The Weeds
In politics, you’re often told not to get lost in the weeds. But we love the weeds! That’s where politics becomes policy – the stuff that shapes our lives. Every Tuesday, Dylan Matthews, Dara Lind, and other voices dig into the weeds on important national issues, including healthcare immigration, and housing. Produced by Vox and the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Episodes
August 2, 2022 • 61 min
As the Earth swelters through yet another record-breaking summer, a surprise push for climate legislation on Capitol Hill gave us a shimmer of optimism and hope toward fighting climate change. But, while it’s a step in the right direction to reduce carbon emissions, it’s not a panacea. How do we maintain optimism, even when the right steps feel too small?
References:
Summaries of the climate, tax, and prescription drug parts of th...
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July 26, 2022 • 64 min
Dylan Matthews, Dara Lind, and special guest Ari Ne’eman (@aneeman) fire up the Weeds Time Machine for a special episode on the Americans with Disabilities Act. The ADA was signed into law 32 years ago today, and while the legislation had a profound impact on almost every corner of American society, the bill wasn’t perfect. So hop into the Time Machine to learn about the history of the disability rights movement, how the ADA ca...
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July 19, 2022 • 64 min
Dara Lind is joined by Vox senior correspondent Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser) to discuss the major decisions handed down by the Supreme Court this term. They talk about the Court’s emphasis on historical narrative, its move away from settled legal doctrine, and the politicization of the Court. Plus, a white paper on originalism and stare decisis written by then-professor Amy Coney Barrett.
References:
The post-legal Supreme Cou...
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July 12, 2022 • 64 min
Vox Supreme Court correspondent Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser) speaks with Michele Goodwin, a law professor, bioethicist, and leading expert on reproductive health policy, about the future of abortion rights in a world without Roe.
References:
Policing the Womb by Michele Goodwin
Credits:
Sofi LaLonde, producer and engineer
Libby Nelson, editorial adviser
Amber Hall, deputy editorial director of talk podcasts
Sign up for The W...
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June 28, 2022 • 48 min
Dylan Matthews and Dara Lind are joined by Vox senior reporter Keren Landman, M.D., (@landmanspeaking) to discuss the extremely high maternal mortality rate in the United States. Breaking down those numbers by socioeconomic factors like race or income, the rate of pregnancy-related deaths gets even worse. What will happen now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned?
References:
Where will abortion still be legal now that Roe v. ...
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June 21, 2022 • 27 min
Hey, Weeds listeners: Today, we are bringing you an episode of Today, Explained that originally aired in early June.
Ten months ago, the faculty of Cramer Hill Elementary set out to get their kids back on track after a year of mostly remote learning. Today, Explained’s Miles Bryan attended eighth-grade graduation to see how they did.
This episode was reported and produced by Miles Bryan, edited by Matt Collette, fact-checked by ...
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June 14, 2022 • 63 min
Dylan Matthews sits down with economic historians Jared Rubin and Mark Koyama to discuss their new book, How the World Became Rich. It tries to answer one of the hardest questions in history: Why, roughly 200 years ago, did parts of the world start experiencing sustained economic growth?
References:
How the World Became Rich by Jared Rubin and Mark Koyama
Dylan also wrote about the book
Hosts:
Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), se...
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June 7, 2022 • 46 min
Dylan Matthews and Dara Lind are joined by Vox senior correspondent Dylan Scott (@dylanlscott) to discuss the shortage of nurses in the American health care workforce. The nursing shortage goes back many years, and not only did the pandemic exacerbate the problem, it also put it under a microscope. The US needs more nurses, but what can be done?
References:
America needs more doctors and nurses to survive the next pandemic
Th...
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May 31, 2022 • 48 min
Dylan Matthews and Dara Lind are joined by Vox politics reporter Nicole Narea (@nicolenarea) to talk about gun violence. They discuss the findings of three different research studies related to gun policy, which gun control policies are effective, the outcomes of specific violence interventions, and how state legislatures respond to mass shootings.
Editorial note: This episode touches on gun violence and suicide. If you want ...
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May 27, 2022 • 68 min
This episode originally published in October 2021 as the second installment of our “Most Dangerous Branch” miniseries about the Supreme Court. Vox senior correspondent Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser) talks with law professor Joseph Blocher and historian Carol Anderson about the Second Amendment, the triumph of the NRA's vision for that amendment, and an upcoming Supreme Court case that endangers more than a century of American ...
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May 24, 2022 • 76 min
This special episode of The Weeds was taped live at TruCon 2022! Join Dara Lind, Zack Beauchamp, and Jen Kirby for a live panel discussion about the state of global democracy. They discuss the complicated relationship among migration, the threat of the populist far right, and what this means for global democracy.
References:
Zack’s latest piece on “replacement theory”
He also wrote about Democrats and immigration policies in 201...
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May 17, 2022 • 53 min
Dylan Matthews and Dara Lind are joined by Annie Lowrey (@annielowrey), a staff writer at the Atlantic, to talk about why it’s so hard for people to get government benefits. Frequently called the “time tax,” the administrative burden of applying for and distributing government benefits leads to thousands of people not getting the aid they qualify for.
References:
Annie Lowrey on Code America’s efforts to fight the Time Tax
P...
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May 10, 2022 • 47 min
Dylan Matthews and Dara Lind talk with Washington Post economic columnist Heather Long (@byHeatherLong) about the global food supply crisis spinning out of the war in Ukraine. The crisis is so bad that the United Nations said it could be the worst shortage since World War II. What, if anything, can be done? Dylan, Dara, and Heather discuss how we got here and the costs of potential solutions.
References:
The war in Ukraine is ...
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May 5, 2022 • 58 min
Dara Lind sits down with Vox Supreme Court correspondent Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser) for a deep dive into the leaked draft opinion on abortion written by Justice Samuel Alito. They discuss the text of the opinion itself; why Alito was chosen to write it; and what could happen in the days, weeks, and months following a ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.
References:
The Roe opinion and the case against the Supreme Court
Ian’s e...
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May 3, 2022 • 73 min
This episode originally published in October 2021 as the first installment of our “Most Dangerous Branch” miniseries about the Supreme Court. Vox senior correspondent Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser) talks with NYU professor Melissa Murray about the future of Roe v. Wade, specifically discussing some of the legal theories used to chip away at the law.
References:
What we know and don't know on the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wad...
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April 26, 2022 • 50 min
Dylan Matthews interviews economist Chris Blattman (@cblatts) about his new book Why We Fight, which examines the root causes of war and what can be done to stop it. In a wide-ranging discussion that touches on conflict all over the world, Dylan and Chris discuss the role of the state, commonalities among historical conflicts, and the game theory of war.
References:
Chris Blattman’s book, Why We Fight
Chris’s research work
Re...
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April 19, 2022 • 48 min
Buckle up! The Weeds Time Machine is back. Today, Dylan Matthews, Dara Lind, and special guest Maureen Cropper, economist and professor at the University of Maryland, travel back in time to the 1970s to discuss one of the most important pieces of environmental legislation of the 20th century: the Clean Air Act.
References:
White paper: Looking Back at 50 Years of the Clean Air Act
Hosts:
Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior ...
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April 12, 2022 • 55 min
Dylan Matthews and Dara Lind are joined by Washington Post reporter Toluse Olorunnipa (@ToluseO) to talk more taxes for our hot! tax! policy! episodes this month. Today’s topic: Sen. Rick Scott’s 11-point plan to rescue America. Dylan, Dara, and Tolu get into the specifics of Scott’s policy proposal and speculate if the culture wars have seeped into tax policy. Plus, a white paper about unemployment benefits and opioid overdose...
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April 5, 2022 • 52 min
Weeds co-hosts Dylan Matthews and Dara Lind are joined by Vox policy editor Libby Nelson (@libbyanelson) to talk about some hot! tax! policy! But mostly, why it’s so annoying to file our taxes every year. The three discuss why the tax code is so complicated to begin with; compare our filing system to other countries; and daydream about what could be done to fix the system. Plus, a white paper about, you guessed it: taxes.
Refe...
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March 29, 2022 • 53 min
Dylan Matthews and Dara Lind are joined by Washington Post columnist Christine Emba (@ChristineEmba) to discuss the end of Covid-era welfare programs. We just hit two years of the pandemic, and some of those social safety programs, most notably the child tax credit, have expired. These policies dramatically improved the lives of millions of Americans; did we waste an opportunity to make these policies permanent? And later, a co...
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