Today, Explained

Vox’s Umair Irfan explains why the United States is seeing another Covid-19 surge. Dr. Rhea Boyd says the country is getting unvaccinated people all wrong.

Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg explains what he and his boss are calling a once-in-a-generation spending plan.

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President Biden wants infrastructure spending to include child care, elder care, food assistance, even community college. Vox’s Anna North explains how he might convince Republicans in Congress.

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America’s sewage system is total crap, but there’s a new plumber in town.

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And how it got so dam expensive to build things in America.

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It’s a big week for President Biden’s infrastructure plans. Vox’s Li Zhou explains the obstacles in his way, and a historian says one of them is our collective memory.

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Britney Spears returned to conservatorship court this week. Vox’s Constance Grady explains how Spears has rapidly become the face of a legal reform movement.

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Cubans hit the streets for unprecedented protests against their communist government. CNN's Patrick Oppmann is on the ground in Havana with spotty wifi.

Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained.

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Republicans in Texas are legislating so far to the right the state’s Democrats up and fled to Washington, DC. Vox’s Nicole Narea explains.

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The assassination of President Jovenel Moïse is the latest in a long line of setbacks for Haiti’s stability. AyiboPost’s Widlore Mérancourt explains from Port-au-Prince.

Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained.

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Travel around the globe to hear how disparately people are experiencing the pandemic in July 2021.

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An estimated 143 million people will relocate to escape climate change in the next three decades. Quartz’s Amanda Shendruk explains how cities can transform themselves into climate havens. 

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Thirty years ago, Eugene, Oregon, figured out an alternative to the police. They called it CAHOOTS. Seriously.

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When people see Deeyah Khan's documentary about white supremacists, they tell her, "The real problem is jihad. You should spend time with jihadists." She says, "I did."

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Documentary filmmaker Deeyah Khan grew tired of receiving death threats from white supremacists so she traveled to a Detroit motel to meet up with one.

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Getting buzzed helped build civilization.. The Atlantic's Kate Julian explains.

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The Trump Organization and its top lieutenant have been indicted for tax fraud. Andrew Prokop says the case could have uge implications for American politics.

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A housing watchdog says real estate companies often discriminate against low-income tenants who use federal rental assistance. Now it’s suing.

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The discovery of mass graves of Indigenous children in Canada has led to reckonings on both sides of the border.

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Doctors have suffered psychologically throughout the pandemic, but as Vox’s Julia Belluz reports, those who seek mental health treatment in the US put their careers at risk.

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Restaurant delivery apps have made it possible to order pretty much anything we want to eat with the click of a button. The latest season of the Land of the Giants podcast explores the cost of that convenience.

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Catholic bishops want to deny President Biden communion, even though Pope Francis thinks that's a terrible idea. The Atlantic's Emma Green explains.

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Vox’s Emily Stewart explains how scared you should be of inflation.

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The fast-spreading coronavirus variant first detected in India is coming for the rest of the world.

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After 20 years of waiting, there’s a new drug to treat Alzheimer’s. For some patients, it’s a glimmer of hope. For some scientists, it’s one of the FDA’s worst drug approval decisions ever.

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Cryptocurrency is everywhere! And now some people are saying it could be good for the environment?! New York Magazine's Jen Wieczner is here to explain.

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The Atlantic’s Tom McTague provides a halftime report on Brexit. It appears it’s going very well for Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

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Benjamin Netanyahu is out. Israel has a new leader and a new coalition government. The question now is whether they bring anyone closer to peace.

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What to do when your mom is with Q.

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Over 14 years and 20 seasons of “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” the show rewrote the rules of reality TV, social media, marketing, and popular culture. Next up? Politics.

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Senegal. Vox’s Jen Kirby flew there to find out how.

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New York City is picking a new mayor with a new election system. What could go wrong?

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Gangs and drug cartels killed dozens of candidates in Mexico’s midterm elections. Voters weren’t intimidated.

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Across the country, Republican lawmakers are pushing laws banning “critical race theory” in schools. It’s already had a chilling effect on teachers.

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Texas isn’t the only state advancing legislation that would disenfranchise voters in Democratic strongholds. Vox’s Ian Millhiser explains why some voter suppression efforts are worse than others.

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The idea that Covid-19 emerged from a Chinese lab once sounded too fringe to take seriously. That’s starting to change.

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Despite a violent terror campaign by the military junta, protesters are still fighting for a new government. The latest conflict is uniting ethnic and religious groups that have long been at odds with one another.

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It was one of the worst incidents of racial violence in American history, but for a long time very few Americans learned what happened to the Black residents of the Greenwood district in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Guest host Jamil Smith explores why — and how — that’s changing.

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UFOs are having a renaissance. The New Yorker’s Gideon Lewis-Kraus explains what we stand to learn from an expected government disclosure, and why we want to believe.

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Missourians voted for more Medicaid. Missouri lawmakers said no. St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum explains what happens when you bypass the will of the people.

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The hijacking of Ryanair flight 4978 is a big escalation of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s attempts to hold on to power. It might also be his downfall.

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Nine New York Yankees tested positive for Covid-19, even though they were all vaccinated. Vox’s Brian Resnick says it’s proof the system is working, just as New York City is opening back up.

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Some would rather forget.

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China’s Uyghur minority has been subjected to torture, forced labor, religious restrictions, and even forced sterilization. NPR’s Throughline explains how they became the target of what many are calling a genocide.

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For decades, Bill Gates exemplified the “good billionaire.” His reputation — tarnished almost overnight — highlights the danger of relying too much on billionaire philanthropists.

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An arms deal between the United States and Israel is drawing criticism from Democrats. It's part of a shifting tide in the American approach to the Israel-Palestine conflict.

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*Are being held this summer in Tokyo. And it’s a mess.

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Job growth has slowed, but there are plenty of positions posted. That's got politicians arguing about the cost of benefits. Matt Yglesias explains.

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This weekend, Chileans head to the polls to decide who will rewrite the country's constitution. CNN's Daniel Matamala explains why it's a historic experiment in democracy not just for the country, but the world.

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Weeks of tensions between Israelis and Palestinians in Jerusalem have escalated into the region's worst violence in years. Two journalists in the holy city explain the conflict and its history.

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