Explain It to Me

Jane, Dara, and Matt discuss a tragic death in Dallas and the difficult politics of police reform. References and further reading: Adam Serwer’s piece in the Atlantic on the National Rifle Association’s Catch-22 Numbers on the NRA David French names this “the worst police shooting yet” Jane Esberg and Jonathan Mummolo paper explaining the misperceptions of crime Josh Sugarmann explains the ties be...

Dara, Ezra, and Matt discuss the allegations that could derail Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation References and further reading: Christine Blasey Ford speaks out to the Washington Post Malcolm Gladwell's episode of Revisionist History on Brian Williams Twitter thread from Sandra Newman on false accusations Report on binge drinking by high school students since the 70s Slate article on Judge Kozinski'...

Jane, Dara, and Matt talk about the potential meltdown of one of America’s most important entrepreneurs. References and further reading: Emily Stewart's piece on Elon Musk smoking pot  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dara, Ezra, and Matt talk about Bob Woodward’s book, that op-ed, and the two-track Trump presidency. References and further reading: The infamous NY Times op-ed written by a White House insider Andrew Prokop's explainer of Bob Woodward's new book White paper: Does Rape Culture Predict Rape?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jane, Dara, and Matt get ready for some football. References and further reading: Jane's explainer of the NFL protests Jane's piece on Nike's new "Just Do It" campaign Jane's piece "Nike has made billions selling rebellion to young people"  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jane, Dara, and Matt kick off the unofficial beginning of campaign season by asking what happens if Democrats win in November and what if they lose? References and further reading: Matt's piece on the House Republican list of investigations that could happen if Dems win David Mayhew's Divided We Govern, mentioned by Matt Dara's piece on where DACA stands now  Learn more about your ad choices. Visi...

In an unexpectedly globe-hopping episode of The Weeds, Dara and Worldly co-host Zack Beauchamp examine the ripple effects of Trump’s America First attitude toward the refugee crisis. References and further reading: Politico article about how the Trump administration is slow walking refugee resettlement for 2018 with rumors of even lower levels for 2019 Trump's turn away from global leadership on r...

Vox politics editor Laura McGann joins Dara and Matt to talk about John McCain's legacy and Donald Trump's response to his death, then Dara and Matt tackle a white paper that looks at the connection between financial decisions and partisanship. References and further reading: Matt's piece about John McCain's death Laura's piece on John McCain's ties to Sarah Palin Ryan Lizza's piece on the 2013 im...

Jane, Dara, and Matt talk about Paul Manafort’s guilty verdict, Michael Cohen’s guilty plea, and what comes next for Donald Trump. References and further reading: Dara's piece about Donald Trump's tweets and what they say about his relationship with Manafort and Cohen Matt's piece about Trump's Fox & Friends interview Jane's piece on how the right is spinning the Cohen and Manafort news Ken White'...

Dara, Ezra, and Matt discuss a big idea to make the economy great again. References and further reading: Matt's piece on Elizabeth Warren's corporate accountability bill Matt's piece on Kevin Williamson's attack on Warren's accountability bill The Varieties of Capitalism, book mentioned by Matt David Ciepley's writing on corporations, mentioned by Dara Dylan Matthews' piece on co-determination , m...

Jane Coaston joins Matt and Dara to talk about exploding housing costs in America’s coastal cities and what we can do about them. References and further reading: Jeff Stein's piece on rent and housing  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Emily Stewart joins Dara and Matt to talk about the perhaps-unbelievable book everyone’s talking about, and the dysfunctional White House that spawned it. References and further reading: Emily's piece on Omarosa's recording of John Kelly Emily's highlights from Omarosa's book Unhinged Maggie Haberman tweet confirming that earlier secret White House tapings were not Omarosa, mentioned by Dara White...

Senior health correspondent Julia Belluz and science reporter Brian Resnick join Dara and Matt to discuss the replication crisis in scientific studies. References and further reading: Brian's piece on the marshmallow test John P. A. Ioannidis' "Most Published Research Findings Are False," mentioned by Julia Scientists tired to replicate 100 psychological studies, 40% passed, mentioned by Brian Sci...

Jane Coaston and Dylan Matthews join Ezra to discuss the Sarah Jeong fracas, the Ben Shapiro-Mark Duplass meltdown, the problems with Twitter, the ways partisan dehumanize each other, and more. References and further reading: The context for Sarah Jeong's "goblins" tweet The context for Sarah Jeong's "cut white people" tweet  German Lopez's piece on what makes people less racist Brian Resnick's pi...

Andrew Prokop joins Dara and Matt to talk about Paul Manafort’s trial and what it means for the larger Russia investigation. References and further reading: Andrew's piece on the trials of Paul Manafort Andrew's breakdown of the opening statements at Manafort's trial Franklin Foer's profile of Manafort, mentioned by Andrew  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jane Coaston joins Dara, Ezra, and Matt to talk about the racial panic tearing America apart and also salt. References and further reading: Ezra's piece on the changing demographics in America Identity Crisis book mentioned by Ezra Salt white paper  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Congressional reporter Tara Golshan joins Dara and Matt to break down Trump’s kinda sorta trade deal with the EU and ongoing trade tensions with China” References and further reading: Tara's piece on Trump's mischaracterization of the US trade deficit Politico Europe rundown of the trade deal, mentioned by Matt The Weeds has been nominated for this year's People's Choice Podcast Awards! Cast your...

Matt, Dara and Ezra talk about Republicans, Trump and Russia. Plus: A research paper reveals how Dara lost on College Jeopardy. References and further reading: Politico Playbook piece mentioned by Matt, "GOP to the world: What would you like us to do?" Law Review paper "Separation of Parties, Not Powers" The Weeds has been nominated for this year's People's Choice Podcast Awards! Cast your vote fo...

Senior criminal justice reporter German Lopez joins Dara and Matt to talk about the high number of unsolved homicides in America. References and further reading: Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America by Jill Leovy German's reporting on the violent crime clearance rate in America Study referenced by Dara that looked at community cooperation from Secure Communities (a massive federal immigra...

Dara, Ezra, and Matt discuss President Trump's remarkable performance in Helsinki and new research on employers colluding to hold down pay. Links: Dara mentioned Quinta Jurecic's piece tying Trump in Helsinki to Trump on Charlottesville. Here's the Ari Fleischer tweet Ezra referenced. Ezra walked through what we know about Trump's dealings with Russia. Here's that rundown (and more analysis) in te...

Dylan Scott joins Dara and Matt to talk about the Trump administration’s latest moves to destabilize health insurance markets. Dylan's piece on risk adjustment payments, and another piece on the Trump administration’s latest steps to undermine the Affordable Care Act. Dylan also specifically referenced Nicholas Bagley. Read him on risk adjustments here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podc...

Dara, Ezra, and Matt break down what we know about Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court References and further reading: Paper about Norwegian immigrants, mentioned by Matt "Twice a Stranger: The Mass Expulsions that Forged Modern Greece and Turkey" good book with background on the refugee paper Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Staff writer Zeeshan Aleem joins Dara and Matt to break down what's really happening with Trump and trade, and how much it matters. References and further reading: Zeeshan's piece on the US-China trade war Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matt, Dara and Ezra talk about the Trump administration's use of family detention as an alternative to family separation. Then they turn to a white paper that looks at racial attitudes and white privilege. References and further reading: Tara Golshan's piece on the latest immigration bill Politico piece on the Senate efforts to fix family separation "Racial attitudes in response to thoughts of Whi...

Vox senior politics reporter Jane Coaston joins Matt and Dara to talk about the future of the Supreme Court without Justice Kennedy. References and further reading: NYT piece on Justice Kennedy's son's connections to the Trump family Dara's piece on the most likely picks for Kennedy's replacement Jane's piece on Senator Mike Lee Jane's piece on polling that show's Trump voters were motivated by th...