Vox - Understand the News

Top Stories

Trump escalates the US-China trade war by announcing tariff hikes — on Twitter

His Friday announcement ups the ante even as worries about a potential recession continue to grow.

By Li Zhou

California’s new law to stop police shootings, explained

And why some civil rights groups are worried that the bill doesn’t go far enough.

By Jane Coaston

David Koch has died at 79. Here’s how he changed American politics.

He and his brother Charles funded a decades-long effort to roll back environmental and business regulations.

By Andrew Prokop

The G7 is getting back together this weekend

Get ready, France. President Trump is coming to upend another global summit.

By Jen Kirby

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg underwent cancer treatment for the second time in a year

The justice recently completed radiation treatment for a tumor on her pancreas.

By Anna North

What it’s like to do the toughest job in America

Home health aides are underpaid, overworked, and underprotected.

By Alexia Fernández Campbell

The 3 best songs on Taylor Swift’s new album, Lover

"Cornelia Street" is Taylor Swift at her best.

By Alex Abad-Santos

School picture day is stressful and expensive. Why do we do it?

Why do the over-priced, weirdly-posed portraits of our youth hold such sway over us now?

By Kaitlyn Tiffany

Daily Podcast

Today, Explained

Latest Episode

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.

The Latest

Why Beatrix Potter self-published Peter Rabbit

By Constance Grady August 24

Vox Sentences: Too many tariffs to keep track of

By Catherine Kim August 23

How “Old Town Road” revealed a deep divide within country music

By Lauren Katz August 23

Trump’s new favorite poll inflates his approval rating by about 10 points

By Aaron Rupar August 23

“David Koch walked the walk”: a libertarian on the Koch brother’s legacy

By Jane Coaston August 23

The surprisingly great idea in Bernie Sanders’s Green New Deal: electric school buses

By Kelsey Piper August 23

What happens next in the legal cases involving Jeffrey Epstein

By Anna North August 23

How China used Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to spread disinformation about the Hong Kong protests

By Emily Stewart August 23

Why the Jeffrey Epstein case inspires so many conspiracy theories

By Anna North August 23

From Vox Media

We're building great things, and we need your talent.

It’s Kirsten Dunst vs. a pyramid scheme in her capitalism-skewering new Showtime series

By Emily Todd VanDerWerff August 23

Tomi Lahren now has an athleisure line

By Terry Nguyen August 23

China hits back at the US with tariffs on $75 billion in goods

By Jen Kirby August 23

Why the US drinking age is 21

By Phil Edwards August 23

Fed Chair Jerome Powell says he can’t fix trade war’s damage to the economy

By Matthew Yglesias August 23

Vox’s guide to the 2020 presidential candidates

Everything you need to know about the crowded 2020 race.

View All Stories

Vox’s guide to where 2020 Democrats stand on policy

Where every 2020 candidate stands on guns

By German Lopez August 23

Wildfires are burning around the world. The most alarming is in the Amazon rainforest.

By Umair Irfan August 23

Trump’s fake tax cuts are back

By Emily Stewart August 23

Here are the candidates who qualified for the third Democratic debate — and those who might miss out

By Andrew Prokop August 23

Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton abandons his presidential bid

By Ella Nilsen August 23

Vox’s guide to where 2020 Democrats stand on policy

Keep up with the policy debates that will shape the Democratic 2020 primary.

View All Stories

My So-Called Life was too good to die so young

By Emily Todd VanDerWerff August 23

Google is cracking down on its employees’ political speech at work

By Shirin Ghaffary August 23

Here’s how to listen to Lover, Taylor Swift’s latest album

By Constance Grady August 23

Vox Video Lab

How to make more Vox Video happen

By Joe Posner and Mona Lalwani December 17, 2018

How the director of Jawline found her way into the self-contained world of teen livestreamers

By Alissa Wilkinson August 23

Why governments are bad at facing catastrophic risks — and how they could get better

By Kelsey Piper August 23

The “10,000-hour rule” was debunked again. That’s a relief.

By Brian Resnick August 23

DoorDash says it will roll out tipping changes to drivers sometime next month

By Shirin Ghaffary August 22

Google says it’s making Chrome more private, but advertisers will still track you

By Theodore Schleifer August 22

Why the US and Iran are fighting over this tiny waterway

By Danush Parvaneh August 22

The bizarre-even-by-Trump-standards past 72 hours, explained

By Aaron Rupar August 22

Why Spider-Man’s future in the MCU isn’t as bleak as it seems

By Alex Abad-Santos August 22

A major toy company is phasing out plastic — but not in its toys

By Terry Nguyen August 22

Colorado progressives aren’t clearing the field for John Hickenlooper

By Tara Golshan August 22

The right-wing populist wave is a threat to the climate

By Zack Beauchamp August 22

Why anti-abortion groups are backing away from abortion bans

By Anna North August 22

Did Democrats already start an impeachment inquiry? It’s complicated.

By Andrew Prokop August 22

Mitch McConnell is calling on Democrats to keep the filibuster. He ignores just how much he’s done to blow up Senate rules.

By Li Zhou August 22

Photos: major wildfires have ignited across Europe, Asia, and Latin America

By Umair Irfan and Kainaz Amaria August 22