Explain It to Me

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...

Dara, Jane, and Matt take a look at America's first pandemic Census. Resources: "The pandemic may leave communities of color undercounted in the census — and cost them billions" by Donna M. Owens, Vox "Trump is still trying to collect citizenship data for redistricting" by Nicole Narea, Vox "A once-in-a-century pandemic collides with a once-in-a-decade census" by Andrew Whitby, Brookings "Over a m...

Ezra and Matt on the deep roots (or not) of the lockdown debate. Resources: "Experts’ 7 best ideas on how to beat Covid-19 and save the economy" by Matthew Yglesias, Vox "This drawing explains a surprising amount about your political views" by Matthew Yglesias, Vox "America’s coronavirus testing numbers are really improving — finally" by German Lopez "The Density Divide" by Will Wilkinson, Niskane...

Dara, Jane, and Matt on the road ahead for the worst labor market since the Great Depression. Resources: "As deaths mount, Trump tries to convince Americans it’s safe to inch back to normal" by Josh Dawsey, Ashley Parker, Philip Rucker and Yasmeen Abutaleb, Washington Post "Get ready for a second wave of economic pain" by Matthew Yglesias, Vox "The economy is in free fall. So why isn’t the stock m...

Ezra and Matt on America's lost month and what happens next. Resources: "April was another lost month for Trump’s coronavirus response" by German Lopez, Vox "Flattening the curve isn’t good enough" by Matthew Yglesias, Vox "COVID-19: The CIDRAP Viewpoint" by Peter M. Sandman & Jody Lanard, Cidrap "Canada succeeded on coronavirus where America failed. Why?" by Zack Beauchamp, Vox "US coronavirus da...

Dara, Jane, and Matt break down the great mobilization vs persuasion debate. Resources: "What Happened in the Georgia Gubernatorial Election?" Catalist Analytics, Medium "The case for taking Trump’s black outreach seriously" by Matthew Yglesias, Vox "Michelle Obama Is Mad at ‘Our Folks,’ Not Trump Voters: ‘That’s My Trauma’" by Kevin Fallon, Daily Beast White paper Hosts: Matt Yglesias (@mattygles...

Ezra and Matt on congressional bargaining strategy and the China blame game. Resources: "Congressional Democrats are governing from the minority" by Ezra Klein, Vox "Many world leaders have seen double-digit polling surges amid coronavirus. Trump isn’t one of them." by Roge Karma, Vox Hosts: Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Senior correspondent, Vox Ezra Klein (@ezraklein), Editor-at-large, Vox C...

Jane, Dara, and Matt discuss the possibility of "human challenge trials" to speed vaccine development. Resources: "How Anthony Fauci Became America’s Doctor" by Michael Specter, The New Yorker "What Each Side of the COVID-19 Debate Should Understand About the Other" by Brian Doherty, Reason "Special Report: Peruvian coca farmers to Paris pushers, coronavirus upends global narcotics trade" by Gabri...

Ezra and Matt on the failures of some popular epidemiological forecasts and a viral Silicon Valley essay urging America to build again. Resources: "The US has a national service for predicting the weather. It needs one for predicting disease." by Brian Resnick, Vox "What happens next in the coronavirus outbreak? We mapped 8 scenarios." by Julia Belluz, Vox "It's time to build" by Marc Andreessen,...

Dara, Jane, and Matt on conservatives’ desire for a rapid reopening of American businesses, and a 'feel good' white paper about air pollution. Resources: "This is where all 50 states stand on reopening" by Alaa Eslassar, CNN The Heritage Foundation's plan. The American Enterprise's plan. The Center for American Progress's plan "The legal scholar who shaped Trump’s coronavirus response defends his...

Ezra and Matt break down the implementation problems that have bedeviled the CARES Act. Resources: "Policy by no other means" The Weeds Hosts: Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Senior correspondent, Vox Ezra Klein (@ezraklein), Editor-at-large, Vox Credits: Jeff Geld, (@jeff_geld), Editor and Producer Cold open courtesy of NBC News More to explore: Subscribe to Impeachment, Explained on Apple Podc...

Congressional oversight committee member Bharat Ramamurti joins Matt to explain his new job and what's wrong with shareholder capitalism. Guest: Bharat Ramamurti (@BharatRamamurti), Member, Congressional Oversight Commission Host: Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Senior correspondent, Vox Credits: Jeff Geld (@jeff_geld), Editor & Producer More to explore: Subscribe to Impeachment, Explained on Ap...

Ezra and Matt review four major plans for after social distancing; plus the Democratic primary finally ends. Resources: Dan Hopkins' tweet "National coronavirus response: A road map to reopening" by Scott Gottlieb, AEI "A National and State Plan To End the Coronavirus Crisis" By Zeke Emanuel, Neera Tanden, Topher Spiro, Adam Conner, Kevin DeGood, Erin Simpson, Nicole Rapfogel, and Maura Calsyn, Ce...

Dara, Jane, and Matt on the intersection between the pandemic and Trump's border crackdown, and a white paper about happiness. Resources: "It’s Impossible to “Distance” in ICE Detention. Doctors Say Free All Detainees." by Jack Herrera, Truthout "How ice operations in New York set the stage for a coronavirus nightmare in local jails" by Ryan Devereaux, The Intercept "Leaked Border Patrol Memo Tell...

Ezra and Matt discuss Covid-19's impact on insurance premiums, the case for single-payer, and more. Resources: "Coronavirus May Add Billions to U.S. Health Care Bill" by Reed Abelson, NYTimes "The coronavirus crisis hasn't changed Joe Biden's mind on 'Medicare for All'" by Sahil Kapur, NBC News Briahna Joy Gray Tweet "Fighting coronavirus won’t help struggling Maine hospitals pay the bills" by Cha...