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Today, Explained

Today, Explained is Vox's daily news explainer podcast. Hosts Sean Rameswaram and Noel King will guide you through the most important stories of the day. Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
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Episodes

A climate change of address

An estimated 143 million people will relocate to escape climate change in the next three decades. Quartz’s Amanda Shendruk explains how cities can transform themselves into climate havens. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dec 19, 202022 min

How Netscape created our tech world

In this episode of the Go for Broke podcast, host Julia Furlan travels back to the mid-’90s to explain how a bygone web browser set the stage for modern tech. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dec 17, 202031 min

Pornhub just deleted 80% of its videos

One of the most popular porn sites on the internet just purged more than 10 million videos. Vice’s Samantha Cole explains why. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dec 16, 202021 min

Your vaccine questions, answered

The Covid-19 vaccine is being distributed in the United States, and you have questions. Vox’s Umair Irfan has answers. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dec 16, 202032 min

India’s farmers strike

The world’s biggest democracy is contending with what might be the world’s biggest labor stoppage. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dec 14, 202024 min

How movie theaters might survive

On this episode of the Decoder podcast, host Nilay Patel speaks with Shelli Taylor, the CEO of Alamo Drafthouse. Taylor argues the government has failed to manage the pandemic effectively for business owners and explains what the future of theaters could look like in the streaming age. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dec 12, 202044 min

The vaccine, explained by Martin (who got it)

Martin Kenyon was one of the first people to get the Covid-19 vaccine this week. He talks about his experience, and an epidemiologist explains how to talk to the “vaccine hesitant” people in your life. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dec 10, 202024 min

No coup for you!

Joe won. And won. And won. Rudy can fail. And fail. And fail. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dec 09, 202025 min

How Melbourne eradicated Covid-19

Melbourne, Australia, had a first wave. Then it had a second wave. Then it decided it was done with Covid-19. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dec 08, 202021 min

It’s beginning to look a lot like stimulus

In an end-of-year plot twist, Congress is working on a fresh bipartisan stimulus bill. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dec 08, 202025 min

A woman’s work is never done

Millions of women left the workforce as Covid-19 forced school closures, but that doesn’t mean they have less on their plates. Is government-funded child care the answer? Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dec 04, 202023 min

God-given right?

The Supreme Court ruled that New York state can’t limit how many people gather in church, even during a pandemic. Vox’s Ian Millhiser explains why this is one of the most significant religious liberty cases in the last 30 years. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dec 03, 202024 min

America Offline

Low-income students are dropping out of college because many don’t have a reliable way to get online. Vox’s Emily Stewart says the solution is simple: Give everybody the internet. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dec 02, 202021 min

The key to the Cabinet

President-elect Biden has started announcing his Cabinet nominees, but Matthew Yglesias says the most important positions aren’t the ones you’d think. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dec 01, 202023 min

What if developing a vaccine was the easy part?

Covid-19 vaccines are coming out faster than many thought possible. But distributing the vaccines could be an even tougher challenge. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dec 01, 202018 min

Unexplainable

Scientists all over the world are searching for dark matter: an invisible, untouchable substance that holds our universe together. But they haven’t found it. Are they chasing a ghost? We want to hear your feedback on Unexplainable! Email us at todayexplained@vox.com or let us know on Twitter @today_explained Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...

Nov 24, 202033 min

Withdrawing won’t end the war

With two months left in the Trump presidency, the US is reducing the number of troops in Afghanistan in an attempt to end America's longest war. But Biden will still inherit the conflict. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nov 23, 202022 min

All the mall things

Retail was struggling. Then came the virus. Recode’s Jason Del Rey explains how the American mall will never be the same, and how the machines might save retail. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nov 20, 202023 min

The peacemaker’s civil war

An ethnic conflict in Ethiopia has thrown the Horn of Africa into disarray and could upset order on the continent. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nov 19, 202021 min

Badlands

Covid-19 is surging across the United States, just in time for cold weather and major holidays. North Dakota is doing particularly badly. Vermont may offer hope. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nov 18, 202022 min

America said yes to drugs

Oregon decriminalized all drugs. Red states and blue states are doing the same with weed. It’s the culmination of a failed drug war. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nov 17, 202026 min

MAGAlomaniac

A weekend of protests, violence, and enmity in DC revealed what Donald Trump has planned post-presidency. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nov 16, 202023 min

(Home)school is cool

Covid-19 is surging (again). Schools are closing (again). Kids are learning online (again). And more American parents than ever are turning to homeschool (for the very first time). Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nov 13, 202026 min

They fought the Lyft and the Lyft won

California tried to strengthen labor rights for gig workers. Uber, Lyft, and their food-delivering cohorts responded with a $200 million propaganda offensive. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nov 12, 202022 min

Fox & Frenemies

After a fraught Election Week, cable news is finally cutting away from President Trump’s falsehoods. Erik Wemple, media critic for the Washington Post, explains why it might not last. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nov 11, 202021 min

No concession!

The 45th president of the United States has thus far refused to acknowledge the 46th. Political scientist Zeynep Tufekci explains this latest test of America’s democracy. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nov 10, 202024 min

Biden’s coronavirus plan

And some big vaccine news, too. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nov 09, 202027 min

Joe Biden wins

-And Kamala Harris, too. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nov 06, 202032 min

What happened to Congress?

Vox’s Ella Nilsen explains why Democrats are waving goodbye to the blue wave. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nov 05, 202022 min

President Biden?

Vox’s Andrew Prokop explains the latest election math, and Ezra Klein argues that, despite record-setting turnout, it wasn’t a great night for American democracy. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nov 04, 202030 min
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