House Speaker

From Iowa to New York, Republican members of Congress have struggled to answer constituents’ tough questions about their party’s agenda, with several town hall meetings turning angry and going viral. Republican leaders have told lawmakers to stop holding them all together. Representative Mike Flood of Nebraska has ignored that advice. The congressman speaks about the disappearance of an American political tradition and why he thinks it is worth preserving.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, infamous election denier, moved to the middle to make a budget deal with Democrats. But he promised the real fight is still to come. This episode was produced by Siona Peterous, edited by Amina Al-Sadi, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by David Herman, and hosted by Sean Rameswaram. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained Support Today, Explained by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The 118th Congress has begun with a showdown over who will be elected House speaker. Vox’s Andrew Prokop argues that this is the culmination of a decade-long trend of stonewalling in Congress. Today’s show was produced by Amanda Lewellyn and Victoria Chamberlin. It was edited by Amina Al-Sadi and was fact-checked by Serena Solin. It was engineered by Paul Robert Mounsey and hosted by Noel King Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained   Support Today, Explained by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Democrats win the Senate seat in Nevada, Hollywood’s favorite crypto exchange, FTX, files for bankruptcy, and conservative school board candidates stack up wins across the country. .Get the facts first on Morning Wire.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The House of Representatives is cutting its vacation short to block changes at the United States Postal Service that could affect the integrity and outcome of the election. Rep. Gerry Connolly explains why he's going a step further and calling for the postmaster general to resign. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dan Crenshaw is a politician and former United States Navy SEAL officer serving as the U.S. Representative for Texas's 2nd congressional district since 2019. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

President Trump has called Representative Nancy Pelosi “incompetent” and called Senator Chuck Schumer a “loser.” Now he’s striking deals with Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Schumer, the two most powerful Democrats in Washington, and sending out tweets at their request. Guests: Glenn Thrush, a White House correspondent for The New York Times; Mr. Schumer, who gives Carl Hulse, The Times’s chief Washington correspondent, his version of the story. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

Jesse Ventura is a former Navy SEAL, professional wrestler, actor, political commentator, author, and politician who served as the 38th Governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Before becoming a door guy at The Comedy Store, Mike Schmidt worked for over 10 years as a criminal defense attorney in Wisconsin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices