Not all mother-daughter relationships are sunny and cheerful. Vox book Critic Constance Grady recommended a few novels that unpack complicated dynamics in clever, original ways. Swamplandia! by Karen Russell Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng Hot Milk by Deborah Levy Ask a Book Critic is an exclusive series from Vox Quick Hits. New episodes every other Wednesday and you can read the column here. If you’d like Constance to recommend a book for you, email [email protected] with the subjec...
Apr 05, 2021•6 min
A lot of people felt overworked before the pandemic. Now, well, you can imagine. American work culture has become increasingly untenable for many people. It's basically impossible to keep up with the demands of work and the rest of life, which is especially true for parents, even when we’re not living through a pandemic. The past year has exposed America’s problem with work culture, and pushed working parents to their limits. Is there a way we can fix this? Vox’s Anna North is here to explain. R...
Apr 05, 2021•9 min
From the Vox Quick Hits archive (Feb. 19, 2021): Vox film critic Alissa Wilkinson and critic-at-large Emily VanDerWerff recommend Minari. Minari is the story of Korean immigrants Jacob (Steven Yeun) and Monica (Yeri Han) who move their two small children (Noel Kate Cho and Alan S. Kim) from California to Arkansas in pursuit of Jacob’s dream of farming. But Jacob and Monica’s marriage is on the rocks, a circumstance that doesn’t improve the way they hoped it would when Monica’s mother (Yuh Jung Y...
Apr 03, 2021•9 min
We asked if you still had vaccine questions, and you did. We found answers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Apr 02, 2021•9 min
Zack, Alex, and returning guest Jen Kirby talk about the potential for a “bloodbath” in Myanmar. Since the military deposed the democratic government in a February 1 coup, pro-democracy protesters and armed ethnic groups have risen up against the junta. They’ve been met with extreme violence, leading to more than 500 dead and concerns from experts that a broader civil war is coming. The Worldly crew explains how this horrible situation came to be, what may come next, and what — if anything — the...
Apr 02, 2021•8 min
New York is the latest state to legalize recreational marijuana, but President Joe Biden won’t budge. This means that it’s possible to become a billionaire or a convicted felon for selling weed in the US. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Apr 01, 2021•10 min
From the Vox Quick Hits archives (Jan. 21, 2021): A preview of Vox columnist Anne Helen Petersen's conversation with sociologist Rachel Sherman about Sherman's research into the anxieties of wealthy people and their desire to be seen as "middle class." Her work exposes the flawed stories we tell ourselves about who qualifies as middle class and who qualifies as "good" in the US. Want to hear the rest of the conversation? Listen here. Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Quick Hits ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐and leave a rev...
Apr 01, 2021•8 min
Vox's Worldly host Zack Beauchamp talks with author and New Statesman editor Emily Tamkin about the life and legacy of George Soros. How did a Hungarian billionaire philanthropist become the No. 1 boogeyman of right-wing nationalist movements on both sides of the Atlantic? They unpack the meaning of the smear campaign against him, and the inherent contradictions of a wealthy man trying to use his influence to make societies more democratic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices....
Apr 01, 2021•8 min
It’s infrastructure week in America. President Joe Biden unveiled a plan to spend trillions on bridges, roads, housing, and clean energy to prove it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Apr 01, 2021•10 min
From the Vox Quick Hits archives (Jan. 27, 2021): “Manifesting,” or the practice of thinking aspirational thoughts with the purpose of making them real, has never been more popular: From late March to mid-July in 2020, Google searches for the term skyrocketed 669 percent; “shut up I’m manifesting” was among the defining memes of 2020. Vox's Rebecca Jennings joins host Meredith Haggerty to explain what manifesting is, who's doing it, how it works, and how it doesn't. Read Rebecca's story here. Ho...
Mar 31, 2021•7 min
Matt and Dara talk with Vox judicial reporter Ian Millhiser, author of The Agenda: How a Republican Supreme Court is Reshaping America, about Biden's court appointments, and look ahead to the future of the judiciary. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mar 31, 2021•9 min
More than half of US states are working to ban, or even criminalize, trans athletes playing sports. Vox contributor Katelyn Burns explains how conservative politicians came to care so much about women’s sports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mar 30, 2021•11 min
When scientists examined the DNA of ancient bones found near a Himalayan lake, they were forced to confront a seemingly impossible conclusion. For further reading, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s a great place to sign up for our newsletter, view show transcripts, and read more about the topics on our show. Also, email us! [email protected] We read every email. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mar 30, 2021•5 min
America has never been particularly concerned with women's sports, and yet a slew of bills trying to block transgender girls and women from participating in them are popping up across the country. Transgender student athletes are just the latest target in conservatives’ attempts to pass anti-LGBTQ legislation; before they were talking about sports, they were fretting over bathrooms and puberty blockers. This move against trans athletes stems from the argument that men are biologically stronger t...
Mar 30, 2021•10 min
The Evergiven, a Japanese cargo ship chartered by a Taiwanese shipping company flying the Panamanian flag and bound for the Netherlands, finally floated down the Suez Canal today after being stuck for six days. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mar 29, 2021•9 min
From the Vox Quick Hits archives (March 8, 2021): Earlier in the pandemic, a feud between Gen Z and millennials started, largely on TikTok. And recently there’s been a resurgence of Gen Z dragging their elders to filth online. Vox reporter Terry Nguyen (a Gen Zer) explains to Rebecca Jennings (a millennial) why there’s a war and why we should care. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mar 29, 2021•11 min
Like many Americans, you may have an extra $1,400 dollars in your bank account, or you're expecting it to arrive soon. After President Biden signed the Covid-19 relief bill on March 11, stimulus checks went out to millions of people, but not everyone who's eligible got one. In fact, many of the most vulnerable Americans, including people experiencing homelessness, did not receive payments. Vox's Kelsey Piper explains what happened and how we may be able to fix it. References: Read Kelsey’s story...
Mar 29, 2021•8 min
We’ve all got one: a go-to comfort watch — that show or movie you can always turn to for a pick-me-up. This week on What to Watch, we share ours. Vox’s film critic Alissa Wilkinson is hooked on HBO’s Selena + Chef, critic at large Emily VanDerWerff can always count on Star Trek (especially Deep Space Nine), and senior producer Taylor Maycan explains her longtime love of CBS’s Survivor. What to Watch is a Vox Quick Hits exclusive series. New episodes every Friday. Hosts: Alissa Wilkinson (@alissa...
Mar 26, 2021•11 min
Recent mass shootings in Georgia and Colorado have recharged the movement to regulate gun ownership. But federal gun control legislation has little chance of passing. Patrick Blanchfield from the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research argues that the best way to mitigate gun violence may be not talking about gun control at all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mar 26, 2021•11 min
In a very special Worldly episode, Zack, Jenn, and Alex answer YOUR questions! From the many great listener questions sent in over the last several weeks, the gang picked four to answer in this week’s episode: What is “the Quad” and how does it fit into geopolitics in the Indo-Pacific; what’s driving migration to the US from Central America; why Imperial Japan’s use of Korean forced labor and “comfort women” in the 1930s and ’40s continues to complicate relations between Japan and South Korea to...
Mar 26, 2021•10 min
With Democrats in charge, there is a lot of talk about big ideas for the country, including … banning menthol cigarettes? Politico’s Sarah Owermohle explains why Black lawmakers are split over whether a ban would help or hurt Black communities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mar 26, 2021•10 min
Aarti Shahani, NPR journalist and host of WBEZ podcast Art of Power, talks with investigative journalist and author Alfredo Corchado about the US-Mexico border. Trump's actions created a new urgency for the political establishment to better understand the border, and Biden's challenges there continue to grow. Corchado, a former child farmworker and a Mexican-American with identities on both sides of the border wall, discusses the reality, politics, history, and future of the border. Learn more a...
Mar 25, 2021•9 min
The Trace’s Jennifer Mascia explains why two gun reform bills the House recently passed are likely to fail in the Senate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mar 24, 2021•10 min
Your 20s can feel like the best of times and also the worst. Book Critic Constance Grady offers a few reads to help navigate through the murky existential waters of starting a career or finding a new purpose. Wild by Cheryl Strayed Losing It Emma Rathbone Florence in Ecstasy by Jessie Chaffee. Ask a Book Critic is an exclusive series from Vox Quick Hits. New episodes every other Wednesday and you can read the column here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
Mar 24, 2021•6 min
Matt, Dara, and Vox's Jerusalem Demsas discuss the politics of progressive control proposals that rise to the fore in the wake of mass shootings, and whether or not they can be effective at curing the real ills of gun violence in America. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mar 24, 2021•5 min
On Monday, a tweet sold for $2.9 million. That followed a JPEG that went for $69 million. The Verge’s Liz Lopatto explains how internet ephemera turned to gold. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mar 23, 2021•10 min
Sixty years ago, geologists tried to drill down through the Earth’s crust to pull up a piece of the Earth’s mantle. Their mission didn’t go exactly as planned. But it sowed the seeds for a new field of science that’s helped us rewrite not only the history of the planet, but, potentially, our definitions of life itself. The documentaries featured in this episode are "The First Deep Ocean Drilling: Mohole, Phase 1" and "Project Mohole: Report No. 1." For further reading, sign up for our newsletter...
Mar 23, 2021•4 min
As the argument for student debt forgiveness has been fleshed out in recent years, so has the case that it’s not the right way to go. Some experts, economists, and ordinary Americans are skeptical of forgiving student debt. They argue that while debt is certainly a problem for the people who have it, forgiveness isn’t a really effective way to stimulate the economy or to tackle equity goals. Beth Akers, an economist at the American Enterprise Institute, lays out the case against broad-based stud...
Mar 23, 2021•10 min
The United States and China met in Anchorage, Alaska, on Thursday to air grievances, and the cameras were rolling. Vox’s Alex Ward explains how the meeting set the stage for one of the world’s biggest rivalries. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mar 23, 2021•10 min
There’s about to be a huge transfer of wealth from the pockets of Boomers to younger generations. Will “the great wealth transfer” magnify existing inequalities or expand the middle class? Deputy editor Meredith Haggerty discusses her story on this hard-to-talk-about topic and unpacks why inheritance is more complicated than it seems. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mar 22, 2021•9 min
