Every season of Explained ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best seasons of Explained!

Cory Booker and others discuss how slavery, housing discrimination and centuries of inequality have compounded to create a racial wealth gap.

The Racial Wealth Gap

Scientific feat or terrifying social experiment? Specialists in the field discuss the high stakes and ethical controversies of gene editing.

Designer DNA

What do biology, human history and the promiscuity of bonobos reveal about monogamy? Experts and everyday couples weigh in on shifting cultural norms.

Monogamy

Elaborate music videos, adoring fans, killer choreography. Learn about the global music phenomenon from South Korea that goes beyond "Gangnam Style."

K-Pop

Cryptocurrency has made people billionaires, but is digital cash the next revolution? Learn about this anonymous currency and how it's coveted.

Cryptocurrency

Atkins. Paleo. Keto. Do any work in the long term? Experts look at marketing, food environments and genes to explain why diets are often unsuccessful.

Why Diets Fail

Does the stock market accurately reflect the status of the economy? Finance specialists discuss market history, valuations and CEO incentives.

The Stock Market

Is fake violence a sport? Fans, shoutcasters, and eSports icons break down today's video games and the explosive popularity of competitive gaming.

eSports

Despite decades of searching, we have yet to discover extraterrestrial life. Scientists discuss the reasons, including: Are aliens just too snobby?

Extraterrestrial Life

Do we overuse exclamation points!? Linguists and copy editors look at how the punctuation has adapted across history, literature and internet-speak.

Cricket experts look at how the confusing sport became so popular and discuss its evolution in becoming more accessible entertaining and profitable.

Cricket

Marijuana experts discuss the rise of potent "sexually frustrated" cannabis plants, the quests for consistency in weed strains and the history of hemp.

Weed

They've been used to command respect, punish criminals and mark achievements. Tattooists speak about the origins of tattoo traditions and rituals.

Tattoo

Do zodiac signs prescribe your fate? Or do horoscopes' accuracy lie in the placebo effect? Take a look at the science, history and lure of astrology.

Astrology

Can we uncover the secrets to extending the human lifespan? Experts discuss how developments in science -- even the French lilac -- hold some clues.

Can We Live Forever ?

The female orgasm is more elusive when a man is involved. Discover the reasons why and how women are embracing hands on solutions.

The Female Orgasm

Political correctness can sometimes feel like a tug-of-war between inclusivity and free speech. Experts discuss the concepts behind the fraught term.

Political Correctness

Hillary Clinton and Anne-Marie Slaughter discuss the cultural norms at the center of the worldwide gender pay gap, including the "motherhood penalty."

Why Women Are Paid Less

The global water crisis is at an inflection point. How do we price our most valuable resource, while also ensuring access to it as a human right?

The World's Water Crisis

When does sound become music? Why are humans so uniquely able to master musicality? Researchers talk rhythm, octaves and the magic of song and dance.

Music

How do cults lure people in and exert control? Learn a cult’s telltale signs, and how loneliness and life online makes indoctrination easier than ever.

Cults

There are more billionaires than ever. But how does this vast accumulation of wealth affect the world? Mark Cuban and Bernie Sanders offer insights.

Billionaires

What goes on inside an animal's mind? Figuring out how they think and feel might just be the key to understanding our own place in the world.

Animal Intelligence

It began with bloomers. Then came spandex. Now we sport leggings and other activewear everywhere. How did comfy, casual clothing go mainstream?

Athleisure

Computer code now controls how we live. But how did these programming languages evolve? And how can they be used to build a new and better world?

Coding

In pop culture, pirates are often depicted as booty-looting rogues, but their history is far more complicated. See how they became enemies of humanity.

Pirates

If you're not worried about a looming global pandemic, you probably should be. Are we prepared for an outbreak? Bill Gates and other experts weigh in.

The Next Pandemic

The planet's current rate of meat consumption is unprecedented -- and becoming unsustainable. In the future, will meat alternatives be the answer?

The Future of Meat

Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but what exactly makes things such as art and architecture aesthetically pleasing, and why do we like looking?

Beauty

A diamond is forever. But why is that? Dig into how these mined pieces of carbon became both a status symbol and a sparkly sign of everlasting love.

Diamonds

Once crucial for survival, sugar now poses a health risk. Is there a way to satisfy our primeval craving for sweetness in a healthy, balanced way?

Sugar

How do monarchies survive when they no longer wield power? By presenting a royal fairy tale that may not reflect the reality of the past — or present.

Royalty

A flag can unite, divide and terrorize. Explore how a piece of cloth transformed into a powerful symbol of both love and hate, freedom and oppression.

Flags

Who's a good dog? They all are! From puppy-dog eyes to feats of heroism, see how canines evolved into humankind's best friends and sources of pure love.

Dogs

Oil led to huge advancements - and vast inequities. As the planet warms, why is it so hard to turn away from fossil fuels, and can it be done in time?

The End of Oil

For centuries, chess has captured hearts and minds — and pawns — and it's more popular than ever. What makes this ever-changing board game so special?

Chess

Don’t panic, but our skin plays host to trillions of bacteria, fungi, mites and other microscopic guests. Go beyond skin-deep with our largest organ.

Your Skin

Apologizing is tough, and in this era of public mea culpas, forgiveness isn't guaranteed. What makes for a good apology, and why does it hold such power?

Apologies

As the planet warms, hurricanes could become even more dangerous and destructive.

Hurricanes

The Instagram face. A shapely posterior. Cosmetic surgery can make the latest beauty trends a reality. Explore its origins and effects, inside and out.

Plastic Surgery

From the waltz to voguing, dance crazes have connected people throughout history. But when a dance catches on, who gets the credit — and compensation?

Dance Crazes

Time flies… sometimes. Its passage can seem to speed up and slow down. Why do we experience time the way we do, and how do we take back some control?

Time

Dirt roads. Pickup trucks. Hip-hop? As the borders around country music shift, who decides what defines the popular genre, and who gets to be a star?

Country Music

Fairy tales have survived thousands of years for a reason. Explore their far-flung history and how the stories speak to fundamental human concerns.

Fairy Tales

This documentary series, made in partnership with Vox, explain some of the world's current trends, from politics, to science to pop culture.

The Best Seasons of Explained

The Best Seasons of Explained

Season 2

Season 1

Season 3