The Mitch McConnell mystery

米奇·麦康奈尔的谜团

Today, Explained

2026-07-15

25 分钟
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You'd probably get fired for not showing up to work for a month — unless you're a member of Congress. This episode was produced by Peter Balonon-Rosen and Ariana Aspuru with help from Denise Guerra, edited by Amina Al-Sadi, fact-checked by Gabriel Dunatov, engineered by David Tatasciore and Patrick Boyd, and hosted by Sean Rameswaram. U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell and his wife Elaine Chao, in a photograph released by his office. Listen to Today, Explained ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. New Vox members get $20 off their membership right now. Transcript at ⁠vox.com/today-explained-podcast.⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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  • Mitch McConnell is 84 years old.

  • It's been 84 years.

  • That makes him older than Israel, superglue, and the microwave oven.

  • Mitch McConnell, polio survivor, is older than the polio vaccine.

  • And we've known for some time that he's not in peak physical form.

  • It was back in 2023 when he took a nasty fall and was hospitalized with a fractured rib and a concussion.

  • And it was that same year when he froze twice in front of cameras while speaking to the press once.

  • For like a solid 30 seconds.

  • This week has been good bipartisan cooperation and a string of...

  • We're not going to play the whole thing.

  • The point is, despite years of health issues, the former Senate Majority Leader still managed to mystify the nation

  • when he ghosted on Congress and his constituents for a month.

  • The Mitch McConnell mystery on Today Explained from Vox.

  • This might sound like ancient history at this point,

  • but there was a time when all lights did was turn on and turn off.

  • Dim if you're lucky.

  • But then a group at Philips came along and discovered, what if all your lights could change colors?

  • What if they could change colors in wild, completely impractical and still very cool ways?

  • And that is the story of Hue.

  • This week on Version History, our chat show about old technology,