Explain It to Me

Dylan Matthews, Dara Lind, and Vox policy editor Libby Nelson discuss the findings of two recent studies on early childhood development. One study found that cash transfers increase brain activity in infants, while the other found a negative impact of universal pre-K on academic outcomes. So ... what’s actually going on here? Does one negate the other? The Weeds team talks it out. Plus, a white paper on the effects of parenthood on voter turnout.References:Dylan’s story on the cash-transfer study and his piece on the universal pre-K findingsThe impact of a poverty reduction intervention on infant brain activity. PNASThe New York Times’s Jason DeParle’s take on the cash-transfer studyScott Alexander summarizes the skeptical takes on the cash transfer studyNoah Smith’s review of the research on pre-K, and Kelsey Piper’sEffects of a Statewide Pre-Kindergarten Program on Children’s Achievement and Behavior Through Sixth GradeWhite Paper: Parents, Infants and Voter Turnout: Evidence from the United StatesHosts:Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, VoxDara Lind (@dlind), immigration reporter, ProPublicaLibby Nelson (@libbyanelson), policy editor, 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

Dara Lind talks with professor Gabriel Winant of the University of Chicago about the new Bureau of Labor Statistics report that showed a topline decline in union membership despite increasing labor-oriented momentum. And later, journalist Rachel Cohen (@rmc031) joins to talk about the importance of teachers’ unions in the labor movement and in Democratic politics. References:The Next Shift: The Fall of Industry and the Rise of Health Care in Rust Belt America, Gabriel Winant Rachel Cohen’s recent article about school closures and Democrats The recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report on union membership numbersHosts:Dara Lind (@dlind), immigration reporter, ProPublicaCredits: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

Dylan Matthews and Jerusalem Demsas talk with Emily Rong Zhang, a PhD candidate in political science at Stanford and a former Skadden Fellow at the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, about the recent attempts in Congress to pass voting rights legislation. And, a white paper about voter ID laws, written by Emily herself!References:Recapping Congress’s failed voting rights pushWhy some Dem strategists were skeptical of the effortThe case for fixing the Electoral Count ActWhat happens after the voting rights fightsWhite Paper: “What the Debate over Voter ID Laws' Effects Teaches about Asking the Right Questions”Hosts:Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, VoxJerusalem Demsas (@jerusalemdemsas), policy 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

Jerusalem Demsas and Dylan Matthews talk with Joey Politano (@JosephPolitano), economics blogger and self-described "mid-tier take-haver," to go over one big question on people’s minds right now: are corporations profiting off of inflation? References:Joey’s blog post about rising corporate prices and inflationSen. Elizabeth Warren on rising corporate profit marginsPaul Krugman’s newsletter from this weekBinyamin Appelbaum on the meatpacking industryThe White House’s statement on meat companies taking advantage of market power The letter from President Joe Biden to FTC chair Lina Khan“Could strategic price controls help fight inflation?” in the GuardianRethinking Inflation Policy: A toolkit for economic recovery by JW Mason and Lauren MelodiaHosts:Jerusalem Demsas (@jerusalemdemsas), policy reporter, VoxDylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, 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

Weeds co-hosts Jerusalem Demsas and Dara Lind talk with Robinson Meyer (@yayitsrob), staff writer at the Atlantic, about the climate provisions in President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better bill. They discuss specific climate-focused policy proposals and the political stalemate Congress is in, thanks to the filibuster in the Senate. Plus, a white paper about building codes and wildfires in California.References: Robinson Meyer on the climate gamble going on in CongressWeeds alum Matt Yglesias on the Build Back Better BillVox’s Rebecca Leber on why Joe Manchin may have doomed climate policyA 2016 piece from Vox’s Dylan Matthews about money in politics“Progressive leader calls on Biden to unilaterally act on agenda,” The Hill“Manchin's $1.8 trillion spending offer appears no longer to be on the table,” The Washington Post “Noisy and Unsafe: Stop Fetishizing Old Homes,” The AtlanticHosts:Jerusalem Demsas (@jerusalemdemsas), policy reporter, VoxDara Lind (@dlind) immigration reporter and Weeds host, 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

Dylan talks to John M. Barry, distinguished scholar at Tulane University and author of The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History, about the Spanish flu of 1918-1919, its parallels to Covid-19, and what that pandemic’s end tells us about how this one might end.References:The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in HistoryHosts:Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, 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

Dylan, Jerusalem, and special guest Bryan Walsh discuss the slowing population growth in America, and what a smaller-than-expected America could mean. They also talk about which immigration and child care policies could speed up population growth. Finally, they discuss a paper on why Europe is so much more equal than America.References:The Great Population SlowdownHow immigration could reverse population declineThe rise of childlessnessThe climate case that it’s okay to have kidsThe link between fertility and incomeThe complex relationship between housing prices and fertilityChanges in abortion access in a post-Roe AmericaRomania’s abortion ban and its effect on fertilityRecent research on global fertility patterns and cohabitationWhat is the relationship between gender equality and fertility rates? The Conservative Fertility AdvantageWhite paper: “Why Is Europe More Equal than the United States?”A critique of the paper’s approach to health careHosts:Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, VoxJerusalem Demsas (@jerusalemdemsas), policy reporter, VoxBryan Walsh (@bryanrwalsh), editor for Future Perfect, 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

How does someone get radicalized? What do political scientists see as the building blocks of political violence? Is there anything we can do to stop radicalization? One year after the insurrection on January 6, 2021, Vox policy reporter Jerusalem Demsas talks with Peter Neumann, a professor of security studies at King’s College in London, to answer these questions. References:Vox’s Zack Beauchamp on where the crisis in American democracy might be headedPeter Neumann’s paper: The trouble with radicalizationA Q&A with a French philosopher about the fear of replacement within white nationalismColin Clarke writes for Politico on what happened after January 6Northwestern University research about the perceived threat of a racial demographic shift in the USHosts:Jerusalem Demsas (@jerusalemdemsas), policy 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

Dylan and Dara are joined by Vox’s Libby Nelson to talk about the policy merits and political implications of plans to cancel some or all student loans. They also discuss whether President Joe Biden has the power to cancel student debt unilaterally. And, Vox’s Jerusalem Demsas joins Dylan and Dara for a white paper about prisoners of war and genetics. References: Brookings Institution’s Andre Perry on why student loan forgiveness isn't regressive How canceling student debt helps beneficiaries get out of other debt The racial justice case for student loan cancellation Luke Herrine arguing that the Department of Education can erase debt unilaterally Is there a secret memo saying Biden can erase the debt? David Leonhardt’s case against debt cancellation White Paper of the Week: “Health Shocks of the Father and Longevity of the Children's Children” Hosts: Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, Vox Jerusalem Demsas (@jerusalemdemsas), policy reporter, Vox Dara Lind (@dlind), immigration reporter Libby Nelson (@libbyanelson) policy editor, Vox Credits: Sofi LaLonde, producer and engineer Libby Nelson, editorial adviser Amber Hall, deputy editorial director of talk podcasts Sign 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

Vox senior reporter Rebecca Leber (@rbleber) joins The Weeds to explain the problem of migration caused by climate change, such as that due to wildfires, rising seas, and crop failures. She explains how a warming planet is forcing people to move both in the US and internationally, and how policymakers are and aren’t adapting. Vox reporters Dylan Matthews and Jerusalem Demsas continue the conversation with ProPublica’s Dara Lind, discussing a new white paper arguing that social mobility in America rose in the 20th century.References: ProPublica’s feature on climate migration in Central AmericaHow climate change is driving up flood insurance premiums in Canarsie, Brooklyn NPR’s investigation into the federal government selling flood-prone houses to low-income families California is encouraging rebuilding in fire-prone regionsThe case for “managed retreat” from coastal areas A New York Times feature on how climate migration will reshape America The Grapes of Wrath, John SteinbeckWhy Greg Clark is pessimistic that social mobility even exists White Paper of the Week: Intergenerational Mobility in American History: Accounting for Race and Measurement Error, Zachary WardHosts:Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, VoxJerusalem Demsas (@jerusalemdemsas), policy reporter, VoxDara Lind (@DLind), immigration reporter, ProPublicaCredits:Sofi LaLonde, producer & engineerLibby Nelson, editorial adviserAmber Hall, deputy editorial director of talk podcastsSign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weeds-newsletter 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