

Explain It to Me
Vox
Should I buy a house? Why do I say “like” so much? Should Gen Z bother to save for retirement?Explain It to Me is the hotline for the issues that matter to your life. Send us your questions about health, personal finance, relationships, and anything else that matters to you. Host Jonquilyn Hill will take you on a journey to find the answers, whether it's to the halls of Congress or the local bar. You’ll get the answers you were looking for, and sometimes ones you didn't expect — and always with a dose of humor. New episodes every Sunday. Part of Vox and the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Aug 17, 2018 • 56min
We’re not gonna pay rent
Jane Coaston joins Matt and Dara to talk about exploding housing costs in America’s coastal cities and what we can do about them. References and further reading: Jeff Stein's piece on rent and housing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Aug 14, 2018 • 60min
Lordy, Omarosa has tapes
Emily Stewart joins Dara and Matt to talk about the perhaps-unbelievable book everyone’s talking about, and the dysfunctional White House that spawned it. References and further reading: Emily's piece on Omarosa's recording of John Kelly Emily's highlights from Omarosa's book Unhinged Maggie Haberman tweet confirming that earlier secret White House tapings were not Omarosa, mentioned by Dara White paper "Unemployment, Temporary Work, and Subjective Well-Being: The Gendered Effect of Spousal Labor Market Insecurity" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Aug 10, 2018 • 47min
#FakeScience
Senior health correspondent Julia Belluz and science reporter Brian Resnick join Dara and Matt to discuss the replication crisis in scientific studies. References and further reading: Brian's piece on the marshmallow test John P. A. Ioannidis' "Most Published Research Findings Are False," mentioned by Julia Scientists tired to replicate 100 psychological studies, 40% passed, mentioned by Brian Scientists also tried to replicate 100 economic studies, 60% passed Vox's survey of 270 scientists about the biggest problems in science, mentioned by Brian Julia's piece on Amy Cuddy and power posing NY Times magazine feature on Amy Cuddy, mentioned by Dara Julia's piece on 'big paper towels' campaign against hand dryers Mars chocolate study, mentioned by Julia Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Aug 7, 2018 • 1h 12min
The Great Twitter Wars of 2018
Jane Coaston and Dylan Matthews join Ezra to discuss the Sarah Jeong fracas, the Ben Shapiro-Mark Duplass meltdown, the problems with Twitter, the ways partisan dehumanize each other, and more. References and further reading: The context for Sarah Jeong's "goblins" tweet The context for Sarah Jeong's "cut white people" tweet German Lopez's piece on what makes people less racist Brian Resnick's piece on reducing prejudice William F. Buckley supporting segregation Zack Beauchamp's piece in defense of Sarah Jeong Ezra's demographics piece David French's piece on Sarah Jeong W.E.B Du Bois' The Soul's of Black Folks Ashley Jardina's Washington Post piece on white identity Jamelle Bouie's newsletter Political Tribes by Amy Chua Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? by Dr. Martin Luther King White paper Party Animals? Party Identity and Dehumanization That time Dylan got owned on Twitter by Sen. Ben Sasse Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Aug 3, 2018 • 1h 3min
Paul Manafort, alleged ostrich-collar criminal
Andrew Prokop joins Dara and Matt to talk about Paul Manafort’s trial and what it means for the larger Russia investigation. References and further reading: Andrew's piece on the trials of Paul Manafort Andrew's breakdown of the opening statements at Manafort's trial Franklin Foer's profile of Manafort, mentioned by Andrew Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jul 31, 2018 • 1h 10min
The great white panic
Jane Coaston joins Dara, Ezra, and Matt to talk about the racial panic tearing America apart and also salt. References and further reading: Ezra's piece on the changing demographics in America Identity Crisis book mentioned by Ezra Salt white paper Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jul 27, 2018 • 48min
“Mission Accomplished,” trade war edition
Congressional reporter Tara Golshan joins Dara and Matt to break down Trump’s kinda sorta trade deal with the EU and ongoing trade tensions with China”
References and further reading:
Tara's piece on Trump's mischaracterization of the US trade deficit
Politico Europe rundown of the trade deal, mentioned by Matt
The Weeds has been nominated for this year's People's Choice Podcast Awards! Cast your vote for The Weeds for free before Tuesday, July 31st at podcastawards.com.
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Jul 24, 2018 • 1h 1min
What Republicans can do on Trump and Russia
Matt, Dara and Ezra talk about Republicans, Trump and Russia. Plus: A research paper reveals how Dara lost on College Jeopardy.
References and further reading:
Politico Playbook piece mentioned by Matt, "GOP to the world: What would you like us to do?"
Law Review paper "Separation of Parties, Not Powers"
The Weeds has been nominated for this year's People's Choice Podcast Awards! Cast your vote for The Weeds for free before Tuesday, July 31st at podcastawards.com.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jul 20, 2018 • 49min
It’s surprisingly easy to get away with murder in America
Senior criminal justice reporter German Lopez joins Dara and Matt to talk about the high number of unsolved homicides in America.
References and further reading:
Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America by Jill Leovy
German's reporting on the violent crime clearance rate in America
Study referenced by Dara that looked at community cooperation from Secure Communities (a massive federal immigration enforcement program)
In-depth reporting on the low murder clearance rate across the US from The Washington Post
Anthony Braga study on Boston's approaches to solving homicides mentioned by German
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Jul 17, 2018 • 60min
There’s collusion, and then there’s collusion
Dara, Ezra, and Matt discuss President Trump's remarkable performance in Helsinki and new research on employers colluding to hold down pay.
Links:
Dara mentioned Quinta Jurecic's piece tying Trump in Helsinki to Trump on Charlottesville.
Here's the Ari Fleischer tweet Ezra referenced.
Ezra walked through what we know about Trump's dealings with Russia. Here's that rundown (and more analysis) in text form.
Trump tweeted during recording — here's the full text Matt read.
Matt mentioned Adam Entous's New Yorker piece on Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the Emirates.
The 2015 Morning Joe interview Ezra mentioned. Joe Scarborough says Putin has a record of killing journalists and political opponents, and invading countries. Trump responds, "At least he's a leader."
White paper: "Theory and Evidence on Employer Collusion in the Franchise Sector" (Alan B. Krueger, Orley Ashenfelter)
More on the news about the no-poaching agreement in Washington state.
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