Vox and Netflix Launch Original Docuseries ‘Explained’

Today we are thrilled to announce that Explained, the new original docuseries from Vox and Netflix, is available to stream on Netflix worldwide, with new episodes launching every Wednesday.

The new show expands on Vox’s signature Explainer-style format with roughly 15 minute deep dives into topics that drives our lives or our world. The first three episodes, available now, explore the practice of monogamy, the racial wealth gap, and the intricate world of designer DNA, with future episodes to focus on topics such as the rapidly growing fandom of K-Pop.

“We began dreaming of this project in 2015,” wrote Vox co-founder and Editor at large Ezra Klein, who also serves as an executive producer of Explained. “What if we did a show for a streaming platform, where the editorial process would be thinking about persistence from the outset, where we would take only as much of the viewer’s time as we needed and not a second more, where we could bring all our visual and reportorial tools to bear on the questions that obsessed us, where we could focus on the big topics that would help us make sense of a world that seems to go by faster and faster?”

Read more about Explained and Vox Media’s future tv and video ambitions from the show’s executive producers Ezra Klein, Joe Posner and Claire Gordon; Vox’s senior video producer Joss Fong; Head of Vox Entertainment Chad Mumm, and Vox Media Publisher and Vox co-founder Melissa Bell in Fast Company. You can also watch Ezra Klein further discuss the show and the editorial selection process on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.

Don’t want to take our word for it? Explained was featured on Bustle’s list of “13 New Shows & Movies On Netflix This Week” and Washington Post’s list of TV Highlights.

Here’s what folks are saying about Explained so far:

“The series looks really good, I’ll probably watch every episode, and if you invest 18 minutes in one, you’ll come out smarter and better informed on the other side.” -- Nieman Lab

“It’s rare that a docuseries has the self-restraint to present us with compact, compelling episodes, but that’s exactly what Explained does. It’s digestible, sharp, and interesting, turning its subjects into characters and employing the help of some particularly convincing familiar faces for each subject.” -- Decider

“Explained is a flat-out winner, if for nothing else, the overwhelming proliferation of tangible, easy-to-swallow data, and its great animation. Klein has produced a show that can pierce through its own echo chamber and speak respectfully toward the opposition.”-- The Daily Dot