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:

White paper-palooza Apr 14, 2021

Show notes

It's an all white paper episode, folks. Vox climate reporter Umair Irfan joins Matt and Dara to take on three research papers all concerning climate change: first, on the social costs of carbon; then on the disparate effects of temperature rise on a diverse array of geographic regions; finally, on global migration due to climate change.

Be sure to check out the bonus content on the short-form version of The Weeds that comes out Wednesday mornings as part of Vox Quick Hits. Subscribe to Vox Quick Hits wherever you get your podcasts.

Resources:

White Paper #1: "Revisiting the cost of social carbon" by William D. Nordhaus, PNAS 114 (7) 1518-1528; Feb. 2017. See also Umair's article on this paper: "Climate change is a global injustice. A new study shows why" by Umair Irfan, Vox (Sep. 26, 2018)

White Paper #2: "The Economic Geography of Global Warming" by Jose Luis Cruz Alvarez & Esteban Rossi-Hansberg, NBER Working Paper 28466; Feb. 2021.

White Paper #3: "Climate Vulnerability and Human Migration in Global Perspective" by Martina Grecequet, Jack DeWard, Jessica J. Hamilton, and Guy J. Abel, Sustainability 9 (5), Apr. 2017.

Hosts:

Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com

Dara Lind (@DLind), Immigration Reporter, ProPublica

Umair Irfan (@umairfan), Staff Writer, Vox

Credits:

Erikk Geannikis, Editor and Producer

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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Facebook group: The Weeds

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It's time for class warfare Apr 10, 2021

Show notes

Matt is joined by Faiz Shakir, a top adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders and the former manager of his 2020 presidential campaign, to talk about adopting a working class lens for crafting progressive policy, cultivating an ethic of solidarity, and about the organization he founded, More Perfect Union, which aims to craft media that centers working people. Faiz also gets Matt to go on the record about how his own feelings on Bernie have evolved, from the 2016 campaign to now.

Resources:

Mission Statement, More Perfect Union

Guest:

Faiz Shakir (@fshakir), Adviser, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and Founder, More Perfect Union

Host:

Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com

Credits:

Erikk Geannikis, Editor and Producer

Bernie Sanders, Would have won

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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Facebook group: The Weeds

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Bidencare? Apr 07, 2021

Show notes

Matt and Dara are joined by Vox's Dylan Scott to examine the $400 billion portion of Biden's $2 trillion infrastructure plan that is designated for the "caretaking economy." Is this merely an expansion of Medicaid? Does it actually address fundamental structural issues in the economics of long-term care? Plus, some research is examined that helps illustrate the power of "defaults" in ACA-type health insurance marketplaces.

Resources:

"White House unveils $2 trillion infrastructure and climate plan, setting up giant battle over size and cost of government" by Jeff Stein, Juliet Eilperin, Michael Laris and Tony Romm, Washington Post (Apr. 1, 2021)

"How Biden's infrastructure plan could leave child care behind" by Anna North, Vox (Apr. 3, 2021)

"Joe Biden is stretching Obamacare as far as it can go" by Dylan Scott, Vox (Mar. 29, 2021)

"Exclusive: Nearly 7 million uninsured Americans qualify for free health insurance" by Dylan Scott, Vox (Apr. 1, 2021)

White paper

Hosts:

Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com

Dara Lind (@DLind), Immigration Reporter, ProPublica

Dylan Scott (@dylanlscott), Policy Reporter, Vox

Credits:

Erikk Geannikis, Editor and Producer

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 politics of cultural criticism Apr 03, 2021

Show notes

Matt is joined by Alyssa Rosenberg, cultural critic and opinion columnist at the Washington Post, to talk about the intersection of criticism and politics. Should J.K. Rowling's recent anti-trans political statements retroactively alter the critical appraisal of Harry Potter? Can one be a fan of a cop show like Brooklyn Nine-Nine without committing to the show's interior politics? And can a show operate without interior politics when it, like David Simon's The Wire, confronts problems in policing at the institutional level — but happens to be a sitcom?

Resources:

"Why the world's most powerful people just want to podcast and make TV shows" by Alyssa Rosenberg, Washington Post (Mar. 25, 2021)

"'I was appalled to be tarred as misogynist': Variety critic hits back at Carey Mulligan's sexism accusations" by Catherine Shoard, The Guardian (Jan. 28, 2021)

Guest:

Alyssa Rosenberg (@AlyssaRosenberg), Opinion columnist covering culture, Washington Post

Host:

Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com

Credits:

Erikk Geannikis, Editor and Producer

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

All circuits matter Mar 31, 2021

Show notes

Matt and Dara are joined by Vox Senior Correspondent Ian Millhiser to discuss the future of judicial appointments in Biden Administration — starting with the spate of appointees announced on Tuesday, just as we began taping. They also discuss some new research about the historical roadshow of the 1915 film The Birth of a Nation around the country, and how this correlated with an uptick in racial violence in roadshow localities in the ensuing years.

Resources:

"What Biden's first list of judicial nominees tells us about his approach to the courts" by Ian Millhiser, Vox (Mar. 30, 2021)

The Agenda: How a Republican Supreme Court is Reshaping America by Ian Millhiser (Mar. 30, 2021)

White paper

Hosts:

Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com

Dara Lind (@DLind), Immigration Reporter, ProPublica

Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser), Senior Correspondent, Vox

Credits:

Erikk Geannikis, Editor and Producer

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 optimistic leftist Mar 27, 2021

Show notes

Matt is joined by political scientist and author Ruy Teixeira to talk about how Democratic messaging has gone wrong, and how to get it right.

Resources:

"Immigrant Neighborhoods Shifted Red as the Country Chose Blue" by Weiyi Cai and Ford Fessenden, New York Times (Dec. 20, 2020)

"The Five Deadly Sins of the Left" by Ruy Teixeira, American Compass (Oct. 13, 2020)

"'Hidden Tribes,' the new report centrists are using to explain away polarization, explained" by Zack Beauchamp, Vox (Oct. 22, 2018)

Guest:

Ruy Teixeira, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress

Host:

Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com

Credits:

Erikk Geannikis, Editor and Producer

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

Is gun violence fixable? Mar 24, 2021

Show notes

Matt and Dara are joined by Vox Politics and Policy Fellow Jerusalem Demsas to talk about gun violence and mass shootings in America. They discuss the recent shootings in Atlanta and Boulder, talk through the difference between real policy solutions and more superficial ones, and discuss several non-productive but entrenched aspects of the media landscape surrounding mass shootings, gun violence, and progressive reforms. Then, they take on some new research on the correlation between political polarization in a society and the presence of a "charismatic leader."

Resources:

"The long history of anti-Asian hate in America, explained" by Li Zhou, Vox (updated Mar. 5, 2021)

"The history of tensions — and solidarity — between Black and Asian American communities, explained" by Jerusalem Demsas and Rachel Ramirez, Vox (Mar. 16, 2021)

"America's gun problem, explained" by German Lopez, Vox (updated Mar. 23, 2021)

"Here's What's Actually Being Done To Address Anti-Asian Racism" by Lydia Wang, Refinery29 (updated Mar. 19, 2021)

White paper

Hosts:

Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com

Dara Lind (@DLind), Immigration Reporter, ProPublica

Jerusalem Demsas (@JerusalemDemsas), Politics and Policy Fellow, Vox

Credits:

Erikk Geannikis, Editor and Producer

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

All about inflation Mar 19, 2021

Show notes

Skanda Amarnath from Employ America joins Matt to talk about inflation. They discuss how the Fed tracks markers of inflation, the difference between cyclical and asymmetric inflation, and talk about whether or not to give into Larry Summers's fears about an "overheated" economy in our recovery.

Resources:

"Inflation: The Good, The Bad, and The Transitory" by Skanda Amarnath and Alex Williams (Feb. 12, 2021)

Guest:

Skanda Amarnath (@IrvingSwisher), Director of Research & Analysis, Employ America

Host:

Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com

Credits:

Erikk Geannikis, Editor and Producer

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

Asylum policy for the here and now Mar 17, 2021

Show notes

Matt and Dara are joined by Vox Senior Correspondent Ian Millhiser to examine the current state of affairs at the southern border, and to evaluate the Biden administration's immigration response more generally. Then, some research is discussed that examines (pre-Covid) data on the correlation between life expectancy and both race and educational attainment.

Resources:

Statement by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas Regarding the Situation at the Southwest Border (Mar. 16, 2021)

"Biden to Announce Broad Plan to Reverse Trump Immigration Policies" by Michael D. Shear, New York Times (Jan. 19, 2021)

"Death in the prime of life: Covid-19 proves especially lethal to younger Latinos" by Akilah Johnson, Washington Post (Mar. 15, 2021)

White paper

Hosts:

Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com

Dara Lind (@DLind), Immigration Reporter, ProPublica

Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser), Senior Correspondent, Vox

Credits:

Erikk Geannikis, Editor and Producer

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

Introducing Unexplainable Mar 14, 2021

Show notes

Unexplainable is a new podcast from Vox about everything we don’t know. Each week, the team look at the most fascinating unanswered questions in science and the mind-bending ways scientists are trying to answer them. New episodes drop every Wednesday.

Learn more: vox.com/unexplainable

Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/unexplainable/id1554578197

Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0PhoePNItwrXBnmAEZgYmt?si=Y3-2TFfDT8qHkfxMjrJL2g

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