Explain It to Me

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

In the final episode of our series, America’s Public Health Experiment, Dylan, Dara, and Jerusalem discuss how the CDC and the FDA failed the American public in the early months of the pandemic. Plus, a white paper about excess deaths in the first year of Covid-19.References: How the experts botched masking adviceZeynep Tufekci on the case for masks (in March 2020)Inside the Fall of the CDCCan the CDC be fixed?How the CDC failed to detect Covid earlyScott Gottlieb on CDC versus FDA turf warsThe Government Asked Us Not To Release Records From The CDC’s First Failed COVID Test. Here They Are.Zeynep Tufekci in the Atlantic: ​​The CDC Is Still Repeating Its MistakesDylan Scott on FDA approval of controversial Alzheimer's drugWhite paper: Excess Deaths in the United States During the First Year of COVID-19What happened to drug deaths in 2020Hosts: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/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

In the penultimate episode of our series America’s Public Health Experiment, Vox policy reporter Jerusalem Demsas talks to Arnab Datta, senior counsel at Employ America, about automatic stabilizers: what they are and how they could help during a crisis that affects the economy, such as a global pandemic.References:Vox's Emily Stewart on Democrats abandoning automatic stabilizersRecession Ready: Fiscal Policies to Stabilize the American EconomyStructuring Federal Aid To States As An Automatic (And Autonomous) Stabilizer A Historic Decrease in PovertyGOP Governors Reject Extra Federal Unemployment PaymentsHost:Jerusalem Demsas (@jerusalemdemsas), policy reporter, VoxCredits:Sofi LaLonde, producer & 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 Jerusalem are joined by Vox Policy Editor Libby Nelson to talk about the current state of Covid-19 and schools. They discuss vaccine mandates, rapid testing – or a lack thereof – and teacher burnout. Plus, a white paper about college majors and GPA requirements. References:Why schools weren’t “back to normal” this yearThe pandemic caused huge levels of learning loss, especially in districts with less in-person schooling, and especially in poor countriesCan pandemics affect educational attainment? Evidence from the polio epidemic of 1916Some schools are going remote on Fridays to address “burnout”Schools cre closing classrooms on Fridays. Parents are furious.Do school closures and school reopenings affect community transmission of COVID-19? A systematic review of observational studies Quarantines are driving down attendanceThe “test to stay” alternative to quarantinesHow school districts have used their Covid relief fundsWhite Paper: “College Major Restrictions and Social Stratification”Hosts:Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, VoxJerusalem Demsas (@jerusalemdemsas), policy reporter, VoxLibby Nelson (@libbyanelson), policy editor, VoxCredits:Sofi LaLonde, producer & 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

In the second episode of our series, America’s Public Health Experiment, Weeds co-host Dara Lind looks at two government agencies that went from quietly to loudly broken during the Covid-19 pandemic. Dara is joined by the Washington Post’s Jacob Bogage (@jacobbogage) and Jeremy McKinney (@McKJeremy) from the American Immigration Lawyers Association.Host:Dara 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/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 and Dylan talk to Jerusalem about her new article defending rent control laws. The three discuss the policy impacts of rent limits and the politics driving their adoption in large American cities. Finally, they discuss a new paper on declining fertility in 18th-century France.References:Jerusalem’s case for rent controlA poll of leading economists, who almost all oppose rent controlEconomist Rebecca Diamond on the effects of rent controlManhattan Institute fellow Michael Hendrix’s case against rent controlTime for revisionism on rent control? The Invention of Brownstone Brooklyn by Suleiman OsmanReview of the literature by the Urban InstituteWhite paper: “The Cultural Origins of the Demographic Transition in France” by Guillaume BlancBlanc’s Twitter summary of his paperThe demographic transition for beginnersHosts: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/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