Release Date, Cast, Renewed or Cancelled

‘Explained’ is a documentary television series that first premiered on May 23, 2018 on Netflix. The series is produced by Vox Media, with Joe Posner and Ezra Klein attached as creators.

The show first came up as an idea to the creators at Vox back in 2015. They wanted to make some space within the generalized media content for newsworthy and interesting topics which arouses viewers’ curiosity. Aptly named ‘Explained’, the show seeks to explore several big questions that are relevant in the present day. If you are familiar with Vox’s YouTube channel and the kind of videos they post there, this should not come across as something very different.

This series might be another of Netflix’s addition to their list of shows that seek to explain various aspects of the world around us like ‘Bill Nye Saves the World‘, but has deeper importance. Although, Netflix is not actively branching out into reporting news, Vox’s documentary, with its detailed style of explanation, is the closest to any news we can get on the streaming platform. This raises the question if the future of video news in a post-cable world lies with streamers, and if so, Vox’s move into this domain might be an early sign of a shifting trend. If you want to satiate your curiosity about various worldly subjects, look no further than this series which makes proper use of experts, linear storytelling and easily understandable charting to simplify complex concepts and put it across to their viewers.

Explained Cast: Who is in it?

The cast members of ‘Explained’ include several narrators of the show. While the YouTube videos had Vox staffers doing the narration, a Netflix show warrants the involvement of some familiar faces, so that their star power can be a crowd puller. Some of the narrators are Estelle Caswell Maria Bello, Kristen Bell, of ‘Gossip Girl‘ and ‘Frozen’ fame, Rachel Bloom, LeVar Burton, Joss Fong, Carly Rae Jepsen, Nick Kroll, Coleman Lowndes, Kyle MacLachlan, of David Lynch’s ‘Twin Peaks‘ fame, Aasif Mandvi, Rachel McAdams, famous for her role in ‘Mean Girls‘, ‘The Vow‘, and ‘Spotlight‘, Yara Shahidi, of ‘Black-ish‘ fame, Christian Slater, of ‘Mr. Robot‘ and ‘Heathers‘ fame, Kevin Smith, of ‘Mallrats’ fame, Jerry Springer, Samira Wiley of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale‘ and ‘Orange is the New Black‘ fame, among others.

In the upcoming season, surely we will see many more of such famous personalities coming on board as the narrator, while some of the stars from the previous season might also be returning.

Explained Plot: What is it about?

‘Explained’ features a 15-minute docu-series with focus on an interesting topic every week. Each short episode of the show lends a shot of knowledge on a present and historically relevant subject. Every topic is supported by the archived information, interviews of experts on the subjective fields, and by in-depth reporting. The show leaves the audience with at least slightly more information that they had before. Each topic is broad enough to catch some general interest. At the same time, they are all specific enough to leave the viewers with sufficient information to research independently if they wish to, this is what makes the series cool.