Explain It to Me

Ezra and Matt on Republican policy nihilism and the Kamala Harris pick. Resources: "Kamala Harris Is Biden’s Choice for Vice President" by Alexander Burns and Katie Glueck, NYT "How inequality and white identity politics feed each other" with Paul Pierson and Jacob Hacker, Ezra Klein Show podcast Hosts: Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Senior correspondent, Vox Ezra Klein (@ezraklein), Editor-at-...

Vox's Emily Stewart joins Dara and Jane to discuss the relationship between "the market" and the "real economy." Resources: "The Stock Market Is an Engine of Civic Destruction" by Libby Watson, New Republic "Who gets to be reckless on Wall Street?" by Emily Stewart, Vox Hosts: Dara Lind (@DLind), Immigration reporter, ProPublica Jane Coaston (@cjane87), Senior politics correspondent, Vox Emily Ste...

Ezra and Matt on Susan Rice, Kamala Harris, and Trump’s increasingly chaotic authoritarianism. Resources: "What we know about Joe Biden’s possible vice presidential picks" by Ella Nilsen, Vox "Harris allies granted call with Biden campaign after Dodd blowup" by Christopher Cadelago & Natasha Korecki, Politico "Think the world is on fire? Obama’s national security adviser says things are better tha...

Jane, Dara, and Matt on the congressional deadlock over economic aid. Resources: "“The jobs aren’t there”: Why cutting off enhanced unemployment benefits would leave workers in the lurch" by Li Zhou, Vox "Senate GOP Coronavirus Bill Has Some Good Provisions but Needs Serious Work" by Adam Michel, Rachel Greszler, Lindsey M. Burke, & Brian Finch, Heritage Foundation "The Zombie Reaganism Trap" by P...

John McWhorter joins Matt to discuss the changing way we talk about racism in America. Resources: "“Latinx” is growing in popularity. I made a comic to help you understand why." by Terry Blas, Vox "Racist Police Violence Reconsidered" by John McWhorter, Quillette "The Virtue Signalers Won’t Change the World" by John McWhorter, The Atlantic "The Dehumanizing Condescension of White Fragility" by Joh...

Dara, Jane, and Matt on Wayfair, massage parlors, and reality. Resources: "The modeling industry is filled with exploitation—this labor activist is fighting back" by Sara Ziff, Fast Company "American Airlines Reportedly Accused a Black Social Worker of Kidnapping the White Child In Her Care. Now She's Suing." by Elizabeth Nolan Brown, Reason "Sen. Josh Hawley Says He 'Took on an Asian Trafficking...

Texas A&M's Jennifer Doleac joins Matt to explain what we know (and don't know) about criminal justice. Resources: "How to Fix Policing" by Jennifer Doleac, Niskanen Center "How to Make a Police Force More Diverse" by Jennifer Doleac, Bloomberg "Changing Police Recruitment Messages Attracts a Larger and More Diverse Applicant Pool" by Jennifer Doleac, CCJ "Making Fair and Respected Cops: Procedura...

Dara, Jane, and Matt on Nick Cannon, Louis Farrakhan, and antisemitic conspiracy theories. Resources: "The conspiracy theories behind the anti-Semitic violence in New York" by Jane Coaston, Vox "Nick Cannon let go by ViacomCBS over anti-Semitic comments" by Lisa Respers France, CNN "Calling out racism and anti-Semitism is a responsibility" by David Love, CNN "Black Demagogues and Pseudo-Scholars"...

Ezra and Matt on Joe Biden’s unification strategy with the left. Resources: BIDEN-SANDERS UNITY TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS "How Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders joined forces to craft a bold, progressive agenda" by Ella Nilsen, Vox "It’s time to move past employer-based health insurance" by Ezra Klein, Vox Hosts: Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Senior correspondent, Vox Ezra Klein (@ezraklein), Edit...

Jane, Dara, and Matt on the school reopening debate and the political consequences of HIV/AIDS. Resources: "The debate over reopening America’s K-12 schools, explained" by Anna North, Vox "I’m an epidemiologist and a dad. Here’s why I think schools should reopen." by Benjamin P. Linas, Vox "‘I Don’t Want to Go Back’: Many Teachers Are Fearful and Angry Over Pressure to Return" by Dana Goldstein an...

Ezra and Matt on how America failed while the world made progress on the pandemic, and what on earth is going on with the republican party. Resources: "Reopening schools safely is going to take much more federal leadership" by Matthew Yglesias "Trumpism, not polarization, drives America’s disastrous coronavirus politics" by Ezra Klein Hosts: Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Senior correspondent,...

Dara, Jane, and Matt on Biden’s excitement gap. Resources: "So … About That Supposed Lack Of Enthusiasm For Biden?" Five Thirty Eight "Social conservatives feel betrayed by the Supreme Court — and the GOP that appointed it" by Jane Coaston, Vox "Trump’s surprising resilience with Hispanic voters, explained" by Matthew Yglesias, Vox Hosts: Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Senior Correspondent, Vox Ja...

Land of the Giants is a podcast from our friends at Recode and the Vox Media Podcast Network that examines the most powerful tech companies of our time.   The second season is called The Netflix Effect, and it’s hosted by Recode editors Rani Molla and Peter Kafka.   The Netflix Effect explores how a company that began as a small DVD-by-mail service ultimately upended Hollywood and completely chang...

Jane, Dara, and Matt on Confederate Memorials, Woodrow Wilson, and the battle for historical memory. Resources: "Woodrow Wilson was extremely racist — even by the standards of his time" by Dylan Matthews, Vox "Inside the growing movement to ditch Columbus Day and celebrate Native Americans instead" by Victoria M. Massie, Vox "The battle over Confederate statues, explained" by German Lopez, Vox Whi...

Ezra and Matt on Warren, Abrams, Harris, and the Tammies and the links between racial and economic justice. Resources: "The Second Defeat of Bernie Sanders" by Ross Douthat, NYT "The Black-White Wage Gap Is as Big as It Was in 1950" by David Leonhardt, NYT "What is Owed" by Nikole Hannah-Jones, NYT "The Triumph of Black Lives Matter and Neoliberal Redemption" by Cedric Johnson, Nonsite.org Hosts:...

Jane, Dara, and Matt explain “intersectional,” “structural” and the new language of identity discourse. Resources: "The intersectionality wars" by Jane Coaston, Vox "The Origins of “Privilege”" by Joshua Rothman, The New Yorker "Toward Black Liberation " National Humanities Center White paper Hosts: Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Senior Correspondent, Vox Jane Coaston (@cjane87), Senior politics c...

Cato's Clark Neily joins Jane to discuss Qualified Immunity - where is came from, why it exists, and what's being done to eliminate it. Clark details how the Supreme Court invented the civil doctrine to protect public workers from personal liability, and details hows it's being used to cloak police officers from being held accountable for unlawful practices. *This interview was recorded on Monday,...

Jane, Dara, and Matt on what we know about police reform and its limits Resources: "Unbundle the Police" by Derek Thompson, The Atlantic "Why Are the Police in Charge of Road Safety?" by Alex Tabarrok, Marginal Revolution Collective Bargaining Rights and Police Misconduct: Evidence from Florida, by Dhammika Dharmapala, Richard H. McAdams, & John Rappaport, University of Chicago Reducing Racial Dis...

Ezra and Matt on the return of a virus that never went away. Resources: "America Is Giving Up on the Pandemic" by Alexis C. Madrigal & Robinson Meyer, WaPo "14 states and Puerto Rico hit highest seven-day average of new coronavirus infections" by Kim Bellware & Jacqueline Dupree, WaPo "How Trump uses a crisis: Repeal rules while nobody is looking" by Rachel Augustine Potter, WaPo Hosts: Matthew Yg...

Jane, Dara, and Matt on America's dual reckonings with racism and police impunity Resources: "It's Time To Bust Police Unions" by Peter Suderman, Reason "Libertarianism For Me, Authoritarianism For Thee" by Chris Arnade, American Compass A Colony in a Nation by Chris Hayes "10 Events that Shaped Cincinnati: Timothy Thomas is Shot and Killed" by Cedric Rose, Cincinnati Magazine "The data proves tha...

Ezra and Matt on reformism vs radicalism and reimagining law enforcement Hosts: Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Senior correspondent, Vox Ezra Klein (@ezraklein), Editor-at-large, Vox Credits: Jeff Geld, (@jeff_geld), Producer Jackson Bierfeldt, Editor 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 t...

Barron's economics commentary Matt Klein explains what's really behind international trade conflicts Guest: Matthew C. Klein (@M_C_Klein) Senior Writer, Barrons and author of Trade Wars Are Class Wars Host: Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Senior correspondent, Vox More to explore: Subscribe to Impeachment, Explained on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast, Pocket Casts, or your favorite p...

Ezra and Matt on Trump's war on social media, plus Joe Biden's policy agenda. *This episode was recorded on Thursday, May 28th, 2020. Resources: "Twitter Must Cleanse the Trump Stain" by Kara Swisher, NYT "Joe Biden has a plan for that" by Matthew Yglesias, Vox Hosts: Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Senior correspondent, Vox Ezra Klein (@ezraklein), Editor-at-large, Vox Credits: Jeff Geld, (@jef...

Jane, Dara, and Matt on gaffes and the racial politics of 2020 Resources: "Do Joe Biden’s “you ain’t black” comments ultimately matter?" by Fabiola Cineas, Vox White paper Hosts: Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Senior Correspondent, Vox Jane Coaston (@cjane87), Senior politics correspondent, Vox Dara Lind (@DLind), Immigration reporter, ProPublica Credits: Jeff Geld, (@jeff_geld), Editor and Produc...

Ezra and Matt on Trump's pseudo-federalism and Pelosi's strange aversion to automatic stabilizers. Resources: "Nancy Pelosi says Democrats opted against putting federal aid on autopilot in their $3 trillion coronavirus spending package to avoid amplifying sticker shock" by Joseph Zeballos-Roig, Business Insider "Trump Rewrites the Book on Emergencies" by Christopher DeMuth, WSJ "Federalism Is an A...