Explain It to Me

Dylan Matthews sits down with economic historians Jared Rubin and Mark Koyama to discuss their new book, How the World Became Rich. It tries to answer one of the hardest questions in history: Why, roughly 200 years ago, did parts of the world start experiencing sustained economic growth? 

References:

How the World Became Rich by Jared Rubin and Mark Koyama

Dylan also wrote about the book

Hosts:

Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, Vox

Credits:

Sofi LaLonde, producer and engineer

Libby Nelson, editorial adviser

Amber Hall, deputy editorial director of talk podcasts

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Dylan Matthews and Dara Lind are joined by Vox senior correspondent Dylan Scott (@dylanlscott) to discuss the shortage of nurses in the American health care workforce. The nursing shortage goes back many years, and not only did the pandemic exacerbate the problem, it also put it under a microscope. The US needs more nurses, but what can be done? 

References:

America needs more doctors and nurses to survive the next pandemic

The way the United States pays for nurses is broken

Hosts:

Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, Vox

Dara Lind (@dlind), Weeds co-host, Vox

Credits:

Sofi LaLonde, producer and engineer

Libby Nelson, editorial adviser

Amber Hall, deputy editorial director of talk podcasts

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Dylan Matthews and Dara Lind are joined by Vox politics reporter Nicole Narea (@nicolenarea) to talk about gun violence. They discuss the findings of three different research studies related to gun policy, which gun control policies are effective, the outcomes of specific violence interventions, and how state legislatures respond to mass shootings. 

Editorial note: This episode touches on gun violence and suicide. If you want to talk to someone, you can call 1-800-273-8255 or visit www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org  

References:

The Uvalde massacre and America's unique gun violence problem, explained

Dylan on how gun ownership became a powerful political identity 

White paper 1: “The Science of Gun Policy”

White paper 2: “Presence of Armed School Officials and Fatal and Nonfatal Gunshot Injuries During Mass School Shootings, United States, 1980-2019”

White paper 3: “The Impact of Mass Shootings on Gun Policy”

Press coverage of mass shootings can cause copycat shootings

Hosts:

Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, Vox

Dara Lind (@dlind), Weeds co-host, 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

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This episode originally published in October 2021 as the second installment of our “Most Dangerous Branch” miniseries about the Supreme Court. Vox senior correspondent Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser) talks with law professor Joseph Blocher and historian Carol Anderson about the Second Amendment, the triumph of the NRA's vision for that amendment, and an upcoming Supreme Court case that endangers more than a century of American gun control laws.

References:

The Positive Second Amendment Rights, Regulation, and the Future of Heller, Joseph Blocher 

The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America, Carol Anderson

Credits:

Sofi LaLonde, producer & engineer

Libby Nelson, editorial advisor

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

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This special episode of The Weeds was taped live at TruCon 2022! Join Dara Lind, Zack Beauchamp, and Jen Kirby for a live panel discussion about the state of global democracy. They discuss the complicated relationship among migration, the threat of the populist far right, and what this means for global democracy. 

References:

Zack’s latest piece on “replacement theory”

He also wrote about Democrats and immigration policies in 2019

And more from Zack about Hungary, Tucker Carlson, and the election in the Philippines 

Jen wrote about the French presidential runoff elections in April 

She also recommends this piece about far-right politics in Germany

The first installment of the multi-part series from NYT about Tucker Carlson and Fox News

White paper: Waking Up the Golden Dawn: Does Exposure to the Refugee Crisis Increase Support for Extreme-Right Parties? 

White paper: Refugee Migration and Electoral Outcomes 

Hosts:

Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, Vox

Dara Lind (@dlind), Weeds co-host, Vox

Jen Kirby (@j_kirby1), foreign and national security reporter, 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

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Dylan Matthews and Dara Lind are joined by Annie Lowrey (@annielowrey), a staff writer at the Atlantic, to talk about why it’s so hard for people to get government benefits. Frequently called the “time tax,” the administrative burden of applying for and distributing government benefits leads to thousands of people not getting the aid they qualify for. 

References:

Annie Lowrey on Code America’s efforts to fight the Time Tax

Pamela Herd and Don Moynihan's book on administrative burden

Why Is It So Hard to Make a Website for the Government? from the New York Times

White paper — Program Recertification Costs: Evidence from SNAP

A sudden change to SSI eligibility had huge, lasting negative consequences

Hosts:

Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, Vox

Dara Lind (@dlind), Weeds co-host, 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

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Dylan Matthews and Dara Lind talk with Washington Post economic columnist Heather Long (@byHeatherLong) about the global food supply crisis spinning out of the war in Ukraine. The crisis is so bad that the United Nations said it could be the worst shortage since World War II. What, if anything, can be done? Dylan, Dara, and Heather discuss how we got here and the costs of potential solutions.

References:

The war in Ukraine is triggering a global food crisis. Here’s how the U.S. can help.

A global famine looms. The U.S. could prevent it.

How war in Ukraine is making people hungry in the Middle East 

Russian Blockade Prompts Ukraine to Find New Ways to Shift Vital Wheat Exports 

Hosts:

Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, Vox

Dara Lind (@dlind), Weeds co-host, 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

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Dara Lind sits down with Vox Supreme Court correspondent Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser) for a deep dive into the leaked draft opinion on abortion written by Justice Samuel Alito. They discuss the text of the opinion itself; why Alito was chosen to write it; and what could happen in the days, weeks, and months following a ruling overturning Roe v. Wade. 

References:

The Roe opinion and the case against the Supreme Court 

Ian’s explainer on the draft memo

What happens next if the Supreme Court strikes down Roe 

Ian’s interview with Professor Melissa Murray

Professor Melissa Murray NYT op ed from December: What would a post-Roe America look like?

Hosts:

Dara Lind (@dlind), Weeds co-host, 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

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This episode originally published in October 2021 as the first installment of our “Most Dangerous Branch” miniseries about the Supreme Court. Vox senior correspondent Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser) talks with NYU professor Melissa Murray about the future of Roe v. Wade, specifically discussing some of the legal theories used to chip away at the law.

References:

What we know and don't know on the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade draft opinion

Supreme Court has voted to overturn abortion rights, draft opinion shows 

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

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Dylan Matthews interviews economist Chris Blattman (@cblatts) about his new book Why We Fight, which examines the root causes of war and what can be done to stop it. In a wide-ranging discussion that touches on conflict all over the world, Dylan and Chris discuss the role of the state, commonalities among historical conflicts, and the game theory of war.

References:

Chris Blattman’s book, Why We Fight

Chris’s research work

Research on how drug gangs govern in Colombia

How therapy can reduce conflict

Using summer vacations to study peace deal mediators

The influence of royal mounties in the 19th century may make Canadian hockey less violent now

Blattman on Ukraine before the war

Civil war predictions in the US

Hosts:

Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, 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