Shows / Today, Explained
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.
Episodes
- Today, Explained
TikTok, on the clock, Donald says your time is up
President Trump is threatening to ban TikTok, but Microsoft might be able to stop the clock. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn more about your ad…
- Today, Explained
Florida’s Covid-19 tragedy
The state saw Covid-19 coming. It still became an outbreak epicenter. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit…
- Today, Explained
What’s going on in Lebanon
A chemical blast has made a very bad situation worse for Lebanon. Journalist Habib Battah explains from Beirut. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn…
- Today, Explained
Everything that could go wrong with the November election
A worsening pandemic. A poll worker shortage. A hobbled postal service. Russian hacking. Donald Trump. Vox’s Ella Nilsen explains the many obstacles facing the…
- Today, Explained
Who’s “Karen?” And what’s BIPOC?
A Washington Post columnist named Karen explains her feelings about “Karen.” A University of Arizona linguist named Sonja explains BIPOC and the capitalization…
Today, ExplainedThe Island of Explained: Election Day
It’s Election Day on the Island of Explained! Will the candidate with the most votes win, or will the island’s Electoral College determine a different leader?…
- Today, Explained
Tim, Mark, Jeff, and Sundar
The leaders of Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Google testified before Congress on Wednesday in what The Verge’s Casey Newton says might have been the most…
- Today, Explained
Life after Covid-19, explained by Carl (who had it)
Some people walk away from Covid-19 feeling fine. Others are dealing with a long list of lingering health issues. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn…
- Today, Explained
Stimulating America
Democrats and Republicans have a $2 trillion disagreement on how to relieve Americans from the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus. Transcript at…
- Today, Explained
Rural America meets Black Lives Matter
In Bethel, Ohio, a Black Lives Matter rally became a standoff between armed bikers and peaceful protesters. BuzzFeed’s Anne Helen Petersen explains. Transcript…
- Today, Explained
Houston, we have a problem
Baseball’s back, but fans won’t get the chance to boo the cheating Astros. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit…
- Today, Explained
The Anti-maskers
The United States has now confirmed 4 million cases of Covid-19. Some Americans still don’t want to wear a mask. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn…
- Today, Explained
Biden’s $2 trillion climate plan
Joe Biden is tacking to the left and embracing a historic climate plan. Vox’s David Roberts explains whether it stands a chance. Transcript at…
- Today, Explained
Tucker Carlson’s America
The most popular host in the history of cable news returned from a week-long vacation after his head writer was exposed as a raging bigot. The Washington…
- Today, Explained
When the feds came to Portland
They came in military camouflage and unmarked vans. Now the state of Oregon is suing the federal government over its policing tactics. Oregon Public…
Today, ExplainedThe Island of Explained: Vaccines
We return to the magical Island of Explained with a microbiologist and a talking moth to find out what it will take to produce a coronavirus vaccine. Go to…
- Today, Explained
#CancelRent
Eviction bans and expanded unemployment benefits are expiring, leaving millions of Americans at risk of losing their homes by the end of the summer. Transcript…
- Today, Explained
What happened to California?
California once looked like an example of how to handle the pandemic. Now it’s a warning for other states looking to reopen. Transcript at…
- Today, Explained
The Washington Football Team
The District of Columbia's football team is abandoning the name it adopted almost a century ago. Paul Chaat Smith, a curator at the National Museum of the…
- Today, Explained
Stone free
President Trump commuted Roger Stone’s sentence in what Vox’s Andrew Prokop says is a particularly troubling variety of political corruption. Transcript at…
- Today, Explained
A million international students in limbo
The Trump administration announced it would send a million international students home this week. But Vox’s Nicole Narea says the students are collateral in a…
- Today, Explained
Supreme Tax Court
The Supreme Court issued its remaining decisions today for the 2020 term, including the biggie: Trump’s tax returns. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained…
- Today, Explained
“SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL!!!”
President Trump says students and teachers must return to the classroom. Reality says this is going to be the toughest reopening yet. Transcript at…
- Today, Explained
Surfaces vs. droplets vs. aerosols
239 scientists have signed a letter urging the World Health Organization to warn people about airborne transmission of the coronavirus. Professor Jose-Luis…
- Today, Explained
Netflix has no chill
Netflix grew so popular during lockdown, it almost broke the internet. Land of the Giants: The Netflix Effect explains how the company has upended tech…
- Today, Explained
How AI makes policing more racist
Turns out it’s just as biased as people are. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
- Today, Explained
A bounty on American troops
Russia allegedly paid the Taliban to attack US soldiers in Afghanistan. But President Trump’s response may be the real scandal. Transcript at…
- Today, Explained
Helicopter policing
Police across the country have responded to recent protests with military tactics and equipment. The Washington Post’s Alex Horton investigated how two…
- Today, Explained
Lockdown, reopen, repeat
Hospitals are stretched to their breaking point in Texas, Arizona, and other states where Covid-19 cases are rising sharply. Vox’s Dylan Scott says the US…
- Today, Explained
Justice for Breonna Taylor
There hasn’t been an arrest in the case in the three months since police shot and killed Taylor in her home in Louisville, Kentucky. But now the “Justice for…
- Today, Explained
Black Lives Matter is working
America is undergoing a new racial reckoning. The Atlantic’s Adam Serwer explains why this time is different. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn more…
- Today, Explained
Brazil’s coronavirus disaster
President Jair Bolsonaro called it the "sniffles" and recommended hydroxychloroquine. Now the country has over a million confirmed cases. Reporter Gustavo…
- Today, Explained
A world without bail?
With the wave of protests came waves of arrests and record-breaking donations to bail funds across the US, but reformers hope for a reckoning of one of the…
- Today, Explained
How not to fire someone
Attorney General William Barr tried to quietly push out the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan on Friday night. Then everybody noticed. Transcript at…
- Today, Explained
Celebrate Juneteenth!
The celebration of emancipation is as vital today as ever. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit…
- Today, Explained
A good day for DREAMers
In a major decision from the Supreme Court, DACA lives to fight another day. But it's not in the clear yet. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn more…
- Today, Explained
The return of sports
There are two ways to do it: safely or not so safely. Guess which one we’re heading toward in the United States? Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn…
- Today, Explained
Welcome to CHAZ
Some are calling six blocks of a Seattle neighborhood the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone. KUOW’s Casey Martin spent a week within its loosely guarded walls…
- Today, Explained
A landmark LGBTQ ruling
The Supreme Court of the United States has decided the Civil Rights Act of 1964 applies to discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity…
- Today, Explained
Copaganda
After 33 seasons, the reality TV show Cops was canceled this week. Should scripted police dramas follow? Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn more about…
- Today, Explained
Is this the second wave?
Vox’s Dylan Scott says it’s hard to tell because the United States is riding 50 different Covid-19 waves. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn more…
- Today, Explained
Can Congress reform the police?
The United States has a policing problem and Congress wants to fix it. Vox’s Li Zhou explains whether the Democrats’ new bill will go anywhere. Transcript at…
- Today, Explained
Minneapolis commits to “dismantling” the police
Minneapolis City Council member Alondra Cano explains what the city wants to do and what might get in the way. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn more…
- Today, Explained
Biden his time
Pandemic, protests, and the best poll numbers yet for Joe Biden. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit…
- Today, Explained
The Talk
Two mothers talk to their teenage sons about race and police brutality in the United States. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn more about your ad…
- Today, Explained
What “abolish the police” means
It’s not what you think. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
- Today, Explained
The problem with police unions
Even after Derek Chauvin was captured on video killing George Floyd, he could still get his job back. BuzzFeed’s Melissa Segura explains how. Transcript at…
- Today, Explained
Antifa?
President Trump wants to blame the unrest on antifa. Vox’s Zack Beauchamp explains why he can’t. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn more about your ad…
- Today, Explained
American Nightmare
Professor Ibram X. Kendi explains how the protests and unrest are a result of black America’s living nightmare and what it will take to wake up. Transcript at…
- Today, Explained
“I can’t breathe.” Again.
The former police officer who killed George Floyd has been charged with murder. But Floyd’s case is just one of many recent incidents of police brutality in…
- Today, Explained
100,000 is an undercount
It could take years for all the Covid-19 deaths to be counted properly. Vox’s Matthew Yglesias explains why the Trump administration is pushing for an…
- Today, Explained
"First Hong Kong, then the world"
While most of the world was distracted by the pandemic, China unveiled a law to strip Hong Kong of its autonomy, setting off a new wave of protests in the…
- Today, Explained
One giant leap for SpaceX
For the first time in almost a decade, an American rocket is launching people into space. The Verge’s Loren Grush explains why the launch could fundamentally…
Today, ExplainedToday, Explained: Greatest Hits
You asked. We answered. Sean and Noam break down all the original songs in Today, Explained's back catalog. Today, Explained: Greatest Hits is now streaming…
- Today, Explained
Blame WHO?
President Trump would like to. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
- Today, Explained
The case for reopening parks
Reopening America’s parks could help fight the pandemic. It’s a good time to rethink streets, too. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained Learn more about your…
- Today, Explained
Is this Trump's fault?
Ezra Klein has some thoughts. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
- Today, Explained
Elongate
Elon Musk fought the law and Elon won. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
- Today, Explained
The Class of 2020
Graduate? In this economy!? The Atlantic's Annie Lowrey explains the economic reality new graduates face and Sean offers one graduating senior a commencement…
- Today, Explained
Facebook’s PTSD payout
Facebook has agreed to pay a $52 million settlement to its content moderators. Reporting by The Verge’s Casey Newton was a game changer. Transcript at…