Podcast
Explain It to Me
Hosted by Vox · EN
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.
72episodes
Episodes
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Why can I make a citizen's arrest?
Jan 22, 202500:41:02Tap to summarizeAfter 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, hostPatrick Boyd, engineerKim Eggleston, fact checkerCarla Javier, supervising producerJorge Just, editor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcribe →Should I buy antibacterial soap?
Jan 8, 202500:32:03Tap to summarizeWhen 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 effectsPut down that cough medicineWe 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, hostSofi LaLonde, producerAndrea Kristinsdottir, engineerCaitlin PenzeyMoog, fact-checkerCarla Javier, supervising producerJorge Just, editor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcribe →Is cuffing season real?
Dec 18, 202400:41:34Tap to summarizeIt’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 producerSofi LaLonde, producerCristian Ayala, engineerCaitlin PenzeyMoog and Kim Eggleston, fact-checkersCarla Javier, supervising producerJorge Just, editor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcribe →A safety net’s poverty trap
Mar 27, 2024Tap to summarizeWhat 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) | TikTokThe Case for Updating SSI Asset Limits | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Submit your policy questions!We want to know what you’re curious about.Credits:Jonquilyn Hill, hostSofi LaLonde, producerCristian Ayala, engineerA.M. Hall, editorial director of talk podcastsWant to support The Weeds? Please consider making a donation to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcribe →How racism ages Black people
Feb 21, 2024Tap to summarizeThere 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 Submit your policy questions!We want to know what you’re curious about.Credits:Jonquilyn Hill, hostSofi LaLonde, producerCristian Ayala, engineerA.M. Hall, editorial director of talk podcastsWant to support The Weeds? Please consider making a donation to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcribe →Let’s fix retirement together
Jan 31, 2024Tap to summarizeIt’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) Submit your policy questions!We want to know what you’re curious about.Credits:Jonquilyn Hill, hostSofi LaLonde, producerCristian Ayala, engineerA.M. Hall, editorial director of talk podcastsWant to support The Weeds? Please consider making a donation to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcribe →Conservative socialism?
Oct 11, 2023Tap to summarizeWhat will American politics look like after Trump? Sean Illing is joined by Sohrab Ahmari to discuss his new book, Tyranny, Inc. Ahmari is one of the conservative intellectuals trying to map out a post-Trump future for the Republican Party, and his book is an attempt to justify a form of democratic socialism from the right. The two discuss whether his vision could ever be the basis for a broader coalition.Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray AreaGuest: Sohrab Ahmari (@SohrabAhmari), author, Tyranny, Inc.References: Tyranny, Inc. by Sohrab Ahmari (Penguin Random House, 2023) American Capitalism: The Concept of Countervailing Power by John Galbraith (Routledge, 1993) Thus Spake Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche “Social Democracy and Social Conservatism Aren’t Compatible” by Matt McManus (Jacobin, August 2023) Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Conversations ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Vox Conversations by subscribing in your favorite podcast app.Support Vox Conversations by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcastsThis episode was made by: Engineer: Patrick BoydDeputy Editorial Director, Vox Talk: A.M. Hall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcribe →The fastest growing voting bloc in America
Sep 20, 2022Tap to summarizeFor the September issue of The Highlight, the Vox politics team examined the fastest growing voting bloc in the country: Latino voters. But the 32 million voters that make up the Latino electorate are not a monolithic group. In today’s episode, we’ll look at the intricacies and nuances of the Latino voting bloc and what might happen in the 2022 midterm elections.References:Ruben Gallego's ready for a fight — even if the Democratic Party isn't Yes, most Latinos are Christian. No, that doesn't make them anti-abortion. Latino voters are being flooded with even more misinformation in 2022 The full September issue of The Highlight from VoxHosts:Marin Cogan (@marincogan), senior correspondentChristian Paz (@realcpaz), senior politics reporterNicole Narea (@nicolenarea), politics reporterCredits:Sofi LaLonde, producer and engineerLibby Nelson, editorial adviserAmber Hall, deputy editorial director of talk podcastsWant to support The Weeds? Please consider making a donation to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcribe →Reshaping America’s cities
Nov 12, 2021Tap to summarizeVox policy reporter Jerusalem Demsas talks with the Atlantic’s Derek Thompson (@DKThomp) about how the future of remote work could reshape America’s cities, upend US labor markets, and cause fundamental shifts in where people live. Derek and Jerusalem discuss how it would take only a small percentage of remote workers to impact the urban geography of the US — with complicated implications for electoral politics and the climate.References:Jerusalem's Q&A with housing economist Enrico Moretti on the future of remote work: Remote work is overrated. America’s supercities are coming back.Superstar Cities Are in Trouble [The Atlantic]How America Lost Its Mojo [The Atlantic]The Coronavirus is Creating a Huge, Successful Experiment in Working From Home [The Atlantic]Where Americans Are Moving [Bloomberg]Could a Heartland visa help struggling regions? [Economic Innovation Group]Host:Jerusalem Demsas (@jerusalemdemsas), policy reporter, VoxCredits:Sofi LaLonde, producer & engineerLibby Nelson, editorial adviserAmber Hall, deputy editorial director of talk podcastsSign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weedsletterWant to support The Weeds? Please consider making a donation to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcribe →Galaxy Brain Recession
Aug 31, 2021Tap to summarizeMatt, Dara, and German use this week’s episode to explore the infrastructure bill before Congress. They focus on broadband access for rural and urban America and explore the purpose of the money being set aside for Amtrak. Parallels between the two emerge both in the need for connecting Americans and in the pitfalls facing this country if we fail to make progress. This week’s white paper is a study of a methodology for predicting recessions based on individuals' expectations of their own employment status and perception of the economy rather than a scientific dissection of impersonal macro data sets.Resources:“What’s in the new infrastructure bill — and why it’s a big deal” by German Lopez (Vox; Aug 10, 2021)White Paper: “The Economics of Walking About and Predicting Unemployment” by David G. Blanchflower & Alex Bryson (NBER; August 2021)Hosts:Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.comDara Lind (@DLind), Immigration Reporter, ProPublicaGerman Lopez (@germanrlopez), Senior Correspondent, VoxCredits:Ness Smith-Savedoff, Producer & EngineerErikk Geannikis, Producer, Talk PodcastsAs 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/givepodcastsAbout VoxVox 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.comFacebook group: The Weeds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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