About Explained
- Released on May 23, 2018
This documentary series, made in partnership with Vox, explain some of the world's current trends, from politics, to science to pop culture.
Main Cast of Explained
Maria Bello plays Narrator (voice) (2 episodes)
Maria Elena Bello (born April 18, 1967) is an American actress and singer. She started her acting career in small of...
See Maria Bello's other roles →Estelle Caswell plays Narrator (voice) (3 episodes)
Bill Clinton plays Self (archive footage) (2 episodes)
William Jefferson Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 t...
See Bill Clinton's other roles →Franklin D. Roosevelt plays Self (archive footage) (2 episodes)
Catherine, Princess of Wales plays Self (archive footage) (2 episodes)
William, Prince of Wales plays Self (archive footage) (2 episodes)
Samira Wiley plays Narrator (voice) (2 episodes)
George H. W. Bush plays Self (archive footage) (2 episodes)
Donald Trump plays Self (archive footage) (2 episodes)
Donald John Trump was born on June 14, 1946 in New York City, New York, USA. He was the 45th President of the United ...
See Donald Trump's other roles →Nelson Mandela plays Self (archive footage) (2 episodes)
Barack Obama plays Self (archive footage) (4 episodes)
Barack Hussein Obama II is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to ...
See Barack Obama's other roles →Richard Nixon plays Self (archive footage) (2 episodes)
Lyndon B. Johnson plays Self (archive footage) (2 episodes)
Vladimir Putin plays Self (archive footage) (2 episodes)
Joe Biden plays Self (archive footage) (3 episodes)
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. is an American politician who is currently serving as the 46th President of the United Sta...
See Joe Biden's other roles →Secondary Cast of Explained
Joss Fong plays Narrator (voice) (1 episode)
Christian Slater plays Narrator (voice) (1 episode)
Christian Michael Leonard Slater (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor. He made his film debut playing a leadin...
See Christian Slater's other roles →LeVar Burton plays Narrator (voice) (1 episode)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Levardis Robert Martyn Burton, Jr. (born February 16, 1957, height 5' 7" (1,7...
See LeVar Burton's other roles →Nick Kroll plays Narrator (voice) (1 episode)
Nick Kroll (born June 5, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is best known for his role as...
See Nick Kroll's other roles →Aasif Mandvi plays Narrator (voice) (1 episode)
Aasif Hakim Mandviwala, known professionally as Aasif Mandvi, is a British-American actor, comedian and author. He ma...
See Aasif Mandvi's other roles →Kevin Smith plays Narrator (voice) (1 episode)
Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American filmmaker, actor, comedian, public speaker, comic book write...
See Kevin Smith's other roles →Coleman Lowndes plays Narrator (voice) (1 episode)
Yara Shahidi plays Narrator (voice) (1 episode)
Yara Shahidi (born February 2000) is an American actress.
See Yara Shahidi's other roles →Kristen Bell plays Narrator (voice) (1 episode)
Kristen Bell (born July 18, 1980) is an American actress and voice actress. In 2001, she made her Broadway debut. Af...
See Kristen Bell's other roles →Rachel Bloom plays Narrator (voice) (1 episode)
Rachel Leah Bloom (born April 3, 1987) is an American actress, comedian, writer, singer-songwriter, and producer. She...
See Rachel Bloom's other roles →Jerry Springer plays Narrator (voice) (1 episode)
Gerald Norman Springer (February 13, 1944 - April 27, 2023) was an English-American television presenter, politician,...
See Jerry Springer's other roles →Rachel McAdams plays Narrator (voice) (1 episode)
Rachel Anne McAdams (born November 17, 1978) is a Canadian actress. After graduating from a theatre degree program at...
See Rachel McAdams's other roles →Kyle MacLachlan plays Narrator (voice) (1 episode)
Kyle Merritt MacLachlan is an American actor. MacLachlan widely known for his portrayal of Dale Cooper in the TV seri...
See Kyle MacLachlan's other roles →Carly Rae Jepsen plays Narrator (voice) (1 episode)
Tablo plays Self (1 episode)
Park Ji-min plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Min Yoon-gi plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Kim Tae-hyung plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Kim Seok-jin plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Kim Nam-joon plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Jeon Jung-kook plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Jung Ho-seok plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Park Chung-hee plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Yang Hyun-suk plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
DJ Tukutz plays Self (1 episode)
Mithra Jin plays Self (1 episode)
Lee Soo-man plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Kim Dae-jung plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Psy plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Grace Kelly plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Virginia Woolf plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Eleanor Roosevelt plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Hillary Clinton plays Self (1 episode)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton (born October 26, 1947) is an American politician...
See Hillary Clinton's other roles →Valentine Rugwabiza plays Self (1 episode)
Elizabeth Warren plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Elizabeth Ann Warren is an American Indian politician with up to 1/64 Cherokee ancestry and a academic serving as the...
See Elizabeth Warren's other roles →Kirsten Gillibrand plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Kirsten Elizabeth Gillibrand is an American attorney and politician serving as the junior United States Senator from ...
See Kirsten Gillibrand's other roles →Sandra Day O'Connor plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Anderson Cooper plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Anderson Hays Cooper is an American journalist, television personality, and author. He is the primary anchor of the C...
See Anderson Cooper's other roles →Hilary Swank plays Narrator (voice) (1 episode)
Hilary Ann Swank (born July 30, 1974) is an American actress and film producer. She first became known in 1992 for he...
See Hilary Swank's other roles →Maggie Siff plays Narrator (voice) (1 episode)
Maggie Siff (born June 21, 1974) is an American actress best known for her television roles, notably department-store...
See Maggie Siff's other roles →Abigail Disney plays Self (1 episode)
Michael Jordan plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963) is a former American professional basketball player, active businessm...
See Michael Jordan's other roles →Mark Cuban plays Self (1 episode)
Mark Cuban is an American billionaire entrepreneur, television personality, and media proprietor whose net worth is a...
See Mark Cuban's other roles →LaKeith Stanfield plays Narrator (voice) (1 episode)
LaKeith Lee Stanfield (born August 12, 1991) is an American actor and musician. He made his feature film debut in Sho...
See LaKeith Stanfield's other roles →J.K. Simmons plays Narrator (voice) (1 episode)
Jonathan Kimble Simmons (born January 9, 1955) is an American actor. He has been cited as one of the greatest contemp...
See J.K. Simmons's other roles →Bill Gates plays Self (1 episode)
Bill Gates was born on October 28, 1955 and is currently 68 years old.
See Bill Gates's other roles →Vincent Kartheiser plays Narrator (voice) (1 episode)
Vincent Paul Kartheiser (born May 5, 1979) is an American actor known for playing Connor on Angel and Pete Campbell o...
See Vincent Kartheiser's other roles →Natasha Lyonne plays Narrator (voice) (1 episode)
Natasha Bianca Lyonne Braunstein (born April 4, 1979), known professionally as Natasha Lyonne, is an American actress...
See Natasha Lyonne's other roles →Cleo Abram plays Narrator (voice) (1 episode)
Andrew Carnegie plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Warren Buffett plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Warren Edward Buffett (born August 30, 1930) is an American investor, industri...
See Warren Buffett's other roles →John D. Rockefeller plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Cornelius Vanderbilt plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
John Maynard Keynes plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Mehrsa Baradaran plays Self - Author (1 episode)
Cory Booker plays Self - U.S. Senator (1 episode)
Cory Anthony Booker (born April 27, 1969) is an American politician, attorney, and author who has served as the junio...
See Cory Booker's other roles →Thomas Shapiro plays Self - Sociologist (1 episode)
Beth Jacobson plays Self - Foreclosure Specialist (1 episode)
James Baldwin plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Edward A. Bouchet plays Self - First Black Ph.D Recipient (archive footage) (1 episode)
Shirley Chisholm plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Ta-Nehisi Coates plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates is an American author and journalist. Coates gained a wide readership during his time as nation...
See Ta-Nehisi Coates's other roles →Stephen Colbert plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Stephen Tyrone Colbert (born May 13, 1964) is an American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and ...
See Stephen Colbert's other roles →Bessie Coleman plays Self - First Black Licensed Pilot (archive footage) (1 episode)
Alan Greenspan plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Alan Greenspan (born March 6, 1926) is an American economist who served as Cha...
See Alan Greenspan's other roles →Jesse Jackson plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Robert L. Johnson plays Self - First Black Billionaire (archive footage) (1 episode)
Martin Luther King Jr. plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Dennis Kucinich plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Abraham Lincoln plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Alain Leroy Locke plays Self - First Black Rhodes Scholar (archive footage) (1 episode)
Malcolm X plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Thurgood Marshall plays Self - First Black Supreme Court Justice (archive footage) (1 episode)
Hattie McDaniel plays Self - First Black Oscar Winner (archive footage) (1 episode)
Michelle Obama plays Self - First Black First Lady (archive footage) (1 episode)
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964), an American lawyer and writer, is the wife of the 44th Pres...
See Michelle Obama's other roles →Jesse Owens plays Self - Four-Time Olympic Gold Medalist (archive footage) (1 episode)
Colin Powell plays Self - First Black Secretary of State (archive footage) (1 episode)
Colin Luther Powell was an American politician, statesman, diplomat, and United States Army officer who served as the...
See Colin Powell's other roles →Joseph Rainey plays Self - First Black Congressperson (archive footage) (1 episode)
Hiram Revels plays Self - First Black Senator (archive footage) (1 episode)
Jackie Robinson plays Self - First Black MLB Player (archive footage) (1 episode)
Rick Santelli plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
William Tecumseh Sherman plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Ruth Simmons plays Self - First Black Ivy League President (archive footage) (1 episode)
Edwin M. Stanton plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
George Stephanopoulos plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
George Stephanopoulos was born on February 10, 1961 and is currently 63 years old.
See George Stephanopoulos's other roles →Brian Williams plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Neville Sanjana plays Self - Biologist (1 episode)
Jennifer Doudna plays Self - CRISPR Pioneer (1 episode)
John Evans plays Self - Sociologist (1 episode)
Hank Greely plays Self - Law Professor (1 episode)
Rebecca Cokley plays Self - Disability Rights Activist (1 episode)
Emmanuelle Charpentier plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Francis Collins plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Dick Costolo plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Don Lemon plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Donald Lemon (born March 1, 1966) is an American journalist and television news anchor, best known as the host of the...
See Don Lemon's other roles →Keith Morrison plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Reena Ninan plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Bernie Sanders plays Self (1 episode)
Bernard Sanders is an American politician and activist who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermon...
See Bernie Sanders's other roles →John Franklin Stephens plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Keri Russell plays Narrator (voice) (1 episode)
Keri Lynn Russell (born March 23, 1976) is an American actress and dancer. After appearing in a number of made-for-te...
See Keri Russell's other roles →John Waters plays Narrator (voice) (1 episode)
Growing up in Baltimore in the 1950s, John Waters was not like other children; he was obsessed by violence and gore, ...
See John Waters's other roles →Karlie Kloss Kushner plays Narrator (voice) (1 episode)
Aya Cash plays Narrator (voice) (1 episode)
Aya Rachel Cash (born July 13, 1982) is an American actress, the daughter of poet and novelist Kim Addonizio and Budd...
See Aya Cash's other roles →Adolf Eichmann plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Big Boi plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Jane Fonda plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Jane Seymour Fonda (born December 21, 1937) is an American actress, activist, and former fashion model. She is the re...
See Jane Fonda's other roles →Noam Chomsky plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Mike Wallace plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Rosario Dawson plays Narrator (voice) (1 episode)
Rosario Isabel Dawson (born May 9, 1979) is an American actress and film producer. She made her feature-film debut in...
See Rosario Dawson's other roles →Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Meghan Markle plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Naruhito plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Park Geun-hye plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Jay-Z plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode) , Self (voice) (1 episode)
Akihito plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Emperor Hirohito of Japan plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Princess Margaret plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
King Charles III of the United Kingdom plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Kim Kardashian plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Kimberly Noel Kardashian (formerly West; born October 21, 1980) is an American woman. She first gained media attentio...
See Kim Kardashian's other roles →Princess Diana of Wales plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Oprah Winfrey plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Oprah Winfrey, born Orpah Gail Winfrey on January 29, 1954, is an American television host, actress, producer, and ph...
See Oprah Winfrey's other roles →Fidel Castro plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
George W. Bush plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Adolf Hitler plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Ronald Reagan plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Ann Coulter plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Ann Hart Coulter is an American conservative media pundit, syndicated columnist, and lawyer. She became known as a me...
See Ann Coulter's other roles →Peter Jennings plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Dan Rather plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Dan Rather was born on October 31, 1931 and is currently 92 years old.
See Dan Rather's other roles →Tom Brokaw plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Tom Brokaw is an American television journalist and author. He was the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News...
See Tom Brokaw's other roles →Ethan Hawke plays Narrator (voice) (1 episode)
Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an American actor, writer and director. He made his feature film debut i...
See Ethan Hawke's other roles →Boris Johnson plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Jake Gyllenhaal plays Narrator (voice) (1 episode)
Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal (born December 19, 1980) is an American actor and producer. Born into the Gyllenhaal family...
See Jake Gyllenhaal's other roles →Rainn Wilson plays Narrator (voice) (1 episode)
Rainnfall Heat Wave Extreme Winter Wilson, formerly known as Rainn Dietrich Wilson (born January 20, 1966) is an Amer...
See Rainn Wilson's other roles →Sophie Okonedo plays Narrator (voice) (1 episode)
Sophie Okonedo, OBE (born 1968) is a British actress and singer, who has starred in both successful British and Ameri...
See Sophie Okonedo's other roles →Keke Palmer plays Narrator (voice) (1 episode)
Lauren Keyana "Keke" Palmer (born August 26, 1993) is an American actress, singer and television personality. Known f...
See Keke Palmer's other roles →Hector Elizondo plays Narrator (voice) (1 episode)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Héctor Elizondo (born December 22, 1936) is an American actor. Elizondo excel...
See Hector Elizondo's other roles →Kim Cattrall plays Narrator (voice) (1 episode)
Kim Victoria Cattrall (born August 21, 1956) is a British-Canadian actress, best known for her role as Samantha Jones...
See Kim Cattrall's other roles →Kelly Rowland plays Narrator (voice) (1 episode)
Kelendria Trene "Kelly" Rowland (born February 11, 1981) is an American singer,songwriter, actress and television per...
See Kelly Rowland's other roles →Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Narrator (voice) (1 episode)
Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt (born February 17, 1981) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received various acc...
See Joseph Gordon-Levitt's other roles →Connie Britton plays Narrator (voice) (1 episode)
Connie Britton (born March 6, 1967) is an American actress. She is best known for the roles of Nikki Faber on Spin Ci...
See Connie Britton's other roles →Ruth Negga plays Narrator (voice) (1 episode)
Doja Cat plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Moon Jae-in plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Xi Jinping plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Justin Trudeau plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Ted Cruz plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Rafael Edward Cruz is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator for Texas since...
See Ted Cruz's other roles →Michael Bloomberg plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author....
See Michael Bloomberg's other roles →Seo Tai-ji plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Primary plays Self (1 episode)
Primary was born on January 31, 1983 and is currently 41 years old.
See Primary's other roles →Jim Jones plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Catherine Oxenberg plays Self - Mother of NXIVM Cult Member (1 episode)
Mark Zuckerberg plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Mark Elliot Zuckerberg is an American computer programmer and Internet entrepreneur. He is a co-founder of Facebook, ...
See Mark Zuckerberg's other roles →Muhammad Ali plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Doug E. Fresh plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Gigi Hadid plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Jelena Noura "Gigi" Hadid (born April 23, 1995) is an American fashion model and television personality. She was name...
See Gigi Hadid's other roles →Leo J. Ryan plays Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
Crew of Explained
Discover the backstage crew of Explained →
- Joss Fong
- Christian Slater
- LeVar Burton
- Nick Kroll
- Aasif Mandvi
- Kevin Smith
- Coleman Lowndes
- Yara Shahidi
- Kristen Bell
- Rachel Bloom
- Jerry Springer
- Rachel McAdams
- Kyle MacLachlan
- Carly Rae Jepsen
- Tablo
- Park Ji-min
- Min Yoon-gi
- Kim Tae-hyung
- Kim Seok-jin
- Kim Nam-joon
- Jeon Jung-kook
- Jung Ho-seok
- Park Chung-hee
- Yang Hyun-suk
- DJ Tukutz
- Mithra Jin
- Lee Soo-man
- Kim Dae-jung
- Psy
- Grace Kelly
- Virginia Woolf
- Eleanor Roosevelt
- Hillary Clinton
- Valentine Rugwabiza
- Elizabeth Warren
- Kirsten Gillibrand
- Sandra Day O'Connor
- Anderson Cooper
- Hilary Swank
- Maggie Siff
- Abigail Disney
- Michael Jordan
- Mark Cuban
- LaKeith Stanfield
- J.K. Simmons
- Bill Gates
- Vincent Kartheiser
- Natasha Lyonne
- Cleo Abram
- Andrew Carnegie
- Warren Buffett
- John D. Rockefeller
- Cornelius Vanderbilt
- John Maynard Keynes
- Mehrsa Baradaran
- Cory Booker
- Thomas Shapiro
- Beth Jacobson
- James Baldwin
- Edward A. Bouchet
- Shirley Chisholm
- Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Stephen Colbert
- Bessie Coleman
- Alan Greenspan
- Jesse Jackson
- Robert L. Johnson
- Martin Luther King Jr.
- Dennis Kucinich
- Abraham Lincoln
- Alain Leroy Locke
- Malcolm X
- Thurgood Marshall
- Hattie McDaniel
- Michelle Obama
- Jesse Owens
- Colin Powell
- Joseph Rainey
- Hiram Revels
- Jackie Robinson
- Rick Santelli
- William Tecumseh Sherman
- Ruth Simmons
- Edwin M. Stanton
- George Stephanopoulos
- Brian Williams
- Neville Sanjana
- Jennifer Doudna
- John Evans
- Hank Greely
- Rebecca Cokley
- Emmanuelle Charpentier
- Francis Collins
- Dick Costolo
- Don Lemon
- Keith Morrison
- Reena Ninan
- Bernie Sanders
- John Franklin Stephens
- Keri Russell
- John Waters
- Karlie Kloss Kushner
- Aya Cash
- Adolf Eichmann
- Big Boi
- Jane Fonda
- Noam Chomsky
- Mike Wallace
- Rosario Dawson
- Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex
- Meghan Markle
- Naruhito
- Park Geun-hye
- Jay-Z
- Akihito
- Emperor Hirohito of Japan
- Princess Margaret
- King Charles III of the United Kingdom
- Kim Kardashian
- Princess Diana of Wales
- Oprah Winfrey
- Fidel Castro
- George W. Bush
- Adolf Hitler
- Ronald Reagan
- Ann Coulter
- Peter Jennings
- Dan Rather
- Tom Brokaw
- Ethan Hawke
- Boris Johnson
- Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
- Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
- Jake Gyllenhaal
- Rainn Wilson
- Sophie Okonedo
- Keke Palmer
- Hector Elizondo
- Kim Cattrall
- Kelly Rowland
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt
- Connie Britton
- Ruth Negga
- Doja Cat
- Moon Jae-in
- Xi Jinping
- Justin Trudeau
- Ted Cruz
- Michael Bloomberg
- Seo Tai-ji
- Primary
- Jim Jones
- Catherine Oxenberg
- Mark Zuckerberg
- Muhammad Ali
- Doug E. Fresh
- Gigi Hadid
- Leo J. Ryan