Explain It to Me

Matt and Dara are joined by Vox's German Lopez to talk through some of the lessons we seem not to have learned from the way the Covid pandemic unfolded — or, is still unfolding. Our hosts discuss the abandonment of the Obama-era pandemic playbook, the politicized messaging and idiosyncratic inattention of former President Trump, and what it would mean to develop a truly harm-reducing strategy for the America we actually have. Plus, some research is discussed that evaluates the relationship between access to treatment facilities and morbidity due to substance abuse.Resources:"America still needs to learn from its biggest pandemic failure" by German Lopez (June 4; Vox)"The US doesn't just need to flatten the curve. It needs to 'raise the line'" by Eliza Barclay, Dylan Scott, and Christina Animashaun (Apr. 7, 2020; Vox)"The fundamental question of the pandemic is shifting" by Ed Yong (June 9; The Atlantic)White paper: "Tackling the Substance Abuse Crisis: The Role of Access to Treatment Facilities" by Adriana Corredor-Waldron and Janet Currie (NBER; May 2021)Hosts:Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.comDara Lind (@DLind), Immigration Reporter, ProPublicaGerman Lopez (@germanrlopez), Senior Correspondent, VoxCredits:Erikk Geannikis, ProducerPaul Robert Mounsey, EngineerAs the Biden administration gears up, we'll help you understand this unprecedented burst of policymaking. Sign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weeds-newsletter.The Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network production.Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcastsAbout VoxVox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.Follow Us: Vox.comFacebook group: The Weeds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matt and Dara are joined by Vox's Dylan Scott to learn about aducanumab, the new drug that was recently approved by the FDA for treating Alzheimer's disease despite a lack of evidence of its effectiveness, possibly serious side effects, and a jaw-droppingly high price tag. Matt, Dara, and Dylan discuss the situation in light of lessons learned, or not quite learned, from the global pandemic. Then, some research is discussed that evaluates the effects of work requirements on supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) participation and the workforce.Resources:"The new Alzheimer's drug that could break Medicare" by Dylan Scott (June 10; Vox)"FDA's Decision to Approve New Treatment for Alzheimer's Disease" by Dr. Patrizia Cavazzoni, Director, FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (June 7)"The maddening saga of how an Alzheimer's 'cabal' thwarted progress toward a cure for decades" by Sharon Begley (June 25, 2019; STAT News)"What the Rich Don't Want to Admit About the Poor" by Ezra Klein (June 13; New York Times)White paper: "Employed in a SNAP? The Impact of Work Requirements on Program Participation and Labor Supply" by Colin Grey, et al. (Sept. 2019)Hosts:Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.comDara Lind (@DLind), Immigration Reporter, ProPublicaDylan Scott (@dylanlscott), Policy Reporter, VoxCredits:Erikk Geannikis, Editor and ProducerAs the Biden administration gears up, we'll help you understand this unprecedented burst of policymaking. Sign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weeds-newsletter.The Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network production.Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcastsAbout VoxVox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.Follow Us: Vox.comFacebook group: The Weeds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matt is joined by Emily Hamilton of the Mercatus Center to talk about the way that zoning and land use policy affects property value, housing availability, and affordability. They discuss some example statutes from those laboratories of democracy, the several states, tackle the most divisive issue in all of housing Twitter, and Matt just lets totally loose about how he's not allowed to replace his home's windows.Resources:H.R. 4307, the Build More Housing Near Transit Act2006 Arizona Proposition 207Kelo v. New London (545 US 269, 2005)"How policymakers can improve housing affordability" by James Pethokoukis and Emily Hamilton (May 4, American Enterprise Institute)Guest:Emily Hamilton (@ebwhamilton), Senior Research Fellow and Director of the Urbanity Project, Mercatus Center at George Mason UniversityHost:Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.comCredits:Erikk Geannikis, Editor and ProducerAs the Biden administration gears up, we'll help you understand this unprecedented burst of policymaking. Sign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weeds-newsletter.The Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network production.Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcastsAbout VoxVox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.Follow Us: Vox.comFacebook group: The Weeds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matt and Dara are joined by Vox's Emily Stewart to talk about the state of the economy right now. They take on the jobs numbers, some of the markets that were hit with unforeseen interruptions and shortages, and get pretty philosophical amidst a detailed discussion about the supply chain for chicken wings. Then, some research is discussed that suggests that maybe your tweets really do matter... or, at least when you tweet through U.S. elections where Donald Trump is on the ballot.Resources:"May's solidly meh jobs report" by Emily Stewart (June 4, Vox)"Lumber mania is sweeping North America" by Emily Stewart (May 3, Vox)White paper: "The Effect of Social Media on Elections: Evidence from the United States" by Thomas Fujiwara, Karsten Müller, and Carlo Schwarz (October 27, 2020)Hosts:Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.comDara Lind (@DLind), Immigration Reporter, ProPublicaEmily Stewart (@EmilyStewartM), Senior Reporter, VoxCredits:Erikk Geannikis, Editor and ProducerAs the Biden administration gears up, we'll help you understand this unprecedented burst of policymaking. Sign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weeds-newsletter.The Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network production.Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcastsAbout VoxVox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.Follow Us: Vox.comFacebook group: The Weeds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matt sits down with John Pfaff, professor and author of Locked In, an influential and important 2017 book about mass incarceration in America. The two discuss some common misconceptions about America's prison population, three different meanings of the term "broken windows," and what might be the true cause of the current trending rise in violent crime across the nation.Resources:Locked In: The True Causes of Mass Incarceration and How to Achieve Real Reform by John Pfaff (2017; Basic Books)Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America by Jill Levoy (2015; One World)"Crime and Punishment: An Economic Approach" by Gary S. Becker (Journal of Political Economy v. 76 no. 2, Mar.-Apr. 1968)Uneasy Peace: The Great Crime Decline, the Renewal of City Life, and the Next War on Violence by Patrick Sharkey (2019; W.W. Norton)The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs (1961)"Broken Windows: The police and neighborhood safety" by George L. Kelling and James Q. Wilson (March 1982; The Atlantic)Guest:John Pfaff (@JohnFPfaff), author; professor, Fordham Law SchoolHost:Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.comCredits:Erikk Geannikis, Editor and ProducerAs the Biden administration gears up, we'll help you understand this unprecedented burst of policymaking. Sign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weeds-newsletter.The Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network production.Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcastsAbout VoxVox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.Follow Us: Vox.comFacebook group: The Weeds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matt is joined by Vox's Libby Nelson and Jerusalem Demsas for a conversation about the rising cost of master’s programs, their usefulness in today’s economy, and their role as federally subsidized job training. Matt, Libby, and Jerusalem, explore their varied educational paths and discuss the effectiveness of student loan forgiveness for higher ed. This week’s white paper illuminates the downstream consequences of raising pollution standards for battery recycling in the United States. Resources:"The Lab-Leak Theory" by David Leonhardt (May 27, New York Times)"The Biological Weapons Convention at a crossroad" by Bonnie Jenkins (Sept. 6, 2017; Brookings)Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster by Adam Higginbotham (Simon & Schuster; 2019)"The NPT [Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty]: Learning from a Longtermist Success" by Danny Bressler (May 19, Effective Altruism)White paper: "Strict ID Laws Don't Stop Voters: Evidence from a U.S. Nationwide Panel, 2008–2018," by Enrico Cantoni and Vincent Pons (May 22; The Quarterly Journal of Economics)"After Dramatic Walkout, a New Fight Looms Over Voting Rights in Texas" by Dave Montgomery and Nick Corasaniti (May 31, New York Times)Hosts:Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.comDara Lind (@DLind), Immigration Reporter, ProPublicaDylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), Senior Correspondent, VoxCredits:Erikk Geannikis, Editor and ProducerAs the Biden administration gears up, we'll help you understand this unprecedented burst of policymaking. Sign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weeds-newsletter.The Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network production.Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcastsAbout VoxVox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.Follow Us: Vox.comFacebook group: The Weeds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matt is joined by author and Harvard Kennedy School professor Maya Sen to talk about the state of the American judiciary. They discuss Breyer's unwillingness to retire, the pervasive influence of prestige on the "legal elite," the cult of RBG, the influence and role of The Federalist Society, and the inherent biases in the elite legal system that have led to an "affirmative action"-like feeder program for conservative judges.Resources:The Judicial Tug of War: How Lawyers, Politicians, and Ideological Incentives Shape the American Judiciary by Adam Bonica and Maya Sen (Cambridge University Press, 2020)"The Endgame of Court-Packing" by Adam Chilton, Daniel Epps, Kyle Rozema, and Maya Sen (May 17)Ideas with Consequences: The Federalist Society and the Conservative Counterrevolution by Amanda Hollis-Brusky (Oxford University Press, 2015)The Rise of the Conservative Legal Movement: The Battle for Control of the Law by Steven M. Teles (Princeton, 2008)"Legal Scholar's Anti-Sotomayor Letter Leaks, Causing Awkward Fallout" by Heather Horn (The Atlantic, Nov. 5, 2010)"The Case Against Sotomayor" by Jeffrey Rosen (The New Republic, May 4, 2009)Guest:Maya Sen (@maya_sen), professor, Harvard Kennedy SchoolHost:Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.comCredits:Erikk Geannikis, Editor and ProducerAs the Biden administration gears up, we'll help you understand this unprecedented burst of policymaking. Sign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weeds-newsletter.The Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network production.Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcastsAbout VoxVox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.Follow Us: Vox.comFacebook group: The Weeds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matt and Dara are joined by Vox's Dylan Matthews to talk about what the Covid vaccine development process has taught us vaccine development, production, and regulation. They also discuss the way we fund scientific research, evaluating a possible "prize"-based alternative to our current grant-funding system, and some research is analyzed that concerns the resiliency of so-called "forced entrepreneurs," and their businesses' tendency to better weather recessions.Resources:"How to supercharge vaccine production for the next pandemic" by Dylan Matthews (May 20; Vox)"Inside Moderna: The Covid Vaccine Front-Runner With No Track Record and an Unsparing CEO" by Peter Loftus and Gregory Zuckerman (July 1, 2020; Wall Street Journal)"The story of mRNA: How a once-dismissed idea became a leading technology in the Covid vaccine race" by Damian Garde and Jonathan Saltzman (Nov. 10, 2020; STAT News)"Science funding is a mess. Could grant lotteries make it better?" by Kelsey Piper (Jan. 18, 2019; Vox)White paperHosts:Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.comDara Lind (@DLind), Immigration Reporter, ProPublicaDylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), Senior Correspondent, VoxCredits:Erikk Geannikis, Editor and ProducerAs the Biden administration gears up, we'll help you understand this unprecedented burst of policymaking. Sign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weeds-newsletter.The Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network production.Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcastsAbout VoxVox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.Follow Us: Vox.comFacebook group: The Weeds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matt is joined by economist and NYU faculty fellow Morgan Williams, Jr. to talk about his research on policing and gun control legislation, and the consequences of policy on crime and incarceration.Resources:"Police Force Size and Civilian Race" by Aaron Chalfin, Benjamin Hansen, Emily K. Weisburst & Morgan C. Williams Jr. (Dec. 2020)"Body-Worn Cameras in Policing: Benefits and Costs" by Morgan C. Williams Jr., Nathan Weil, Elizabeth A. Rasich, Jens Ludwig, Hye Change & Sophia Egrari (Mar. 2021)"When You Add More Police To A City, What Happens?" by Greg Rosalsky (Apr. 20, NPR)"Gang Behavior, Law Enforcement, and Community Values" by George Akerlof and Janet L. Yellen"The Effects of Local Police Surges on Crime and Arrests in New York City" by John MacDonald, Jeffrey Fagan, and Amanda Geller (2016)"Peaceable Kingdoms and War Zones: Preemption, Ballistics and Murder in Newark" by Brendan O'Flaherty and Rajiv Sethi (2010)Guest:Morgan Williams, Jr. (@MWillJr), faculty fellow, NYU Robert F. Wagner School of Public ServiceHost:Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.comCredits:Erikk Geannikis, Editor and ProducerAs the Biden administration gears up, we'll help you understand this unprecedented burst of policymaking. Sign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weeds-newsletter.The Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network production.Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcastsAbout VoxVox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.Follow Us: Vox.comFacebook group: The Weeds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's everybody's birthday! No, seriously. Taurus Matt Yglesias is joined by two people who also share a May 18th birthday: Vox's Libby Nelson and The Atlantic's Derek Thompson. They discuss the confusing range of public health and policy directives that have been issued to the American people over the 15+ months of the Covid pandemic. Plus, some research is discussed that evaluates the outcome of the recent rollout of universal preschool in Boston.Resources:"The CDC's Big Mask Surprise Came Out of Nowhere" by Derek Thompson (May 14, The Atlantic)"The CDC Is Still Repeating Its Mistakes" by Zeynep Tufekci (Apr. 28, The Atlantic)"Are Outdoor Mask Mandates Still Necessary?" by Derek Thompson (Apr. 19, The Atlantic)White paperHosts:Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.comLibby Nelson (@libbyanelson), Deputy Policy Editor, VoxDerek Thompson (@DKThomp), Staff writer, The AtlanticCredits:Erikk Geannikis, Editor and ProducerAs the Biden administration gears up, we'll help you understand this unprecedented burst of policymaking. Sign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weeds-newsletter.The Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network production.Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcastsAbout VoxVox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.Follow Us: Vox.comFacebook group: The Weeds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices