Explain It to Me

The problem of school lunch debt is not a new one. But during the early days of the Covid-19 public health emergency, Congress had a solution: universal free school lunch. Suddenly, federal waivers were available to public schools around the country, and food insecurity in at-risk households dropped by 7 percent. But, like many other Covid-era policies, it lapsed. And while some states moved to ma...

In case you missed it, Donald Trump was indicted once again, this time for his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia. But this indictment is different from the others, because it involves a RICO charge. RICO, short for Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, is most commonly used to prosecute organized crime. These cases can also be exceedingly complicated, and o...

In early July, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott installed a chain of buoys and barbed wire in the Rio Grande as part of his “Operation Lone Star” plan to crack down on illegal border crossings. Then, a few days later, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit in response to the floating buoy border. The DOJ is using an obscure 1899 law called the Rivers and Harbors Act as the legal basis for this suit, claimin...

Finding a therapist can be exhausting. Between connecting with a clinician you like and locating someone who takes your insurance, it can be a daunting process. And despite a 2008 law that requires parity between mental and physical health care, insurers have found workarounds. Now, the Biden administration is moving to strengthen the parity law to make it easier for folks to access mental health...

For the first time ever in America, a birth control pill will be available over the counter. In July 2023, the Food and Drug Administration approved Opill, a progestin-only form of daily oral contraception. This move could open the doors to millions of people who need, and want, to use birth control. To understand the court rulings that got us here, the potential obstacles to equal access, and wha...

Last month, the Supreme Court struck down President Biden’s student loan forgiveness program. Student loan debt these days weighs in at about $1.7 trillion. Leah Litman and Josh Mitchell join us on the latest episode of The Weeds to dive into the legal landscape and discuss how we got this student loan system in the first place.  Read More: The Supreme Court’s student loan decision in Biden v. Neb...

Many states have extremely punitive policies around cannabis and pregnancy. But researchers don't actually have great data on cannabis's harms. This episode of Unexplainable originally aired in May 2023. Read More: Weed in pregnancy: Is it safe? - Vox  Submit your policy questions! We want to know what you’re curious about. Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a donation to Vox: bit.l...

If you’re buying a new home, there’s a good chance it’s part of a homeowners association. HOAs are a form of common interest housing, and roughly a quarter of Americans live in communities with one. These private entities work as a pseudo-government in many neighborhoods, and they’re shaping housing policy across the country. Read More: When your neighbors become your overlords  Submit your policy...

A popular saying is that public libraries are the last bastion of true democracy. But in recent months, Republican state lawmakers and local elected boards in states including Texas and Missouri have threatened libraries as a way to control what materials patrons can and cannot access. But these funding threats didn’t come out of nowhere. They often start with book bans in public schools. In today...

In this live taping of The Weeds from TruCon 2023, host Jonquilyn Hill sits down with Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the United Nations, for a conversation about the role of Africa in the current geopolitical landscape. They discuss the ongoing conflict in Sudan, Uganda’s new anti-LGBTQ law, South Africa’s move to supply weapons to Russia, and take some audience questions.  Submit y...

For many Black children, their first encounter with the discrimination that will trail them their whole lives comes from the school system — a system where they are five times more likely to attend a segregated school than their white counterparts. This early exposure to segregation is one of many possible factors contributing to what’s known as the racial achievement gap — the gap between Black a...

Do Montanans have a constitutional right to a clean and healthy environment? According to the state constitution they do. And a group of young people are using that language to sue the state over its energy policies. The case is called Held v. Montana, and the plaintiffs want to prove the state’s energy policies directly harm the Montana environment. In today’s episode of The Weeds, we’ll dig into...

Summer is around the corner, which means the latest rulings from this Supreme Court are as well. Two cases will take on affirmative action. In this episode of The Weeds we go on a deep dive with Vox reporters Fabiola Cineas and Ian Millhiser and look at the man behind both cases, the current state of affirmative action, and what a future without this policy would look like. Read More: Everything y...

The first child labor law in America went on the books almost 200 years ago, and federal labor protections were enshrined in the Fair Labor Standards Act nearly 100 years later in 1938. So almost a century after the passage of the FLSA, why are we seeing reports of children working in factories, slaughterhouses, and even at McDonald’s? Meanwhile, state legislators are introducing bills across the...

In recent years, there’s been a dramatic increase in the number of anti-LGBTQ bills introduced in state legislatures across the country. The ACLU is currently tracking 474 such bills, the majority of which target transgender rights. Meanwhile, trans people are over four times more likely than cisgender people to be the victims of violent crime. And according to a 2022 report from the Trevor Projec...

Question: What is the world’s largest habitat? Here’s a hint: It also takes up about half of the Earth’s surface. Any guesses? It’s the high seas, the parts of the open ocean outside any single country’s jurisdiction. And for the first time ever, there is a plan to protect it.  Read More: The largest habitat on Earth is finally getting protection | Vox The High Seas Treaty, Explained | Reuters The...

On this week’s episode of The Weeds, we sit down with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to talk about transportation policy in America. From subways and buses to cars and safer roads, listen for more about the future of public transportation and the policies that can curb traffic deaths. Plus, more from Vox’s Marin Cogan and her reporting on the deadliest road in America.  Related Reading: H...

It’s been 10 days since a federal judge in Texas issued an unprecedented ruling that nullified the 2000 Food and Drug Administration approval of mifepristone, the first medication in a two-pill combination for medication abortion. A confusing legal battle ensued, and now we are waiting to hear from the Supreme Court. But we still want to know: What does this mean for the future of FDA drug approva...

Sean Illing speaks with Matthew Jones, historian of science and technology, and co-author (with data scientist Chris Wiggins) of the new book How Data Happened. They discuss the surprisingly long history of data from the 18th century to today, in service of explaining how we wound up in a world where our personal information is mined by giant corporations for profit. They talk about how the allure...

After the shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville in late March, President Biden once again called for reinstating the federal assault weapons ban. The United States banned new sales of assault weapons from 1994 to 2004, but the law was easy to skirt, and the data we do have about its effectiveness is complicated. Is an assault weapons ban where advocates should spend their political capital?...

On April 1, 2023, a Covid-era Medicaid policy called continuous enrollment will end. The policy allowed recipients to retain their benefits, even if they were no longer eligible, throughout the federal public health emergency and prevented lapses in coverage. Now that that’s coming to an end, state Medicaid offices need to audit their enrollees. But that process isn’t so simple, and millions are e...

This month, the Illinois Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case examining the Safe-T Act. The legislation would bring sweeping reform to the state’s criminal justice system, but one policy in particular has caught the eye and the ire of prosecutors: the elimination of cash bail. Proponents say ending cash bail bonds will get rid of inequities that favor the rich; opponents say it will lead t...

You’ve probably heard by now that President Joe Biden released his 2024 budget proposal. You’ve also probably heard that it has almost no chance of passing through both chambers of Congress. What is likely to come to pass is more drama over a recurring problem: the fight over the debt ceiling. If the US doesn’t raise the ceiling and defaults on its debt, financial catastrophe would ensue. What doe...

On the evening of February 3, 2023, a Norfolk Southern train carrying toxic chemicals derailed outside of East Palestine, Ohio. The environmental impact was almost immediate: Residents were forced to evacuate while authorities carried out a controlled release of the hazardous chemical vinyl chloride. The aftermath also raises questions about freight rail policy and regulation. Host Jonquilyn Hill...

Almost 30 years ago, President Bill Clinton signed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act into law. This policy would have far-reaching implications and ripple effects that are still present today. Here to explain are two beloved Weeds alumni: Dara Lind and Dylan Matthews.  References: (2016) The disastrous, forgotten 1996 law that created today's immigration problem  (201...