Vox

Young men are turning on Trump. Here’s why. | America, Actually - June 27, 2026 - Vox
Young men are no longer happy with Donald Trump. His net approval rating among the group that famously helped propel him to the White House in 2024 has dropped by 56 points.
But is this shift real, or just noise? Vox’s Astead Herndon recently went to an event billed as an opportunity for the administration to reconnect with young men to find out: the UFC Freedom 250 event in Washington DC.
00:00 - Is Trump losing young men?
00:58 - Inside the White House’s UFC event
01:25 - Gas prices and the Iran war
03:15 - Epstein files and a crisis of elite transparency
09:01 - Where masculinity and politics overlap
10:56 - Jack Posobiec on how Trump reached young men in 2024
15:08 - Defending the Trump administration’s foreign policy
15:58 - The Epstein dilemma
21:12 - Can JD Vance woo young men?
23:04 - The Blue Dog strategy
25:24 - What Astead took away from his trip to Washington DC
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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The internet is all bots now | The Gray Area - June 26, 2026 - Vox
Sean talks with Atlantic writer Charlie Warzel about the increasingly weird experience of being online. They discuss AI-generated content, bots, algorithms, the “dead internet theory,” and why so much of the web now feels artificial, manipulated, or unreal. They also explore psyops, conspiracy culture, social media, and the deeper question lurking beneath the AI boom: What are human beings actually for?
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Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling)
Guest: Charlie Warzel (@cwarzel)
00:00 Intro
01:45 The bot-haunted internet
08:53 Why the internet feels fake
15:11 The post-human internet
22:37 What is a psyop?
29:22 What is AI slop?
37:57 Charlie Warzel’s favorite part of the internet
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.
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Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com.
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What masculinity does to men | The Gray Area - June 22, 2026 - Vox
Sean talks with journalist Jordan Ritter Conn about his book “American Men,” an intimate look at four men trying to figure out what manhood and masculinity have given them versus what they have cost them, and what to do with the gap between the men they think they’re supposed to be and the men they actually are. They talk about being fathers and sons as well as about violence, shame, ambition, male friendship, loneliness, and why being a “good man” might mean finally letting go of the desire to perform manhood.
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Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling)
Guest: Jordan Ritter Conn (@jordanconn)
00:00 Intro
00:47 Beyond the ‘what’s wrong with men’ debate
06:30 Why so many men feel like they’re not enough
08:14 Four different paths to manhood
16:17 The role of fathers
19:44 Achieve doesn’t always bring confidence
24:54 The cost of male loneliness
33:21 Rethinking what it means to be a good man
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. New episodes drop every Monday and Friday.
Listen to The Gray Area ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members.
Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com.
Watch our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/IZONyE
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Darializa Avila Chevalier’s win in NY points Dems in a new direction | America, Actually - June 20, 2026 - Vox
Two newcomers in high profile races in New York City are trying to get to Washington. On the way, they’re forcing the Democratic Party to confront its immediate future on technology, identity, and immigration.
Vox’s Astead Herndon sits down with New York Congressional candidates Alex Bores and Darializa Avila Chevalier to talk about AI regulation, generational change, and why their races hold national significance.
00:00 — Why New York primaries have national implications
01:02 — Meet Alex Bores: Target of a tech super PAC
01:51 — From Palantir engineer to AI regulatory watchdog
06:32 — The debate over an AI moratorium and global competition
08:42 — The AI dividend: Universal basic income vs. tech disruption
09:55 — Inside the RAISE Act: Moving beyond watered-down safety laws
12:15 — Money and fear: Why Washington stays quiet on tech
14:50 — Part II: Darializa Avila Chevalier challenges the Democratic establishment in NY-13
15:43 — Generational change vs. identity politics
19:00 — Foreign policy at home: Connecting local budgets to global warfare
20:59 — Public safety and rethinking the criminal justice arsenal
23:14 — Moving past the 2020 "woker than thou" rhetoric
24:49 — The legality and ethics of deportation enforcement
27:35 — Navigating the future of the left
Sources and further reading:
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.
If you enjoy our reporting and want to hear more from Vox journalists, sign up for our Patreon at patreon.com/vox. Each month, our members get access to exclusive videos, livestreams, and chats with our newsroom.
Subscribe to our channel! http://goo.gl/0bsAjO
Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com.
Watch our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/IZONyE
Follow Vox on Facebook: http://goo.gl/U2g06o
Or Twitter: http://goo.gl/XFrZ5H