Explain It to Me
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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.
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For decades, high schools and parents have prioritized college for all graduating seniors. Now, more students are asking if there's another way.
This episode was produced by Victoria Chamberlin, edited by Miranda Kennedy, fact-checked by Colleen Barrett, engineered by Matthew Billy and Patrick Boyd and hosted by Jonquilyn Hill. Photo by Michael Blackshire / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images.
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Given the economy and interest rates, homebuying doesn't seem like it’s necessarily the way to go anymore. So consider this not your parents’ real estate advice.
If you have a question about a story that matters to your life, give us a call at 1-800-618-8545.
This episode was produced by Hady Mawajdeh and Carla Javier. It was edited by Miranda Kennedy, fact checked by Melissa Hirsch, engineered by Andrea Kristinsdottir and hosted by Jonquilyn Hill. Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images.
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Vox Members now get all our podcasts, ad-free.
If you become a member, you will also get unlimited reading on our website, member-exclusive newsletters, and more special perks as a thank you.
If you’d like to support our work and get ad-free listening on our podcasts, go to vox.com/members today.
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Drivers and passengers are right: Car headlights are brighter now. And the solutions aren't simple.
If you have a question for us, please give a call at 1-800-618-8545 or send a note at vox.com/askvox.
This episode was produced and sound designed by Hady Mawajdeh, edited by Miranda Kennedy, fact checked by Melissa Hirsch, engineered by Patrick Boyd and hosted by Jonquilyn Hill. Photo by zhen li for Getty Images.
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Gen X women are freeing themselves from the hangups of the '90s, and having the best sex of their lives. Media portrayals of middle-aged women are starting to catch up too.
If you have a question for us, please call us at 1-800-618-8545 or send a note at vox.com/askvox.
This episode was produced and sound designed by Victoria Chamberlin, edited by Miranda Kennedy, fact checked by Melissa Hirsch, engineered by Patrick Boyd and Andrea Kristinsdottir, and hosted by Jonquilyn Hill.
Actress Demi Moore at a press conference for the film "The Substance." Photo by ZOULERAH NORDDINE/AFP via Getty Images.
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There's a backlash against corporate DEI efforts, and it’s not just from the right. It's everywhere. What does that mean for employees?
This episode was produced by Hady Mawajdeh, edited by Miranda Kennedy, fact-checked by Melissa Hirsch, mixed by Patrick Boyd, and hosted by Jonquilyn Hill.
Photo credit: jeffbergen for Getty Images
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The rules of romance have changed, and many young men feel they can't keep up. We get some tips from a Texas men's relationship coach.
This episode was produced by Hady Mawajdeh and Carla Javier, edited by Miranda Kennedy, fact checked by Melissa Hirsch, mixed by Patrick Boyd, and hosted by Jonquilyn Hill.
Shutterstock image by fstop Images.
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1Listener Tessa was at the airport and noticed that the REAL ID deadline had been extended — yet again — to May 2025. Why does it keep happening? Will REAL ID will ever become a thing? Team Explain It to Me goes on a reporting journey to bring her an answer nearly 20 years in the making.
If you have a question, please give us a call at 1-800-618-8545, or you can fill out this form.
This episode was produced by Carla Javier and Sofi LaLonde, edited by Jorge Just, fact-checked by Melissa Hirsch, engineered by Andrea Kristinsdottir, and hosted by Jonquilyn Hill.
READ MORE:
Real IDs, explained
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Starting this week, Explain It to Me is moving to Sundays. Check out our next episode here on March 2.
You can also find us in the Today, Explained feed as of Sunday, March 9.
If you have questions you'd like us to investigate, call our hotline: 1-800-618-8545.
The Explain It to Me newsletter is publishing Sundays now too! Sign up here: https://www.vox.com/pages/explain-it-to-me-newsletter-sign-up.
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We spend about a third of our lives either sleeping or trying to fall asleep. Why are we so bad at it? We ask behavioral sleep specialist Jade Wu.
This episode was produced by Hady Mawajdeh and Carla Javier, edited by Miranda Kennedy, fact checked by Melissa Hirsch, engineered by Patrick Boyd, and hosted by Jonquilyn Hill.
Have a question about relationships, the workplace, health or anything else that matters to you? Leave us a voicemail with your question at 1-800-618-8545.
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Listener Elisa has heard egg freezing touted as “an easy, perfect solution” for women who want to have it all, but she’s skeptical. Writer MeiMei Fox tells the disastrous story of freezing her own eggs, and Vox senior correspondent Anna North explains why freezing your eggs is not really a girlboss panacea.
Do you have a question about navigating family planning or reproductive health? Give us a call. We wanna make future episodes about the things that matter to you in your daily lives. Our number is 1-800-618-8545. You can also let us know via this form.
Read more:
The failed promise of egg freezing
How safe is donating your eggs?
This episode was produced by Victoria Chamberlin, Hady Mawajdeh and Carla Javier, edited by Amina Al-Sadi and Miranda Kennedy, fact checked by Laura Bullard and Hady Mawajdeh, engineered by Patrick Boyd and Andrea Kristinsdottir, and hosted by Jonquilyn Hill.
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What’s going on with all those layoffs in the gaming industry? What does being “middle class” actually mean? What’s up with this weird thing that happens when I sleep? Life is full of questions: simple ones with complicated answers and complicated ones with simple answers hiding in plain sight. Explain It to Me is here to answer the ones that matter most to you. We’re your go-to hotline for all the questions you can’t quite answer on your own.
Call 1-800-618-8545 or send a voice memo to askvox@vox.com. And tell us: what are the questions that keep you up at night – literally?
Credits:
Jonquilyn Hill, host
Hady Mawajdeh, producer
Andrea Kristinsdottir, engineer
Carla Javier, supervising producer
Miranda Kennedy, editor
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Should I give up flying for the environment’s sake? Is it ethical to stay on Twitter and Facebook if I don’t like the owners’ politics? If a DNA test shows that my dad isn't my biological dad, should I tell him? There are no bad questions. But there are some that are really hard to answer. Those are the ones Vox senior reporter Sigal Samuel likes to tackle. This week on Explain It to Me, she tells host Jonquilyn Hill how she goes about answering your ethical and philosophical questions in her column, Your Mileage May Vary.
This episode was made in partnership with Vox's Future Perfect team.
Have questions you can’t answer? Call Explain It to Me at 1-800-618-8545, or submit them here.
Read more:
Sigal’s column, Your Mileage May Vary
You can’t optimize your way to being a good person
The Future Perfect newsletter
Share your quandaries with Sigal here
Credits:
Jonquilyn Hill, host
Cristian Ayala, engineer
Caitlin PenzeyMoog, fact checker
Carla Javier, supervising producer
Jorge Just, editor
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After seeing someone make an illegal left turn, Mike joked to his daughter that they should do a citizen’s arrest. She had no idea what he was talking about, and now Mike wants to know: wait, are citizen’s arrests actually a real-life thing, or just something he saw on TV? And if they are real, how do they work? And what do they say about crime and policing in our country? This week on Explain It to Me, host Jonquilyn Hill talks to Stanford Law School professor David Sklansky to find out. He’s the author of the new book Criminal Justice in Divided America.
We want to know what’s on your mind! Call us at 1-800-618-8545 and leave us a voicemail with your name and your question — we may answer it in a future episode.
Credits:
Jonquilyn Hill, host
Patrick Boyd, engineer
Kim Eggleston, fact checker
Carla Javier, supervising producer
Jorge Just, editor
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When it gets cold outside, we get colds inside. We also get the flu. And RSV. And — lately — norovirus. We all know that washing our hands helps defend against illness. But with what? There’s too many kinds of soap, and not all of them will keep you healthy in every situation. Should you up the ante with antibacterial or does bar soap set the bar? This week on Explain It to Me, host Jonquilyn Hill breaks down the suds and bubbles with Vox senior reporter Keren Landman, MD.
Read more:
Wait, should I bother using antibacterial soap?
You’ve never heard of the Covid booster with the fewest side effects
Put down that cough medicine
We want to answer your questions in future episodes. Call us at 1-800-618-8545, fill out this form, or send us an email at askvox@vox.com. We love to hear from you.
Credits:
Jonquilyn Hill, host
Sofi LaLonde, producer
Andrea Kristinsdottir, engineer
Caitlin PenzeyMoog, fact-checker
Carla Javier, supervising producer
Jorge Just, editor
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It’s the most wonderful time of the year: Cuffing season. Or is it? That’s the question Antares asked this week. She told her lovelorn friend he’ll have better luck on dating apps once the temperatures drop, but then she wondered… is that actually true? This week on Explain It to Me, host Jonquilyn Hill goes on a journey to find out if Cuffing Season is real. She speaks with artist Musa Murchison, Alison Gemmill of the Hopkins Population Center, Michael Kaye of OKCupid, and Devyn Simone of Tinder to find out.
We’re working on some great episodes, and want to answer more of your questions in the new year! Leave us a voicemail at 1-800-618-8545, fill out this form, or send us a voice memo at askvox@vox.com. We love to hear from you.
Credits:
Jonquilyn Hill, host and producer
Sofi LaLonde, producer
Cristian Ayala, engineer
Caitlin PenzeyMoog and Kim Eggleston, fact-checkers
Carla Javier, supervising producer
Jorge Just, editor
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Are hush puppies racist? Why do we celebrate weddings with a multi-tiered, super fancy, sometimes not particularly tasty, very expensive cake? Can a dairy-intolerant person actually drink a glass of A2 milk?
These three questions came from listeners. Just not our listeners. They came to Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley, hosts of Gastropod, a show that investigates the history and science behind the foods we eat. Our host Jonquilyn Hill called them up to ask about the show, and play an episode from their Ask Gastropod series.
Check out Gastropod.
Let us know what questions you want us to look into for future episodes of Explain It to Me: Call 1-800-618-8545, email us at askvox@vox.com, or fill out this form.
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Adulthood comes with a lot of perks: You can set your own bedtime or eat candy for breakfast. But there is at least one thing that’s easier to do as a kid: making friends. That’s why Claire called us this week — she’s moved to a new city and wants to know: How do adults make new friends? Jonquilyn Hill chats with Vox senior reporters Allie Volpe and Keren Landman, MD, who share some tools to break the ice and find friends who align with where you are in life right now.
And now it’s your turn. After listening to the episode, call us up and help answer this week’s question: What is your advice for making a new friend? Give us a call and tell us your story: 1-800-618-8545.
Read more:
Is making friends as an adult really hard, or is it just me?
These apps promise to help you make new friends. Could it work for me?
Bumble for Friends
Hey! VINA
Timeleft
Credits:
Jonquilyn Hill, host
Sofi LaLonde, producer
Cristian Ayala, engineer
Caitlin PenzeyMoog, fact-checker
Carla Javier, supervising producer
Jorge Just, editor
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Earlier this month, millions of voters got to pick a president: Kamala Harris or Donald Trump. But what if we had a totally different kind of election system, one where you could rank a bunch of people you’d like as president, instead of being forced to choose between just two viable options? Listener William wants to know: Why hasn’t ranked-choice voting taken off? And could it be the fix for our super polarized politics? Jonquilyn Hill goes to Vox senior correspondent Dylan Matthews for some lunch ordering strategy, Hollywood trash talk, and, most importantly, answers.
Is there something you’re dying to figure out? Send us your questions! Call 1-800-618-8545.
Read More:
Can ranking candidates fix elections?
Credits:
Jonquilyn Hill, host
Sofi LaLonde, producer
Cristian Ayala, engineer
Caitlin PenzeyMoog, fact checker
Carla Javier, supervising producer
Jorge Just and Natalie Jennings, editors
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Listener Piper called us up with this question, “Why do some people have a harder time than others distinguishing their left and right?”
When our friends at the Vox podcast Unexplainable heard it they were so intrigued that they created a whole game show around it and invited our very own Explain It to Me host Jonquilyn Hill to play along.
Why do some people struggle to tell their left from their right? What makes someone a lefty? And why does life have this weird rule about only having either left- or right-handed molecules?
Check out Unexplainable wherever you get your podcasts.
If you have a question — something you’d like us to explain to you — give us a call at 1-800-618-8545. You can also send us your question here.
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Wow, what a week. The country has a new president-elect, and our listeners have a ton of questions about what comes next. Why did Latino voters swing right? How will Democrats respond? What’s going to happen to Donald Trump’s court cases? Will Trump really do all the things he said he would during the campaign? Host Jonquilyn Hill sits down with Vox correspondents Christian Paz, Ian Millhiser, and Zack Beauchamp to answer all that and more.
Submit your questions — about politics, or, if you need a break, about anything else — by calling 1-800-618-8545. You can also submit them here.
Credits:
Jonquilyn Hill, host
Sofi LaLonde and Gabrielle Berbey, producers
Cristian Ayala, engineer
Carla Javier, supervising producer
Caity PenzeyMoog, Anouck Dussaud, and Sarah Schweppe, fact checkers
Jorge Just, Julia Longoria, and Natalie Jennings, editors
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The US elections are officially upon us. And we have the Vox newsroom standing by to answer your questions and reflect on your experiences. All you have to do is ask! Leave a voicemail at 1-800-618-8545 or send a voice memo to askvox@vox.com and check back here Friday morning for our election special.
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Listener Sommer calls in to ask why she can buy foods in her grocery store that other countries have banned. Trying to figure out what all the chemicals and dyes in her food might do to her has left her with one question: “Don’t you care about us?” This week on Explain It to Me, host Jonquilyn Hill gets some answers (and a scary story about orange dye!) from Vox producer Kimberly Mas and the Environmental Working Group’s Melanie Benesh.
Election Day is less than a week away. To commiserate, we’re producing a special episode featuring your election-related questions and experiences, from heading to the polls to processing the results. So save our number now 1-800-618-8545 and call us next week with what you suddenly need to know.
Read More:
Why food recalls are everywhere right now
Watch Kim’s video about Red Dye No. 3 here
Credits:
Jonquilyn Hill, host
Sofi LaLonde, producer
Cristian Ayala, engineer
Anouck Dussaud, fact-checker
Carla Javier, supervising producer
Jorge Just, editor
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“We are hitting the PANIC button.” Does that wording sound familiar? You’ve probably seen it on your phone. This week on Explain It to Me, we begin to answer the questions we’ve gotten from you about the election, like why you’re getting so many urgently phrased texts asking for money. We also take a closer look at polling. Host Jonquilyn Hill gets answers from Vox senior politics reporter Christian Paz and Banter founder Lloyd Cotler.
We want to help answer more of your election-related questions for our election week episode. Tell us what’s on your mind here, or give us a call. Our number is 1-800-618-8545.
Read More:
Can we trust the polls this year?
Why are political campaigns always guilt-tripping us to donate?
Sign up for the Today, Explained and Explain It to Me newsletters here.
Credits:
Jonquilyn Hill, host
Sofi LaLonde, producer
Cristian Ayala, engineer
Caitlin PenzeyMoog, fact-checker
Carla Javier, supervising producer
Jorge Just, editor
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From the moment Carolina graduated from college and started her first real job, the financial advice came pouring in. It felt like everyone she knew was telling her to save for retirement. So Carolina wants to know: really? Maybe that advice was good for boomers, Gen X and millennials, but the world Carolina would be saving for seems like it’s on the brink of collapse. So should Gen Z do things differently? Vox editor Bryan Walsh tells us how close we might be to an extinction-level event, and Vivian Tu a.k.a. Your Rich BFF offers some financial real talk.
Submit your questions here, or give us a call. Our number is 1-800-618-8545.
Credits:
Jonquilyn Hill, host
Sofi LaLonde, producer
Andrea Kristinsdottir, engineer
Carla Javier, supervising producer
Melissa Hirsch, fact checker
Katherine Wells and Jorge Just, editors
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Listener Siobhan is very much in love. So in love that she and her boyfriend will probably walk down the aisle soon. But she’s also seen the marriages of older people in her life fall apart. As she considers embarking on this next step in life, she wants to know: Are younger generations less likely to get divorced than their parents? And what’s behind the shifting trends in matrimony? Host Jonquilyn Hill gets answers from author and historian Stephanie Coontz.
Read More:
Welcome to the Divorce Issue of The Highlight!
Marriage, A History
Submit your questions here, or give us a call. Our number is 1-800-618-8545.
Credits:
Jonquilyn Hill, host
Sofi LaLonde, producer
Cristian Ayala, engineer
Caitlin PenzeyMoog, fact-checker
Carla Javier, supervising producer
Jorge Just, editor
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Listener David runs 5K fundraisers for his local zoo. And he wants to know: Is he doing the right thing? Are zoos a bastion for conservation, educating the public about endangered species? Or are they nothing more than a prison for pandas, creating a troubling power dynamic between humans and other living creatures? Host Jonquilyn Hill gets into the ethics of zoos with Vox senior reporter Kenny Torrella.
Read More:
Zoos aren’t for animals. They’re for us.
Vox.com’s new newsletter, Processing Meat
Submit your questions here, or give us a call. Our number is 1-800-618-8545.
Credits:
Jonquilyn Hill, host
Sofi LaLonde, producer
Cristian Ayala, engineer
Caitlin PenzeyMoog, fact-checker
Carla Javier, supervising producer
Katherine Wells and Jorge Just, editors
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Much to the chagrin of English teachers everywhere, people use the word “like”…a lot. Listener Allison calls the hotline to ask why we talk the way that we do and if she can change her own speech. Host Jonquilyn Hill gets answers from sociolinguist Valerie Fridland and speech coach Rhonda Khan.
Send us your questions! You can call us at 1-800-618-8545, email us at askvox@vox.com, or fill out this form.
Credits:
Jonquilyn Hill, host
Sofi LaLonde, producer
Cristian Ayala, engineer
Carla Javier, supervising producer
Katherine Wells, editor
Caitlin PenzeyMoog, fact-checker
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Matt wants to know how to tell if he’s being scammed by his dentist. To find the answer, we open up the surprising history of dentistry, ask why it seems so different from internal medicine, and drill down on why dental insurance doesn’t really feel like insurance. Host Jonquilyn Hill talks with journalist Mary Otto and Dr. Lisa Simon, DMD, MD, to find the answers.
We want to hear your questions. Call us at 1-800-618-8545, or email us at askvox@vox.com
Extra reading:
Teeth: The Story of Beauty, Inequality, and the Struggle for Oral Health in America
Dental Use and Spending in Medicare Advantage and Traditional Medicare, 2010-2021 | Health Policy
Credits:
Jonquilyn Hill, host
Sofi LaLonde, producer
Andrea Kristinsdottir and Cristian Ayala, engineers
Carla Javier, supervising producer
Katherine Wells, editor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Life is complicated, and here at Vox, we love to explain it. Enter Explain It to Me: your go-to hotline for all the questions you can’t quite answer on your own. Give us a call, and we’ll do all the heavy lifting to get you the answers you need. Call 1-800-618-8545, send an email to askvox@vox.com, or submit a question here. New episodes drop every Wednesday.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
We have some exciting news to share: There are some big changes coming to this feed, and we need your help with them!
The Weeds as you know it is ending, but we’ll be back this fall with the same crew, some new artwork, and a new sound. We’ll be answering your burning questions — about politics, policy, and everything in between. So send us an email with your questions to askvox@vox.com or call us at 1-800-618-8545. Have a great summer!
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If you went to public school in America, you most likely got a serving of milk with your lunch. The National School Lunch Program has been in operation for decades, serving tens of millions of school-aged kids cow’s milk with their lunches. But it turns out, there’s more supply than demand: According to USDA findings in 2019, students threw away about 41 percent of the milk served in schools. So why do schools keep serving it? Today on The Weeds: Why the US government loves milk.
Submit your policy questions!
We want to know what you’re curious about.
Credits:
Jonquilyn Hill, host
Sofi LaLonde, producer
Cristian Ayala, engineer
A.M. Hall, editorial director of talk podcasts
Support The Weeds by becoming a Vox Member today: http://www.vox.com/members
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Pretty much everyone is unhappy with food delivery these days. Prices are rising for customers; workers are barely making minimum wage; and restaurants feel gauged by delivery apps. Today on The Weeds: how the gig economy turned sour, and how you can still order your favorite food without feeling guilty. Vox senior reporter Whizy Kim explains.
Read More:
Food delivery fees have soared. How much of it goes to workers?
Submit your policy questions!
We want to know what you’re curious about.
Credits:
Jonquilyn Hill, host
Sofi LaLonde, producer
Cristian Ayala, engineer
A.M. Hall, editorial director of talk podcasts
Support The Weeds by becoming a Vox Member today: http://www.vox.com/members
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Do you think crime is on the rise? You aren’t the only one. According to Gallup, over 75 percent of Americans think crime is up from last year. The crime rate, though, has actually been falling. So why do so many Americans think crime is getting worse? Vox policy correspondent Abdallah Fayyad joins Weeds host Jonquilyn Hill to discuss the disconnect and what the numbers tell us.
Read More:
Lawmakers are overreacting to crime
The shoplifting scare might not have been real — but its effects are
The cruel consequences of America’s aging prison population - Vox
Submit your policy questions!
We want to know what you’re curious about.
Credits:
Jonquilyn Hill, host
Sofi LaLonde, producer
Cristian Ayala, engineer
A.M. Hall, editorial director of talk podcasts
Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a donation to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts
Please take a second to help us learn more about you! vox.com/podcastsurvey
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Last week, the US Drug Enforcement Administration announced a move to reclassify marijuana as a Schedule III drug, after the Biden administration requested a review in late 2022. For decades, cannabis has been classified as Schedule I alongside drugs like heroin and LSD—and research on its effects and medical use has been limited. While rescheduling could lead to more clinical research on marijuana, the future is currently hazy. Today on The Weeds: what rescheduling cannabis means for medical research, and why it still might not be enough to push past the barriers that still exist.
Read More:
Marijuana could be classified as a lower-risk drug. Here’s what that means. - Vox
What marijuana reclassification means for the United States
Submit your policy questions!
We want to know what you’re curious about.
Credits:
Jonquilyn Hill, host
Sofi LaLonde, producer
Cristian Ayala, engineer
A.M. Hall, editorial director of talk podcasts
Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a donation to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts
Please take a second to help us learn more about you! vox.com/podcastsurvey
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Something is happening in Connecticut. Back in 2021, the state legislature passed a measure that would create something called baby bonds: trust accounts for children receiving government assistance. It’s an idea that started decades ago and was championed by Darrick Hamilton, the founding director of the Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy at the New School. On this week's episode of The Weeds, host Jonquilyn Hill sits down with Hamilton to discuss how the idea came to fruition, how a race-neutral policy can close the racial wealth gap, and the way we define economic value.
Submit your policy questions!
We want to know what you’re curious about.
Credits:
Jonquilyn Hill, host
Sofi LaLonde, producer
Cristian Ayala, engineer
A.M. Hall, editorial director of talk podcasts
Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a donation to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts
Please take a second to help us learn more about you! vox.com/podcastsurvey
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If you’ve never used Amazon, you almost definitely know someone who has. Amazon is pretty much everywhere. In the three decades since its founding, Amazon has grown from a small startup to a trillion-dollar company, skirting rules, taxes, and accountability along the way. Then, in 2023, the Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against the company for monopolistic business practices. Reporter Dana Mattioli has covered Amazon for years, and chronicled their rise to power in her new book, The Everything War: Amazon’s Ruthless Quest to Own the World and Remake Corporate Power.
Read More:
The Everything War: Amazon's Ruthless Quest to Own the World and Remake Corporate Power
Submit your policy questions!
We want to know what you’re curious about.
Credits:
Jonquilyn Hill, host
Sofi LaLonde, producer
Cristian Ayala, engineer
A.M. Hall, editorial director of talk podcasts
Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a donation to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts
Please take a second to help us learn more about you! vox.com/podcastsurvey
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America is in the midst of a homelessness crisis. With little affordable housing and limited space at shelters, many people are instead sleeping outside. But as tent encampments become more common, particularly on the West Coast where the housing crisis is most acute, the pressure on local governments to address the problem has skyrocketed. Now, the Supreme Court has decided to weigh in. The issue at the center of it is whether cities can fine or jail unhoused people for sleeping outside. Vox senior policy reporter Rachel Cohen (X, Instagram) explains the case and the stakes.
Read More:
Cities are asking the Supreme Court for more power to clear homeless encampments
The Supreme Court will decide what cities can do about tent encampments
Supreme Court Amicus Brief No. 23-175
Submit your policy questions!
We want to know what you’re curious about.
Credits:
Jonquilyn Hill, host
Sofi LaLonde, producer
Cristian Ayala, engineer
A.M. Hall, editorial director of talk podcasts
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Since the Dobbs decision almost two years ago, reproductive rights have been at the center of our national consciousness. Two of the latest headlines come from Florida and Arizona: a six-week abortion ban, and a total abortion ban unless the life of the pregnant person is threatened, respectively. Both states have constitutions that name-check privacy rights, but both courts found that those rights don’t extend to abortion. What does privacy look like in the United States, and do we still have it in a post-Dobbs world?
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Do Americans still have a right to privacy?
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Credits:
Jonquilyn Hill, host
Sofi LaLonde, producer
Patrick Boyd, engineer
A.M. Hall, editorial director of talk podcasts
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Earlier this year, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled frozen embryos have the same rights as children. The decision sent shockwaves throughout Alabama and raised serious questions about the future of IVF in the United States. While the Alabama legislature has since passed legislation protecting IVF in the state, that doesn’t address the big question behind the court’s decision: What does personhood mean, and what does it mean for the anti-abortion movement?
Read More:
Fetal personhood laws, explained - Vox
Alabama’s Supreme Court IVF ruling is a warning to the country - Vox
Opinion | The Anti-Abortion Movement Is Gunning for Fetal Personhood - The New York Times
How America’s Two Abortion Realities Are Clashing - The New York Times
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Jonquilyn Hill, host
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Cristian Ayala, engineer
A.M. Hall, editorial director of talk podcasts
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What if you weren’t allowed to have more than $2,000 at any given time? Could you make it work? For people who receive Supplemental Security Income, this isn’t a what-if — it’s reality. SSI beneficiaries are subject to strict requirements and risk losing their benefits if they have more than $2,000 in financial assets, even if they exceed that by just a dollar. Why is the limit so low, and is anything being done to fix it? That’s today on The Weeds.
Read More:
Tyler (@tylerlimaroope) | TikTok
The Case for Updating SSI Asset Limits | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
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Jonquilyn Hill, host
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Cristian Ayala, engineer
A.M. Hall, editorial director of talk podcasts
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America is in the midst of a child care crisis. The cost of child care has skyrocketed to the point where, in some states, caring for kids in pre-k is more expensive than college tuition or a home mortgage. According to economist Kathryn Anne Edwards, it’s a market failure. So how do we fix it? That’s in today’s installment of our series exploring economic fanfiction and the stories we should be covering this election year.
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Kathryn's plan to fix child care
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Jonquilyn Hill, host
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Rob Byers, engineer
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Four years after a pandemic pause, some colleges and universities are again requiring applicants to submit standardized test scores. Inside Higher Ed’s Liam Knox and the University of Delaware’s Dominique Baker explain.
This episode of Today, Explained was produced by Avishay Artsy, edited by Matt Collette, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Rob Byers, and guest-hosted by Jonquilyn Hill. It originally ran on March 8th, 2024.
Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained
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2024 is a big year for elections, not just in the US but globally: More than 50 countries will be holding elections this year. With rampant disinformation and polarization in politics, fast-moving technologies like AI pose a unique threat to democracy. On a scale from 1–10, how worried should we be about AI and the election? Host Jonquilyn Hill talks to New York Times reporter Tiffany Hsu to find out.
Learn More:
The Black Box: Even AI's creators don't understand it - Unexplainable
Test Yourself: Which Faces Were Made by A.I.? - New York Times
In Big Election Year, A.I.’s Architects Move Against Its Misuse - New York Times
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Jonquilyn Hill, host
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A.M. Hall, editorial director of talk podcasts
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Political philosopher Ingrid Robeyns believes that there should be a maximum amount of money and resources that one person can have. She tells Sean how much is too much and why limiting personal wealth benefits everyone, including the super rich. This episode of The Grey Area originally aired in January 2024.
Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area
Guest: Ingrid Robeyns. Her book is Limitarianism: The Case Against Extreme Wealth.
Enjoyed this episode? Rate The Gray Area ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.
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Producer: Jon Ehrens
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There are a host of health disparities across the racial divide. Black people are more likely to develop chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease. Black people are also more likely to be diagnosed with fibroids or die from pregnancy complications. One of the factors in these disparities could be a phenomenon known as weathering — the stress of racism literally aging Black people’s bodies at a faster rate. Host Jonquilyn Hill discusses this with Dr. Uché Blackstock, the founder and CEO of Advancing Health Equity and the author of Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine.
Read More:
Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine by Uché Blackstock
Weathering: The Extraordinary Stress of Ordinary Life in an Unjust Society by Arline T. Geronimus
Health in Her HUE
Irth App
Advancing Health Equity
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Romantic relationships are in a weird place right now. Statistically things are shifting, but the numbers are particularly stark for Black Americans. In the last 50 years, the percentage of Black women who have yet to walk down the aisle has more than doubled; now 48 percent haven’t jumped the broom. Professor and author Dianne M. Stewart argues that there are policies in place keeping Black women from partnering, resulting in what she calls forbidden Black love. Could policy shifts have a major impact on the marriage rate? And why does marriage even matter in the first place?
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Black Women, Black Love: America's War on African American Marriage
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According to the Eviction Lab, about 7.6 million Americans every year face the threat of eviction, and a disproportionate number of those threatened are Black women. This week, host Jonquilyn Hill sits down with New America senior writer and editor Julia Craven to discuss why this disparity exists and what policies could help end evictions for everybody. It’s the first of a special series this month entitled “Black women and ...” that examines the ways policy particularly impacts Black women.
Read More:
Eviction Is One Of The Biggest Health Risks Facing Black Children
Eviction Tracking System | Eviction Lab
Evictions: a hidden scourge for black women - Washington Post
TANF Policies Reflect Racist Legacy of Cash Assistance
Evictions and Infant and Child Health Outcomes - PMC
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Jonquilyn Hill, host
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A.M. Hall, editorial director of talk podcasts
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It’s an election year, and there are so many different policy discussions we could be having: affordable child care, housing, health care, you name it. Based on how the campaigning has gone so far, though, it seems that hard policy debates and discussions won’t get much — if any — airtime. So, how about we have that discussion? Today on The Weeds: the economic policies we should be talking about.
Read More:
Americans’ Working Years Need a Better Ending — Bloomberg
Kathryn Edwards on TikTok (@keds_economist)
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Jonquilyn Hill, host
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A.M. Hall, editorial director of talk podcasts
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The Earth was its hottest in recorded history in 2023. Our winters are shorter, our summers hotter, and our natural disasters more extreme. It’s dark. But maybe it doesn’t have to be. Hannah Ritchie is deputy editor at Our World in Data and author of the book Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet. On this week’s episode of The Weeds, she talks with host Jonquilyn Hill about how the world has never been sustainable, why scientists shouldn’t advocate for policy, and ways to balance optimism and realism when it comes to stopping climate change.
Read More:
Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet — Hannah Ritchie
Hannah Ritchie fights climate doomerism with facts — Vox
What If People Don't Need to Care About Climate Change to Fix It? — NYT
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Jonquilyn Hill, host
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man I'm so glad they did this pod. just had this conversation with someone yesterday about the supposed epidemic of child sex trafficking. crazy how people believe this stuff
I like this guy
If Biden picked Warren it would mean a republican governor in Charlie Baker would appoint her successor though right?
FANTASTIC interview and guest. A very illuminating and explanatory discussion about qualified immunity.
Damn, the Biden advertisements at the end were boring AF.
What I don't like about this podcast is that sometimes you guys don't really seem to be having a conversation, rather you seem to be blurting out information and opinions, and not really listening to each other. "Let's see who says the most interesting thing". It gets somewhat abnoxious.
ذپ..
the word quarantine comes from the place "al karantina" and it's not an italian word lmaoo
I'm personally very pro smoke-filled rooms. Both parties need to un-democratize a bit.
as an alternative to 11 people splitting the vote, maybe we could use a better system than first past the post. so that we could handle an 11 party system and still have wins with majority support.
I just worry that this type of action escalates polarization. That, I think, is the legacy of the Tea Party. Those of us who want to be responsible actors should be seeking to bring the temperature down, not up. I'm thinking also about the most recent episode of Impeachment Explained, in which Ezra Klein had a wonderful monologue at the end of it about the dangers of polarization. We should be using polarization as the context in which we think about political action and asking "Am I part of the problem?"
I would really like to hear what you all think about the paper referenced in the cover story of the most recent issue of the Economist. It is about how we measure inequality, and it is apparently more difficult than I thought.
Usually love vox discussions, but had to cut it short. The word "like" was so overused it diminished their points and eventually all I could hear was "like,like,like"
I love the title 😅
you said Andrew's Yang 🤣🤣
I cannot even listen to this, though the topic is quite interesting. Please, as educated people, refrain from using the word "like" as every third word.
I really want you guys to talk about Yang. he's got a ton of policies on his site so there's plenty there for weedsey discussion. plus there's the Freedom Dividend.
Completely disingenuous conversation in which the speaker was really talking about economic Warfare through the establishment of segmented trade negotiation policies and not a discussion about international trade. this is just an individual trying to use us trade policy as a vehicle to advance their geopolitical interest and not the economic interest of body politic. this conversation was absolutely not about the words that were being used.
Why is it unreasonable to expect non-disabled Americans who are receiving benefits paid by taxpayers to work? I mean 80 hours a month is nothing. I do this in 1 week, and I pay for my own health care? Why is it the fault of the state if those who fubar the paperwork or don't do something as simple as report the fact that they are working lose benefits? I'm sure it was written in the welcome package. Is it that unreasonable for someone who is working 80 hours a month to read the information on his or her free healthcare? When is it acceptable for people to own their own mistakes, why do we lay blame everywhere else?
Loved this :)