Today, Explained — Worth Your Time

I often feel overwhelmed by the headlines, whether it’s from hearing stories of despair and horror like the ones from this weekend’s mass shootings in multiple cities, the sense of anxiety a 24-hour news cycle creates, or a feeling of uselessness in the face of many societal injustices.

Since Today, Explained started about a year-and-a-half ago, I have been an almost daily listener of this daily podcast. Published every weekday afternoon, it comes just in time for your daily commute. And at an average of 20 minutes, you can easily keep up with new episodes, listening to them on that afternoon commute – as I most often do – or any other time you have a few minutes to spare.

The concept is simple: the podcast explains the stories most people are hearing about in recent news. Some episodes seem so immediately timely, I wonder how they produce such quality in such a short period of time. Others are about stories – like the Mueller Report – that have been in the news for months. Part of the Vox media family, most episodes spend the first half discussing the known facts of a topic and then come back after a commercial break* to discuss the potential ramifications of that topic or provide more context. The producers pull from a variety of experts and include relevant audio and clips from outside sources. The host, Sean Rameswaram, is a great interviewer with a clear, direct style. Prior to hosting this podcast, he was the host of Sideshow, an off-shoot of Studio 360, which he produced (and which was another favorite of mine). Sideshow was more about pop culture, so it allowed for more narrative risks. When Today, Explained ventures into more lifestyle topics, you are reminded of the sense of humor Sean brought to Sideshow.

The daily topics range from those as serious as reviewing the history of gun violence and regulations in America to more seemingly superficial ones like explaining the TikTok app. (But even that episode had real heart, as I learned that many boomers are on TikTok, connecting with their younger grandchildren on the social app.)

If you want to stay informed with what’s happening in the world without becoming so easily overwhelmed by it, I couldn’t recommend Today, Explained more.

Today, Explained is on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can peruse the topics and choose the episodes you’re most interested in, or here are some recent stand-out ones to start listening:

A Green New Deal, but for guns: I mention this one earlier, but they spend time discussing gun-related deaths in America, what regulations have worked, and what is needed to make a substantial decrease in gun violence.

Reviving death: Have you heard that the federal government is bringing back the death penalty, but you don’t know what that means? After these 20 minutes of listening, you will.

BoJo: Today, Explained covers not only American politics and culture, but overseas stories as well. This one will introduce you to the UK’s new prime minister, Boris Johnson.

Holy s**t: I’m a space nerd who grew up to study religion, so I loved this episode. Did you know NASA has left 96 bags of human waste on the moon? And that some cultures believed human waste was the start of life? If that doesn’t pique your interest, I don’t know what will!

*Every major podcast advertises a certain electric toothbrush. When I decided to finally break down and buy one, it was Today, Explained’s promotional code I used. As a marketer, that might be the highest praise I can give.

If you’re interested in Sean’s other podcast I mentioned – the late, great Sideshow – you can listen to their last episode here.