Education
**Explain It to Me**

Should I buy a house? Why do I say “like” so much? Should Gen Z bother to save for retirement?
Explain It to Me is the hotline for the issues that matter to your life. Send us your questions about health, personal finance, relationships, and anything else that matters to you. Host Jonquilyn Hill will take you on a journey to find the answers, whether it’s to the halls of Congress or the local bar. You’ll get the answers you were looking for, and sometimes ones you didn’t expect — and always with a dose of humor. New episodes every Sunday. Part of Vox and the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Latest Episodes:

Back to School: All for pre-K, and pre-K for all Aug 04, 2021

Show notes

Matt and Dara are joined by Vox's Jerusalem Demsas for a conversation about pre-K and day care programs. They discuss the impacts of pre-K programs on socioeconomics, diversity, and political behavior. Plus, some historical research is considered on a Norwegian program of rural education expansion.

Resources:

"Exploring New Research on Pre-K Outcomes" by Adrienne Fischer, Tom Keily and Matt Weyer (Education Commission of The States; May 2020)

"Growing the Economy Through Affordable Child Care" by Rasheed Malik (Center for American Progress; May 24)

White paper: "The Making of Social Democracy: The Economic and Electoral Consequences of Norway’s 1936 Folk School Reform" (NBER; July 2021)

Hosts:

Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com

Dara Lind (@DLind), Immigration Reporter, ProPublica

Jerusalem Demsas (@JerusalemDemsas), Policy Reporter, Vox

Credits:

Ness Smith-Savedoff, Producer & Engineer

Erikk Geannikis, Producer, Talk Podcasts

As the Biden administration gears up, we'll help you understand this unprecedented burst of policymaking. Sign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weeds-newsletter.

The Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network production.

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

About Vox

Vox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.

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Getting power to the people Jul 30, 2021

Show notes

Matt is joined by Liza Reed of the Niskanen Center to talk about energy policy, electricity transmission, and how America's complex system of power grids really function.

Resources:

"Transmission Stalled: Siting Challenges for Interregional Transmission" by Liza Reed (April 14)

Summary of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPA)

Guest:

Liza Reed (@LizaBevin), Research Manager, Low Carbon Technology Policy, Niskanen Center

Host:

Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com

Credits:

Erikk Geannikis (@erikk38), Producer

Ness Smith-Savedoff, Engineer

As the Biden administration gears up, we'll help you understand this unprecedented burst of policymaking. Sign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weeds-newsletter.

The Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network production.

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

About Vox

Vox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.

Follow Us: Vox.com

Facebook group: The Weeds

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Time Machine: Buchanan v. Warley (1917) Jul 28, 2021

Show notes

Vox's Jerusalem Demsas joins Matt and Dara on a time machine trip back to a WW1-era Supreme Court decision that shaped land use policy, zoning, and racial discrimination in housing. Discussion of Buchanan (and the related Euclid case decided nine years later) leads our hosts to talk a lot about the interrelated histories of zoning and racism in twentieth-century America.

Resources:

Buchanan v. Warley, 245 US 60 (1917)

Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Company, 272 US 365 (1926)

"The racial origins of zoning: Southern cities from 1910–1940" by Christopher Silver (Planning Perspectives; May 8, 2007)

"Prelude to Euclid: The United States Supreme Court and the Constitutionality of Land Use Regulation, 1900-1920" by Joseph Gordon Hylton (Washington University Journal of Law & Policy; January 2000)

"Race, Ethnicity, and Discriminatory Zoning" by Allison Shertzer, Tate Twinam, and Randall P. Walsh (NBER; 2018)

"The National Rise in Residential Segregation" by Trevon Logan & John Parman (NBER; Feb. 2015)

"The Impact of Zoning on Housing Affordability" by Edward L. Glaeser & Joseph Gyourko (NBER; March 2002)

American Society of Planning Officials Report on Rooming Houses (1957)

Hosts:

Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com

Dara Lind (@DLind), Immigration Reporter, ProPublica

Jerusalem Demsas (@JerusalemDemsas), Policy reporter, Vox

Credits:

Erikk Geannikis (@erikk38), Producer

Ness Smith-Savedoff, Engineer

As the Biden administration gears up, we'll help you understand this unprecedented burst of policymaking. Sign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weeds-newsletter.

The Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network production.

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

About Vox

Vox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.

Follow Us: Vox.com

Facebook group: The Weeds

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

Prices on the rise Jul 23, 2021

Show notes

Matt is joined by economist Julia Coronado to talk about inflation, markets, and employment in the pandemic recovery economy. They discuss housing, new and used car markets, and possible strategies toward achieving full employment.

Resources:

"Economic Outlook and Risks to Inflation" by Julia Coronado (presentation to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Economic Advisory Panel; April 9)

"Here's Who Will Be Left Behind in the Housing Boom" by Ali Wolf (New York Times; July 13)

Guest:

Julia Coronado (@jc_econ), Founder and President, MacroPolicy Perspectives; Clinical Professor of Finance, UT Austin

Host:

Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com

Credits:

Erikk Geannikis (@erikk38), Producer

Ness Smith-Savedoff, Engineer

As the Biden administration gears up, we'll help you understand this unprecedented burst of policymaking. Sign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weeds-newsletter.

The Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network production.

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

About Vox

Vox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.

Follow Us: Vox.com

Facebook group: The Weeds

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

Time Machine: Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 Jul 21, 2021

Show notes

Vox's Li Zhou joins Dara and Matt for another spin in the time machine, to talk about the policy that shaped how immigration largely still works in America. They discuss the history and context of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (a.k.a. the Hart-Celler Act), and the previous discriminatory immigration policies that preceded it. Our hosts also discuss how this piece of legislation shaped — and still shapes — the way immigration in America takes place today.

Resources:

One Mighty and Irresistible Tide: The Epic Struggle Over American Immigration, 1924-1965 by Jia Lynn Yang (W.W. Norton; 2021)

"Unintended Consequences of US Immigration Policy: Explaining the Post-1965 Surge from Latin America" by Douglas S Massey and Karen A. Pren (Popul Dev Rev.; 2012)

"Modern Immigration Wave Brings 59 Million to U.S., Driving Population Growth and Change Through 2065: Views of Immigration's Impact on U.S. Society Mixed" (Pew Research Center, 2015)

"Who Was Shut Out? Immigration Quotas, 1925-1927" (GMU/Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1929)

Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern Americaby Mae M. Ngai (Princeton; 2014)

"Why income inequality is growing at the fastest rate among Asian Americans" by Natalie Zhang (CNBC; May 26)

The Making of Asian Americaby Erika Lee (Simon & Schuster; 2015)

Hosts:

Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com

Dara Lind (@DLind), Immigration Reporter, ProPublica

Li Zhou (@liszhou), Politics and policy reporter, Vox

Credits:

Erikk Geannikis (@erikk38), Producer

Ness Smith-Savedoff, Engineer

As the Biden administration gears up, we'll help you understand this unprecedented burst of policymaking. Sign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weeds-newsletter.

The Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network production.

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

About Vox

Vox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.

Follow Us: Vox.com

Facebook group: The Weeds

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

The critical race theory debate Jul 16, 2021

Show notes

Matt is joined by Education Week reporter and editor Andrew Ujifusa to talk about the ill-defined and somewhat facetious debate over critical race theory. But really, this conversation is about the schools, and all sorts of issues facing them: pandemic learning loss, re-opening plans, and the perennial debates over how best to serve all students, particularly students of color.

We are conducting an audience survey to better serve you. It takes about five minutes, and it really helps out the show. Please take our survey here: vox.com/survey

Resources:

"'Stop CRT' Bill, Votes in Congress Add to Political Drama Over Critical Race Theory" by Andrew Ujifusa (Education Week; July 15)

"How to Manufacture a Moral Panic: Christopher Rufo helped incite an uproar over racism education with dramatic, dodgy reporting" by Sarah Jones (New York; July 11)

"Randi Weingarten Rips CRT Critics for 'Trying to Stop Us From Teaching Students Accurate History'" by John Nichols (The Nation; July 9)

Guest:

Andrew Ujifusa (@AndrewUjifusa), Assistant Editor, Education Week

Host:

Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com

Credits:

Erikk Geannikis (@erikk38), Producer

Ness Smith-Savedoff, Engineer

As the Biden administration gears up, we'll help you understand this unprecedented burst of policymaking. Sign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weeds-newsletter.

The Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network production.

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

About Vox

Vox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.

Follow Us: Vox.com

Facebook group: The Weeds

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

Time Machine: Volcker Shock Jul 14, 2021

Show notes

Vox's Dylan Matthews joins Matt and Dara for another step into Weeds Time Machine: a visit to the past to review some now-forgotten chapter in policy history. This week, it's a return to the late 1970s and a reexamination of "Volcker shock": an attempt by Fed Chairman Paul Volcker to cope with rising inflation, and the myriad consequences of his efforts. Our hosts discuss the oil crisis, stagflation, the curious relationship between central banking and fiscal policy, and give some much-needed reanalysis to this crucial and topsy-turvy time in American history.

We are conducting an audience survey to better serve you. It takes about five minutes, and it really helps out the show. Please take our survey here: vox.com/survey

Resources:

Charts: Unemployment in the 1970s & Inflation in the 1970s

"America's Peacetime Inflation: The 1970s" by J. Bradford De Long in Reducing Inflation: Motivation and Strategy, eds. Christina D. Romer and David H. Romer (U. Chicago; 1997)

"Commentary" [on 1970s inflation] by Christina D. Romer (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review; 2005)

Keeping At It: The Quest for Sound Money and Good Government by Paul Volcker (Public Affairs; 2018)

"Other People's Blood" by Tim Barker (n+1; 2019)

"Paul Volcker Was a Hero of the Ruling Class" by Doug Henwood (Jacobin; 2019)

The Economists' Hour: False Prophets, Free Markets, and the Fracture of Societyby Binyamin Appelbaum (Little, Brown; 2019)

"What really drives inflation" [on "Regulation Q"] by Itamar Drechsler, Alexi Savov, Philipp Schnabl (Sept. 11, 2019)

"Paul Volcker's Complicated Latin American Legacy" by Tyler Cowen (Bloomberg; Dec. 10, 2019)

"The Rise of Finance" by Jonathan Levy (Public Books; Nov. 22, 2011)

Hosts:

Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com

Dara Lind (@DLind), Immigration Reporter, ProPublica

Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), Senior Correspondent, Vox

Credits:

Erikk Geannikis (@erikk38), Producer

Ness Smith-Savedoff, Engineer

As the Biden administration gears up, we'll help you understand this unprecedented burst of policymaking. Sign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weeds-newsletter.

The Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network production.

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

About Vox

Vox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.

Follow Us: Vox.com

Facebook group: The Weeds

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

Cruelty: the point Jul 09, 2021

Show notes

Matt is joined by Atlantic staff writer Adam Serwer, author of the new book The Cruelty Is the Point. They discuss the racial politics of the Trump-era, how these tactics persist in the GOP today, and how the dynamics of the present moment have led us to relitigate Reconstruction-era problems that go against the fundamental understanding of American equity. They also have a few things to say in there about Die Hard and Indiana Jones.

Resources:

"The Cruelty Is the Point" by Adam Serwer (The Atlantic; Oct. 3, 2018)

The Cruelty Is the Point: The Past, Present, and Future of Trump's America by Adam Serwer (Penguin Random House, June 2021)

"The Flight 93 Election" by Michael Anton (Claremont Review of Books; Sept. 5, 2016)

"The Great Awokening" by Matthew Yglesias (Vox; Apr. 1, 2019)

"The Case for Reparations" by Ta-Nehisi Coates (The Atlantic; June 2014)

Steadfast Democrats: How Social Forces Shape Black Political Behavior by Ismail K. White and Chryl N. Laird (Princeton' Oct. 2021)

Schoolbook Nation: Conflicts over American History Textbooks from the Civil War to the Presentby Joseph Moreau (U. Michigan; 2004)

Guest:

Adam Serwer (@AdamSerwer), staff writer, The Atlantic; author, The Cruelty Is the Point

Host:

Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com

Credits:

Erikk Geannikis, Producer

Ness Smith-Savedoff, Engineer

As the Biden administration gears up, we'll help you understand this unprecedented burst of policymaking. Sign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weeds-newsletter.

The Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network production.

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

About Vox

Vox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.

Follow Us: Vox.com

Facebook group: The Weeds

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

Time Machine: No Child Left Behind Jul 07, 2021

Show notes

Vox's Libby Nelson joins Matt and Dara on the first episode of the Weeds Time Machine: a visit to the past to review some now-forgotten chapter in policy history. This week, it's No Child Left Behind. Our hosts discuss the bipartisan consensus that existed at the outset of this policy, how everyone eventually turned on it, and the legacy it still leaves behind in our school systems today.

Resources:

"The GOP's Plan to Take Education Policy Back to the Early 1990s" by Kevin Carey (Oct. 5, 2011; The New Republic)

"The scariest lesson of No Child Left Behind" by Libby Nelson (July 27, 2015; Vox)

Hosts:

Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com

Dara Lind (@DLind), Immigration Reporter, ProPublica

Libby Nelson (@libbyanelson), Deputy Policy Editor, Vox

Credits:

Erikk Geannikis, Producer

Ness Smith-Savedoff, Engineer

As the Biden administration gears up, we'll help you understand this unprecedented burst of policymaking. Sign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weeds-newsletter.

The Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network production.

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

About Vox

Vox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.

Follow Us: Vox.com

Facebook group: The Weeds

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

Coming attractions Jun 30, 2021

Show notes

Vox film critic and culture reporter Alissa Wilkinson joins Matt and Dara to take a break from politics (sort of) to talk about movies. They discuss the state of the streaming wars, the fate of the post-Covid movie theater, and rehearse some Hollywood history to discover that vertical integration might be... good? Plus, some research is examined that deals with spectator inattention and umpire performance in Major League Baseball.

Resources:

"On going back to the movies" by Alissa Wilkinson (Vox; June 23)

The Paramount Decrees (Dept. of Justice)

"Judge Agrees to End Paramount Consent Decrees" by Eriq Gardner (Hollywood Reporter; Aug. 7, 2020)

White paper: "The Dynamics of Inattention in the (Baseball) Field" by James E. Archsmith, Anthony Heyes, Matthew J. Neidell & Bhaven N. Sampat (NBER; June 2021)

Hosts:

Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com

Dara Lind (@DLind), Immigration Reporter, ProPublica

Alissa Wilkinson (@alissamarie), Film Critic and Culture Reporter, Vox

Credits:

Erikk Geannikis, Producer

Ness Smith-Savedoff, Engineer

As the Biden administration gears up, we'll help you understand this unprecedented burst of policymaking. Sign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weeds-newsletter.

The Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network production.

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

About Vox

Vox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.

Follow Us: Vox.com

Facebook group: The Weeds

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

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