Something weird is happening to these Alpine goats

For political journalists and political junkies, this was a big, big week: the moment when the 2024 presidential election season formally crossed the line from “coming soon” to “well and truly here.” In my role as an editorial director at Vox, I oversee the teams reporting on policy and politics — including a small contingent of writers who enthusiastically showed up at the office on a holiday in a snowstorm to follow the breaking news out of Iowa for most of the night.

That news turned out not to be too surprising. (The New Hampshire primary next week is looking like it might be a bit more interesting.) If current trends continue, it’s a reasonable bet that the general election will start a lot earlier than usual. We’ll be here to help you understand what’s happening and why it matters. 

But the caucuses weren’t the only thing going on this week. They weren’t even the only thing going on in politics, where a deal to expand the child tax credit could arguably be more consequential than anything that happened in Iowa. Here are some of my favorite Vox videos, articles, and podcasts from this week — several of which had little to do with politics. 

—Libby Nelson, editorial director of policy and politics

How Trump went from disgraced insurrectionist to Iowa caucus winner

This piece from Vox’s newest senior correspondent, Eric Levitz, is the definitive read on how we got here: to a point where former president Donald Trump’s third candidacy for president — even as he faces multiple felony charges — feels somewhere between likely and inevitable. It’s a story not just about Republican voters’ and elites’ choices, but about the structural factors that make modern American politics the way it is.

📹 How Michigan explains American politics

Speaking of why American politics is the way that it is, this deep dive from Vox’s video team into the politics of one state and its shifts in recent years — and what it says about America as a whole —  is riveting. Worth watching whether or not you think you know the story of what has happened over the last eight years. 

Ultraviolet light can kill almost all the viruses in a room. Why isn’t it everywhere?

Like many people over the last two winters, I have spent the past several months plagued by a seemingly endless series of head colds. So I was fascinated by senior correspondent Dylan Matthews’ look at a technology that could make indoor virus transmission much less likely — and the unknowns and barriers that explain why you might never have heard about it. (I hadn’t!)

What the FAA gets right about airplane regulation

I learned so much from this piece (originally part of the Future Perfect newsletter) from Vox senior writer Kelsey Piper — not just about why kids under 2 are allowed to fly on their parents’ lap even as car seat regulations get stricter, but about how to think about risk in the broader sense and why it’s important to consider trade-offs in regulation. 

🎧 Hollywood’s secret musicals

When I found out that three recent movies — Wonka, The Color Purple, and the new Mean Girls — were all musicals, I assumed I was surprised because I don’t follow movie news closely enough. But it turns out that the marketing for these movies deliberately obscured that they were musicals — a mystery that this episode of Today, Explained dissects thoroughly, with some truly delightful sound design. 

Something weird is happening to these Alpine goats. Scientists say it’s an ominous sign. 

Okay, come on. How can you not click on this headline from senior environmental reporter Benji Jones?! (And in its spirit, I’m not going to tell you what the “something weird” is.)

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