Explainers

We live in a world of too much information and too little context. Too much noise and too little insight. That's where Vox's explainers come in.

The air conditioning paradox

How do we cool people without heating up the planet?

By Umair Irfan

Finland and Sweden’s historic NATO bids, explained

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has pushed the two countries to abandon their military neutrality for NATO.

By Jen Kirby

The staggering amount of US military aid to Ukraine, explained in one chart

By Jonathan Guyer May 17

Crypto believers insist this is all worth it. Is it?

By Emily Stewart May 16

Lebanon is in political crisis. Sunday’s elections won’t change that.

By Ellen Ioanes May 15

Why Sri Lanka’s new PM isn’t the change the country needs

By Ellen Ioanes May 14

A nurse was just sentenced to 3 years of probation for a lethal medical error

By Keren Landman May 13

The killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, explained

By Jonathan Guyer May 13

Biden’s American Rescue Plan worsened inflation. The question is how much.

By Andrew Prokop May 12

Three unlikely but not totally impossible paths toward restoring Roe’s protections

By Andrew Prokop May 11

The first spot in the Democrats’ presidential nominating calendar is up for grabs

By Andrew Prokop May 11

The stock market’s panicking, but you don’t have to

By Emily Stewart May 11

The extraordinary heat wave in India and Pakistan, explained

By Umair Irfan May 11

Why unions are growing and shrinking at the same time

By Rani Molla May 10

Smallpox used to kill millions of people every year. Here’s how humans beat it.

By Kelsey Piper May 8

Can we stop the next pandemic by seeking out deadly viruses in the wild?

By Kelsey Piper May 7

This is what we need to invent to fight climate change

By Umair Irfan May 6

How we got here: Roe v. Wade from 1973 to today

By Jillian Weinberger May 6

What police could find out about your illegal abortion

By Sara Morrison May 6

Abortion has been treated as a fringe issue by Democrats for decades. This is the result.

By Anna North May 5

The horrific bird flu that’s wiped out 36 million chickens and turkeys, explained

By Kenny Torrella May 5

Johnny Depp, Amber Heard, and their $50 million defamation suit, explained

By Constance Grady May 4

Are sanctions against Russia working?

By Jen Kirby May 4

How anti-abortion activists may have won the Supreme Court

By Andrew Prokop May 3

4 things we know, and one big thing we don’t, on the draft opinion overruling Roe v. Wade

By Ian Millhiser May 3

America is trying to fix the chip shortage one factory at a time

By Rebecca Heilweil May 2

Was Russia’s decision to cut off natural gas exports a mistake?

By Natasha Ishak May 1

The economic crisis in Sri Lanka, explained

By Natasha Ishak April 30

Title 42, the Trump-era border policy dividing Democrats, explained

By Nicole Narea April 29

Can the expanded child tax credit come back from the dead?

By Rachel M. Cohen April 29

Why Republicans are favored to win the Senate — and how Democrats could stop them

By Andrew Prokop April 26

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is fracturing the delicate peace in the Arctic

By Umair Irfan April 25

The difference you make when you eat less meat

By Kenny Torrella April 22

The right’s moral panic over “grooming” invokes age-old homophobia

By Aja Romano April 21

THC, in every snack you can think of

By Melinda Fakuade April 20

Why it’s so damn hard to make AI fair and unbiased

By Sigal Samuel April 19

The hydrogen energy dream

By Umair Irfan April 18

The daunting task of making cryptocurrency climate-friendly

By Neel Dhanesha April 18

Will new weapons shipments change the war for Ukraine?

By Ellen Ioanes April 17

The debate dividing the January 6 committee

By Andrew Prokop April 15

How Democrats learned to stop worrying and love the gerrymander

By Andrew Prokop April 14

Pakistan’s political crisis, briefly explained

By Jonathan Guyer April 9