Explained is a documentary television series produced by Vox Media for Netflix, designed to provide deep, contextual, and engaging explorations into a wide variety of topics. The series is based on the popular Vox YouTube video format, focusing on explaining the “why” and “how” behind complex subjects in a concise, visually engaging, and easy-to-understand manner. Here are the key details about Vox Explained:
Format & Style: Each episode typically runs for 14–26 minutes, making them ideal for a deep dive that is quick to consume. The show uses a blend of motion graphics, interviews with experts, archival footage, and narration, often featuring different guest narrators for different episodes.
Topics Covered: The series covers a vast range of subjects that “drive our lives or our world,” such as the racial wealth gap, cryptocurrency, why diets fail, monogamy, cults, and K-pop.
Origins: Created by Ezra Klein and Joe Posner, the series premiered on Netflix on May 23, 2018. It stemmed from Vox’s mission to offer deeper reporting on important, sometimes slow-changing, topics that are often neglected in fast-paced, daily news coverage.
Seasons: As of 2021, the show has aired three seasons on Netflix, with a total of 44 episodes.
Spin-offs: The success of Explained led to several specialized spin-off series, including: The Mind, Explained Sex, Explained Coronavirus, Explained Whose Vote Counts, Explained Money, Explained.
Availability: The show is a global product, available in 191 countries, often dubbed and subtitled in multiple languages.
Note: This information focuses on the “Explained” documentary series on Netflix. “Today, Explained” is a separate daily podcast and newsletter from Vox. Today, Explained – Vox
The Today, Explained newsletter is a daily newsletter featuring work by a variety of Vox journalists and edited by Cameron Peters. www.vox.com
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