the left want it to go away. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Vox senior politics reporter Jane Coaston joins Ezra and Matt to talk about Trump turmoil, political correctness and the latest research on the state of the parties. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices