Brittney Griner for the Merchant of Death
Viktor Bout might be the most successful arms dealer in history. The US could let him go free if Russia releases the WNBA star, who was just sentenced to nine years in prison. Bout’s biographer, Dougl...
8 Aug 202226min
Authoritarianism, baby!
Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán traveled to Texas for CPAC this week. Back home, he’s trying to fight population decline by paying some citizens to have more kids. But a real solution involves one weird tri...
5 Aug 202225min
Monkeypox is a queer emergency
Gay men, queer people, and their partners represent an overwhelming majority of monkeypox cases. But even though the WHO just declared the disease a global health emergency, resources like vaccines, t...
4 Aug 202226min
Did Joe Manchin just save the planet?
Probably not, but he did finally compromise on the Inflation Reduction Act (née Build Back Better), which could be the most significant climate spending bill in US history. Vox’s Li Zhou and Rebecca L...
3 Aug 202226min
Pelosi in Taiwan
China didn’t want Speaker Nancy Pelosi to visit Taiwan. Neither did the White House. Politico’s Alex Ward explains why she went anyway. This episode was produced by Miles Bryan and Jon Ehrens, edited ...
2 Aug 202226min
America has Afghanistan’s money
The US froze billions in Afghanistan’s central bank reserves when the Taliban took control. Now it’s wrestling with how to trust the Taliban with the Afghan people’s money. This episode was produced b...
1 Aug 202226min
The Island of Explained: Plant-based party
An invitation to a vegan party sends producers Kiarra and Izii to the Island of Explained, where a giant who once ate people explains why he switched to a plant-based diet — and why that diet might be...
30 Jul 202218min
Fighting climate despair
Climate change has driven some environmental activists to extremes. We talk about overcoming despair with Terry Kaelber, whose husband David Buckel took his life to protest inaction, and Tim DeChristo...
29 Jul 202226min
