Explain It to Me

Melissa Boteach of the National Women's Law Center joins Matt to have a discussion about the role of child care in the economy, which has been "made visible" in the Covid-19 pandemic, and exposed the economically marginalized care workers who perform this essential work in an industry on the verge of collapse.Resources:House Hearing on Child Care During COVID-19 (Feb. 19, 2021)"How COVID-19 Relief for the Care Economy Fell Short in 2020" by Julie Kashen (Jan. 27, 2021)"The COVID Relief Package Must Include Much-Needed Tax Credit Expansions for Women & Families" by Kathryn Menefee (Feb. 16, 2021)"Undervalued: A Brief History of Women's Care Work and Child Care Policy in the United States" by Julie Vogtman (2017)Guest:Melissa Boteach (@mboteach), Vice President for Income Security and Child Care/Early Learning, National Women's Law CenterHost: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

Vox's Emily Stewart joins Matt and Dara to wonder about whether and how Trump may rear his head in politics again, and about the future of the Republican party (zombie Paul Ryanism, or dynastic Trumpism?). Plus, a new study about the EITC is examined that leads to a broader discussion about the role of "nudges."Resources:White paperHosts:Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.comDara Lind (@DLind), Immigration Reporter, ProPublicaEmily Stewart (@EmilyStewartM), Business and Politics 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

Immigration advocate Ali Noorani of the National Immigration Forum joins Matt to discuss the future of immigration in America, including the oncoming "grey tsunami," the consequences of Trump's border and asylum policies, and the effects of the way we speak about immigration on immigration policy.Resources:"Room to Grow: Setting Immigration Levels in a Changing America" by Ali Noorani & Danilo Zak (Feb. 3, 2021)One Billion Americans by Matt Yglesias (2020)One Mighty and Irresistible Tide: The Epic Struggle over American Immigration, 1924-1965 by Jia Lynn Yang (2020)Guest:Ali Noorani (@anoorani), President & CEO, National Immigration ForumHost: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

White House reporter Ella Nilsen joins Matt and Dara to talk about the current state of the Covid-19 relief bill, and the implications of the debate for both Congress and the Biden Administration. Plus, research on the correlation between SNAP benefit timing and college entrance exam scores.Resources:"The Senate vote-a-rama gets Democrats closer to approving Covid-19 relief on their own" by Li Zhou & Ella Nilsen, Vox (Feb. 4, 2021)"The Biden stimulus is admirably ambitious. But it brings some risks, too." by Larry Summers, Washington Post (Feb. 4, 2021)White paperHosts:Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.comDara Lind (@DLind), Immigration Reporter, ProPublicaElla Nilsen (@ella_nilsen), White House 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

Economist Adam Ozimek from Upwork joins Matt to discuss the future of remote work, post-pandemic. They discuss the implications for migration, local governance, and the elusive concept of work/life balance.Resources:"Economist Report: Future Workforce" by Adam Ozimek (Dec. 2020)Guest:Adam Ozimek (@ModeledBehavior), Chief Economist, UpworkHost: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

Vox Senior Correspondent German Lopez joins Matt and Dara to discuss what went — and is still going — wrong with vaccine distribution, as well as to talk through some new research about the effects of implementing eviction moratoria on the spread of Covid-19.Resources:"What Biden can do to fix America's Covid-19 vaccine mess" by German Lopez, Vox (Jan. 22, 2021)"'We crushed it': How did West Virginia become a national leader in Covid vaccination?" by Laura Strickler and Lisa Cavazuti, NBC News (Jan. 31, 2021)White paperHosts:Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.comDara Lind (@DLind), Immigration Reporter, ProPublicaGerman Lopez (@germanrlopez), 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 Molly Reynolds of the Brookings Institution to talk about the intricacies of the Senate filibuster, budget reconciliation, and the Byrd rule, with a view toward the prospect of getting legislation through a divided Senate.Resources:U.S. Senate rules on filibuster and cloture"The history of the filibuster" by Sarah Binder, BrookingsExceptions to the Rule: The Politics of Filibuster Limitations in the U.S. Senate by Molly E. Reynolds (2017).Guest:Molly Reynolds (@mollyereynolds), Senior Fellow, BrookingsHost: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

Vox Senior Correspondent German Lopez joins Matt and Dara to discuss some of the motivations, obstacles, and oppositions to the Biden administration's early signals on immigration policy, as well as a white paper on a natural experiment in the effects of a reduction in the number of police staff on crime.Resources:"Biden's sweeping immigration bill, explained" by Nicole Narea, Vox (Jan. 20, 2021)"Biden's flurry of first-day executive actions, explained" by German Lopez, Vox (Jan. 20, 2021)UPDATE: "A Texas judge just blocked Biden's 100-day pause on deportations" by Nicole Narea, Vox (Jan. 26, 2021)White paperHosts:Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.comDara Lind (@DLind), Immigration Reporter, ProPublicaGerman Lopez (@germanrlopez), 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 Mike Konczal, Director of Progressive Thought at the Roosevelt Institute, and author of the new book Freedom from the Market. They talk about the past, present, and future of public affordances in America, and discuss the shifts in political imagination that could inaugurate a new era of public programs in the earnest interest of benefitting Americans.Resources:Mike's new book, Freedom from the Market: America's Fight to Liberate Itself from the Grip of the Invisible Hand, on sale here.Read an excerpt: "When Medicare Helped Kill Jim Crow" by Mike Konczal, The Nation (Jan. 19, 2021).Guest:Mike Konczal (@rortybomb), Director, Progressive Thought, Roosevelt InstituteHost: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

Vox business and politics reporter Emily Stewart joins Matt and Dara to unpack what's in Biden's giant stimulus package, and to examine how the new Congress will handle the massive imperatives of economic recovery, on the eve of the commencement of the Biden administration.Resources:"Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion Covid-19 stimulus plan, explained" by Emily Stewart, Vox (Jan. 14, 2021)"Legislative Process 101 — The Senate's Byrd Rule"White paperHosts:Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.comDara Lind (@DLind), Immigration Reporter, ProPublicaEmily Stewart (@EmilyStewartM), Business and Politics Reporter, VoxCredits:Erikk Geannikis, Editor and Producer.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