Explain It to Me

Pollsters are starting to panic. There’s headline after headline after headline ahead of the midterms on whether this election cycle’s polling is accurate or not. How does polling actually work? Is it really representative of how voters are feeling and what the outcome will be on Election Day? And when it comes to Democrats, why is polling so wrong? Amy Walter, publisher and editor-in-chief of the Cook Political Report, explains why polls are complicated, lessons to learn from past elections, and what we could expect this November.References:Which Midterm Polls Should We Be Taking With a Grain of Salt?Pollsters fear they’re blowing it again in 2022Hosts: Jonquilyn Hill (@jonquilynhill)Credits:Sofi LaLonde, producer and 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

US immigration policy is complicated. And when Republican Govs. Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis chartered buses and planes to relocate migrants to “blue cities,” it raised a ton of legal questions. But it also ignited the age-old question about our immigration system: Why is it so complicated? Weeds veteran Dara Lind (@DLind) explains.References:Why Ron DeSantis is baiting Biden on the border Opinion | Ron DeSantis Is Making an Asylum Crisis of His OwnHost:Jonquilyn Hill (@jonquilynhill), Vox senior producer Credits:Sofi LaLonde, producer and 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

For the September issue of The Highlight, the Vox politics team examined the fastest growing voting bloc in the country: Latino voters. But the 32 million voters that make up the Latino electorate are not a monolithic group. In today’s episode, we’ll look at the intricacies and nuances of the Latino voting bloc and what might happen in the 2022 midterm elections.References:Ruben Gallego's ready for a fight — even if the Democratic Party isn't Yes, most Latinos are Christian. No, that doesn't make them anti-abortion. Latino voters are being flooded with even more misinformation in 2022 The full September issue of The Highlight from VoxHosts:Marin Cogan (@marincogan), senior correspondentChristian Paz (@realcpaz), senior politics reporterNicole Narea (@nicolenarea), politics reporterCredits:Sofi LaLonde, producer and engineerLibby Nelson, editorial adviserAmber 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

How do we make life better for future generations? Who gets to make those decisions? These are tough questions, and today’s guest, philosopher William MacAskill (@willmacaskill), tries to help us answer them.References: What We Owe the Future by William MacAskillEffective altruism's most controversial idea How effective altruism went from a niche movement to a billion-dollar forceEffective altruism’s longtermist goals for the future don’t hurt people in the present Hosts:Bryan Walsh (@bryanrwalsh)Sigal Samuel (@sigalsamuel)Credits:Sofi LaLonde, producer and 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

Today on The Weeds, we are sharing an episode of another Vox podcast, Unexplainable, that originally aired in June 2022. Millions of Americans take dietary supplements — everything from vitamins and minerals to weight-loss pills and probiotics. But because supplements are loosely regulated in the US, their makers don't have to prove that they work, or even that they are safe.Full transcript available here.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

Join editor Libby Nelson (@libbyanelson) and reporters Rachel Cohen (@rmc031) and Madeleine Ngo (@maddiengo) for a summer policy wrap-up. Inflation, the economy, and gas prices were on everyone’s minds, but we have even more policy news to talk about. Both Congress and the Biden administration made one last late-summer policy push with the Inflation Reduction Act and student loan cancellation. What does this all mean for you? Listen to find out!References:School vaccine mandates for Covid-19 are not happening Will student loan forgiveness make inflation worse?Inflation is finally slowing down. Will things get cheaper? The inflation numbers are bad — but how bad are they?  GDP declined again — but that might not mean we're in a recession ”Standard Oil” octopus cartoon Credits:Sofi LaLonde, producer and engineerLibby Nelson, editorial adviserA.M. Hall, deputy editorial directorWant to support The Weeds? Please consider making a donation to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

Vox senior correspondent Zack Beauchamp and Vox senior foreign writer Jonathan Guyer discuss the killing of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, one of the organizers behind the September 11, 2001, attacks on the US. His death marks a turning point in the “war on terror” and US foreign policy, but what kind of turning point? Can we say the war on terror is over, or is it just entering a new stage?References:What Ayman Zawahiri’s death tells us about terrorism and US foreign policyAyman al-Zawahiri’s death by drone was President Biden’s opportunity to end the war on terrorismNo one has been held accountable for the catastrophic Afghanistan withdrawal Where in the world are Russians going to avoid sanctions? Hosts:Zack Beauchamp (@zackbeauchamp), senior correspondent, VoxJonathan Guyer (@mideastXmidwest), senior foreign policy writer, Vox Credits:Sofi LaLonde, producer and engineerLibby Nelson, editorial adviserAmber 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

In a surprise to many, last week Kansas overwhelmingly voted down an anti-abortion ballot initiative. If abortion rights can win in a deep-red state, what does that mean for the midterms this fall? Join Vox policy editor Libby Nelson (@libbyanelson), Vox senior policy reporter Rachel Cohen (@rmc031), and Vox politics reporter Nicole Narea (@nicolenarea) for a conversation about the new state of abortion politics.References:Abortion was on the ballot in Kansas. Access won. Why the Kansas abortion amendment is so confusing The challenge of turning pro-choice Americans into pro-choice voters The states pushing abortion ballot measures in 2022 post-RoeSenate Democrats slowly consider their options after Roe  Hosts:Libby Nelson (@libbyanelson)Rachel Cohen (@rmc031)Nicole Narea (@nicolenarea)Credits:Sofi LaLonde, producer and engineerLibby Nelson, editorial adviserAmber Hall, deputy editorial director of talk podcastsSign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weedsletter 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

As the Earth swelters through yet another record-breaking summer, a surprise push for climate legislation on Capitol Hill gave us a shimmer of optimism and hope toward fighting climate change. But, while it’s a step in the right direction to reduce carbon emissions, it’s not a panacea. How do we maintain optimism, even when the right steps feel too small?References:Summaries of the climate, tax, and prescription drug parts of the Manchin dealWhat Democrats' big new bill would actually do What the Inflation Reduction Act needs to pass, including Sen. SinemaPrinceton researchers’ estimate of the deal’s climate impactThe Republican vote against benefits for veterans exposed to toxinsThe White House/Employ America plan to reduce gas pricesNina Kelsey’s theory of the “green spiral”It’s so hot in Europe that roads are literally bucklingEurope is burning like it’s 2052Hosts:Bryan Walsh(@bryanrwalsh), Future Perfect editor, VoxDylan Matthews, (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, VoxSigal Samuel (@sigalsamuel), Future Perfect senior reporter, VoxCredits:Sofi LaLonde, producer and engineerLibby Nelson, editorial adviserAmber Hall, deputy editorial director of talk podcastsSign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weedsletter 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