Vox

Compact neighborhoods cost cities half as much to maintain as sprawled out ones. So why don’t we build more of them? Vox’s @mbolotnikova.bsky.social explains how building densely packed neighborhoods can lower everyone’s property taxes.

The New York Knicks are facing the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA finals in a matchup that has the internet on fire. Vox’s @benjysarlin.bsky.social breaks down what you need to know even if you’re not a basketball fan — and gives a nod to his pick.

While it’s easy to buy raw milk at popular grocery stores like Erewhon in California, other states have made it difficult to buy or sell it. The CDC recommends that all milk be pasteurized, but there are over 40 bills in 18 states that would make it more accessible. So what’s going on here?

Can we find a new species in New York City? 👀🐛🐞 We're sure going to try. Working with NYC Parks, Central Park Conservancy, and Prospect Park Alliance, we set up two large bug traps in NYC's Central Park and Prospect Park that will collect insects this summer. @benjij.bsky.social

Juiced-up athletes took part in the Enhanced Games last weekend, not breaking tons of records, but showing that the performance-enhancing drug industry is growing fast. Health and wellness reporter Chris Gayomali has been following this story for the past year and attended the games.

Have you seen videos like this on social media? A young woman lies face-up on a massage table while a practitioner manipulates her cheeks and jaw from inside her mouth. These massage treatments are marketed as a way to release stored trauma — with clients sometimes shown crying afterward.

What’s stopping you from picking up the phone to call a friend? Or talking to a stranger in line at a coffee shop? Our worry that other people don’t want to connect with us is stopping us from having meaningful conversations and connections that we all need. 🎥: @sean-d-illing.bsky.social

Tonight, the final episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will air on CBS. The talk show, which has been running since 1993, was previously hosted by David Letterman. The network cancelled the show in July.

Scientists discovered more than 1,100 new species of sea creatures, according to the Ocean Census. But are they legit? Some experts are skeptical because they are not all formally described — meaning they haven’t gone through the process to prove what they found is new to science.

Politicians claim data centers are a “necessary evil.” These New Jersey residents don’t agree. Vox’s Astead Herndon traveled to Vineland, New Jersey, where locals are fighting back against a DataOne data center. What he found was an issue that will likely come up during the next election cycle.

China buys 80% of Iran’s oil. So as the Strait of Hormuz crisis escalates, Trump may need Chinese President Xi Jinping more than he wants to admit. Here’s how China became one of Iran’s most important allies, why the US wants China’s help now, and what Xi Jinping could demand in return.

Is all the hantavirus news triggering COVID anxiety for you? You’re not alone. Vox’s Dylan Scott explains why the pandemic made people skeptical of public health organizations, and how those feelings carried over to this recent outbreak.

It turns out that 127 Columbus Ave., near Lincoln Center in New York City’s Upper West Side, has some really bad luck. This is Pin Point, the series where Vox's Nate Krieger throws a dart at a map and investigates the surprising history of whatever address he hits.

We all know smoking is bad for you — but pop culture seems to have decided it’s cool again. 🚬 The “pop girlies” like Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, and Charli XCX are partially to blame for the smoking renaissance we’re seeing.

Hantavirus is usually spread through rodents, but it infected at least eight people on the MV Hondius cruise ship, three of whom died. How did this happen? And what even is hantavirus? Vox’s Sydney Bergan explains what you need to know about the disease.

Was Billie Eilish right when she told Elle magazine that you can’t say you love all animals and eat meat? @kennytorrella.bsky.social breaks down her logic, and what the backlash from her statement reveals about the American left.

Lauren Sánchez Bezos’ Met Gala dress was boring — but the painting that inspired it once scandalized all of Paris. Vox’s Jonquilyn Hill breaks down the 1884 reference and why Sánchez Bezos wearing it was anything but an accident.

As animal shelters in the US become overcrowded, it’s not just the pets that suffer. Animal control and animal shelter workers bear an enormous amount of stress, collectively euthanizing about 600,000 animals each year. Vox’s @kennytorrella.bsky.social explains how you can help.

Matcha is a) everywhere and b) not cheap. So why are matcha prices rising? And how do you guarantee that you’re getting what you pay for? Vox’s Sydney Bergan breaks it down. 🍵

Yesteryear, the buzzy new novel by Caro Claire Burke, has an incredible premise. A modern-day tradwife travels back in time to 1855, forcing her to reckon with the realities of the lifestyle she touts on social media.

The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is expanding to Orange County, and a lot of the new cast members have one thing in common: they aren't actually Mormon.

Every year, federal and state wildlife agencies in the US breed millions of fish and release them into the wild, all for fishers to catch. But introducing non-native fish can wreak havoc on an ecosystem. So why are state wildlife agencies doing it by the million?

Meat and dairy production is wreaking havoc on our environment as a leading cause of global deforestation and habitat loss. Want to help this Earth Day? Start by eating a more plant-based diet. @kennytorrella.bsky.social explains why it makes a difference.

"I don't often recognize the Arizona that's spoken about nationally." Yana Kunichoff, a reporter for Arizona Luminaria, breaks down the gap between how the national media portrays her state and what it actually feels like to live and work there to Vox's Astead Herndon.

China is quietly redefining its relationship with Taiwan as the US is embroiled in global conflicts. First: a historic meeting with Taiwan’s opposition leader, Cheng Li-wun, ahead of May’s planned meeting between Xi Jinping and Donald Trump.

Vox’s Astead Herndon has been on Hasan Piker’s Twitch stream. He even interviewed him at a University of Chicago event in 2025. So what does he think about the latest Democratic uproar against the Twitch streamer?

Ozempic is now significantly cheaper in India than in the US. Why? The patent on semaglutide expired in India, allowing drugmakers to start making their own version at a fraction of the cost.

“I really do think that like Trump somehow like ended up in the White House and not like on a Bravo reality show,” Hunter Harris, host of Lemme Say This, tells Vox’s Astead Herndon.

Is the left too concerned with politeness? Hunter Harris, host of Lemme Say This, says yes. She tells Vox’s Astead Herndon it’s appealing to some voters that Republicans say whatever they want, especially while Democrats remain filtered.

“It's also possible that what we're seeing now is that the US has ended its own war in the Middle East, leaving everyone else in the region behind to fight it out,” Vox senior correspondent Joshua Keating said about whether the war in Iran is actually over.

The US and Iran have only been at war for over a month, but it has already severely affected global oil prices. We’ve resurfaced this 2019 Vox explainer to show you where the Strait of Hormuz sits in the global oil supply chain and what its history with the US has been since the 1980s.

America is drifting further from its former status as a global superpower. Nate Silver, pollster and author of Silver Bulletin, explains to Vox’s Astead Herndon how the US has damaged its international reputation.

Considering donating blood?🩸The need for it is constant, while the supply often waxes and wanes. Here’s what to know before you give: www.vox.com/future-perfe...

What does American politics look like without Trump at the center? It’s been a one-man show for more than a decade, but now, we’re heading toward the first open presidential election since 2016. It will play out in a country that feels inherently different.

President Donald Trump promised voters in 2024 that his policies would be America First. But he went back on that promise with multiple foreign interventions, including the war in Iran. So why does polling of MAGA voters show overwhelming support for this conflict?

President Donald Trump promised voters in 2024 that his policies would be America First. But he went back on that promise with multiple foreign interventions, including the war in Iran. So why does polling of MAGA voters show overwhelming support for this conflict?

Tucker Carlson invited conservative provocateur Nick Fuentes on his show last October. Fuentes is part of a growing number of young, conservative men sharing openly antisemitic, racist, and misogynistic ideas online. But Carlson’s critics say he went easy on Fuentes, which lent him legitimacy.

Despite what internet trolls might say, eating plant-based protein does not make you any less “manly.” Eating soy foods doesn’t change men’s hormonal makeup, and it’s well-established that soy products are not only safe to eat but also confer a number of health benefits.

Millennial feminist Lindy West's new memoir is about her path to polyamory. Cue the backlash — to West, her husband, and the idea of polyamory itself. Today, Explained host Noel King speaks with @slate.com journalist Scaachi Koul about why so many people are so invested in West’s story.

Social media has fractured the public discourse, shepherding us into our own streams of information, tailored to maximize our attention and reinforce our prejudices. Many think that AI will only accelerate these trends. But what if AI is, in some respects, the antidote?

Yes, Sen. Bernie Sanders has tried AI. And no, he doesn’t believe that the systems should be making billionaires even richer. He sat down with Vox’s Astead Herndon to tell him that he thinks Congress needs to take more action on an AI landscape that changes every single day.

President Donald Trump has tapped Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin to replace Kristi Noem as head of the Department of Homeland Security. Mullin, a plumber-turned-MMA-fighter-turned-firebrand-politician, has made a name for himself in Congress as a political outsider — and MAGA ultra-loyalist.

Platypuses disappeared from Australia's oldest national park decades ago. Now scientists are bringing them back, helping reestablish a long-lost link in the local food chain.

Bravo TV reality star Heavenly Kimes sits down with Vox’s Astead Herndon to explain why she decided to enter politics, how her experience in health care and business shapes her views on affordability, and what it’s like moving from reality TV to the campaign trail.

Ambassador Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s former Chief of Staff, says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who's at the center of the Iran conflict, has isolated Israel like never before.

“The amount of Palestinian deaths was not necessary for Israel's security or reestablishing deterrence.” Former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel talked to Vox’s Astead Herndon about whether he considers Israel’s actions in Palestine to be genocide.

Trump has offered multiple explanations for the Iran strikes. Freedom for the Iranian people. A deal in two or three days. A war lasting four or five weeks. “It’s wartime jazz,” says WSJ reporter Alexander Ward. “He shoots first…and figures out the political objectives as he watches things unfold.”

The documentary Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model has the internet reminiscing on the reality TV show and its complicated legacy — including that episode where models swapped ethnicities. Yep, you read that right. Listen to the full interview wherever you get your podcasts. 🎧

Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett lost the Texas primaries Tuesday night to state Rep. James Talarico — and Vox’s Astead Herndon thinks he knows why. He looks back at a conversation he had with Crockett last month to examine why her campaign didn’t make it across the finish line.

You can blame the Founding Fathers for Trump’s ability to attack Iran without Congressional approval. Why? They didn’t expect the US to have a standing army, which led them to create a Constitution unprepared for the US’s military power. 🎥: @imillhiser.bsky.social

“This is exactly what Donald Trump ran against. He said, ‘No more endless wars.’” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) talked with Vox’s Astead Herndon ahead of this weekend’s strikes on Iran about the War Powers Act, which would force Trump to seek congressional approval before any type of military offensive.

The US has launched a war on Iran. But why? The short answer is nobody really knows. Vox’s @zackbeauchamp.bsky.social explains why the incoherence at the heart of Trump’s latest, biggest war is particularly scary. You can read more coverage here: www.vox.com/politics/481...

A large share of the Epstein files may now be out in the public, but there are still plenty that remain unreleased. Vox’s Astead Herndon spoke with Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California who says what has been released is “not a good look for the elite class.”

The cliché is always that it's men who are afraid of commitment and having kids. But a Pew Research poll just shows that, for Gen Z, it's the women who are more hesitant to start a family.

Although the US is about to hit 1,000 measles cases — which puts us on pace to surpass last year’s total — President Donald Trump’s nominee for surgeon general, Casey Means, presented a wishy-washy stance on whether children should get the MMR vaccine at her confirmation hearing on Wednesday.

Imagine a Democratic presidential win in 2028. While Democrats would be thrilled, they’d pretty quickly face a tough question: how do you undo years of institutional change without weakening democratic norms in the process?

The news surrounding the Epstein files is…complicated. Vox’s Astead Herndon spoke with Tara Palmeri, author of The Red Letter Substack and host of The Tara Palmeri Show, about Epstein for Today, Explained. Here are his three main takeaways from his conversation.

The one thing we know for sure about the Epstein files is that there is still so much that remains unknown — with 2 million files still under lock and key in the DOJ’s possession. @tarapalmeri.bsky.social talks about the cover-up with Vox’s Astead Herndon.