clock menu more-arrow no yes

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.

Featured stories

Why people are freezing in America’s prisons

It shouldn’t be up to concerned citizens to keep the incarcerated warm in the winter.

By Roxanna Asgarian

Eggnog, the holiday season’s most divisive drink, explained

Yes, there is egg in it.

By Melinda Fakuade

The past, present, and future of the singular “they”

By Anna North

Boris Johnson, the UK’s prime minister, explained in under 650 words

By Jen Kirby

There’s a conservative civil war raging — over porn

By Jane Coaston

India just redefined its citizenship criteria to exclude Muslims

By Sigal Samuel

Artificial intelligence will help determine if you get your next job

By Rebecca Heilweil

The Nobel went to economists who changed how we help the poor. But some critics oppose their big idea.

By Kelsey Piper

From Pokémon Go to Facebook, here’s how to protect your privacy on apps

By Sara Morrison

Can Joe Biden win the nomination even if he loses Iowa and New Hampshire?

By Ella Nilsen

How Mike Bloomberg made his billions: a computer system you’ve probably never seen

By Emily Stewart

Vouchers can help the poor find homes. But landlords often won’t accept them.

By Stephanie Wykstra

Why every website wants you to accept its cookies

By Emily Stewart

Bill Barr’s Justice Department swings into action to undercut the inspector general report

By Andrew Prokop

The 2019 UK elections, explained

By Jen Kirby

The dust-up over Elizabeth Warren’s private legal work, explained

By Emily Stewart

What Trump has done to the courts, explained

By Ian Millhiser

Pregnant people are being offered an unproven treatment to “reverse” abortions

By Anna North

Could squeezing more oil out of the ground help fight climate change?

By David Roberts

The extraordinary danger of being pregnant and uninsured in Texas

By Julia Belluz and Nina Martin

Filed under:

Where every 2020 candidate stands on guns

By German Lopez

Pelosi announces Democrats will draft articles of impeachment against Trump

By Andrew Prokop

The new bill that would create a crime called “abortion murder,” explained

By Anna North

The fight to #ReleaseTheSnyderCut of Justice League (which may not even exist), explained

By Alex Abad-Santos

Democrats’ impeachment report reveals new phone records from Giuliani and others

By Andrew Prokop

Baby Yoda: the Mandalorian’s adorable alien co-star, explained

By Allegra Frank

The debate over whether to ban “virginity testing,” explained

By Anna North

Filed under:

The 15 Democrats still running for president and everything else to know about 2020

By Dylan Scott and Ella Nilsen

How Amazon’s Ring is creating a surveillance network with video doorbells

By Rani Molla

The alarming trend of beached whales filled with plastic, explained

By Umair Irfan

These are the charities where your money will do the most good

By Dylan Matthews

Jeremy Corbyn is the UK’s Bernie Sanders — and wildly unpopular. Could he still become prime minister?

By Jen Kirby

Trump’s Iran whisperer

By Alex Ward

Giving Tuesday, explained

By Kelsey Piper

What Trump has actually done in his first 3 years

By Matthew Yglesias

Instagram is broken. It also broke us.

By Rebecca Jennings

All the clues in Watchmen about Doctor Manhattan

By Alex Abad-Santos

The new details about Trump blocking aid to Ukraine, explained

By Andrew Prokop

Trump’s made-up war on Thanksgiving, explained

By Emily Stewart

These uses of CO2 could cut emissions — and make trillions of dollars

By David Roberts

Why everybody is freaking out about political ads on Facebook and Google

By Emily Stewart

The latest news about SDNY’s investigation into Rudy Giuliani, explained

By Andrew Prokop