Explain It to Me

View Top 200 Chart

Back to Rankings Page

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:

The second Democratic debate Aug 02, 2019

Show notes

Ezra and Matt dissect the six-hour, two-night July debate marathon.

Vox’s guide to where 2020 Democrats stand on policy

Join the Weeds Facebook group!

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

The many mysteries of Jeffrey Epstein Jul 30, 2019

Show notes

ProPublica’s Dara Lind joins Jane and Matt to discuss the sexual assault case that’s also a political scandal and a financial puzzle.

**White paper starts at 45:20**

Recommended reading:

“Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who is friends with Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, explained” by Jane Coaston, Vox

“Who Was Jeffrey Epstein Calling?” by the editors of The Intelligence

“Jeffrey Epstein Burrowed Into the Lives of the Rich and Made a Fortune” by Khadeeja Safdar, Rebecca Davis O’Brien, Gregory Zuckerman, and Jenny Strasburg, Wall Street Journal

“How a future Trump Cabinet member gave a serial sex abuser the deal of a lifetime” by Julie K. Brown, Miami Herald

“Jeffrey Epstein Pitched a New Narrative. These Sites Published It.” by Tiffany Hsu, New York Times

“What’s next in the Jeffrey Epstein case? A former federal prosecutor explains.” by Jane Coaston, Vox

“Jeffrey Epstein's Accusers Are Finally in the Spotlight” by Lily Herman, Refinery29

“Too many men think teenage girls are fair game. That gave Jeffrey Epstein cover” by Moira Donegan, the Guardian

“Alan Dershowitz, Devil’s Advocate” by Connie Bruck, the New Yorker

“How a Predator Operated in Plain Sight” by Lisa Miller, the Cut

White Paper

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

Dysfunctional federalism Jul 26, 2019

Show notes

Yale law professor David Schleicher joins Matt to talk about why state and local politics don’t work anymore.

Join the Weeds Facebook group!

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

Go back to Cincinnati Jul 23, 2019

Show notes

ProPublica reporter Dara Lind joins Jane and Matt to discuss President Trump’s rhetoric around the small group of congresswomen known as “the Squad”: Reps. Ayanna Presley, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib. They also dive into Trump's crackdown on refugee resettlement and a white paper about the connection between student debt and job satisfaction.

Recommended reading:

“The Trump racism spin cycle” by Jane Coaston

“Asylum Seekers That Followed Trump Rule Now Don’t Qualify Because of New Trump Rule” by Dara Lind

“‘Send her back!’: Trump’s attacks on Ilhan Omar — and the response to them — represent a new low” by Aaron Rupar

“Trump says he’s not concerned about being racist because ‘many people agree’ with him” by Aaron Rupar

Join the Weeds Facebook group!

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

Why everyone hates Big Tech, with The Verge's Nilay Patel Jul 19, 2019

Show notes

Verge editor-in-chief and Vergecast host Nilay Patel joins Matt in this special crossover episode to explain what Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which allows platforms to circumnavigate liability for user content, really means. They also discuss Elizabeth Warren’s proposal to break up big tech platforms, and how it may or may not fix anything.

Recommended reading:

Why the internet's most important law exists and how people are still getting it wrong by Alex Castro

Facebook’s $5 billion FTC fine is an embarrassing joke by Nilay Patel

Subscribe to Vergecast!

Join the Weeds Facebook group!

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

Space Force all the way! Jul 16, 2019

Show notes

Worldly's Alex Ward joins Jane and Matt to explain Trump's more-tedious-than-it-sounds plan for military domination of the final frontier.

Recommended reading:

“Trump really, really wants troops in space” by Alex Ward

“Trump wants a ‘Space Force.’ We have many questions.” by Alex Ward