Explain It to Me

Buckle up! The Weeds Time Machine is back. Today, Dylan Matthews, Dara Lind, and special guest Maureen Cropper, economist and professor at the University of Maryland, travel back in time to the 1970s to discuss one of the most important pieces of environmental legislation of the 20th century: the Clean Air Act. 

References:

White paper: Looking Back at 50 Years of the Clean Air Act 

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 

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Dylan Matthews and Dara Lind are joined by Washington Post reporter Toluse Olorunnipa (@ToluseO) to talk more taxes for our hot! tax! policy! episodes this month. Today’s topic: Sen. Rick Scott’s 11-point plan to rescue America. Dylan, Dara, and Tolu get into the specifics of Scott’s policy proposal and speculate if the culture wars have seeped into tax policy. Plus, a white paper about unemployment benefits and opioid overdose mortality rates. 

References:

Preorder His Name Is George Floyd by Toluse Olorunnipa and Robert Samuels

The Tax Policy Center’s analysis of the Rick Scott plan

How many people don’t pay income tax?

The original 47% remarks

The folk Republican morality behind the plan

White paper: “Unemployment Insurance and Opioid Overdose Mortality in the United States”

Medicaid expansion reduced opioid deaths too

The relationship between the economy and the opioid epidemic

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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Weeds co-hosts Dylan Matthews and Dara Lind are joined by Vox policy editor Libby Nelson (@libbyanelson) to talk about some hot! tax! policy! But mostly, why it’s so annoying to file our taxes every year. The three discuss why the tax code is so complicated to begin with; compare our filing system to other countries; and daydream about what could be done to fix the system. Plus, a white paper about, you guessed it: taxes.

References:

How to get free tax prep, or volunteer to provide tax prep to others

TR Reid’s A Fine Mess

Justin Trudeau’s return-free tax promise

Dylan explaining near-term options to reform tax filing

“What is return-free filing, and how would it work?”

The benefits of return-free filing

Option one: the pre-filled return

Option two: pay-as-you-earn

ProPublica on Intuit/H&R Block lobbying that’s kept taxes complicated

White paper: “Inertia and Overwithholding: Explaining the Prevalence of Income Tax Refunds” by Damon Jones

Does the EITC promote work?

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 are joined by Washington Post columnist Christine Emba (@ChristineEmba) to discuss the end of Covid-era welfare programs. We just hit two years of the pandemic, and some of those social safety programs, most notably the child tax credit, have expired. These policies dramatically improved the lives of millions of Americans; did we waste an opportunity to make these policies permanent? And later, a conversation about the politics of sex and consent as discussed in Christine’s new book, Rethinking Sex.

References:

Christine’s book, Rethinking Sex

A guide to all the Covid-era social safety net expansions

Li Zhou on the child tax credit’s expiration

3.4 million more children were in poverty in February than December

Up to 16 million Americans could lose Medicaid after the public health emergency lifts

The effect of bonus unemployment insurance expiring last year

Sam Adler-Bell’s profile of David Leonhardt

Ed Yong on reopening and the lack of a safety net

The enormous learning loss caused by the pandemic

White Paper: “Consent, Legitimation, and Dysphoria” by Robin West

BDSM-interested parents have lost child custody just for their kink

Oklahoma’s new abortion ban

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 are joined by Vox Senior Politics Correspondent Andrew Prokop (@awprokop) for a dive deep into the newly redrawn 2022 congressional maps. They discuss what makes a fair map, the strategy behind gerrymandering, and what this could mean for the 2022 midterm elections. Plus, a white paper about the Voting Rights Act and Black electoral representation in Congress.

References:

Andrew’s explainer on the redistricting wars

The Supreme Court’s last ruling on partisan gerrymandering

An argument that the 2022 redistricting has featured “an unprecedented attack … on the political power of communities of color”

White Paper: "The Triumph of Tokenism: The Voting Rights Act and the Theory of Black Electoral Success"

“The US Senate considerably dilutes the voting power of African Americans”

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 are joined by Robinson Meyer (@robinsonmeyer), a staff writer at the Atlantic, to talk about the illusion of US energy independence. They discuss how the US produces its oil; the fracking boom and bust; and the country’s position in the global market. Plus, a white paper about carbon taxes and CO2 emissions in Sweden. 

References:

Robinson’s piece about America’s “independence” from Russian oil

He was also on Today, Explained to talk about the US banning Russian oil imports

And, you can sign up for Rob’s newsletter here

Vox reporter Rebecca Leber busted a few myths about oil and gas prices

Biden’s administrative authority to lower gas prices

Russell Gold’s The Boom: How Fracking Ignited the American Energy Revolution and Changed the World

White Paper: “Carbon Taxes and CO2 Emissions: Sweden as a Case Study”

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 Jerusalem Demsas are joined by Nick Buttrick (@NickButtrick), a psychologist at Princeton, to talk about interstate mobility in the US (or the lack thereof). They talk about why it is so hard to move; why some of those reasons, Jerusalem argues, are arbitrary; and what an immobile population means for American culture.  

References:

Jerusalem’s article about why it’s so hard to move in America

Nick Buttrick’s research: The cultural dynamics of declining residential mobility

A paper from David Schleicher called Stuck! The Law and Economics of Residential Stagnation  

Research from the Brookings Institution: US migration still at historically low levels

NBER paper: The China Shock: Learning from Labor Market Adjustment to Large Changes in Trade

Hosts:

Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, Vox

Jerusalem Demsas (@jerusalemdemsas), policy 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 Jerusalem Demsas are joined by Vox senior correspondent Zack Beauchamp to talk about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. They discuss Ukraine’s surprising strength to date, plus Europe’s and America’s overwhelming economic response to the invasion. Plus, a white paper about how citizens in authoritarian regimes think about war.

References:

Vox’s podcast playlist: What to know about Russia and Ukraine

All of Vox’s written coverage on Russia and Ukraine 

Zack’s piece on why Putin is attacking Ukraine

Adam Tooze on the economic war with Russia

Putin’s brother died in the siege of Leningrad

The real history of the Soviet-Pepsi submarine deal

WHITE PAPER: “Authoritarian Public Opinion and the Democratic Peace”

Hosts:

Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, Vox

Jerusalem Demsas (@jerusalemdemsas), policy reporter, Vox

Zack Beauchamp (@ZackBeauchamp), senior correspondent, Vox

Credits:

Sofi LaLonde, producer and mix engineer

Dara Lind, studio 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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We’re hitting snooze on Friday episodes, but they’re not going away forever. We’re just slowing things down while we work on some special projects. We’ll see you on Tuesday!

Important Links:

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Dylan Matthews, Jerusalem Demsas, and Dara Lind discuss the recent school board recall election in San Francisco and also whether the Great Resignation is boosting inflation.

References:

Clara Jeffery's summary of why the recall succeeded

Former Green Party mayoral nominee Matt Gonzalez’s case for the recall

Former board president Gabriela López's post-mortem after she was recalled

López’s 2021 interview with the New Yorker on school renaming

The $87 million lawsuit

Lowell alum Justin Lai arguing in favor of the new admissions policies

The Asan American backlash against changing Lowell admissions (see also)

Students in selective exam schools don’t seem to reap many benefits

A review of exam schools nationwide

Putting “non-gifted” students in gifted classrooms helps them a lot

White Paper: The Effects of the “Great Resignation” on Labor Market Slack and Inflation

Hosts:

Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, Vox

Jerusalem Demsas (@jerusalemdemsas), policy reporter, 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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices