
Explain It to Me
808 episodes — Page 14 of 17

Ep 157Net neutrality, explained (Also! Why CVS is buying Aetna)
Matt, Ezra, and Sarah talk through the argument around net neutrality, the possible CVS-Aetna merger, and a white paper about who becomes an inventor in America. Ben Thompson's defense of Ajit Pai Who Becomes an Inventor in America? The Importance of Exposure to Innovation Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 156How the GOP is weaponizing the tax code
Matt, Dara Lind, and Vox contributor Mike Konczal talk tax reform and Democrats' sexual harassment problem. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 155Five big problems with the GOP tax plan
Matt and Ezra parse through the many flaws of the tax bill. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 154A very Weeds Thanksgiving
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt talk about what they're thankful for this year — plus disturbing new research about gender bias in surgical referrals. White paper: Interpreting Signals in the Labor Market: Evidence from Medical Referrals Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 153Tax reform special
Tara Golshan and Dylan Scott join Matt to break down the two different GOP tax bills. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 152Republicans’ Roy Moore problem
Matt and Sarah discuss allegations against Roy Moore, Trump's new pick for Health and Human Services secretary, and a slightly better work week. White paper: Time as a Network Good: Evidence from Unemployment and the Standard Workweek Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 151Virginia is for Democrats
Dara Lind and Andrew Prokop join Matt to talk about this week’s election results and the implications for 2018. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 150The vaunted, versatile VAT
Matt, Ezra, and Sarah talk about the possibility of a Value-Added Tax, midterm elections, and acid rain. Mentioned works: A Fine Mess: A Global Quest for a Simpler, Fairer, and More Efficient Tax System by T. R. Reid Creating an American Value-Added Tax The People Left Behind When Only the ‘Deserving’ Poor Get Help Mortality and Access to Care among Adults after State Medicaid Expansions White paper: Long-Run Pollution Exposure and Adult Mortality: Evidence from the Acid Rain Program Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 149The tax bill's winners and many, many losers
Dylan Scott and Dylan Matthews join Matt to talk about House Republicans’ tax plan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 148Indictment special! Plus: is Paul Ryan cowardly or courageous?
The gang talks about recent developments in the Russia investigation, and Sarah tells us what she learned visiting Canada with Bernie Sanders. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 147Purge 3: The Bannoning
Andrew Prokop joins Matt to talk about Steve Bannon’s war on the GOP establishment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 146Republicans: "Math" means you have to cut taxes on the rich. Weeds: Nope.
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt talk more tax reform, John Kelly's failure to fix the Trump administration, and new research on dental scams. White paper: Health Services as Credence Goods: A Field Experiment Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 145How immigration took over Virginia’s governor race
Dara Lind and Andrew Prokop join Matt to talk about the surprisingly interesting governor’s election in Virginia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 144The Impact: The curious case of the $629 Band Aid
Introducing The Impact, a new show from Vox hosted by Sarah Kliff. The Impact explores how policy affects real lives. This season, we’re focusing on healthcare, and the first episode tackles with one of thorniest questions in the American healthcare system: prices. Subscribe to The Impact wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 143How do you solve a problem like Harvey Weinstein?
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt dig into the Harvey Weinstein story, talk a bit about tax reform, and cover new research on Medicaid expansion and savings. White paper: Medicaid and Household Savings Behavior: New Evidence from Tax Refunds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 142Trump couldn't repeal Obamacare, so he's making it worse
Dylan Scott joins Sarah and Matt to dive into the newest forms of Obamacare sabotage, and to talk about heroin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 141CHIPping away at gerrymandering
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt talk about CHIP reauthorization, the Supreme Court's big gerrymandering case, and a seminal Richard Thaler paper (Mental Accounting and Consumer Choice). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 140Republicans have big dreams and big problems on tax reform
Dylan Matthews and Andrew Prokop join Matt to talk about Republicans hopes, dreams, and nightmares on tax reform. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 139Australia solved its gun problem. Could America?
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt talk about gun control in the wake of Las Vegas, the GOP tax reform blueprint, and job-sharing in Germany. White paper: The Employment and Output Effects of Short-Time Work in Germany Referenced articles: What Do We Know About the Association Between Firearm Legislation and Firearm-Related Injuries? A Dynamic Analysis of Permanent Extension of the President’s Tax Relief After a year of work, Republicans have decided nothing on corporate tax reform (Matt's piece) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 138The Puerto Rico disaster and Trump's inadequate response
Eliza Barclay and Alexia Fernández Campbell join Matt to talk about Hurricane Maria and its aftermath. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 137What's budget reconciliation, and how did it eat the Senate?
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt delve into Senate procedure arcana, break down the latest GOP repeal bill, and talk about a surprisingly easy way to reduce theft. White paper: SNAP Benefits and Crime: Evidence from Changing Disbursement Schedules Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 136Weeds Live: Canadian immigration and a health insurance experiment
Dara Lind joins Matt and Sarah at the Now Hear This Festival to discuss the Canadian immigration system, and the audience chooses a white paper (https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9174.html) for them to talk about. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 135The worst GOP healthcare bill yet
Ezra and Sarah parse through Graham-Cassidy, the latest Republican repeal bill. White paper: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3025749 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 134White House Chinese food summit leads to congressional chaos
Congressional reporters Jeff Stein and Tara Golshan join Matt to talk about congressional Democrats' hopes and Republicans' fears. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 133BernieCare and Hillary's abandoned UBI
Sarah, Ezra, and Matt discuss Bernie Sanders' Medicare for All bill and Hillary Clinton's musings on creating a national version of the Alaska Permanent Fund. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 132Weeds Live: Atul Gawande on opioids, end of life care, and rock and roll
Atul Gawande is a surgeon and the author of Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End. Sarah interviewed him live, asking about the opioid epidemic, his work with end of life patients, and his terrible college rock band. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 131Trump's art of the sabotage
Sarah and Matt discuss DACA, ACA implementation, and some game-changing new research on the real history of all-payer rate setting. White paper: Uncompensated care and the collapse of hospital payment regulation: An illustration of the Tinbergen Rule by Jeffrey Clemens and Benedic Ippolito Paper on Maryland and hospital rate setting: Tracking the demise of state hospital rate setting by John McDonough Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 130Deferred action podcasting
Dara Lind joins Matt to talk about the past, present, and future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 129The policy origins of America's most expensive natural disaster
Sarah and Matt talk about the policy errors behind Hurricane Harvey's devastation, the single-payer wonk gap, and new research on kindergarten red shirting. White paper: School Starting Age and Cognitive Development Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 128Donald 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 127How 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 126Statue limitations
Libby Nelson and German Lopez join Matt to discuss the politics and history of Confederate monuments. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 125A 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 124Can 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 123Is 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 122The 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 121ACA repeal is finally dead (maybe)
Sarah, Matt, and Dylan Scott analyze the night Trumpcare died and what's next for health care. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 120Skinny 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 119A 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 118At 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! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 117McConnellCare 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 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! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 116Minimum 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 115Understanding the opioid epidemic
Drug policy reporter German Lopez joins Matt for a close look at the biggest drug overdose crisis in American history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 114Trumpism 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 113Meanwhile, 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 112CB--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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 111Senate 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 110Georgia (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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 109Trump’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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 108Legends 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices