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Is my dentist scamming me? Why do political campaigns cost so much? Should Gen Z bother to save for retirement?
Explain It To Me is the hotline for all your unanswered questions. Sometimes explanations are hard to find, misinformation is rampant, and those internet searches and AI asks can come up empty. Call 1-800-618-8545 with what’s on your mind, and host Jonquilyn Hill will be your friendly guide to the answers you're looking for — and maybe even the ones you don’t expect. New episodes every Wednesday starting September 18.
Part of Vox and the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Donald Trump vs the congressional GOP
Tara Golshan and Andrew Prokop join Matt to talk about the bad blood between Trump and Mitch McConnell.
Links!
Andrew's interview with Dave Hopkins
Now Hear This registration (Promo code Weeds)
Weeds Facebook group
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50:1625/08/2017
How the rich ate all the growth
Ezra and Matt discuss two big papers that help explain America's economic malaise:
Income and Wealth Inequality: Evidence and Policy Implications
The Rise of Market Power and the Macroeconomic Implications
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49:0623/08/2017
Statue limitations
Libby Nelson and German Lopez join Matt to discuss the politics and history of Confederate monuments.
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56:3418/08/2017
A very meritorious podcast
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt break down Trump's plan to slash legal immigration, a new way to sabotage Obamacare, and research on ER scams.
Got a bill from an emergency room? We want to hear about it.
The Company Behind Many Surprise Emergency Room Bills from The New York Times
Surprise! Out-of-Network Billing for Emergency Care in the United States from NBER
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01:05:5016/08/2017
Can John Kelly fix the Trump administration? Can anyone?
Dara Lind and Andrew Prokop join Matt to talk about Kelly's record as DHS Secretary and Trump's bizarre Twitter feud with Mitch McConnell.
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01:05:2511/08/2017
Is Google in an "ideological echo chamber"?
Matt, Ezra, and Sarah talk about the now-infamous Google memo, the Democrats' plan for prescription drug pricing, and a study on opioid prescriptions and medical schools.
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01:18:0909/08/2017
The bacon fat theory of school segregation, and some White House chaos
Ezra, Sarah and Alvin Chang talk about the quiet return of segregation in schools, chaos in the Trump White House, and taxing marijuana.
Links!The Washington Post article on school desegregation and the Supreme Court.Alvin's piece on school desegregation and gerrymanderingAlvin's article on living in poor neighborhoodsAlvin's article on white America self-segregatingAlvin's piece on Obamacare repeal splitting neighborhoods
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54:5802/08/2017
ACA repeal is finally dead (maybe)
Sarah, Matt, and Dylan Scott analyze the night Trumpcare died and what's next for health care.
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50:3228/07/2017
Skinny repeal and Trump's management by tweet
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt talk about yet another Obamacare repeal plan, Trump's feud with Jeff Sessions, and new research on retail health clinics.
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01:01:2826/07/2017
A deep dive on basic income
Dylan Matthews joins Matt to discuss the three different version of universal basic income, and why only one of them is good.
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55:3621/07/2017
At last, a Weeds about weed (also Obamacare)
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt talk about Democrats' plans to improve Obamacare and new evidence that smoking pot makes you bad at math.
Links!
White paper: ‘High’ Achievers? Cannabis Access and Academic Performance
Ezra's conversation with Dr. Nneka Jones Tapia
Latest Worldly episode
Tell us (and other Weeds fans) what you thought about the episode in our Facebook group!
Subscribe to VoxCare for healthcare news in your inbox daily!
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01:04:0819/07/2017
McConnellCare II: Cruz Control
Matt and Sarah sit down with Dylan Scott to talk through all the nitty gritty details of the Senate's latest health care plan.
Links!
Ezra debates the Senate health care bill with Avik Roy
Dylan Scott's reporting leading up to this latest iteration of the bill
McConnell talking to moderates about tax cuts
How the Trump administration saved Obamacare in Alaska
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Subscribe to VoxCare for healthcare news in your inbox daily!
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53:2014/07/2017
Minimum wage research showdown (also Russia)
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt wonk out on the latest minimum wage research and Ted Cruz's new health plan — plus some Russia stuff, too.
White Paper: Minimum Wage Increases, Wages, and Low-Wage Employment: Evidence from Seattle
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01:04:1512/07/2017
Understanding the opioid epidemic
Drug policy reporter German Lopez joins Matt for a close look at the biggest drug overdose crisis in American history.
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47:0507/07/2017
Trumpism and travel bans
Dara Lind and Dylan Matthews join Ezra to talk about the updated travel ban, how Trumpism has translated into policy, and the impact that increasingly awesome video games have had on young men's work habits.
Links!
White Paper: Leisure Luxuries and the Labor Supply of Young Men
Peter Suderman's piece about young men playing video games instead of getting jobs
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01:00:5105/07/2017
Meanwhile, House Republicans are trying to write a budget
Jim Tankersley and Tara Golshan join Matt to talk about House Republicans' struggles to write a budget resolution and get their tax reform agenda on track.
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45:0530/06/2017
CB--Oh no this health care bill is terrible too
A new CBO score on the latest Obamacare repeal bill pushes Sarah to the breaking point!Links:Follow along as Matt, Ezra, and Sarah read through the CBO reportGraphs comparing silver insurance plan costs under different health care bills for different income brackets White Paper: Health Insurance Coverage and Health — What the Recent Evidence Tells Us
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01:09:3328/06/2017
Senate Republicans' health care idea: Make the poor pay more for less
The Senate health care bill is out — and Sarah, Ezra, and Matt are back in the studio to dive into the details of what it means for the marketplaces, Medicaid, and very rich people.
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01:03:3923/06/2017
Georgia (and Obamacare repeal) on our minds
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt talk about Tuesday's special elections and the soon-to-be-released Senate health care bill.
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01:06:0521/06/2017
Trump’s “buck stops somewhere else” foreign policy
Foreign editors Yochi Dreazen and Jennifer Williams join Matt to talk about the diplomatic crisis in Qatar and the never-ending war in Afghanistan.
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51:3016/06/2017
Legends of the secret health care bill
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt take the deepest look they can at Senate Republicans' secret health care bill, plus a quick look at Jeff Sessions’s non-answers on Russia and new research on the long-term impact of lead exposure.Links!White paper of the week from the Brookings Institution: New evidence that lead exposure increases crimeCaitlin Owens in Axios on the Senate GOP not releasing their healthcare billDylan Scott on what it would look like it Senate Republicans voted to repeal ObamacareDavid Leonhardt's New York Times piece on the half-hearted opposition to the GOP’s health care planJeff Stein's piece on the left's game plan for beating the GOP health bill9 legal experts weigh on whether or not Sessions can discuss his conversations with the presidentKevin Drum on lead's connection to violent crime and lower IQs in Mother Jones
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01:04:0114/06/2017
Infrastructure week (jk it's about Comey)
Dara Lind and Yochi Dreazen join Matt to talk about Comey's testimony and the larger consequences of the Russia investigation.
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52:3709/06/2017
Meet Sprinklecare
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt talk about competing single-payer bills in Nevada and California, plus research on the value of access to the Obama White House.
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01:07:5608/06/2017
Jared Kushner: International man of mystery
Dylan Matthews and politics reporter Andrew Prokop join Matt to talk about the Paris Accords and the mysterious role of the First Son-in-Law.
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59:2102/06/2017
A platinum get out of jail free card
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt talk about the real causes of mass incarceration, Trump's move to roll back contraceptive coverage, and the mysterious world of high-end credit cards.Links!German Lopez’s piece about John Pfaff’s “Locked in” Mark A.R. Kleiman, Angela Hawken, and Ross Halperin on graduated reentry as prison reform.Today’s white paper, "Status Goods: Experimental Evidence from Platinum Credit Cards" Our Weeds in the Wild Episode about birth control Ezra Klein’s conversation with Chris Hayes about “A Colony in a Nation” Jon Bois excellent video, The Dumbest Boy in the WorldBooks!"Locked In: The True Causes of Mass Incarceration" by John Pfaff"The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness" by Michelle Alexander"A Colony in a Nation" by Chris Hayes
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57:4731/05/2017
Weeds in the Wild: Tennessee's Healthcare Bald Spot
Sarah Kliff travels to Tennessee to see what it looks like when Obamacare explodes.Links!Sarah's piece about her trip to Tennessee More details about the Missouri bald spotAn interactive map of the counties most at risk of losing all their insurers Our lovely Weeds Facebook groupEmail us at [email protected]
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19:2129/05/2017
CB--Oh, this bill stinks
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt talk about the new CBO score of Trumpcare and the results of this week's special election in Montana.
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53:3826/05/2017
Trump's budget has landed, and it's terrible
A tanned and rested Ezra joins Matt and Sarah to talk budget, auto-enrollment in health care, and some eye-popping research on zoning.Links:Sarah's piece on auto-enrollmentJeff Stein's piece on reactions to Paul Ryan's agenda The wonderful Weeds Facebook group
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01:04:0524/05/2017
All the Trump scandal drama you've been craving
Yochi Dreazen and Jennifer Williams join Matt to talk about the new Trump/Russia special counsel and the latest scandal swirling around Michael Flynn.
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48:4619/05/2017
Trump chaos, UBI, and the fracking baby boom
Dylan Matthews joins Sarah and Matt to talk about Trump's latest problems, his reporting on basic income in Kenya, and new research on fracking's impact on marriage and childbearing.
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01:16:5517/05/2017
Weeds in the Wild: Free Money... For Everyone!
One of the world’s first universal basic income experiments is happening right now in a small Kenyan village. Dylan Matthews went there to investigate.Links!Dylan Matthew's piece about his Kenya tripTwo economists make the case for and against an American UBIA longer UBI explainerPlease send us feedback! Post your thoughts in our Facebook group or email us at [email protected]
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15:1812/05/2017
The wall in our hearts
Vox's Dara Lind joins Sarah and Matt to talk about James Comey's firing, the border wall, and whether incomes have really been as stagnant as they seem.
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01:03:2910/05/2017
AHCApocalypse III
Dylan Scott joins Sarah and Matt to discuss the surprisingly swift passage of a revised and reanimated version of Paul Ryan's repeal bill.
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58:3305/05/2017
High-Risk Podcasting
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt talk about Congress's big spending deal, Republicans' newest Obamacare repeal idea, and research on what happens when abortion providers shut down.
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59:3603/05/2017
AHCApocalypse II
Live at Vox Conversations, Sarah, Ezra, and Matt discuss the GOP's doomed effort to reboot Obamacare repeal and the White House's "new" tax reform "plan."
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59:2528/04/2017
French elections, national service, and Queens at war
Libby Nelson and Dylan Matthews join Matt to talk about the global nationalist tide, forcing integration across class and ethnic lines, and research on gender and foreign policy dynamics.
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01:08:3026/04/2017
Weeds Live!
In front of their first-ever live audience, Sarah, Ezra, and Matt talk about Trump surprises, Singapore's health care system, and the impact of longevity inequality on retirement programs.
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01:30:4319/04/2017
Weeds in the Wild: Meet Joan, the Robotic Pelvis
Sarah and Byrd take a look at some policy experiments working to drive down teen pregnancy and abortion rates. They're showing promising results — but they're also under threat.
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23:0114/04/2017
The World's Worst Club
Sarah and Matt are joined by Dara Lind for a discussion of the United fiasco, Trump-era immigration enforcement, and pre-K's surprising health benefits.
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55:1712/04/2017
Nuclear Winter
Jim Tankersley joins Sarah and Matt to talk tax reform, senate procedure, and the most exciting Swedish administrative data yet.
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57:0105/04/2017
A cheery discussion of global warming, Obamacare repeal, and death
Ezra, Sarah, and Matt pick apart Trump's next executive order on climate, exhume the AHCA's corpse, and read a white paper about death.
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01:12:2631/03/2017
Weeds in the Wild: Postville
It was the biggest workplace immigration raid the U.S. had seen to date. 389 workers, almost all of them Hispanic, were detained at a kosher meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa on May 12, 2008.On this episode of Weeds in the Wild, we look at the effects that this raid had across the state of Iowa, and then take a step back to understand how our immigration policies made this kind of raid possible.
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27:2924/03/2017
Mad Dogs and Obamacare Repealers
Ezra and Matt are joined by Yochi Dreazen to talk about national security policy in the Trump era, the latest on ACA repeal, and research indicating the internet's not to blame for political polarization.
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01:20:1521/03/2017
CB-uh oh!
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt talk about Donald Trump's taxes, the disastrous CBO score of the GOP health care bill, and a study on how Chinese imports reduce Americans' marriage rates.
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01:10:1615/03/2017
AHCApalooza
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt discuss how to pronounce the big new Republican health law, plus analyze its content and the puzzling politics surrounding its introduction.
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01:09:2708/03/2017
Don't Call It a State of the Union
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt try to discuss Donald Trump's address to a joint session of congress through the lens of actual policy.
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01:04:2801/03/2017
Death Panel If You Do, Death Panel If You Don't
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt talk fake news, town hall protests, and research on why your cell phone bill is so high.
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01:15:0622/02/2017
Weeds in the Wild: Sarah Goes to Kentucky
In another episode of their new podcast, Sarah and Vox's Liz Scheltens explore why Obamacare enrollees in Kentucky voted for Trump.
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14:2117/02/2017
Privet, Amerika!
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt talk about the latest Russia-related scandal engulfing the Trump administration, the White House's lack of progress on policy, and new research on how Medicaid expansion reduced the divorce rate.
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01:07:1915/02/2017
The Time Traveling Emanuel Brothers
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt talk about anti-Trump protests, cabinet confirmations, and health insurance age rating (exciting!)
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01:21:4209/02/2017