logo
episode-header-image
Oct 2022
27m 6s

A new law to “save the animals”

Vox
About this episode

The Endangered Species Act was transformative in protecting animals from extinction. Vox’s Benji Jones says its proposed successor, the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, would be the most significant conservation law in decades.

This episode was produced by Hady Mawajdeh, edited by Matt Collette, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Paul Robert Mounsey, and hosted by Noel King.

Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained

Support Today, Explained by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Up next
Oct 10
The campus resistance
In this special feed drop of On with Kara Swisher, Princeton President Christopher Eisgruber talks about standing up to Donald Trump and what free speech on campus really looks like. This episode was produced by Cristian Castro Rossel, Kateri Jochum, Michell Eloy, Megan Burney an ... Show More
53m 47s
Oct 9
Saudi Arabia is no joke
The Riyadh Comedy Festival was billed as “two weeks of laughs in the desert” but has comics asking, “At what cost?” This episode was produced by Hady Mawajdeh, edited by Amina Al-Sadi, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Adriene Lilly, and hosted by Noel King. A poster f ... Show More
26 m
Oct 8
Trump deploys the National Guard
The president is attempting to send the National Guard into two American cities for two (seemingly) different reasons with two (for now) different results. This episode was produced by Denise Guerra and Danielle Hewitt, edited by Amina Al-Sadi, fact-checked by Laura Bullard and K ... Show More
25m 55s
Recommended Episodes
Mar 2023
The cost of saving pandas
The giant panda is no longer endangered. This, of course, is good news. But the model of conservation that worked to protect these iconic bears has failed to help the countless other threatened species on Earth, most of which are far less charismatic. Guest host Benji Jones talks ... Show More
45m 58s
Jan 2023
What do we owe animals?
Guest host Sigal Samuel talks with philosopher and author Martha Nussbaum about her new book, Justice for Animals. Martha discusses several different ethical, legal, and metaphysical theories for how we humans should treat other non-human animals, and offers her own distinct new ... Show More
48m 33s
Sep 2020
Chicken Big
In 1992, Craig Watts got into growing chickens for Perdue Farms because he was told he could turn a good profit. Instead, he found himself hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, and unable to bargain for better working conditions because Perdue was the only game in town. Thing ... Show More
28m 50s
Sep 2020
Pig poop lagoon
North Carolina is home to around 9 million pigs. Many of those pigs live in big factory farms, and all of those pigs produce a lot of waste. On these factory farms, that waste is collected in big outdoor lagoons, and then sprayed out across fields as fertilizer. People living in ... Show More
29m 21s
Jun 2022
The World Ahead: The future of food
Are there some things we shouldn’t eat? Host Tom Standage travels to the year 2042 to find that animal-based meat is being pushed aside in favour of cultured meat grown in vats, a new industry dominated by three companies. He samples food grown from the cells of endangered animal ... Show More
27m 4s
Aug 2020
Trump's peddling a fake Covid-19 cure
Jane, Dara, and Matt on convalescent plasma, FDA reform, and the politics of science.Resources:"Trump used a rare disease survivor to take a shot at the FDA" by Julia Belluz, Vox"Making American Great Again–The FDA" by Alex Tabarrok, Marginal Revolution"Reopening schools safely i ... Show More
49m 39s
Sep 2021
The politics of eating meat, with Henry Mance
Anoosh Chakelian, Ailbhe Rea and Stephen Bush talk to FT feature writer and author Henry Mance about his new book: How to Love Animals: In a Human-Shaped World They discuss what it was like to work in an abattoir, the evacuation of pets from Afghanistan and what it will take to g ... Show More
21m 46s
Nov 2020
The post-election economy
Emily Stewart joins Dara and Matt to discuss the prospects for Covid relief and Janet Yellen.Resources:"Janet Yellen's mistake" by Matthew Yglesias, Slowboring.com"Electoral politics on an unfair playing field" by Aaron Strauss, Slowboring.comWhite paper Hosts:Matt Yglesias (@mat ... Show More
1h 1m
Oct 2021
Honey, we shrunk the birds
A recent study of tens of thousands of birds has shown that birds are growing smaller over time. It could be due to climate change, and if so, we ought to consider: How else might humans be altering the literal shape of life on Earth — now and in the future?For more, go to http:/ ... Show More
28m 19s
Sep 2021
Mon. 09/13 - De-Extinct Woolly Mammoths & Potty-Trained Cows
Could woolly mammoths help slow the effects of the climate emergency? It’s not just a theoretical question. One entrepreneur is betting on it, and working to bring woolly mammoths back from extinction to prove it. Lorde has re-released part of her latest album with Māori language ... Show More
16m 50s