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Is MAGA still electable? | America, Actually - August 22, 2026 - Vox
Left-leaning Democratic candidates have faced a lot of scrutiny in the last year about whether they’re “electable” in a general election. But why aren’t Republican candidates facing the same question?
Donald Trump’s approval ratings are at the lowest of his presidency, and he’s waging an unpopular war. Gas prices remain elevated, and the GOP has nominated a number of scandal-plagued candidates to run in November’s midterm elections.
So, do Republicans have their own electability crisis? This week on America, Actually, Vox’s Astead Herndon asks GOP influencer and activist CJ Pearson to defend his party’s record.
00:00 Do Republicans have an electability problem?
03:03 Trump’s second term report card
05:43 The GOP’s midterm messaging: “common sense vs. crazy"
07:10 Gas prices and Iran war fallout
11:20 Is Trump still cool?
14:27 The influencer void after Charlie Kirk’s death
15:50 DEI and Black voters
18:30 2020 election denial and January 6th
23:54 Astead’s takeaways
America, Actually publishes video episodes every Saturday tackling key issues in politics, culture, and the economy. Subscribe to Vox’s YouTube channel to get them. Listen to episodes of America, Actually on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite app.
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Why nonalcoholic wine is so expensive - August 20, 2026 - Vox
08/20/26 correction: the voiceover @ 4:58 should say "decreasing pressure to lower the boiling point of alcohol" rather than "increasing pressure to lower the boiling point of alcohol"
The non-alcoholic beverage industry has exploded from once-a-year “Dry January” experiments to one of the fastest-growing categories in food and beverage, largely driven by younger consumers who are drinking less but still wanting the rituals and community of socializing. US sales of non-alcoholic beer, wine, and spirits have grown over 20 percent year over year, and analysts project that the no-alcohol market will grow by over $4 billion by 2028.
With the wine world experiencing one of its biggest downturns in decades, small businesses and food scientists are turning to non-alcoholic wines as a potential alternative. Some are using technology and chemistry to produce premium dealcoholized wines, while others, like Burden of Proof in Los Angeles, are recreating the community feel of wine shops through NA-only storefronts.
However, even as consumers turn away from alcohol, many are still shocked by the sticker price of alcohol-free wine. How could something with alcohol removed cost just as much as something with alcohol? The answer is a mix of the high cost of dealcoholizing technology and the price attached to a growing movement.
Read more about the non-alcoholic beverage trend:
- Sales Are So Low, California Wineries Are Burning Their Vineyards (New York Times): https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/30/us/pinot-noir-california-wine-sales-decline.html
- Non Alcohol Is No Longer a Niche—It’s a Billion-Dollar Movement (Nielsen): https://nielseniq.com/global/en/insights/report/2025/non-alcohol-is-no-longer-a-niche-its-a-billion-dollar-movement/
- Investors Tap Into The Zero Proof and Non-Alcoholic Beverage Market (Forbes): https://www.forbes.com/sites/shimiteobialo/2025/11/10/investors-tap-into-the-zero-proof-and-non-alcoholic-beverage-market/
- U.S. Drinking Rate at New Low as Alcohol Concerns Surge (Gallup): https://news.gallup.com/poll/693362/drinking-rate-new-low-alcohol-concerns-surge.aspx
- BevZero Equipment Spinning Cone Column Explained (BevZero): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6XbefG7YFU
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Freud was more right than you think | The Gray Area - August 17, 2026 - Vox
Sigmund Freud is probably the most famous psychoanalyst. Yet many of his theories have been critiqued or discredited. So is there anything we can still learn from the father of psychoanalysis?
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In today’s episode Sean speaks with professor Mark Solms, author of The Only Cure: Freud and the Neuroscience of Mental Healing. Mark argues that while Freud may have been wrong about many things, he was right about one important thing: the human mind cannot be fully understood on purely biological terms. He believes that modern psychiatry has become focused on treating mental suffering like a chemical problem, instead of focusing on emotional and psychological aspects.
Sean and Mark discuss the conscious versus the unconscious mind, whether psychoanalysis is the best therapy, and why Freud is still relevant today.
00:00 Intro
03:14 Was Freud a scientist?
09:23 The conscious vs the unconscious mind
16:35 The limits of science
27:34 Is psychoanalysis still the best therapy?
38:28 Why it’s so hard to change our behaviour
46:22 The human element in therapy
Host: Sean Illing (@SeanIlling)
Guest: Mark Solms, neuropsychologist, psychoanalyst, and professor at the University of Cape Town. Author of The Only Cure: Freud and the Neuroscience of Mental Healing.
We would love to hear from you. To tell us what you thought of this episode, email us at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at 1-800-214-5749. Your comments and questions help us make a better show.
And you can watch new episodes of The Gray Area on YouTube.
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