Explain It to Me

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities' Jessica Schubel explains how Medicaid works, and how the White House is trying to undermine it.

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Jane, Dara, and Matt try to offer actual facts about prison suicide and new research on hot weather and crime.

Related reading:

“Jeffrey Epstein’s Death, in Context”’ by Ken White, the Atlantic

"Jeffrey Epstein’s Death Underlines A Nationwide Problem" by Jesselyn Cook, Huffington Post

White paper

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National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255

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Julian Brave NoiseCat of Data for Progress joins Matt to discuss the vision of the Green New Deal, the need to link it to social justice, and whether or not it’s politically viable.

Recommended reading:

“No, climate action can’t be separated from social justice” by Julian Brave NoiseCat

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ProPublica’s Dara Lind joins Jane and Matt to talk about the mass shooting in El Paso and what it means to take white nationalist violence seriously.

Recommended reading:

“The top House Republican is blaming video games for the weekend’s mass shootings” by Jane Coaston, Vox

“A question for conservatives: what if the left was right on race?” by Jane Coaston, Vox

“Crush This Evil” by The Editors, National Review

“Who are the Trenchcoat Mafia?” BBC News

“Columbine: Whose Fault Is It?” by Marilyn Manson, Rolling Stone

“Network exposure and excessive use of force” by Marie Ouellet et al, Criminology & Public Policy (white paper)

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Ezra and Matt dissect the six-hour, two-night July debate marathon.

Vox’s guide to where 2020 Democrats stand on policy

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ProPublica’s Dara Lind joins Jane and Matt to discuss the sexual assault case that’s also a political scandal and a financial puzzle.

**White paper starts at 45:20**

Recommended reading:

“Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who is friends with Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, explained” by Jane Coaston, Vox

“Who Was Jeffrey Epstein Calling?” by the editors of The Intelligence

“Jeffrey Epstein Burrowed Into the Lives of the Rich and Made a Fortune” by Khadeeja Safdar, Rebecca Davis O’Brien, Gregory Zuckerman, and Jenny Strasburg, Wall Street Journal

“How a future Trump Cabinet member gave a serial sex abuser the deal of a lifetime” by Julie K. Brown, Miami Herald

“Jeffrey Epstein Pitched a New Narrative. These Sites Published It.” by Tiffany Hsu, New York Times

“What’s next in the Jeffrey Epstein case? A former federal prosecutor explains.” by Jane Coaston, Vox

“Jeffrey Epstein's Accusers Are Finally in the Spotlight” by Lily Herman, Refinery29

“Too many men think teenage girls are fair game. That gave Jeffrey Epstein cover” by Moira Donegan, the Guardian

“Alan Dershowitz, Devil’s Advocate” by Connie Bruck, the New Yorker

“How a Predator Operated in Plain Sight” by Lisa Miller, the Cut

White Paper

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Yale law professor David Schleicher joins Matt to talk about why state and local politics don’t work anymore.

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ProPublica reporter Dara Lind joins Jane and Matt to discuss President Trump’s rhetoric around the small group of congresswomen known as “the Squad”: Reps. Ayanna Presley, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib. They also dive into Trump's crackdown on refugee resettlement and a white paper about the connection between student debt and job satisfaction.

Recommended reading:

“The Trump racism spin cycle” by Jane Coaston

“Asylum Seekers That Followed Trump Rule Now Don’t Qualify Because of New Trump Rule” by Dara Lind

“‘Send her back!’: Trump’s attacks on Ilhan Omar — and the response to them — represent a new low” by Aaron Rupar

“Trump says he’s not concerned about being racist because ‘many people agree’ with him” by Aaron Rupar

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Verge editor-in-chief and Vergecast host Nilay Patel joins Matt in this special crossover episode to explain what Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which allows platforms to circumnavigate liability for user content, really means. They also discuss Elizabeth Warren’s proposal to break up big tech platforms, and how it may or may not fix anything.

Recommended reading:

Why the internet's most important law exists and how people are still getting it wrong by Alex Castro

Facebook’s $5 billion FTC fine is an embarrassing joke by Nilay Patel

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Worldly's Alex Ward joins Jane and Matt to explain Trump's more-tedious-than-it-sounds plan for military domination of the final frontier.

Recommended reading:

“Trump really, really wants troops in space” by Alex Ward

“Trump wants a ‘Space Force.’ We have many questions.” by Alex Ward

“Trump’s call for a Space Force, explained” by Alex Ward

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