Seven-Minute Explainers: Recent Episodes
The Week
Your audio guide to everything you need to know about compelling and complex topics, from a variety of The Week's smart and witty writers, editors, and thinkers. Concise and entertaining, Seven-Minute Explainers packs a lot of information in a short amount of time.
How previous reforms led to the system we have today.
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The Macy's Day Parade, football, and Black Friday deals may be uniquely American, but giving thanks for a good harvest is a tradition that crosses cultures.
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The American West may fly the flag of individualism, but it was built on a bedrock of Big Government.
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Even as other territories became states, the U.S. kept Puerto Rico's legal status vague.
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How war, the golf industry, and Big Candy got (most of) us an extra hour of sleep this weekend.
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From Night of the Living Dead to Paranormal Activity, low-budget horror movies continue to def Hollywood's box-office expectations.
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Is Marxism just a turn-crank formula for purges and dictatorship or was something else to blame?
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How the end of Matt LeBlanc's Episodes closes the door on the Friends era of gossip, fame, and meta-spinoffs.
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A lifelong member of the NRA, Reagan might be the most consequential president for gun control legislation in the past century
Storms like Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, are only going to keep coming. Which parts of the U.S. are most vulnerable? What is the government doing about it? Here's everything you need to know.
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In 1971, a group of activists stole thousands of incriminating documents that proved the bureau was spying on Americans. The burglars got away scot-free.
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How a legislative fluke turned into a political weapon.
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Saving is a habit, and like all habits, the best way to make it stick is to do it over, and over, and over again, until it becomes second nature. Here's four steps to help you save money without even thinking about it.
Those daily pills aren't doing you any favors. In fact, they might be doing you some harm.
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On Aug. 21, the moon's shadow will roll across the U.S. and, for the first time in decades, tens of millions of Americans will witness a total solar eclipse outside their door.
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Amazon, Google, and Facebook have enjoyed unstoppable growth, with no end in sight. Such enormous success may be a sign that we're in the second Gilded Age, where our lives are channeled once again through fewer and fewer companies that are controlled by just a handful of men. And this isn't good.
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The gene-editing tool CRISPR isn't some super high-tech piece of lab equipment. It's a part of our DNA that scientists have now figured out how to harness.
WHERE HULKSPEAK COME FROM? Let's explore all the potential inspiration that came before Hulk smashed into our comic book world in 1962.
The Valyrian language has four genders — and an unexpected Monty Python tribute. Listen for more fun and interesting facts about this intricate language that might help you impress at your next Game of Thrones party.
So how did Jensen become Johnson, Koenigsberger become Kingsley, and Mlodzianowski become Murphy?
You're more likely to die from a lightning strike than in an airplane crash, and yet we just can't seem to shake our aviophobia.
The People's Republic is investing trillions to build railways, ports, and telecommunications in other countries. Here's everything you need to know.
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It seems the Trump administration is ready to take the toughest of lines when it comes to dealing with the Hermit Kingdom. And this policy is nothing short of apocalyptic.
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With scandals swirling around the White House, the "I-word" is already being mentioned in Congress. But what's the origin of the process and how exactly is it used today? Here's everything you need to know.
Watergate. Iran-Contra. Trump-Russia? History can provide scenarios for thinking about how this investigation might play out.
We combed through dozens of inspirational, funny, and memorable commencement speeches and found the best ones follow a surprisingly similar pattern comprising eight distinct parts.
Whenever people listen to a beatboxing expert, there are two big questions that come up: What are those noises? And how are they being made?
Linguistics to the rescue!
Even if you still can't reproduce the sounds, you will soon be able to talk about them in terms nearly as startling as the sounds themselves.
After decades of dramatic successes — as well as failures — the Environmental Protection Agency is at a crossroads.
The origins of our modern battles over abortion date back to 1838 and the untimely death of a 21-year-old factory girl named Eliza Sowers
Many experts believe that sweetened foods have caused a global health crisis. What's so bad about sugar?
In 2014, bitcoin was all but written off as a failed experiment. In March 2017, it made history. And its recent, more gradual success suggests the virtual currency is here to stay. Here's the story behind its resurrection and the factors that might help it survive. For more, visit theweek.com/podcasts.
President Trump inherited several undeclared wars around the world. Will he change U.S. policy?
Stressed-out Americans, from war veterans to Google workers, are embracing mindfulness meditation. Does it really work?
HBO's documentary Bright Lights highlights the intimacy between the famous mother and daughter
Once they've relinquished the highest office in the land, many presidents enjoy rewarding second acts
A brief history of the space race then and a look at what rich entrepreneurs are to open a new frontier of privately funded space travel.
Google and Facebook are the new railroads. And the media is a powerless farmer trying to get his vegetables to town.
The Constitution mandates only the day and the oath of office. The rest is dictated entirely by tradition.
What the presidential election tells us about the geeks' ascension in politics, business, and culture.
Massive floods, prolonged heat waves, and destructive storms are becoming more common. Why? Here’s everything you need to know.
More than a few of us will crack open a bottle or two of champagne to help toast the New Year. Here's how to look knowledgeable rather than just tipsy.
Travel back to America's Colonial days, when our Puritan forefathers had a tumultuous relationship with Christmas.
Just because you have the right to recline doesn't mean it's always the right thing to do
Have you ever wondered what these holiday street retailers do about sleeping and bathroom breaks?
To understand why the North American fowl is named after a Middle Eastern country is to take a bit of a head-spinning, tongue-twisting world tour of the world. Ready?
America just ushered in a populist president. But what is the movement that Donald Trump rode to the White House? And where does it originate from on the right and the left? We explain.
Donald Trump has made illegal immigration a major part of his presidential campaign. But America's illegal immigration controversy is a lot more complex than Trump's sound bites and policies. Let's dig into it.
Three years after it became law, the Affordable Care Act is facing a litany of problems. How serious are they? Here's everything you need to know.
In 1916, a group of women who were fed up with how men were running their small Oregon town decided do something about it. This is the story of the Petticoat Revolution.
To better understand Donald Trump and the effects he produces, let's name some of his go-to rhetorical moves, from Meflection to Cookie-Grubbing.
In 1972, the New York Congresswoman ran for president under the slogan "Unbought and Unbossed" and her tenure in politics proved she was a dedicated catalyst for change.
You can trace the debate back to 1066, and it's not as simple as a southern accent versus a northern one. The linguistic basis for pecan pronunciation is much more complex.
Victoria Woodhull notched several historic firsts before running for the country's highest political office in the 1872 election.
Parties still play a vital role in organizing political life and enabling people to understand the choices they have in a representative democracy
Trapped on a boat during the War of 1812, lawyer Francis Scott Key was inspired to write a poem...
It's easy, actually: Be funny. Be confident. Be a bully. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Close with the emotion. Win.
Seven-Minute Explainers is your audio guide to everything you need to know about compelling and complex topics from politics, business, and the arts, to pop culture, parenting, and religion. Seven-Minute explainers packs a lot of information in a short amount of time so you'll get smart, fast.
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