Today, Explained

Covid, kids, and a mystery illness

Dozens of children have fallen ill with an inflammatory syndrome that may be linked to Covid-19. Harvard Medical School’s Dr. Kevin Friedman explains. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Will Ahmaud Arbery’s killing change Georgia law?

Two white men are accused of killing a black jogger. Georgia state Rep. Jasmine Clark wants to change the laws that could be used to defend them. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A few men in fishing boats try to take Venezuela

While the world was distracted by a pandemic, a ragtag team of Americans and Venezuelans attempted to overthrow President Maduro. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Quarantine dreams

Think you’ve been having exceptionally strange dreams lately? Harvard psychologist Deirdre Barrett says it’s not a figment of your imagination. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Reopening States of America

Dr. Richard Besser, former head of the Centers for Disease Control, explains how states can reopen without putting lives in danger. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Why Sweden stayed open

The Kingdom of Sweden watched the world lock down and decided to do the opposite. Swedish journalist Nathalie Rothschild explains. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How to be happy

The most popular course in Yale's 300-year history is all about achieving happiness. The pandemic has made it more relevant than ever. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tara Reade alleges, Joe Biden denies

Vox's Laura McGann explains the sexual assault allegation against former Vice President Joe Biden, and the implications for his campaign. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Island of Explained

Come with us to the magical Island of Explained, where we’ll climb trees and venture into caves to answer kids’ biggest coronavirus questions. Go to vox.com/todayexplainedlearning to find supplemental activities, from testing how far snot travels to coloring in a map of the Island of Explained. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Invisible Man

Vox's Alex Ward explains what's going on with North Korea's Kim Jong Un. (Transcript here.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Overflowing farms, desperate food banks

American farmers are destroying their crops while demand is mounting at food banks. Politico food and agriculture reporter Helena Bottemiller Evich explains. (Transcript here.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Inside the world's biggest lockdown

Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered 1.4 billion Indians to stay home. The world had never seen anything like it. (Transcript here.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Oil is broke. Green New Deal with it?

Oil just went negative for the first time in history. Vox's David Roberts says that creates an opportunity to make more history. (Transcript here.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Georgia on my mind

As the state reopens, Vox's Jillian Weinberger zooms to rural Georgia to hear how a Covid-19 outbreak spiraled out of control. (Transcript here.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Conspiracy-19

Vox’s science editor, Eliza Barclay, arms you with the facts you need to fight your uncle’s favorite coronavirus conspiracy theories. (Transcript here.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This one's for Earth

Cryptic treehunters. Unknown apples. Flowers fighting back. On the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, Vox’s Umair Irfan and Brian Resnick explain what we learned about the planet in the last year. (Transcript here.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

One day, three healthcare workers

A nurse, a paramedic, and a physician’s assistant record themselves throughout the course of a day in the fight against Covid-19. (Transcript here.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The epicenter of the epicenter

Covid-19's victims, and the people they leave behind. (Transcript here.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Long shot

It could be a year or more before the vaccine is ready, but there’s a radical plan to speed up the process. (Transcript here.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Zeke Emanuel’s exit strategy

President Trump wants to reopen the country yesterday. Bioethicist Zeke Emanuel, who served as a health policy advisor to former President Obama, offers a safe path. (Transcript here.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Death Cab for The Postal Service?

The United States Postal Service is on the brink of collapse. Vox's Matthew Yglesias explains how and why the country should save it. (Transcript here.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

All praise, no pay

Essential workers in the food, transportation, and retail industries are being called American heroes. They want to be paid as such. (Transcript here.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Elizabeth Warren has a plan for this, too

Friend of the show Ezra Klein speaks to Sen. Elizabeth Warren about several plans she has proposed to combat this pandemic. (Transcript here.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The loneliness pandemic

Coronavirus has led to another pandemic: social isolation. Vox’s Ezra Klein says this sickness has a cure. (Transcript here.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Six feet away from God

While a few religious leaders flout shelter in place ordinances, Easter, Passover, and Ramadan are inspiring most to get creative with worship. (Transcript here.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Vote and die

Wisconsinites had to choose between catching Covid-19 and voting on Tuesday. Is the rest of the country next? (Transcript here.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

"The Great Equalizer"

Madonna was wrong. Covid-19 isn't an equalizer. It's coming for America's most vulnerable populations. (Transcript here.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The immunity test

A vaccine will take a while, but Vox’s Umair Irfan says the global effort to test for immunity and treat Covid-19 is well underway. (An earlier version of this episode misidentified hydroxychloroquine as an active ingredient in aquarium cleaner. That's chloroquine phosphate.) (Transcript here.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mask on? Mask off?

In an about-face, the Centers for Disease Control would now like you to cover your mouth and nose when you go outside. (Transcript here.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

6.6 million more unemployed

Last week's unemployment numbers shattered all records. This week, they doubled. Vox's Matthew Yglesias, host of The Weeds podcast, proposes a way out of this mess. (Transcript here.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices