Vox

Everyone’s an expert now | The Gray Area

May 22, 2026

Almost a decade ago, Tom Nichols warned that Americans were losing respect for expertise. He didn’t expect things to get this bad. Subscribe to our channel! http://goo.gl/0bsAjO Sean talks with Nichols about his 2017 book “The Death of Expertise” and what’s happened since: why people don’t just distrust experts but actively push back against them, how the internet turns bad ideas into communities, and why a society that can’t agree on basic facts can’t function for long. They also dig into the deeper causes: loneliness, narcissism, and the weird psychology of living in a world where everything “just works.” Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling) Guest: Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) 00:00 Intro 01:13 A Growing Contempt for Competence: Revisiting The Death of Expertise 08:14 Decadence and the collapse of respect for competence 18:07 How internet echo chambers destroys shared reality 21:59 Is the ruling class to blame for the death of expertise? 28:34 How to separate healthy skepticism from destructive contempt for expertise 35:04 What happens next in a post-expertise world? We would love to hear from you. To tell us what you thought of this episode, email us at thegrayarea@vox.com or leave us a voicemail at 1-800-214-5749. Your comments and questions help us make a better show. And you can watch new episodes of The Gray Area on YouTube. New episodes drop every Monday and Friday. Listen to The Gray Area ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com. Watch our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/IZONyE Follow Vox on Facebook: http://goo.gl/U2g06o Or Twitter: http://goo.gl/XFrZ5H

How to be more creative | The Gray Area

May 18, 2026

Sean talks with writer David Epstein about why unlimited freedom and endless choice often make us less creative, less focused, and less fulfilled. They discuss the hidden power of constraints, the psychology of attention, why humans struggle with too many options, and how useful limits can help us do better work and live more meaningful lives. Subscribe to our channel! http://goo.gl/0bsAjO Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling) Guest: David Epstein (@DavidEpstein) 00:00 Intro 01:46 How restraints helped create the periodic table 03:41 The relationship between freedom and creativity 10:55 Is freedom the absence of limits? 16:50 Why does choice create anxiety? 22:20 How do we navigate a world with too many choices? 27:22 Making a decision vs ‘sliding’ into one 34:02 The value of ritual 37:55 Creative limits and Dr. Seuss 39:41 How David Epstein’s life changed after writing this book We would love to hear from you. To tell us what you thought of this episode, email us at thegrayarea@vox.com or leave us a voicemail at 1-800-214-5749. Your comments and questions help us make a better show. And you can watch new episodes of The Gray Area on YouTube. New episodes drop every Monday and Friday. Listen to The Gray Area ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com. Watch our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/IZONyE Follow Vox on Facebook: http://goo.gl/U2g06o Or Twitter: http://goo.gl/XFrZ5H

Americans oppose data centers. We went to find out why | America, Actually

May 16, 2026

There’s a growing disconnect between a local community that says it’s being treated as the "guinea pigs" in a new industrial revolution, and Washington politicians. Astead Herndon heads to Vineland, New Jersey, this week to check out one of the Northeast’s biggest data centers that neighbors say was rushed into construction without community buy-in. 00:00 Why data centers are the new political flashpoint 02:26 On-site at one of the Northeast’s biggest data centers 05:01 The jobs debate 07:45 The extractive reality of data centers 12:39 Residents speak out at a town hall 18:11 AI anxiety and government trust America, Actually publishes video episodes every Saturday tackling key issues in politics, culture, and the economy. Subscribe to Vox’s YouTube channel to get them. Listen to episodes of America, Actually on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite app. If you enjoy our reporting and want to hear more from Vox journalists, sign up for our Patreon at patreon.com/vox. Each month, our members get access to exclusive videos, livestreams, and chats with our newsroom. Subscribe to our channel! http://goo.gl/0bsAjO Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com. Watch our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/IZONyE Follow Vox on Facebook: http://goo.gl/U2g06o Or Twitter: http://goo.gl/XFrZ5H

The college dream is falling apart | The Gray Area

May 15, 2026

College was supposed to be a ticket to a better life. A degree meant a good job, a decent salary, and a brighter future. That promise is breaking down. For many graduates, a college degree no longer guarantees economic security or upward mobility. Subscribe to our channel! http://goo.gl/0bsAjO In today’s episode, guest host Miles Bryan talks with reporter and author Noam Scheiber about his new book, Mutiny: The Rise and Revolt of the College-Educated Working Class, which argues that the economic prospects for college graduates have steadily eroded since the mid-2000s. The result is scrambling our politics. Miles and Noam discuss why college graduates are increasingly drawn to socialist politicians like Bernie Sanders and Zohran Mamdani, why they’ve become some of the strongest supporters of organized labor, and how economic frustration among educated workers could transform the American political landscape. Host: Miles Bryan, Vox reporter and senior producer Guest: Noam Scheiber, New York Times reporter and author of Mutiny: The Rise and Revolt of the College-Educated Working Class 00:00 Intro 01:36 What are college graduates revolting against? 07:53 Teddy: college grad to labor organizer 13:20 What happened to Apple ‘creatives?’ 19:52 Baristas to doctors: everyone thinks they’re a ‘worker’ 24:45 Why educated workers are moving left 32:14 Will AI replace white-collar workers? 43:07 Are we headed for a new era of labor unrest? We would love to hear from you. To tell us what you thought of this episode, email us at thegrayarea@vox.com or leave us a voicemail at 1-800-214-5749. Your comments and questions help us make a better show. And you can watch new episodes of The Gray Area on YouTube. Listen to The Gray Area ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com. Watch our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/IZONyE Follow Vox on Facebook: http://goo.gl/U2g06o Or Twitter: http://goo.gl/XFrZ5H

What would J.R.R. Tolkien think of Palantir?

May 12, 2026

Peter Thiel and Alex Karp’s Palantir Technologies is one of the most powerful and mysterious tech companies in Silicon Valley. Its namesake is also one of the most powerful and mysterious magical objects in the lore of J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic fantasy series The Lord of the Rings. The palantiri of The Lord of the Rings are sort of like crystal balls or “seeing stones” that allow their users to communicate across vast distances, see events from afar, and sometimes even peer into the future. But just about everybody who tries to use a palantir in The Lord of the Rings is deceived by it, acting on the visions they’re receiving without the greater context or wisdom of what’s behind them. So why would the people behind Palantir want to name the company and build its culture around these powerful yet easily corruptible magical objects? J.R.R. Tolkien was famously anti-tech and anti-government, expressing his fears of what would happen when those two forces combined through his fantasy works and his letters to friends, family, and colleagues. If he were alive in the age of Palantir, he might not be thrilled that a tech company with lucrative government contracts is name-checking his creations. Vox producer Benjamin Stephen went on a quest to find out the story behind Palantir’s name, what the link to The Lord of the Rings reveals about the company, and what Tolkien might think about how his words are being used. Read more about Palantir and The Lord of the Rings: Vox senior correspondent Constance Grady’s piece on the conservative reading of The Lord of the Rings: https://www.vox.com/culture/466858/lord-of-the-rings-conservatives-right-republicans-elon-musk-jd-vance-peter-thiel The Scouring of the Shire letter written by Palantir alumni: https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25930212/the-scouring-of-the-shire.pdf Caroline Haskins’s WIRED piece on what Palantir actually does: https://www.wired.com/story/palantir-what-the-company-does/ "Tolkien's Deplorable Cultus," an essay by literature professor Robert Tally: https://spectrejournal.com/tolkiens-deplorable-cultus/ Today, Explained covers what the right gets wrong about Tolkien: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6p2Jxa9KRttPTF15vwPmjR If you enjoy our reporting and want to hear more from Vox journalists, sign up for our Patreon at patreon.com/vox. Each month, our members get access to exclusive videos, livestreams, and chats with our newsroom. Subscribe to our channel! http://goo.gl/0bsAjO Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com. Watch our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/IZONyE Follow Vox on Facebook: http://goo.gl/U2g06o Or Twitter: http://goo.gl/XFrZ5H

Why progress is hard to see | The Gray Area

May 11, 2026

If someone asked you to describe the state of the world right now, odds are you’d reach for the bad news first: political division, AI panic, war, ecological crisis, unraveling everywhere. And none of that is imaginary. But Rebecca Solnit thinks the pessimistic view is incomplete. We’re good at seeing catastrophe and reversal, and much worse at seeing the slower, more positive transformations that unfold over decades. Subscribe to our channel! http://goo.gl/0bsAjO Solnit’s new book, The Beginning Comes After the End, is an argument for noticing those changes without denying the darkness of the present. She joins Sean to talk about hope, backlash, political despair, and why fragile victories are still victories worth defending. Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling) Guest: Rebecca Solnit 00:00 Intro 02:17 Why we struggle to recognize change 08:44 What is driving today’s political backlash? 15:25 How to find hope in fragile victories 20:39 Is backlash an eternal political reality? 24:54 Power vs. culture: where does change really happen? 37:06 Does Rebecca Solnit ever lose hope? We would love to hear from you. To tell us what you thought of this episode, email us at thegrayarea@vox.com or leave us a voicemail at 1-800-214-5749. Your comments and questions help us make a better show. And you can watch new episodes of The Gray Area on YouTube. New episodes drop every Monday and Friday. Listen to The Gray Area ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com. Watch our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/IZONyE Follow Vox on Facebook: http://goo.gl/U2g06o Or Twitter: http://goo.gl/XFrZ5H

Progressives have a new playbook. We tested it in Queens | America, Actually

May 9, 2026

"Progressive" and "affordability" are trendy political buzzwords today, but for most Americans, they feel more like abstract concepts rather than lived realities. The Congressional Progressive Caucus is trying to change that by launching a 10-point "Affordability Agenda." Congressman Greg Casar (D-TX) joins America, Actually this week to discuss his caucus’s shift from focusing on identity politics and bills like the Green New Deal to kitchen table issues like banning AI surveillance pricing and capping childcare costs. Later, we head to one of the country’s most Democratic congressional districts in the country to see if these Washington talking points resonate with voters. 00:00 Intro: New political buzzwords 00:33 Progressives roll out their “affordability agenda” 05:11 Shifting progressive priorities 06:22 Connecting the dots between climate and the economy 08:51 Redefining progressive for 2026 12:30 Reclaiming the narrative from Donald Trump 14:15 Rethinking “defund the police” 17:21 Voices from Queens, New York America, Actually publishes video episodes every Saturday tackling key issues in politics, culture, and the economy. Subscribe to Vox’s YouTube channel to get them. Listen to episodes of America, Actually on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite app. If you enjoy our reporting and want to hear more from Vox journalists, sign up for our Patreon at patreon.com/vox. Each month, our members get access to exclusive videos, livestreams, and chats with our newsroom. Subscribe to our channel! http://goo.gl/0bsAjO Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com. Watch our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/IZONyE Follow Vox on Facebook: http://goo.gl/U2g06o Or Twitter: http://goo.gl/XFrZ5H

How Gen Z went MAHA | The Gray Area

May 8, 2026

Sean talks with Vox senior correspondent Anna North about the strange rise of the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement. They explore why MAHA resonates, especially with younger people, how legitimate concerns about food and public health blur into conspiracy thinking, and why social media has become such a powerful engine for both. They also discuss the collapse of trust in institutions, the emotional logic behind wellness movements, and what it would take to rebuild trust in science and public health. Subscribe to our channel! http://goo.gl/0bsAjO Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling) Guest: Anna North (@annanorthtweets) 00:00 Intro 01:35 MAHA: Vaccines and Medical Distrust 08:49 MAHA's Subcultures 15:37 Gen Z Wellness Influencers 29:41 Gen Z Institutional Distrust 36:28 Tools For Rebuilding Public Trust We would love to hear from you. To tell us what you thought of this episode, email us at thegrayarea@vox.com or leave us a voicemail at 1-800-214-5749. Your comments and questions help us make a better show. And you can watch new episodes of The Gray Area on YouTube. New episodes drop every Monday and Friday. Listen to The Gray Area ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com. Watch our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/IZONyE Follow Vox on Facebook: http://goo.gl/U2g06o Or Twitter: http://goo.gl/XFrZ5H

How to feel awe every day | The Gray Area

May 4, 2026

Sean talks with psychologist Dacher Keltner about the science of awe and why it might be one of the most important emotions we have. They explore how awe quiets the ego, shifts our attention away from ourselves, and reconnects us to other people, nature, and larger patterns of meaning. Along the way, they discuss why music, moral courage, and even grief can trigger awe, how modern life may be starving us of it, and what it reveals about the limits of reason, the power of the body, and the deeper ways we make sense of being human. Subscribe to our channel! http://goo.gl/0bsAjO Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling) Guest: Dacher Keltner 00:00 Intro 02:39 Awe vs fear 08:14 Awe and human achievement 12:23 How awe quiets the self 20:17 How awe reconnects us to the world 29:29 Awe and moral beauty 37:56 Awe in unexpected places We would love to hear from you. To tell us what you thought of this episode, email us at thegrayarea@vox.com or leave us a voicemail at 1-800-214-5749. Your comments and questions help us make a better show. And you can watch new episodes of The Gray Area on YouTube. New episodes drop every Monday and Friday. Listen to The Gray Area ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com. Watch our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/IZONyE Follow Vox on Facebook: http://goo.gl/U2g06o Or Twitter: http://goo.gl/XFrZ5H

America 250: What does a “more perfect union” look like? | America, Actually

May 2, 2026

Are we in a period of reinvention, or is the 250-year-old "American experiment" now hitting a wall? This week on America, Actually, historian Heather Cox Richardson explains our current political climate and how the US is facing its biggest stress test since the Civil War. The substack author helps us write a new social contract for the next 250 years. 00:00 Intro: The state of the “American experiment” 01:00 Is the US reinventing itself every 80 years? 02:19 How art and history shape politics 04:09 Understanding the rise of Donald Trump 08:40 Reclaiming patriotism and our national narrative 14:52 Drafting a new social contract 15:45 Voting rights and protecting our environment 18:40 Supreme Court terms and universal healthcare America, Actually publishes video episodes every Saturday tackling key issues in politics, culture, and the economy. Subscribe to Vox’s YouTube channel to get them. Listen to episodes of America, Actually on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite app. If you enjoy our reporting and want to hear more from Vox journalists, sign up for our Patreon at patreon.com/vox. Each month, our members get access to exclusive videos, livestreams, and chats with our newsroom. Subscribe to our channel! http://goo.gl/0bsAjO Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com. Watch our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/IZONyE Follow Vox on Facebook: http://goo.gl/U2g06o Or Twitter: http://goo.gl/XFrZ5H

Hegseth's holy war

May 1, 2026

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has a longstanding fascination with the Crusades. That’s right, the Crusades: the series of late 11th to 13th century medieval wars in which Europeans fought to control the Holy Land. He has tattoos that reference the Crusades, something that actually came up in his confirmation hearing in 2025. And his 2020 book is titled American Crusade. The final chapter is titled “Make the Crusade Great Again.” Hegseth paints the Crusades as a “defensive war” in which Christianity had to react or face being overrun by Islam. According to professor of medieval history Matthew Gabriele, this is an extreme oversimplification of the actual history. And viewing the past in this way could have possibly dangerous ramifications on the current war in Iran. Pete Hegseth’s obsession with the Crusades may seem like a personality quirk, like your uncle who is obsessed with World War 2 submarines. But when that worldview influences how a defense secretary thinks about modern conflicts, it stops just being about the past — and it starts shaping the future. Vox producer Nate Krieger took a closer look at this “Holy War” to investigate the actual history of the Crusades and to understand how Pete Hegseth’s interest with medieval history might actually affect US foreign policy and the future of the war in Iran. Further reading: - Vox correspondent Joshua Keating’s article on Hegseth’s role in Trump’s foreign policy team: https://www.vox.com/world-politics/386680/trump-foreign-policy-rubio-hegseth-waltz-gabbard - The Bright Ages: A New History of Medieval Europe by Matthew Gabriele and David M. Perry: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-bright-ages-matthew-gabrieledavid-m-perry?variant=40262551044130 - Black Metaphors: How Modern Racism Emerged from Medieval Race-Thinking by Cord J. Whitaker: https://www.pennpress.org/9780812225068/black-metaphors/ - The Anti-Defamation League’s encyclopedia of symbols that have been designated as hate symbols, many of which are related to medieval history or the Crusades: https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/ADL%20Hate%20on%20Display%20Printable_0.pdf If you enjoy our reporting and want to hear more from Vox journalists, sign up for our Patreon at patreon.com/vox. Each month, our members get access to exclusive videos, livestreams, and chats with our newsroom. Subscribe to our channel! http://goo.gl/0bsAjO Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com. Watch our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/IZONyE Follow Vox on Facebook: http://goo.gl/U2g06o Or Twitter: http://goo.gl/XFrZ5H

The truth about fatherhood | The Gray Area

May 1, 2026

Everyone says having kids changes your life. That’s true. But it’s not the whole story. Subscribe to our channel! http://goo.gl/0bsAjO Sean talks with author Derek Thompson about fatherhood, how raising kids can shock you, and why parenting feels not so much “hard” as “nonstop.” They explore the weird psychology of loving something more than yourself, the loss of control over your own time, and the bittersweet realization that every moment with your child is already slipping away. Also: why two kids is not just twice the work, and why you might still want to get on the ride anyway. Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling) Guest: Derek Thompson (@DKThomp) 00:00 Intro 01:19 Fatherhood isn’t hard. It’s relentless 06:27 A baby is a stranger 12:53 There's no such thing as a baby 19:47 Do we have a healthy conception of fatherhood? 24:37 Why you have to put yourself first 32:40 Instinctive vs analytical parenting We would love to hear from you. To tell us what you thought of this episode, email us at thegrayarea@vox.com or leave us a voicemail at 1-800-214-5749. Your comments and questions help us make a better show. And you can watch new episodes of The Gray Area on YouTube. New episodes drop every Monday and Friday. Listen to The Gray Area ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com. Watch our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/IZONyE Follow Vox on Facebook: http://goo.gl/U2g06o Or Twitter: http://goo.gl/XFrZ5H

The voting rights case that could set us back 60 years

Apr 29, 2026

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a very big deal. It transformed America, marking the end of the Jim Crow era and effectively banning racial discrimination in elections. Finally fulfilling the promise of a multiracial democracy, Black voter registration increased, and political representation across the nation better reflected America’s diverse population. 60 years later, a key pillar of the Voting Rights Act is at risk of being erased. In a 6-3 ruling, the Supreme Court has sided with the plaintiffs in a redistricting case out of Louisiana called Louisiana v. Callais. The case focused on Louisiana’s legislative maps, which were amended after a 2022 lawsuit in which civil rights groups and community members sued the state of Louisiana, claiming the maps drawn after the 2020 census didn’t properly reflect Louisiana’s Black population. Once the new map with two majority-Black districts passed in the Louisiana state legislature in 2024, a group of “non African-American voters” filed a lawsuit that alleged the new map was unconstitutional and racially gerrymandered, intended to cut white voters out of power. Following the Supreme Court ruling, Louisiana must redraw that map. What happens next could ignite a widespread gerrymandering effort that would alter electoral maps across red states and have major effects on minority political representation in the United States at every level of government. If you want to read more about the case, take a look at some of the sources that contributed to our reporting: The Louisiana v. Callais case: https://www.scotusblog.com/cases/case-files/louisiana-v-callais-2/ A piece on the Supreme Court ruling by Vox senior correspondent Ian Millhiser: https://www.vox.com/politics/487363/supreme-court-louisiana-callais-gerrymandering-alito-voting-rights-act Power Coalition’s work: https://powercoalition.org/ The Fair Fight and Black Voters Matter report: https://blackvotersmatterfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Fair-Fight-Action-x-Black-Voters-Matter-Report.pdf If you enjoy our reporting and want to hear more from Vox journalists, sign up for our Patreon at patreon.com/vox. Each month, our members get access to exclusive videos, livestreams, and chats with our newsroom. Subscribe to our channel! http://goo.gl/0bsAjO Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com. Watch our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/IZONyE Follow Vox on Facebook: http://goo.gl/U2g06o Or Twitter: http://goo.gl/XFrZ5H

What we lose when we become adults | The Gray Area

Apr 27, 2026

Sean talks with psychologist Alison Gopnik about how children think, learn, experience the world, and why their minds may be more powerful than ours in some crucial ways. They explore the idea that kids are the “research and development” wing of the human species, built for exploration, curiosity, and discovery, while adults are optimized for focus, efficiency, and getting things done. Along the way, they discuss why children notice things we’ve stopped seeing, what we lose when we grow up, and what parenting reveals about love, care, and the nature of intelligence itself. Subscribe to our channel! http://goo.gl/0bsAjO Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling) Guest: Alison Gopnik (@AlisonGopnik) Chapter Titles 00:00 Intro 00:48 The differences between the minds of children and the minds of adults 07:21 Humanity’s long childhood 14:27 Why is it hard for adults to be playful? 17:09 What do we lose when we move from childhood to adulthood? 22:42 Can LLMs think like children? 33:10 How to encourage kids to be kids We would love to hear from you. To tell us what you thought of this episode, email us at thegrayarea@vox.com or leave us a voicemail at 1-800-214-5749. Your comments and questions help us make a better show. And you can watch new episodes of The Gray Area on YouTube. New episodes drop every Monday and Friday. Listen to The Gray Area ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com. Watch our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/IZONyE Follow Vox on Facebook: http://goo.gl/U2g06o Or Twitter: http://goo.gl/XFrZ5H

Can Sen. Gallego move past the Swalwell allegations? | America, Actually

Apr 25, 2026

Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego is considering running for president in 2028. In a lot of ways, it makes sense: He’s an army veteran who represents a critical swing state with a sizable Latino electorate. But could his previously close relationship with former Congress member Eric Swalwell complicate his political future? This week on America, Actually, Gallego addresses his recent public apology regarding his ties to Swalwell following the Congress member’s sexual misconduct allegations. He also outlines his plans for bringing Latino voters back to the Democratic Party, and makes a case for why Democrats need to improve their outreach to men, including white men, in order to win elections. 00:00 Intro: Sen. Ruben Gallego 01:08 The GOP’s polling problem with Latino voters 04:06 What is the Democrats’ position on the border? 07:49 Fallout from the Laken Riley Act 09:07 The backlash to data centers in Arizona 12:29 Addressing the Swalwell allegations 15:40 On masculinity and authenticity 19:50 How Democrats can win back male voters 22:59 Gallego on a possible 2028 run America, Actually publishes video episodes every Saturday, tackling key issues in politics, culture, and the economy. Subscribe to Vox’s YouTube channel to get them. Listen to episodes of America, Actually on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite app. If you enjoy our reporting and want to hear more from Vox journalists, sign up for our Patreon at patreon.com/vox. Each month, our members get access to exclusive videos, livestreams, and chats with our newsroom. Subscribe to our channel! http://goo.gl/0bsAjO Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com. Watch our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/IZONyE Follow Vox on Facebook: http://goo.gl/U2g06o Or Twitter: http://goo.gl/XFrZ5H

The Ticketmaster monopoly is over, now what?

Apr 24, 2026

On April 15, a federal jury found Live Nation Entertainment and Ticketmaster operated as an illegal monopoly, overcharging fans and shutting out competition. After years of complaints, lawsuits, and the fallout from the 2022 Taylor Swift Eras Tour ticket sale controversy, the states took the case to trial, and won. So now the question is simple: Will ticket prices actually go down? The answer, it turns out, is more complicated than limiting fees and creating more competition. Read more about the Ticketmaster/Live Nation case: Live Nation lost in court. Here’s what it means for concerts. https://www.vox.com/today-explained-newsletter/485946/live-nation-monopoly-verdict-tickets Is the Ticketmaster Monopoly Verdict a Mirage – https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-lede/is-the-ticketmaster-monopoly-verdict-a-mirage Ticketmaster’s Big Loss in Court - https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/23/podcasts/the-daily/ticketmaster-live-nation-trial.html If you enjoy our reporting and want to hear more from Vox journalists, sign up for our Patreon at patreon.com/vox. Each month, our members get access to exclusive videos, livestreams, and chats with our newsroom. Subscribe to our channel! http://goo.gl/0bsAjO Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com. Watch our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/IZONyE Follow Vox on Facebook: http://goo.gl/U2g06o Or Twitter: http://goo.gl/XFrZ5H

The Supreme Court’s Internet problem | The Gray Area

Apr 24, 2026

The Supreme Court is aggressive on almost everything. Except the internet. Subscribe to our channel! http://goo.gl/0bsAjO Sean talks with Vox’s Ian Millhiser about a surprising pattern at the Court. While it’s been eager to reshape schools, healthcare, and civil rights law, it has consistently taken a cautious, almost hands-off approach to regulating the internet. They unpack a recent case involving music piracy, the broader legal fight over who’s responsible for what happens online, and why even a highly ideological Court seems wary of breaking the digital world. Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling) Guest: Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser) 00:00 Intro 1:35 Not the nine greatest experts on the internet 4:46 Cox Communications v. Sony Music Entertainment 14:59 Why is the court cautious about the internet? 22:48 The court and First Amendment issues 30:49 When technology moves too fast for the law We would love to hear from you. To tell us what you thought of this episode, email us at thegrayarea@vox.com or leave us a voicemail at 1-800-214-5749. Your comments and questions help us make a better show. And you can watch new episodes of The Gray Area on YouTube. New episodes drop every Monday and Friday. Listen to The Gray Area ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com. Watch our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/IZONyE Follow Vox on Facebook: http://goo.gl/U2g06o Or Twitter: http://goo.gl/XFrZ5H

America's fishing paradox

Apr 22, 2026

Every year, federal and state wildlife agencies in the US breed millions of fish and release them into the wild, all for fishers to catch. They do this because many ecosystems no longer support the thriving fish populations they once did, due to dams, pollution, and rising water temperatures. But there’s a catch. In many cases, the fish that are being released aren’t native to these ecosystems. In Connecticut, where this video was filmed, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) breeds and releases rainbow trout — from the West Coast — and brown trout, from Europe, Asia, and Northern Africa. Of course, states aren’t just throwing fish into the water at random. There are many preventative measures and monitoring systems in place to protect local ecosystems from the dangers of non-native species. But things can still go wrong. Introducing non-native fish can wreak havoc on an ecosystem. So why are state wildlife agencies doing it by the million? To see some fish stocking in action and learn more about the process, Vox producer Nate Krieger went on a fish stocking run with employees of Connecticut DEEP. In just under an hour, they released 675 live trout into the Mianus River for the recreation of local fishermen. This video examines the strange paradox that incentivizes states to do something that, at least in some cases, hurts the very ecosystem they're trying to conserve. It explores the complicated question of fish stocking in the US, examines the possible dangers to ecosystems, and shines a light on potential conservation benefits. Because recreational fishing encourages people to spend time outside, which builds a relationship with nature and the environment that could be invaluable for our future. Read more about non-native fish stocking: Benji Jones’ article on non-native fish stocking: https://www.vox.com/climate/483175/fish-stocking-trout-wildlife-agencies Connecticut DEEP’s report on fish stocking for 2026: portal.ct.gov/-/media/DEEP/fishing/weekly_reports/CurrentStockingReport.pdf Apportionments data for hunting and fishing, broken down by category and state: partnerwithapayer.org/funding-sources/ “Wilderness Fish Stocking: History and Perspective” by Edwin P. Pister: www.jstor.org/stable/3658925?mag=fish-stocking-the-dark-underbelly-of-resource-management Information and great photos on “fish cars,” the train cars full of live fish that powered fish stocking in the 1800s: pullman-museum.org/pshs/pshsCompoundObjectWebPage.php?collection=pshs&pointer=18283&root=18286 This video is part of a series supported by Animal Charity Evaluators, which received a grant from EarthShare. If you enjoy our reporting and want to hear more from Vox journalists, sign up for our Patreon at patreon.com/vox. Each month, our members get access to exclusive videos, livestreams, and chats with our newsroom. Subscribe to our channel! http://goo.gl/0bsAjO Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com. Watch our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/IZONyE Follow Vox on Facebook: http://goo.gl/U2g06o Or Twitter: http://goo.gl/XFrZ5H

The Pentagon’s AI war machine

Apr 20, 2026

The Pentagon has spent years building AI tools to help identify targets, speed up battlefield decisions, and make war more “efficient.” What started as an effort to analyze drone footage has grown into something bigger and much more unsettling. Subscribe to our channel and turn on notifications (🔔) so you don't miss any videos: http://goo.gl/0bsAjO Sean talks with Bloomberg’s Katrina Manson about Project Maven, the Defense Department’s long-running push to bring AI into warfighting. They discuss how these systems actually work, what “human in the loop” really means, why autonomy is no longer some far-off sci-fi scenario, and what happens when the speed and scale of machine decision-making collide with the fog of war. Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling) Guest: Katrina Manson (@KatrinaManson) Chapter Titles 0:00 Intro 00:48 What is Project Maven? 8:00 Is there a human in the loop? 17:26 The chain of decision-making 22:26 Is full autonomy the future? 26:24 The conflict in Iran 31:16 The disagreement between Anthropic and the DOD 35:52 The morality of AI warfare 41:57 Will AI tech migrate from the battlefield to police forces? We would love to hear from you. To tell us what you thought of this episode, email us at thegrayarea@vox.com or leave us a voicemail at 1-800-214-5749. Your comments and questions help us make a better show. And you can watch new episodes of The Gray Area on YouTube. New episodes drop every Monday and Friday. Listen to The Gray Area ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com. Watch our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/IZONyE Follow Vox on TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@voxdotcom Check out our articles: https://www.vox.com/ Listen to our podcasts: https://www.vox.com/podcasts

Eric Swalwell's "best friend" regrets defending him | America, Actually

Apr 19, 2026

Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) regrets defending Eric Swalwell, who resigned from Congress following sexual assault allegations. ”This is the kind of thing that makes all of us relook at what we have been accepting, versus not accepting," Gallego told Vox’s Astead Herndon. Get early access to the full interview with Gallego on Vox's Patreon later this week. The full episode releases next Saturday on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe to our channel and turn on notifications (🔔) so you don't miss any videos: http://goo.gl/0bsAjO Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com. Watch our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/IZONyE Follow Vox on TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@voxdotcom Check out our articles: https://www.vox.com/ Listen to our podcasts: https://www.vox.com/podcasts

How the deportation machine was built | America, Actually

Apr 18, 2026

Immigration might be President Donald Trump’s signature issue, but what do Americans actually think about border security and enforcement? And how should elected officials go about reforming the system? Host and editorial director Astead Herndon sits down with The Atlantic’s Caitlin Dickerson to discuss the ways in which 9/11 shaped immigration enforcement in the US, and why it’s so difficult to change. Later, Report for America corps member and Arizona Luminaria reporter Yana Kunichoff joins from Tucson to explain how people’s views on immigration in the border state have shifted since the 2024 election. 00:00 Intro: Immigration beyond Trump 02:01 History of immigration policy in the US 04:46 Stephen Miller’s next steps 06:52 What sort of immigration policy do Americans want? 08:46 Can ICE be reformed? 11:46 The fallout from the Laken Riley Act 13:20 Why Democrats fail on immigration 17:34 The view from a border state: Arizona 21:22 Shifting Arizona politics 24:25 Beyond immigration, what’s driving political engagement in Arizona? America, Actually publishes video episodes every Saturday tackling key issues in politics, culture, and the economy. Subscribe to Vox’s YouTube channel to get them. Listen to episodes of America, Actually on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite app. If you enjoy our reporting and want to hear more from Vox journalists, sign up for our Patreon at patreon.com/vox. Each month, our members get access to exclusive videos, livestreams, and chats with our newsroom. Subscribe to our channel! http://goo.gl/0bsAjO Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com. Watch our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/IZONyE Follow Vox on Facebook: http://goo.gl/U2g06o Or Twitter: http://goo.gl/XFrZ5H