Explain It to Me

German talks with Dr. Neeraj Sood, director of the Covid Initiative at the University of Southern California’s Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics, about the US’s many failures on Covid-19 testing. They dive into the country’s original mistakes, then go into how lack of testing continues to plague America’s pandemic response. They conclude with what this means not just for the current pandemic but for future public health crises, too.

Host:

German Lopez (@germanrlopez), senior correspondent, Vox

Credits:

Sofi LaLonde, producer & engineer

Libby Nelson, editorial adviser

Amber Hall, deputy editorial director of talk podcasts

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German, Jerusalem, and Dylan talk about an idea that has come to dominate national discussions of policing: defunding the police. They walk through the pros and cons of the idea as a policy proposal, then discuss how it’s affecting the politics of criminal justice. Finally, they discuss new research on discrimination against Black and Latinx renters.

References:

German’s article on police research

German’s article on guns and policing

Austin’s defunding journey

Study finding more police mean fewer homicides

Study finding London police closures led to more violent crime

Expert survey finding most say more police funding would mean public safety improvements

2020's protests led to state policing reforms, but not defunding

Pew on public opinion toward defunding the police

Rogé Karma interviews Patrick Sharkey on The Ezra Klein Show

White paper: “Racial Discrimination and Housing Outcomes in the United States Rental Market”

Jerusalem's article on discrimination against housing voucher recipients

Hosts:

Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, Vox

German Lopez (@germanrlopez), senior correspondent, Vox

Jerusalem Demsas (@jerusalemdemsas), policy reporter, Vox

Credits:

Sofi LaLonde, producer & engineer

Libby Nelson, editorial adviser

Amber Hall, deputy editorial director of talk podcasts

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Dylan, Jerusalem, and Dara talk about the specific kind of inflation that’s roiling American politics: the heightened price of gas. They discuss how and why gas prices have shot up in recent months, and what it means for Joe Biden’s popularity and presidency. Plus, a white paper about the most important labor market of all: the global market for soccer (excuse me, football) players.

References:

Biden’s strongly worded letter on gas prices

Biden is tapping the strategic petroleum reserve

Reuters on why gas prices are high

Why OPEC isn’t lowering gas prices

Eric Levitz on what Biden should do to combat inflation

The correlation between Biden’s popularity and gas prices

Lasting Impacts of a Gas Price Shock during Teenage Driving Years

Voters who drive a lot are likelier to vote based on gas prices

Presidential approval is historically strongly affected by gas and food prices (and not due to media coverage)

The collapse of New England’s Transportation and Climate Initiative

White paper: “Does Employing Skilled Immigrants Enhance Competitive Performance? Evidence from European Football Clubs”

Mo Salah reduced prejudice

Newcastle Football Club controversy

Hosts:

Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, Vox

Jerusalem Demsas (@jerusalemdemsas), policy reporter, Vox

Dara Lind (@dlind), immigration reporter, ProPublica

Credits:

Sofi LaLonde, producer & 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 talks to Chye-Ching Huang, the executive director of the Tax Law Center at NYU Law, about the many, many, many tax provisions in Democrats’ Build Back Better package. First they dive into the new tax benefits in the bill, from the expanded child tax credit to the $7,500 credit for electric cars. Then they talk about how the bill raises money through taxes, especially through higher taxes on high-income people and corporations. Then they talk about the future of taxes, like what will happen when most of the Trump tax cuts expire at the end of 2025. 

References:

A breakdown of the components of the House Build Back Better bill

Whose taxes Build Back Better would raise and cut

Huang’s testimony to Congress on Build Back Better

UChicago and Columbia researchers on the Child Tax Credit and employment

The health care tax credit provisions of Build Back Better, explained

The clean energy tax credits would help cut emissions by 40-50 percent

The bill’s minimum corporate tax plan and millionaire surtax, explained

How rebuilding the IRS would boost tax compliance

Host:

Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, Vox

Credits:

Sofi LaLonde, producer & engineer

Libby Nelson, editorial adviser

Amber Hall, deputy editorial director of talk podcasts

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Now that nearly 60 percent of the US population is fully vaccinated, Dylan, German, and Jerusalem discuss potential exit strategies for policies such as mask mandates and mandatory quarantines. They also talk about what an “endemic” Covid might be like in the US and which aspects of pandemic life might stick around. Finally, they discuss how better access to mental health care could affect crime.

References:

Mandate the vaccines, not masks

The case for ending school mask mandates at the end of the year

The case for keeping mask mandates

Emily Oster on kids and masks

The Black Death and its Consequences for the Jewish Community in Tàrrega

Against “deep cleaning” surfaces for COVID

Vaccines are coming along for children under 5

Do booster shots make vaccinating the world harder?

White paper of the week: Better access to outpatient psychiatric care reduces crime

Cognitive-behavioral therapy reduced crime in Liberia

Hosts:

Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, Vox

German Lopez (@germanrlopez), senior correspondent, Vox

Jerusalem Demsas (@jerusalemdemsas), policy reporter, Vox

Credits:

Sofi LaLonde, producer & 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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Vox policy reporter Jerusalem Demsas talks with the Atlantic’s Derek Thompson (@DKThomp) about how the future of remote work could reshape America’s cities, upend US labor markets, and cause fundamental shifts in where people live. Derek and Jerusalem discuss how it would take only a small percentage of remote workers to impact the urban geography of the US — with complicated implications for electoral politics and the climate.

References:

Jerusalem's Q&A with housing economist Enrico Moretti on the future of remote work: Remote work is overrated. America’s supercities are coming back.

Superstar Cities Are in Trouble [The Atlantic]

How America Lost Its Mojo [The Atlantic]

The Coronavirus is Creating a Huge, Successful Experiment in Working From Home [The Atlantic]

Where Americans Are Moving [Bloomberg]

Could a Heartland visa help struggling regions? [Economic Innovation Group]

Host:

Jerusalem Demsas (@jerusalemdemsas), policy reporter, Vox

Credits:

Sofi LaLonde, producer & 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, Jerusalem, and Dara discuss congressional Democrats’ efforts to uncap the state and local tax (SALT) deduction, and how the party found itself proposing a massive tax cut for high-income households. They also dive into the deduction’s stated purpose (encouraging states to spend on social programs) and talk about other programs that could encourage states to invest in health and education. Finally, they examine a white paper showing that domestic violence crimes didn’t increase during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

References:

The state and local tax deduction, explained [Vox]

SALT cap repeal would overwhelmingly benefit high income households [Tax Policy Center]

Reconciliation may deliver a tax cut to the rich [Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget]

5-Year SALT cap repeal would be costliest part of Build Back Better [Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget]

Senators Menendez and Sanders show the way forward on the SALT cap [Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy]

Easy on the SALT: A qualified defense of the deduction for state and local taxes [Daniel J. Hemel, University of Chicago Law School]

Congress can help state and local governments prepare for a rainy day without repealing the SALT cap [Tax Policy Center]

What you don’t know about fiscal federalism can hurt you [Milken Institute Review]

Progressive politics from the ground up [CommonWealth Magazine]

California is making liberals squirm [The New York Times]

Effects of COVID-19 shutdowns on domestic violence in US cities [Amalia R. Miller, Carmit Segal, and Melissa K. Spencer, National Bureau of Economic Research]

One explanation for conflicting reports on domestic violence during the pandemic [Aaron Chalfin, Twitter]

Hosts:

Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, Vox

Jerusalem Demsas (@jerusalemdemsas), policy reporter, Vox

Dara Lind (@dlind), immigration reporter, ProPublica

Credits:

Sofi LaLonde, producer & 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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Vox senior correspondent Ian Millhiser talks to law professor Nicholas Bagley about the pandemic — and how the courts are undermining the government's ability to respond to emergencies. They discuss the constitutionality of vaccine mandates, religious exemptions to public health laws, and court decisions undermining the power of public health agencies.

References:

Delegation at the Founding (Columbia Law Review)

The Supreme Court’s coming war with Joe Biden, explained

Religious conservatives have won a revolutionary victory in the Supreme Court

A New Supreme Court case could gut the government’s power to fight climate change

Hosts:

Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser) 

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, German, and Dara talk about Facebook and the controversy surrounding it in recent weeks. They cover just how much — and how little — we know about Facebook’s impact on the world and talk about whether there are good policy solutions to Facebook’s problems. For the white paper of the week, they break down a study on free school lunch programs.

References:

Hosts:

Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, Vox

German Lopez (@germanrlopez), senior correspondent, Vox

Dara Lind (@dlind), immigration reporter, ProPublica

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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America’s housing market is failing to meet the needs of most Americans. Rents have skyrocketed, homeownership is slipping out of grasp for young and other first-time homebuyers, and policymakers have struggled to meet the moment. But we’re not alone. The UK is also facing a dire housing shortage, one that is leading to skyrocketing rents and home prices. Usually, the solution to this problem is pushing higher levels of government to step in where local government has failed, but today’s guest, John Myers, the co-founder of London YIMBY, thinks his country should go in the opposite direction: more local.

References:

More Housing? YIMBY, Please (Bloomberg)

Strong Suburbs: Enabling streets to control their own development (Policy Exchange)

Seoul searching – does the Korean capital have the solution to the housing crisis? (CapX)

How Houston Achieved Lot Size Reform (Planetizen)

California is ending a rule that helped cause its housing crisis (Vox)

Hosts:

Jerusalem Demsas (@jerusalemdemsas), policy reporter, Vox

Credits:

Sofi LaLonde, producer & 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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