Everyone is always warning you not to get lost in the weeds. But not Vox's Ezra Klein, Dara Lind, Sarah Kliff, and Matthew Yglesias. They love the weeds. That's where all the policy is. This is the podcast for people who follow politics because they love thinking about health care, economics, and zoning. It is not a podcast for people who like hearing talk about gaffes.
https://art19.com/shows/the-weeds
Which children matter?
Senior politics reporter Jane Coaston joins Dara and Matt to talk about the ideological roots of Donald Trump's family separation policy. References and further reading: Dara's piece on "operation wetback" the immigration policy Donald Trump loves Jane's piece on Stephen Miller Jamelle Bouie's piece on Stephen Miller Politico piece about Trump possibly shutting down the government in September over border wall, mentioned by Jane Dara's piece on the number of families separated at...
Why 12-step programs work — and family separation doesn’t
While Sarah and Matt are away Dara is joined by Vox.com congressional reporters Tara Golshan and Ella Nilsen to talk about immigration and family separation. Then she's joined by Vox.com criminal justice reporter German Lopez to talk about a white paper that looks at the effectiveness of 12- step programs. References and further reading: Ella's piece on Democrats trying to stop family separation at the border Tara's piece on the chaos in the House over immigration Sarah's piece on the...
Can we get tough on rapists without being “tough on crime”?
Sarah, Dara and Matt talk about the recent recall of Judge Aaron Persky, the California judge who sentenced former Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner to six months when he was convicted of sexual assault in 2016. References and other reading: Julia Ioffe's piece on the Stanford professor who led the charge against Persky AP reporting on Persky's record as a judge Rachel Marshall's Vox.com piece on why the recall isn't a progressive victory John Pfaff Twitter thread on how...
Cake Wars, Supreme Court edition
Dara, Sarah and Matt trace the Supreme Court Masterpiece Cakeshop ruling back to peyote and then discuss a Swedish study about lottery winners. References and other reading: Vox.com explainer on the Masterpiece Cakeshop ruling Vox.com piece about religious liberty in American history The Gallup poll on rates of support for gay marriage, mentioned by Sarah White paper on Swedish lottery winners
Trump isn’t losing immigrant kids, but he is taking them from their parents
Sarah and Matt are joined by Vox.com Congress reporter Tara Golshan to talk about missing children, separated families, and the latest immigration action on the Hill. References and other reading: Sarah's piece with an immigration expert explaining the 1,500 "missing" migrant children Sarah explainer on family separations Tara's piece on Republican moderates and immigration Dara's explainer on the family separation policy
The debate over “no excuses” charter schools, explained
Libby Nelson, Vox.com news editor and former education reporter, joins Matt and Sarah to talk about the discipline practices and educational outcomes at so-called "no excuses" charter schools. Then they turn to a white paper that looks at lead poisoning and fertility. References and further reading: Illinois Public Radio story on Noble Academy Video of teacher at Success Academy ripping up student's homework Research mentioned by Libby on outcomes at the Harlem Children's Zone Upper...
BONUS: Wordly "Trump’s breakup note to Kim Jong-un, explained"
This episode comes from Vox.com international news podcast, Wordly. Matt and Sarah will be back on Tuesday with a brand new episode of The Weeds. On a special all-North Korea episode of Worldly, Yochi, Jenn, and Zack talk about President Trump’s surprise cancellation of his planned summit with Kim Jong Un — a decision Trump announced literally as the Worldly crew was sitting down to record the podcast. Trump scrapped the meeting in a strangely personal letter to Kim that alternated between r...
Nobody has babies anymore (except Sarah)
Sarah and Matt talk about America’s rapidly falling birthrate, and a study on the long-term benefit of the 1980s Medicaid expansion. References and further reading: National Center for Health Statistics report on declining birth rates Vox's Julia Belluz's piece on the low birthrate trend NPR piece on the CDC report on declining fertility rates in the U.S. Sarah's piece on why teen births are declining Lyman Stone paper Sarah mentioned arguing that government interventions don't boost ...
Caught in the Intellectual Dark Web
Senior politics reporter Jane Coaston joins Dara and Matt to debate the “identity politics” backlash and the prospects for pluralism. References and further reading: Bari Weiss' piece on the 'intellectual dark web' Conor Friedersdorf's piece on how the left fuels the right's bigotry