Explain It to Me

Matt is joined by Vox's Libby Nelson and Jerusalem Demsas for a conversation about the rising cost of master’s programs, their usefulness in today’s economy, and their role as federally subsidized job training. Matt, Libby, and Jerusalem, explore their varied educational paths and discuss the effectiveness of student loan forgiveness for higher ed. This week’s white paper illuminates the downstrea...

Matt is joined by author and Harvard Kennedy School professor Maya Sen to talk about the state of the American judiciary. They discuss Breyer's unwillingness to retire, the pervasive influence of prestige on the "legal elite," the cult of RBG, the influence and role of The Federalist Society, and the inherent biases in the elite legal system that have led to an "affirmative action"-like feeder pro...

Matt and Dara are joined by Vox's Dylan Matthews to talk about what the Covid vaccine development process has taught us vaccine development, production, and regulation. They also discuss the way we fund scientific research, evaluating a possible "prize"-based alternative to our current grant-funding system, and some research is analyzed that concerns the resiliency of so-called "forced entrepreneu...

Matt is joined by economist and NYU faculty fellow Morgan Williams, Jr. to talk about his research on policing and gun control legislation, and the consequences of policy on crime and incarceration. Resources: "Police Force Size and Civilian Race" by Aaron Chalfin, Benjamin Hansen, Emily K. Weisburst & Morgan C. Williams Jr. (Dec. 2020) "Body-Worn Cameras in Policing: Benefits and Costs" by Morgan...

It's everybody's birthday! No, seriously. Taurus Matt Yglesias is joined by two people who also share a May 18th birthday: Vox's Libby Nelson and The Atlantic's Derek Thompson. They discuss the confusing range of public health and policy directives that have been issued to the American people over the 15+ months of the Covid pandemic. Plus, some research is discussed that evaluates the outcome of...

Matt is joined by New York Times education reporter Dana Goldstein to talk about what Biden's American Families Plan will do to bolster and expand public education access in this country. They talk about the plan for universal preschool, free community college, and also talk about how the administration has been involved in pandemic-related school reopening decisions behind the scenes. Resources:...

Matt and Dara are joined by Vox Politics and Policy Fellow Jerusalem Demsas to talk about homelessness, and the policies that have failed to even properly confront this problem. They talk about the decline of SRO housing, the progressives who seem to oppose any way to help out, and the 1951 sci-fi classic The Day the Earth Stood Still. Then, some research is discussed that takes a look at how Ital...

Matt is joined by Makena Kelly of The Verge to talk about some recent stories at the intersection of policy and tech. She discusses the Facebook Oversight Board's ambivalent "ruling" on Trump's ban from the platform, Apple's ongoing antitrust court battles, and the prospect for a sweeping antitrust overhaul foreshadowed by Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI). Resources: "Facebook's Trump ban can stay in p...

Matt and Dara are joined by Vox's Andrew Prokop to talk about the very notion of a president's "first hundred days," whether or not it is a useful or important metric for their performance. Andrew talks about the history of the term, originating with F.D.R., and our hosts evaluate some of the recent lines of comparison between Biden and Roosevelt that have been floating around in the discourse lat...

Matt is joined by Rachel Silverman, a policy fellow at the Center for Global Development, who talks about the extreme dangers and high prevalence of lead contamination globally. Despite the manifest health benefits that would be served by Biden's plans to finally replace lead pipes in the U.S., this is marginal compared to the lead poisoning occurring due to unregulated electronics recycling, trad...

Matt and Dara are joined by Vox's Andrew Prokop, author of an in-depth revelatory profile on America's swingiest Senator: Mr. Manchin in the Middle. Andrew brings Manchin's history as a legislator to bear in discussion, shedding light on what Manchin's policy goals as a legislator in this Congress might be (if he has any, that is), what his governing ideology might be beyond the mere politics of h...

Matt is joined by professor and transit researcher Eric Goldwyn to talk about why transit projects in the U.S. often fail. They discuss several high-profile cases, including the Second Avenue subway line in New York, the Green Line Extension in Boston, and the DC Streetcar. Why do cities spearhead redundant transit lines on top of existing rights-of-way? Why do cities in other countries spend so m...

Matt and Dara are joined by Vox's Dylan Scott to talk about his new Pandemic Playbook project from Vox, exploring how six nations coped with the Covid-19 pandemic, and evaluating what we can all learn from their experiences to help us with the next pandemic. In this episode, Dylan talks with Matt and Dara about how South Korea's response to Covid-19 was shaped in many ways by the 2015 MERS outbrea...

Matt is joined by author and podcast host Julia Galef to talk about her new book The Scout Mindset. They talk about the difference between epistemic and social confidence, the role of uncertainty in thinking critically, and — most of all — about fighting with people on the internet. Resources: The Scout Mindset: Why Some People See Things Clearly and Others Don't by Julia Galef (Apr. 2021) Guest:...

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 vers...

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 h...

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 heal...

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 o...

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 v...

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 c...

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,...

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....

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 Securit...

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: ht...

Vox's Kelsey Piper joins Matt to talk about the future of artificial intelligence and AI research. Should AI research be more heavily regulated, or banned? What kind of future will the continued development of AI bring us? Will AI turn out to be more like Skynet, or... like Philip Morris? Resources: "The case for taking AI seriously as a threat to humanity" by Kelsey Piper, Vox/Future Perfect (Upd...