Vox

Introducing America, Actually — a new video-first podcast hosted by Vox’s @asteadwh . 💛🗯️ Designed from the ground up for video platforms, the show will bring audiences inside the forces shaping American politics for a post-Trump era through immersive reporting, sharp analysis, and deeply human storytelling. “A decade in politics journalism has only made me more certain that America is a more diverse country changing faster than our political system reflects, and the centrality of Donald Trump has only further flattened that nuance,” says Astead Herndon. “My goal with America, Actually is to make a program that highlights that broad landscape of often ignored people and ideas — while remaining accessible and inviting. We will lead with the kind of rigor and curiosity that is Vox’s signature, but we will also have fun.” The first episode will be available on April 11 wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube.

Big announcement alert: Vox is now on Patreon! 💛📣 We’re using Patreon’s tools to introduce great new benefits and give you even more insights into our journalism and the people who make it: exclusive videos, live conversations featuring our reporters, new community features, and more. Plus, you’ll support Vox’s independent journalism. Our Patreon will include two exclusive video series — The Docket and What’s Working. While The Docket explains how major Supreme Court decisions could alter the fabric of American life, What’s Working will look at the state and local policies that are actually improving people’s lives. The first episode of The Docket is available now and looks at how the SCOTUS case Louisiana vs. Callais could have major implications on the rights of minority voters. If you’re not a Vox Member, get more information about our Patreon and how you can join at the link in our bio. And good news for current Vox Members: You have one year of Patreon access already included with your subscription. Check your email for instructions on how to connect your account and start exploring everything new.

It can feel impossible to be comfortable in your own skin when the internet is constantly throwing your insecurities in your face — telling you to change everything about yourself through cosmetic surgeries and weight loss drugs. So how do you block out the noise and love the body you’re in right now? Vox’s Allie Volpe shares how to reframe your mindset. #BodyImage #BodyPositivity #Ozempic #Botox

If you talk to folks in the anti-abortion movement, they’re pretty disappointed about the state of things in the US. Despite the headline victories they’ve achieved in recent years — like, say, the overturning of Roe v. Wade (1973) — they thought they’d be accomplishing a lot more. Granted, they have a few things going for them: Republican allies in Congress. A Supreme Court has been sympathetic to their cause. And the man that they helped return to the White House, Donald Trump, who has embraced the title of most “pro-life” president ever. And yet, leaders in the anti-abortion movement are ringing alarm bells and describing this as an existential moment for their movement. Read more at the link in our bio. 📸: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Scientists spent 8 years tracking hundreds of giraffes in Tanzania and discovered a link between their spot patterns and chance of survival under different climate conditions. Giraffe calves and adult males with larger spots had a higher survival probability in extremely cold temperatures, the study found, whereas individuals with smaller spots had a higher survival probability in extremely hot temperatures. That means future warming may pose a greater threat to giraffes with larger spots.

Friendship breakups are never easy, but few are as messy and expensive as the collapse of Elon Musk and Sam Altman’s once thriving tech bromance. On Thursday, closing arguments wrapped up in Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI, leaving a jury to deliberate next week whether Altman and other executives “stole a charity” (as one of Musk’s lawyers put it) by turning much of what was once a nonprofit research lab into a corporate behemoth. For three weeks, lawyers on both sides have deployed an increasingly unhinged body of evidence in an attempt to discredit both men and prove they’re untrustworthy and power-hungry. If the jury rules that Musk was duped into donating roughly $38 million to OpenAI under false pretenses, then Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will decide on the damages, which could potentially lead to $150 billion in financial restitution and, while unlikely, could also include major changes to OpenAI’s leadership and governance structure. Even if the jury does not rule in Musk’s favor, however, it’s possible that the evidence put forth at trial will be enough to convince state regulators to revisit the agreements that allowed OpenAI to restructure into a for-profit enterprise to begin with. Read more at the link in our bio. 📸: Benjamin Fanjoy/Getty Images

While millions of people voted for animal welfare laws that protect female pigs from being kept in tiny enclosures called gestation crates, not everyone has embraced their freedom. Several meat trade groups, along with Triumph Foods — one of America’s largest pork companies — have sued California and Massachusetts numerous times to try to overturn their gestation crate laws. The industry’s legal argument centers around the claim that the animal welfare laws violate a legal doctrine called the dormant commerce clause, which puts some limits on states enacting laws that affect other states. But all of the lawsuits have failed, including one from the National Pork Producers Council that made it to the US Supreme Court, which in 2023 ruled to uphold California’s law as constitutional. Companies and industry groups have also worked with members of Congress for over a decade to introduce federal legislation to nullify laws like those in California and Massachusetts. The latest iteration is called the Save Our Bacon Act, originally proposed last year. This effort, which for years went nowhere as standalone legislation in Congress, now has a decent chance at becoming law as part of the new Farm Bill, a package of legislation that is supposed to be reauthorized every five years and is the main vehicle for federal agriculture and nutrition policy. Read more at the link in our bio. 📸: American Meat Producers Association and Humane World for Animals

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. Listen to the full episode of America, Actually, wherever you get your podcast, or watch it on YouTube on Saturday. #DataCenters #AI #NewJersey

Do you believe in the separation of church and state? A new Pew Research Center poll found that the majority of Americans still do, despite the push from President Donald Trump’s White House for “Christian nationalism” — a newer term often used by religious liberals or atheists to deride fundamentalist, evangelical, or conservative Christian interpretations of the Bible that link faith and patriotism. The report shows a historic high in the share of Americans who say that religion is gaining influence in public life, rising 19 points in two years. And the reaction to this trend isn’t necessarily negative. Overall, views of the role of organized religion remain positive at about 55 percent. Still, none of this suggests that the particular worldview of the religious right is catching fire. Though awareness of the term “Christian nationalism” has increased in the past four years, the additional attention hasn’t boosted its net popularity. Both positive and negative associations with the term have risen, and its precepts still remain unacceptable to the vast majority of Americans. Find out more at the link in our bio. 📸: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Americans’ doom and despair about the economy is mounting. In fact, by one measure, the public is more depressed than they’ve ever been in the postwar era. The University of Michigan has been surveying American consumers’ sentiment since all the way back in 1952 — and their result from last month was the lowest level they’ve ever found. President Donald Trump’s approval ratings on the economy also hit new all-time lows in recent weeks, in polls from both CNBC (which showed him at 39%) and CNN (which showed him all the way down at 30%). All this is occurring while several key topline economic stats — such as GDP growth and jobs numbers — continue to look decent or outright good, and while the stock market remains near all-time highs. Yet the American people are furious, for the same basic reason they’ve been furious most of this decade: high prices and the cost of living. Learn more at the link in our bio. #Economy #Inflation #ConsumerSentiment

At a conference bookended by speeches from former President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, the leading lights of the global center-left gathered to consider their fate. Global Progress Action Summit organizers chose to meet in Toronto because Canada was an exception to these trends. Canada’s center-left Liberal party has been in power for 11 unbroken years; its main opposition, the Conservative Party, has grown more populist in recent years but remains considerably more moderate than Trump’s Republicans or the typical European far-right faction. Yet few attendees had anything like a plan for making their countries more Canadian. In fact, their comments revealed an implicitly opposite approach: Instead of figuring out how to head off the far right entirely, the center-left was learning to live with their presence. That means redefining victory not as crushing the far right, but defeating it the way they would any other normal political opponent. Read more at the link in our bio. 📸: Soeren Stache/Picture Alliance via Getty Images

China buys 80% of Iran’s oil. So as the Strait of Hormuz crisis escalates, President Donald Trump may need Chinese President Xi Jinping more than he wants to admit. But Beijing has leverage too — and Taiwan could quietly become part of the negotiation. 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. 🎥: @bydollyli #China #Iran #Taiwan #Trump #XIJinping