Explain It to Me

Latest Episodes:

The Great Twitter Wars of 2018 Aug 07, 2018

Show notes

Jane Coaston and Dylan Matthews join Ezra to discuss the Sarah Jeong fracas, the Ben Shapiro-Mark Duplass meltdown, the problems with Twitter, the ways partisan dehumanize each other, and more. References and further reading: The context for Sarah Jeong's "goblins" tweet The context for Sarah Jeong's "cut white people" tweet German Lopez's piece on what makes people less racist Brian Resnick's piece on reducing prejudice William F. Buckley supporting segregation Zack Beauchamp's piece in defense of Sarah Jeong Ezra's demographics piece David French's piece on Sarah Jeong W.E.B Du Bois' The Soul's of Black Folks Ashley Jardina's Washington Post piece on white identity Jamelle Bouie's newsletter Political Tribes by Amy Chua Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? by Dr. Martin Luther King White paper Party Animals? Party Identity and Dehumanization That time Dylan got owned on Twitter by Sen. Ben Sasse

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Paul Manafort, alleged ostrich-collar criminal Aug 03, 2018

Show notes

Andrew Prokop joins Dara and Matt to talk about Paul Manafort’s trial and what it means for the larger Russia investigation. References and further reading: Andrew's piece on the trials of Paul Manafort Andrew's breakdown of the opening statements at Manafort's trial Franklin Foer's profile of Manafort, mentioned by Andrew

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The great white panic Jul 31, 2018

Show notes

Jane Coaston joins Dara, Ezra, and Matt to talk about the racial panic tearing America apart and also salt. References and further reading: Ezra's piece on the changing demographics in America Identity Crisis book mentioned by Ezra Salt white paper

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“Mission Accomplished,” trade war edition Jul 27, 2018

Show notes

Congressional reporter Tara Golshan joins Dara and Matt to break down Trump’s kinda sorta trade deal with the EU and ongoing trade tensions with China” References and further reading: Tara's piece on Trump's mischaracterization of the US trade deficit Politico Europe rundown of the trade deal, mentioned by Matt The Weeds has been nominated for this year's People's Choice Podcast Awards! Cast your vote for The Weeds for free before Tuesday, July 31st at podcastawards.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What Republicans can do on Trump and Russia Jul 24, 2018

Show notes

Matt, Dara and Ezra talk about Republicans, Trump and Russia. Plus: A research paper reveals how Dara lost on College Jeopardy. References and further reading: Politico Playbook piece mentioned by Matt, "GOP to the world: What would you like us to do?" Law Review paper "Separation of Parties, Not Powers" The Weeds has been nominated for this year's People's Choice Podcast Awards! Cast your vote for The Weeds for free before Tuesday, July 31st at podcastawards.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s surprisingly easy to get away with murder in America Jul 20, 2018

Show notes

Senior criminal justice reporter German Lopez joins Dara and Matt to talk about the high number of unsolved homicides in America. References and further reading: Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America by Jill Leovy German's reporting on the violent crime clearance rate in America Study referenced by Dara that looked at community cooperation from Secure Communities (a massive federal immigration enforcement program) In-depth reporting on the low murder clearance rate across the US from The Washington Post Anthony Braga study on Boston's approaches to solving homicides mentioned by German

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There’s collusion, and then there’s collusion Jul 17, 2018

Show notes

Dara, Ezra, and Matt discuss President Trump's remarkable performance in Helsinki and new research on employers colluding to hold down pay. Links: Dara mentioned Quinta Jurecic's piece tying Trump in Helsinki to Trump on Charlottesville. Here's the Ari Fleischer tweet Ezra referenced. Ezra walked through what we know about Trump's dealings with Russia. Here's that rundown (and more analysis) in text form. Trump tweeted during recording — here's the full text Matt read. Matt mentioned Adam Entous's New Yorker piece on Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the Emirates. The 2015 Morning Joe interview Ezra mentioned. Joe Scarborough says Putin has a record of killing journalists and political opponents, and invading countries. Trump responds, "At least he's a leader." White paper: "Theory and Evidence on Employer Collusion in the Franchise Sector" (Alan B. Krueger, Orley Ashenfelter) More on the news about the no-poaching agreement in Washington state.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Republicans' plan for health care: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Jul 13, 2018

Show notes

Dylan Scott joins Dara and Matt to talk about the Trump administration’s latest moves to destabilize health insurance markets. Dylan's piece on risk adjustment payments, and another piece on the Trump administration’s latest steps to undermine the Affordable Care Act. Dylan also specifically referenced Nicholas Bagley. Read him on risk adjustments here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Brett Kavanaugh and the future of the Supreme Court Jul 10, 2018

Show notes

Dara, Ezra, and Matt break down what we know about Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court References and further reading: Paper about Norwegian immigrants, mentioned by Matt "Twice a Stranger: The Mass Expulsions that Forged Modern Greece and Turkey" good book with background on the refugee paper

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

1,2,3,4 Trump declares a trade war Jul 06, 2018

Show notes

Staff writer Zeeshan Aleem joins Dara and Matt to break down what's really happening with Trump and trade, and how much it matters. References and further reading: Zeeshan's piece on the US-China trade war

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected