Explain It to Me

Latest Episodes:

Climate optimism in 2023 Dec 20, 2022

Show notes

In 2022, we saw a lot of climate change news. Europe hit record-high temperatures, Pakistan was devastated by flooding, and in the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency got a little less powerful. While those are major causes for concern, there is a bright spot on the climate change policy landscape: 2023. Vox’s Rebecca Leber (@rebleber) tells us what to look forward to next year.

References:

The next frontier for climate action is the great indoors

The mystery of methane gone missing

The US could stop one cause of heat wave deaths tomorrow

Climate change has made air conditioning a vital necessity. It also heats up the planet

The good and bad news for the planet after the latest UN climate talks

Even Breathing Is A Risk In One Of Orlando's Poorest Neighborhoods | HuffPost Voices

Host:

Jonquilyn Hill (@jonquilynhill)

Credits:

Sofi LaLonde, producer and engineer

Libby Nelson, editorial adviser

A.M. Hall, editorial director of talk podcasts

Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a donation to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts

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Our mental health doom loop Dec 13, 2022

Show notes

Last month, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced a new mental health policy that lowers the threshold for involuntary commitments for psychiatric care. While the Adams administration argues this shift is a solution for growing crime and homelessness numbers, critics argue it’s a step in the wrong direction. What’s the history behind involuntary holds, and what does it say about mental health policy in America?

References:

988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline

SAMHSA

Introducing the "Designed to Fail" series | Mental Health America

America's Long-Suffering Mental Health System

Hosts:

Jonquilyn Hill (@jonquilynhill)

Credits:

Sofi LaLonde, producer

Cristian Ayala, engineer

Libby Nelson, editorial adviser

A.M. Hall, editorial director of talk podcasts

Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a donation to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts

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The bipartisan bill that could protect elections Dec 06, 2022

Show notes

With the 2022 midterm elections mostly over, members of Congress are back on the Hill to wrap up loose legislative ends. One of the bipartisan bills floating through the lame-duck session is the Electoral Count Reform Act, a bill that would add protections to the presidential transfer of power. So, what exactly does this legislation do to protect elections, and is it enough?

Hosts:

Jonquilyn Hill (@jonquilynhill)

Credits:

Sofi LaLonde, producer

Cristian Ayala, engineer

Libby Nelson, editorial adviser

A.M. Hall, editorial director of talk podcasts

Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a donation to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts

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

The rebirth of industrial policy Nov 29, 2022

Show notes

(Originally aired August 2022) Vox senior correspondent Dylan Matthews sits down with Felicia Wong (@FeliciaWongRI), president and CEO of the Roosevelt Institute, to talk about a new era of industrial policy. They discuss the theory of modern supply-side economics, the passage of the Inflation Reduction and CHIPS acts, and how much common ground exists between the political left and the right.

Hosts:

Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, Vox

Credits:

Sofi LaLonde, producer and engineer

A.M. Hall, editorial director

Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a donation to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts

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

It’s time to regulate crypto Nov 22, 2022

Show notes

The world of cryptocurrency is infamously unregulated, but what happens when a major crypto exchange crashes, uprooting almost the entire crypto ecosystem, and there’s no regulatory body in charge? You have the FTX crash of 2022. And it’s hard to ignore the elephant in the room: why don’t we have a regulation framework for crypto? It seems like an obvious solution, but as The Verge’s Liz Lopatto (@mslopatto) and financial regulation expert Yesha Yadav explain, it’s not as simple as it sounds.

References:

Sam Bankman-Fried tries to explain himself

The collapse of FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried’s shocking downfall

How FTX played both parties and almost won Washington

Man who cleaned up Enron says FTX is worse

Binance to sell rest of FTX token holdings as Alameda CEO defends firm's financial condition

Hosts:

Jonquilyn Hill (@jonquilynhill)

Credits:

Sofi LaLonde, producer

Patrick Boyd, engineer

Libby Nelson, editorial adviser

A.M. Hall, deputy editorial director of talk podcasts

Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a donation to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts

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

The Weeds’ weed episode Nov 15, 2022

Show notes

Let’s be blunt: Weed policy is complicated. As with many elections in the past decade, recreational marijuana was on the ballot again during the 2022 midterm elections. After Colorado and Washington voted to legalize recreational use in 2012, more and more states have decided to ride the green wave. And recent moves by the Biden administration signal the federal government may finally come around to decriminalizing marijuana. But do these policies have any power?

References:

Marijuana election results: Maryland and Missouri vote to legalize cannabis by ballot measure

President Biden’s pardons for marijuana possession, explained

Federal marijuana legalization is stopped in its tracks

Hosts:

Jonquilyn Hill (@jonquilynhill)

Credits:

Sofi LaLonde, producer

Cristian Ayala, engineer

Libby Nelson, editorial adviser

A.M. Hall, deputy editorial director of talk podcasts

Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a donation to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts

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

How to call an election Nov 08, 2022

Show notes

We did it, y’all – we made it to Election Day! And if you’re like us, tonight you’ll be glued to your TV and constantly refreshing Vox.com waiting for the returns to come in. We’re pretty used to knowing the winner that same night, but in 2020, we had to wait days before a winner was announced. So this got us thinking: How do news networks know when to make a call? And how has that changed through the years? We talked to three experts to find out.

References:

The 2022 midterm elections, explained

When will we know results in the 2022 midterm elections?

How elections are called and what “projected winner” means, explained (November 2020)

How we call races | AP

EXPLAINER: Why do the media call races in US elections? | AP News

Hosts:

Jonquilyn Hill (@jonquilynhill)

Credits:

Sofi LaLonde, producer

Cristian Ayala, engineer

Libby Nelson, editorial adviser

A.M. Hall, deputy editorial director of talk podcasts

Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a donation to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts

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

How to fix inflation Nov 01, 2022

Show notes

With only a week to go until the US midterm elections, inflation is the issue at the top of most voters’ minds. As Democrats and Republicans make their cases for who can get prices to come down, one thing remains true: High prices are not going to go away overnight. Economists Mike Konczal (@rortybomb) of the Roosevelt Institute and Michael Strain (@MichaelRStrain) of the American Enterprise Institute discuss how we got here and the least painful way out of this.

References:

Is the cure for inflation worse than the disease?

Today, Explained: The devil’s bargain on inflation

To beat inflation, the Fed might have to trigger a recession

What aren't we doing to fix inflation?

Student Loan Forgiveness Plan Won’t Make Inflation Worse—Even If It Adds $400 Billion To Deficit, Goldman Says

Hosts:

Jonquilyn Hill (@jonquilynhill)

Credits:

Sofi LaLonde, producer

Efim Shapiro, engineer

Libby Nelson, editorial adviser

A.M. Hall, deputy editorial director of talk podcasts

Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a donation to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts

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

Why scaring voters works Oct 25, 2022

Show notes

Midterm elections are around the corner, and while voters are concerned about the economy, inflation, and abortion, there’s one other issue jumping to the top of the list: crime. Rising crime comes up in campaigns like clockwork, but during this election season, it's making a particular mark on two key Senate races: Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Vox’s Nicole Narea (@nicolenarea) and Li Zhou (@liszhou) explain.

References:

The 2022 midterm elections, explained

2021 crime rates are a big mystery

Hosts:

Jonquilyn Hill (@jonquilynhill)

Credits:

Sofi LaLonde, producer

Efim Shapiro, engineer

Libby Nelson, editorial adviser

A.M. Hall, editorial director of talk podcasts

Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a donation to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts

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

The most interesting issues on the ballot Oct 18, 2022

Show notes

The midterm elections are three weeks away, and candidates aren’t the only ones on the ballot. Voters across the country will decide new laws and policy through ballot initiatives, which can include proposals like legalizing recreational marijuana, funding in-state college tuition, and raising taxes to fight climate change. But how do these issues get on the ballot in the first place, and will they stay there? Vox policy editor Libby Nelson (@libbyanelson) explains.

References:

The 2022 midterm elections, explained

Two states, two visions for the future of labor

The states where the midterms will directly decide the future of abortion access

New Mexico voters are set to weigh in on a constitutional ballot measure for early childhood education this November

Sample ballot lookup — Ballotpedia

VOTE411

Hosts:

Jonquilyn Hill (@jonquilynhill)

Credits:

Sofi LaLonde, producer and engineer

Libby Nelson, editorial adviser