Vox Members now get all our podcasts, ad-free.

If you become a member, you will also get unlimited reading on our website, member-exclusive newsletters, and more special perks as a thank you.

If you’d like to support our work and get ad-free listening on our podcasts, go to vox.com/members today.

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

Drivers and passengers are right: Car headlights are brighter now. And the solutions aren't simple.

If you have a question for us, please give a call at 1-800-618-8545 or send a note at vox.com/askvox.

This episode was produced and sound designed by Hady Mawajdeh, edited by Miranda Kennedy, fact checked by Melissa Hirsch, engineered by Patrick Boyd and hosted by Jonquilyn Hill. Photo by zhen li for Getty Images. 

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

Gen X women are freeing themselves from the hangups of the '90s, and having the best sex of their lives. Media portrayals of middle-aged women are starting to catch up too.

If you have a question for us, please call us at 1-800-618-8545 or send a note at vox.com/askvox.

This episode was produced and sound designed by Victoria Chamberlin, edited by Miranda Kennedy, fact checked by Melissa Hirsch, engineered by Patrick Boyd and Andrea Kristinsdottir, and hosted by Jonquilyn Hill.

Actress Demi Moore at a press conference for the film "The Substance." Photo by ZOULERAH NORDDINE/AFP via Getty Images. 

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

There's a backlash against corporate DEI efforts, and it’s not just from the right. It's everywhere. What does that mean for employees?

This episode was produced by Hady Mawajdeh, edited by Miranda Kennedy, fact-checked by Melissa Hirsch, mixed by Patrick Boyd, and hosted by Jonquilyn Hill.

Photo credit: jeffbergen for Getty Images

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

The rules of romance have changed, and many young men feel they can't keep up. We get some tips from a Texas men's relationship coach.

This episode was produced by Hady Mawajdeh and Carla Javier, edited by Miranda Kennedy, fact checked by Melissa Hirsch, mixed by Patrick Boyd, and hosted by Jonquilyn Hill.

Shutterstock image by fstop Images.

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

Listener Tessa was at the airport and noticed that the REAL ID deadline had been extended — yet again — to May 2025. Why does it keep happening? Will REAL ID will ever become a thing? Team Explain It to Me goes on a reporting journey to bring her an answer nearly 20 years in the making. 

If you have a question, please give us a call at 1-800-618-8545, or you can fill out this form. 

This episode was produced by Carla Javier and Sofi LaLonde, edited by Jorge Just, fact-checked by Melissa Hirsch, engineered by Andrea Kristinsdottir, and hosted by Jonquilyn Hill. 

READ MORE:

Real IDs, explained

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

Starting this week, Explain It to Me is moving to Sundays. Check out our next episode here on March 2.

You can also find us in the Today, Explained feed as of Sunday, March 9.

If you have questions you'd like us to investigate, call our hotline: 1-800-618-8545.

The Explain It to Me newsletter is publishing Sundays now too! Sign up here: https://www.vox.com/pages/explain-it-to-me-newsletter-sign-up.

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

We spend about a third of our lives either sleeping or trying to fall asleep. Why are we so bad at it? We ask behavioral sleep specialist Jade Wu. 

This episode was produced by Hady Mawajdeh and Carla Javier, edited by Miranda Kennedy, fact checked by Melissa Hirsch, engineered by Patrick Boyd, and hosted by Jonquilyn Hill. 

Have a question about relationships, the workplace, health or anything else that matters to you? Leave us a voicemail with your question at 1-800-618-8545.

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

Listener Elisa has heard egg freezing touted as “an easy, perfect solution” for women who want to have it all, but she’s skeptical. Writer MeiMei Fox tells the disastrous story of freezing her own eggs, and Vox senior correspondent Anna North explains why freezing your eggs is not really a girlboss panacea.

Do you have a question about navigating family planning or reproductive health? Give us a call. We wanna make future episodes about the things that matter to you in your daily lives. Our number is 1-800-618-8545. You can also let us know via this form.

Read more:

The failed promise of egg freezing

How safe is donating your eggs?

This episode was produced by Victoria Chamberlin, Hady Mawajdeh and Carla Javier, edited by Amina Al-Sadi and Miranda Kennedy, fact checked by Laura Bullard and Hady Mawajdeh, engineered by Patrick Boyd and Andrea Kristinsdottir, and hosted by Jonquilyn Hill.

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

What’s going on with all those layoffs in the gaming industry? What does being “middle class” actually mean? What’s up with this weird thing that happens when I sleep? Life is full of questions: simple ones with complicated answers and complicated ones with simple answers hiding in plain sight. Explain It to Me is here to answer the ones that matter most to you. We’re your go-to hotline for all the questions you can’t quite answer on your own. 

Call 1-800-618-8545 or send a voice memo to askvox@vox.com. And tell us: what are the questions that keep you up at night – literally?

Credits:

Jonquilyn Hill, host

Hady Mawajdeh, producer

Andrea Kristinsdottir, engineer

Carla Javier, supervising producer

Miranda Kennedy, editor

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

Should I give up flying for the environment’s sake? Is it ethical to stay on Twitter and Facebook if I don’t like the owners’ politics? If a DNA test shows that my dad isn't my biological dad, should I tell him? There are no bad questions. But there are some that are really hard to answer. Those are the ones Vox senior reporter Sigal Samuel likes to tackle. This week on Explain It to Me, she tells host Jonquilyn Hill how she goes about answering your ethical and philosophical questions in her column, Your Mileage May Vary. 

This episode was made in partnership with Vox's Future Perfect team.

Have questions you can’t answer? Call Explain It to Me at 1-800-618-8545, or submit them here. 

Read more:

Sigal’s column, Your Mileage May Vary

You can’t optimize your way to being a good person

The Future Perfect newsletter

Share your quandaries with Sigal here 

Credits:

Jonquilyn Hill, host

Cristian Ayala, engineer

Caitlin PenzeyMoog, fact checker

Carla Javier, supervising producer

Jorge Just, editor

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