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Explainers

The fight over Sesame Street’s Bert and Ernie as a gay couple, explained

By Aja Romano

The striking parallels between Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas

By Anna North

Trump’s China strategy is the most radical in decades — and it’s failing

"The administration diagnosed the right problem, but it came up with the wrong remedy."

By Alex Ward

How cauliflower took over your pizza, your kitchen, and the world

By Rachel Sugar
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The Hunt for the Trump Tapes With Tom Arnold, explained

By Todd VanDerWerff

Mark Judge, the other man named in Christine Ford’s Brett Kavanaugh allegations, explained

By Emily Stewart

Race was the biggest factor in 2016 — but economics is still Democrats’ winning message

By Alvin Chang

Donald Trump Jr.’s Anderson Cooper hurricane conspiracy theory, explained

By Emily Stewart

The 10 most important Senate elections, briefly explained

By Dylan Scott

DC voters raised the minimum wage for restaurant servers. City lawmakers are ready to cancel it.

By Alexia Fernández Campbell

The “natural” beauty industry is on the rise because we’re scared of chemicals

By Cheryl Wischhover
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The sexual assault allegations against Brett Kavanaugh, explained

By Li Zhou

What "Ouija" actually means, and how the game has changed

By Phil Edwards

8 more states have launched investigations into clerical abuse since the Pennsylvania report

By Tara Isabella Burton

Sperm counts are falling. This isn’t the reproductive apocalypse — yet.

By Julia Belluz

Soon-Yi Previn’s controversial new interview about Woody Allen and Mia Farrow, explained

By Alissa Wilkinson

Donald Trump vs. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, explained

By Emily Stewart

The controversy around a black man killed by police in his own home, explained

By P.R. Lockhart

Paul Manafort’s flip is a major turning point in the Mueller investigation

By Andrew Prokop

What one pastor’s anti-Nike protest says about religion and nationalism in America

By Tara Isabella Burton

The Supreme Court’s drastic shift to the right, cartoonsplained

By Alvin Chang

Here’s why it’s so hard to make a NAFTA deal

By Jen Kirby

Poland is pushing the EU into crisis

By Sam Ellis and Liz Scheltens

Planned Parenthood’s new president has seen what the end of Roe might look like

By Anna North

Why New York City voters rolls were missing names again, explained

By Ella Nilsen

2 gonzo ideas for slowing down a hurricane that might actually work

By Umair Irfan

It happened there: how democracy died in Hungary

A new kind of authoritarianism is taking root in Europe — and there are warning signs for America.

By Zack Beauchamp

How much would the iPhone cost if it were made in America?

By Emily Stewart
Presented by

Students are waging war on sexist and racist school dress codes — and they’re winning

By Nadra Nittle
Presented by

Every New York state primary race you need to know about, briefly explained

By Jen Kirby

Congress is on the verge of a bipartisan opioid package. But experts have big concerns.

By German Lopez

Facebook blocked the spread of a liberal article because a conservative told it to

By Zack Beauchamp

The push to make Botox as common as getting a blowout

By Cheryl Wischhover
Presented by

Why Susan Collins claims she’s being bribed over her Kavanaugh vote

By Emily Stewart

The controversy over Bernie Sanders’s proposed Stop BEZOS Act, explained

By Matthew Yglesias

The Rhode Island governor’s race, the left’s next chance for an upset, explained

By Dylan Scott

Antarctica has lost 2.71 trillion tons of ice. Here’s what that looks like.

All the ice that melted at the South Pole in the past 25 years, visualized with swimming pools.

By Umair Irfan and Javier Zarracina

Bob Woodward’s new book on the Trump administration, explained

By Andrew Prokop

The fall of “anti-aging” skin care

By Cheryl Wischhover
Presented by

Serena Williams’s US Open fight with an umpire, explained

By Alex Abad-Santos

The electric scooter boom, explained

By Matthew Yglesias
Presented by

Inside Pedialyte’s journey from toddler flu remedy to hangover fix

By Kaitlyn Tiffany
Presented by
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