Explain It to Me

Matt and Dara are joined by Vox Politics and Policy Fellow Jerusalem Demsas to talk about gun violence and mass shootings in America. They discuss the recent shootings in Atlanta and Boulder, talk through the difference between real policy solutions and more superficial ones, and discuss several non-productive but entrenched aspects of the media landscape surrounding mass shootings, gun violence, and progressive reforms. Then, they take on some new research on the correlation between political polarization in a society and the presence of a "charismatic leader."

"The long history of anti-Asian hate in America, explained" by Li Zhou, Vox (updated Mar. 5, 2021)

"The history of tensions — and solidarity — between Black and Asian American communities, explained" by Jerusalem Demsas and Rachel Ramirez, Vox (Mar. 16, 2021)

"America's gun problem, explained" by German Lopez, Vox (updated Mar. 23, 2021)

"Here's What's Actually Being Done To Address Anti-Asian Racism" by Lydia Wang, Refinery29 (updated Mar. 19, 2021)

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Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com

Dara Lind (@DLind), Immigration Reporter, ProPublica

Jerusalem Demsas (@JerusalemDemsas), Politics and Policy Fellow, Vox

Erikk Geannikis, Editor and Producer

As the Biden administration gears up, we'll help you understand this unprecedented burst of policymaking. Sign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weeds-newsletter.

The Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network production.

Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts

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Skanda Amarnath from Employ America joins Matt to talk about inflation. They discuss how the Fed tracks markers of inflation, the difference between cyclical and asymmetric inflation, and talk about whether or not to give into Larry Summers's fears about an "overheated" economy in our recovery.

"Inflation: The Good, The Bad, and The Transitory" by Skanda Amarnath and Alex Williams (Feb. 12, 2021)

Skanda Amarnath (@IrvingSwisher), Director of Research & Analysis, Employ America

Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com

Erikk Geannikis, Editor and Producer

As the Biden administration gears up, we'll help you understand this unprecedented burst of policymaking. Sign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weeds-newsletter.

The Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network production.

Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts

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Matt and Dara are joined by Vox Senior Correspondent Ian Millhiser to examine the current state of affairs at the southern border, and to evaluate the Biden administration's immigration response more generally. Then, some research is discussed that examines (pre-Covid) data on the correlation between life expectancy and both race and educational attainment.

Statement by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas Regarding the Situation at the Southwest Border (Mar. 16, 2021)

"Biden to Announce Broad Plan to Reverse Trump Immigration Policies" by Michael D. Shear, New York Times (Jan. 19, 2021)

"Death in the prime of life: Covid-19 proves especially lethal to younger Latinos" by Akilah Johnson, Washington Post (Mar. 15, 2021)

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Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com

Dara Lind (@DLind), Immigration Reporter, ProPublica

Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser), Senior Correspondent, Vox

Erikk Geannikis, Editor and Producer

As the Biden administration gears up, we'll help you understand this unprecedented burst of policymaking. Sign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weeds-newsletter.

The Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network production.

Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts

About Vox

Vox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.

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Unexplainable is a new podcast from Vox about everything we don’t know. Each week, the team look at the most fascinating unanswered questions in science and the mind-bending ways scientists are trying to answer them. New episodes drop every Wednesday. 

Learn more: vox.com/unexplainable 

Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/unexplainable/id1554578197

Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0PhoePNItwrXBnmAEZgYmt?si=Y3-2TFfDT8qHkfxMjrJL2g

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Vox's Kelsey Piper joins Matt to talk about the future of artificial intelligence and AI research. Should AI research be more heavily regulated, or banned? What kind of future will the continued development of AI bring us? Will AI turn out to be more like Skynet, or... like Philip Morris?

"The case for taking AI seriously as a threat to humanity" by Kelsey Piper, Vox/Future Perfect (Updated Oct. 15, 2020)

Kelsey Piper (@KelseyTuoc), Staff Writer, Vox

Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com

Erikk Geannikis, Editor and Producer

As the Biden administration gears up, we'll help you understand this unprecedented burst of policymaking. Sign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weeds-newsletter.

The Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network production.

Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts

About Vox

Vox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.

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Matt and Dara are joined by Vox Senior Correspondent Ian Millhiser to talk through the several ongoing legal challenges being initiated by the GOP to curtail and hinder the right to vote in America. They talk through what has become of the Voting Rights Act, H.R. 1, as well as landmark Supreme Court cases of the past few decades — including the ones yet to be decided. Then, some research is discussed that examines the effect of private equity on nursing home patient welfare. Spoiler alert: Matt glimpses the abyss.

"The new Republican war on voting rights, explained" by Ian Millhiser, Vox (Mar. 9, 2021)

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Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com

Dara Lind (@DLind), Immigration Reporter, ProPublica

Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser), Senior Correspondent, Vox

Erikk Geannikis, Editor and Producer

As the Biden administration gears up, we'll help you understand this unprecedented burst of policymaking. Sign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weeds-newsletter.

The Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network production.

Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts

About Vox

Vox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.

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Facebook group: The Weeds

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Kate Klonick, law professor at St. John's University, joins Matt to talk about her investigation into Facebook's secret content moderation board. She talks about her inside-Silicon-Valley reporting, the problems of regulating content in general, and why Facebook both is and is not like a newsstand.

"Inside the Making of Facebook's Supreme Court" by Kate Klonick, The New Yorker (Feb. 12, 2021)

"The New Governors: The People, Rules, and Processes Governing Online Speech" by Kate Klonick, Harvard Law Review (Mar. 2017)

Kate Klonick (@Klonick), Assistant Professor of Law, St. John's University

Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com

Erikk Geannikis, Editor and Producer

As the Biden administration gears up, we'll help you understand this unprecedented burst of policymaking. Sign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weeds-newsletter.

The Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network production.

Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts

About Vox

Vox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.

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Matt and Dara are joined by Vox Politics and Policy Fellow Jerusalem Demsas to talk about how to take on America's housing problem, exclusionary and discriminatory zoning restrictions, message against NIMBYs, and ultimately, to sue and destroy the suburbs. Then, research is analyzed that confronts the effects of rising prescription drug prices on patient behavior.

"America's racist housing rules really can be fixed" by Jerusalem Demsas, Vox (Feb. 17, 2021)

"How to convince a NIMBY to build more housing" by Jerusalem Demsas, Vox (Feb. 24, 2021)

"How George Floyd's death is fueling a push for affordable housing in mostly White parts of D.C." by Paul Schwartzmann, Washington Post (March 1, 2021)

"Homeowners and Opposition to Housing Development" by William Marble and Clayton Nall (Feb. 6, 2020)

"HUD can't fix exclusionary zoning by withholding CDBG funds" by Jenny Schuetz, Brookings (Oct. 15, 2018)

"Stuck! The Law and Economics of Residential Stability" by David Schleicher, Yale Law Journal (Vol. 127, 2017)

The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together, by Heather McGhee (2021)

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Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com

Dara Lind (@DLind), Immigration Reporter, ProPublica

Jerusalem Demsas (@JerusalemDemsas), Politics and Policy Fellow, Vox

Erikk Geannikis, Editor and Producer

As the Biden administration gears up, we'll help you understand this unprecedented burst of policymaking. Sign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weeds-newsletter.

The Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network production.

Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts

About Vox

Vox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.

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Facebook group: The Weeds

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Author, researcher, and University of Pittsburgh professor of history Lara Putnam sits down with Matt to talk about the structure of local progressive political organization. They talk about the recent history of these movements in the wake of the 2016 election, the effect of these groups on downballot races in Pennsylvania and nationally, and look to the future of these groups in the Biden era.

"Democrats are surging in special elections, and that's not what we've been used to in recent years" by Daniel Donner, Daily Kos (Sept. 27, 2017)

"The Other Infrastructure Program: Progressive Organizing" by Lara Putnam, The American Prospect (Feb. 22, 2021)

"Let's Organize—and Not Scapegoat Leaders" by Michael Podhorzer, The American Prospect (Feb. 17, 2021)

"Organizing Power: Theda Skocpol and Caroline Tervo"

Lara Putnam (@lara_putnam), UCIS Research Professor, University of Pittsburgh

Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com

Erikk Geannikis, Editor and Producer

As the Biden administration gears up, we'll help you understand this unprecedented burst of policymaking. Sign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weeds-newsletter.

The Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network production.

Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts

About Vox

Vox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.

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Facebook group: The Weeds

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Vox's Emily Stewart joins Matt and Dara to unpack what's in the Covid relief bill, now that it's out of committee. They talk about state & local relief, UI extensions, the $15 minimum wage, and why Congress is perma-hamstrung to effect real change. Plus, some research is analyzed about popular trading app Robin Hood, and its possible affect on stock prices.

"The year that Congress just gave people money" by Dylan Matthews, Vox (Feb. 5, 2021)

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Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com

Dara Lind (@DLind), Immigration Reporter, ProPublica

Emily Stewart (@EmilyStewartM), Business and Politics reporter, Vox

Erikk Geannikis, Editor and Producer

As the Biden administration gears up, we'll help you understand this unprecedented burst of policymaking. Sign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weeds-newsletter.

The Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network production.

Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts

About Vox

Vox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.

Follow Us: Vox.com

Facebook group: The Weeds

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