Today, Explained

Biofuel duel

An EPA decision has left Iowan corn growers feeling betrayed by President Trump. Democrats are watching. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alaska's missing police force

A third of Alaskan communities don’t have cops. Kyle Hopkins, investigative reporter at the Anchorage Daily News, explains Alaska’s public safety emergency. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When killing is "necessary"

This week California passed what some call the toughest law on police use of deadly force in the country. It hinges on one word: necessary. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hope for Hong Kong

Hong Kong ramped up its protests and China ramped up its propaganda machine. But the conflict may have finally reached a turning point. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Coal's last stand

There’s a train full of coal sitting on the tracks in eastern Kentucky. It’s being blocked by a group of laid-off miners who want what they're owed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ending the endless war

This weekend in Afghanistan was one of the deadliest this year. Vox’s Jenn Williams explains whether America can end its longest war. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Do sanctions work?

The Trump administration is ramping up sanctions on Venezuela, but it may end up hurting the people they're meant to help. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The warehouse of forgotten evidence

Reporter Barbara Bradley Hagerty set out to investigate why police across the country often fail to catch serial rapists. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's up with the yield curve?

Vox’s Matthew Yglesias explains why everyone's whispering about a recession. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

(Don't) give me your poor

The Trump administration is about to make it a lot harder for poor people to get a green card. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Death behind bars

Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide is unexpectedly shining a light on the conditions in America’s jails. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Deep fried podcast

Vox's Tara Golshan spent the weekend at the Iowa State Fair trying to figure out what eating deep fried Oreos has to do with running the country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Latinos after El Paso

In the wake of Saturday’s shooting, Latinos across the United States are questioning their safety. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Six rivers, three countries, one Kashmir

India is escalating its 70-year fight for Kashmir. The winner gets the water. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Amazon Crime

What started as a push to increase mining in the rainforest led to a murder. Ernesto Londoño, Brazil bureau chief for The New York Times, explains how President Jair Bolsonaro is speeding the destruction of the Amazon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Disown your kid to pay for college

This summer’s hottest college admissions scam is parents disowning their children. The Wall Street Journal’s Doug Belkin explains. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A Green New Deal, but for guns

Vox’s German Lopez explains why Democrats need a bold new plan for gun control. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Reviving death

After 16 years, the Trump administration is bringing back the federal death penalty. Reverend Sharon Risher, who lost her mother, two cousins, and a childhood friend in the Emanuel AME Church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, explains how she feels about the possibility of Dylann Roof being executed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dem Debates 2: Election Boogaloo

Bernie yelled at Ryan. Biden defended Obama. Warren destroyed Delaney. Vox's Tara Golshan explains the "fight for the heart of the party" and Ezra Klein says the frontrunners missed the mark. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Life's a breach

Capital One got hacked. Equifax is trying to make up for its hack. And The Verge’s Russell Brandom explains why you should definitely prepare yourself for more hacks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Coats checks out

Dan Coats is resigning, leaving a vacancy at the top of US intelligence. The Washington Post’s Shane Harris explains how his replacement may be a Trump loyalist who believes in a “deep state” conspiracy against the president. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Where we’re going, we still need roads

Four of the world’s biggest carmakers have secretly negotiated an emissions deal with California, circumventing the Trump administration. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

No such thing as free lunch

A school district in Pennsylvania apologized this week for saying students with unpaid lunch debt might end up in foster care. The scandal is part of a nationwide crisis that has resulted in low-income students cleaning cafeterias or missing graduation ceremonies because of lunch debts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

BoJo

Boris Johnson wanted a Brexit and now he’ll have to figure out how to make it happen. The Atlantic’s Tom McTague explains how a self-proclaimed “blithering idiot” became prime minister. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mueller reports

At long last, former special counsel Robert Mueller testified before Congress today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#RickyRenuncia

Hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans are demanding Governor Ricardo Roselló resign. David Begnaud from CBS News reports from San Juan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Five years after Eric Garner

After five years, a decision on the death of Eric Garner, who was put in a chokehold by an NYPD officer, creates further questions. The Washington Post's Wesley Lowery tries to answer them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Holy shit

On the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing, Vox’s Brian Resnick says astronauts left something up there that could unlock the origins of life itself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

"Send her back"

An ugly, racist week in America came to a head last night with a chant at a Trump rally. The Atlantic’s Adam Serwer says this is a defining moment for American democracy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How to solve the asylum crisis

On Tuesday, the Trump administration dramatically changed the rules governing asylum. A scholar who has helped shape US immigration policy since the 1980s explains why the rule change won't solve the crisis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices