Explain It to Me

Buckle up for another trip in the Weeds Time Machine! Today, we are going back in time to 1965 to talk about one of the most significant pieces of civil rights legislation in American history: the Voting Rights Act. Once again, its fate is in the hands of the Supreme Court. Professor Atiba R. Ellis walks us through the legislative and judicial history of this landmark policy.References:Atiba Ellis Brief amici curiae of Boston University Center for Antiracist Research & Professor Atiba R. EllisAtiba Ellis: Using Memes to Break Out of Voter Fraud Talk The Changing Racial and Ethnic Composition of the U.S. Electorate | Pew Research Center Voting Rights Act (1965) | National Archives Host:Jonquilyn HillCredits:Sofi LaLonde, producerCristian Ayala, engineerA.M. Hall, editorial director of talk podcastsWant to support The Weeds? Please consider making a donation to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Politics is how people achieve power. Policy is what they do with it. Every week on The Weeds, host Jonquilyn Hill and guests break down the policies that shape our lives, from abortion to financial regulations to affirmative action to housing. We dive deep and we get wonky, but we have fun along the way. New episodes drop every Wednesday. From Vox and the Vox Media Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gerrymandering shapes our political maps, which in turn shape our policies. While there are concerns about how hyperpartisan voting maps are becoming, there’s one state where grassroots organizers have changed the system. On today’s episode of The Weeds, we pass the mike to one of you and answer your burning questions about redistricting in this polarized era. References:Where Did the Term “Gerrymander” Come From? | History| Smithsonian MagazineOpinion: Gerrymandering on steroids is the new normal | CNNRedistricting experts weigh in on results of first general election under new maps | Detroit Free Press Ratf**ked: Why Your Vote Doesn't Count, a book by David Daley Host:Jonquilyn HillCredits:Sofi LaLonde, producerCristian Ayala, engineerLibby Nelson, editorial adviserA.M. Hall, editorial director of talk podcastsWant to support The Weeds? Please consider making a donation to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

(Originally aired May 2022) Dylan Matthews and Dara Lind are joined by Annie Lowrey (@annielowrey), a staff writer at the Atlantic, to talk about why it’s so hard for people to get government benefits. Frequently called the “time tax,” the administrative burden of applying for and distributing government benefits leads to thousands of people not getting the aid they qualify for. References:Annie Lowrey on Code America’s efforts to fight the Time TaxPamela Herd and Don Moynihan's book on administrative burdenWhy Is It So Hard to Make a Website for the Government? from the New York TimesWhite paper — Program Recertification Costs: Evidence from SNAPA sudden change to SSI eligibility had huge, lasting negative consequencesCredits:Sofi LaLonde, producer and engineerLibby Nelson, editorial adviserA.M. Hall, editorial director of talk podcastsWant to support The Weeds? Please consider making a donation to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 2022, we saw a lot of climate change news. Europe hit record-high temperatures, Pakistan was devastated by flooding, and in the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency got a little less powerful. While those are major causes for concern, there is a bright spot on the climate change policy landscape: 2023. Vox’s Rebecca Leber (@rebleber) tells us what to look forward to next year. References:The next frontier for climate action is the great indoors The mystery of methane gone missing The US could stop one cause of heat wave deaths tomorrow Climate change has made air conditioning a vital necessity. It also heats up the planetThe good and bad news for the planet after the latest UN climate talks Even Breathing Is A Risk In One Of Orlando's Poorest Neighborhoods | HuffPost Voices Host:Jonquilyn Hill (@jonquilynhill)Credits:Sofi LaLonde, producer and engineerLibby Nelson, editorial adviserA.M. Hall, editorial director of talk podcastsWant to support The Weeds? Please consider making a donation to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Last month, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced a new mental health policy that lowers the threshold for involuntary commitments for psychiatric care. While the Adams administration argues this shift is a solution for growing crime and homelessness numbers, critics argue it’s a step in the wrong direction. What’s the history behind involuntary holds, and what does it say about mental health policy in America?References:988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline SAMHSA Introducing the "Designed to Fail" series | Mental Health America America's Long-Suffering Mental Health System Hosts:Jonquilyn Hill (@jonquilynhill)Credits:Sofi LaLonde, producer Cristian Ayala, engineerLibby Nelson, editorial adviserA.M. Hall, editorial director of talk podcastsWant to support The Weeds? Please consider making a donation to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With the 2022 midterm elections mostly over, members of Congress are back on the Hill to wrap up loose legislative ends. One of the bipartisan bills floating through the lame-duck session is the Electoral Count Reform Act, a bill that would add protections to the presidential transfer of power. So, what exactly does this legislation do to protect elections, and is it enough? Hosts:Jonquilyn Hill (@jonquilynhill)Credits:Sofi LaLonde, producerCristian Ayala, engineerLibby Nelson, editorial adviserA.M. Hall, editorial director of talk podcastsWant to support The Weeds? Please consider making a donation to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

(Originally aired August 2022) Vox senior correspondent Dylan Matthews sits down with Felicia Wong (@FeliciaWongRI), president and CEO of the Roosevelt Institute, to talk about a new era of industrial policy. They discuss the theory of modern supply-side economics, the passage of the Inflation Reduction and CHIPS acts, and how much common ground exists between the political left and the right.Hosts:Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, VoxCredits:Sofi LaLonde, producer and engineerA.M. Hall, editorial director Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a donation to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The world of cryptocurrency is infamously unregulated, but what happens when a major crypto exchange crashes, uprooting almost the entire crypto ecosystem, and there’s no regulatory body in charge? You have the FTX crash of 2022. And it’s hard to ignore the elephant in the room: why don’t we have a regulation framework for crypto? It seems like an obvious solution, but as The Verge’s Liz Lopatto (@mslopatto) and financial regulation expert Yesha Yadav explain, it’s not as simple as it sounds. References:Sam Bankman-Fried tries to explain himselfThe collapse of FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried’s shocking downfallHow FTX played both parties and almost won Washington Man who cleaned up Enron says FTX is worse Binance to sell rest of FTX token holdings as Alameda CEO defends firm's financial condition Hosts:Jonquilyn Hill (@jonquilynhill)Credits:Sofi LaLonde, producerPatrick Boyd, engineerLibby Nelson, editorial adviserA.M. Hall, deputy editorial director of talk podcastsWant to support The Weeds? Please consider making a donation to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Let’s be blunt: Weed policy is complicated. As with many elections in the past decade, recreational marijuana was on the ballot again during the 2022 midterm elections. After Colorado and Washington voted to legalize recreational use in 2012, more and more states have decided to ride the green wave. And recent moves by the Biden administration signal the federal government may finally come around to decriminalizing marijuana. But do these policies have any power? References:Marijuana election results: Maryland and Missouri vote to legalize cannabis by ballot measurePresident Biden’s pardons for marijuana possession, explained Federal marijuana legalization is stopped in its tracksHosts:Jonquilyn Hill (@jonquilynhill)Credits:Sofi LaLonde, producerCristian Ayala, engineerLibby Nelson, editorial adviserA.M. Hall, deputy editorial director of talk podcastsWant to support The Weeds? Please consider making a donation to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices