I really enjoy how the topics don't just run on. They are intriguing and straight to the point. You gain the understanding of the topic within 20 minutes or less, which makes it easy to keep your focus. Definitely excited to see how this show continues and developes!
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blanchettepascal26 January 2020In a word where tradionnals medias are more busy doing news about sex, scandals and violence and social medias are spreading biased opinions and hate propaganda, I think this serie comes handy. Regardless of your alignement on the political spectrum, it provides us with short introduction to interesting topics. So whatever you think of the opinions expressed in the documentary, if it's giving you an impulse you learn more about these topics and search for the facts, it's a win. So don't try to see this serie for more than what it is: a short introduction to interesting topics, some about social issues, meant to fit our ever narrowing attention span.
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cgraves0419 September 2018I love this show because it touches upon issues I either didn't know about or have never seriously thought about. I enjoyed seeing how K-pop came into being, and I had no idea that water scarcity is such a growing concern for our planet. As a black woman, I felt a bit vindicated seeing the racial wealth gap and the gender pay gap discussed seriously on TV, and I sincerely hoped that other viewers would look into those subjects more. I wasn't interested in cricket, and as a person with an English degree, I've heard quite enough about explanation points, so I yawned through those episodes. But that's the beauty of 'Explained'--each subject is different, and there is something for everyone. Some of them are fascinating and will grab your attention and have you clicking through a Google vortex for the rest of the night. Some of them will bore you, but the episodes are so short that you won't feel like you wasted your time (and you'll still probably learn a little something). Whether it's good or bad, you won't be able to wait to see what they cover next week.
I've seen a lot of other reviewers complain that this show a) is too biased, and b) attempts to condense too much information into 20 minutes, thereby making the information it shares too incomplete to be meaningful.
'Explained' is not a book or a full-length documentary. It's meant to provoke your interest in the subjects it covers, to give you a summary explanation of them, and to prompt you to become more engaged with your world and go out and learn more about it, not to magically give you years' worth of knowledge through televised osmosis. If you actually think that can be accomplished in 20 minutes, then the problem isn't the show; it's you. 'Explained' offers a brief perspective based on the statistics and facts available. Could its interpretations be seen as biased? Sure. But, again, I'm not sure what else you expect to gain from 20 minutes. They pick an angle, and they run with it. If you don't agree with that angle, at least you've been exposed to it. And what's more--you'll be introduced to something completely different next week, anyway! Hopefully, either way, you'll be motivated to learn more about these issues on your own time.
Watch 'Explained' to get a crash course in a variety of subjects, some of which you've likely never thought about before. Take the show with a grain of salt. And most importantly, don't expect it to replace the work of doing research for yourself. -
I've been following the series for a while now and every episode is interesting and exciting while providing some quite in depth data. It seems to me that just because it's a show that exposes some of the problems in the world it's automatically tagged as "biases", "leftist" (is there anything even wrong with being leftists or rightist?), or that it doesn't provide the other point of view. Does it actually lie or mislead? NO and I have yet to find one thing that's incorrect. To me it would seem that every time there's a show that shows some evidence against certain more corrupt politicians/institutions/countries or against certain broken systems said actors profit from, it's automatically labelled as "leftwing propaganda" and biased (without any actual arguments / evidence).
I don't even usually post reviews but I sometimes read them and reading the ones here made me nauseous over how aggressive they are. I sure hope most sane people don't think like this. -
dgrv7523 April 2020After watching the first too seasons and looking at the reviews here, I find it incredibly ironic that people see something they don't like and think it has to be bias. I imagine most come from the US, where any idea of actually protecting each other is seen as socialism/communism and where the whole ideological/political beliefs are shifted far right, where science and facts have become a political truth or lie.
It's absurd. This series is well-documented, well-researched. i spend my life reading about these subjects and looking for accurate scientific information, but clearly a lot of reviewers here have decided to come and bash what they perceive as "leftist propaganda". I guess that's what you do when reality and facts are not on your side. That's when you also see populism consisting in accusing science of being "biased", when the conclusions, whether about gender, inequality, climate change, vaccines, is not what you want.
Stop using bullying tactics and try actually listening to some very good research. -
the_donnie29 November 2018It's a cool docuseries dealing with current topics affecting us as society. While it doesn't go deep into the subject, it brings a brief and interesting debate about each topic.
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agne-mileryte24 October 2019Have read some of reviews though it was disappointing that some see this as bias or left wing or whatever. People tend to See too much conspiracy theories these days... Format is good, runtime is perfect to still catch your attention, topics are (sometimes) unexpectedly good. I think, that the most important tning, that it created a discusion afterwords. I recomend it to all friends and people that live in some kind of box and don't want to accept the fact that world and everything is changing in high pace might skip this show. It'a very rare these days to focuse someones attwntion on something and especialy in dovumentary fiels. Good work!
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jrdsmmns1 August 2018I've been watching this show for a while now, and I love it! Some reviewers have complained about the show's gaps in information and sometimes biased viewpoints, but if you really want an in depth and objective overview of a specific subject, just look it up. The internet is there to help you. If you want to get a quick understanding of lots of different topics, then this is a great show for you! It is extremely well put together and brings up some very interesting points to think about. I look forward to watching it every week!
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5/24/18. I like Vox's news coverage online, so obviously I had to check this new series out. Vox always tries to provide comprehensive all-sides coverage of the latest issues online. Vox continues its tradition by providing a balanced look at the biggest issues of today, in 18-minute segments, which isn't really long in today's world where anything more than 5 minutes is 4 minutes too long. I look forward to new episodes. You can at least develop a more well-rounded perspective on what's going on in the real world than just what's on your Facebook feed.
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cosmotix12 August 2018Great short documentaries. No time to be bored and enough time to learn something new. Please make more of it....
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jamesmdowsett17 February 2019The show is very biased to left wing ideas which isn't necessarily a bad thing if that's your preferred view on the world but it can be obviously omitting details and sides to the argument that wouldn't be consistent in their narrative. Regardless the show does educate on both important and just interesting issues and topics with good production and some scientific backing. Worth a watch if you don't mind it not being 100% objective.
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abhijeetjn1425 January 2019Some of the episodes are bit biased, overall the show is one of a kind & quite informative.
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knoxfan200819 July 2018Surprise! Turns out that condensing decades or even hundreds of years of history into 15-20 minute chunks with poppy editing is not exactly the best way to learn about a topic. This show is wonderfully entertaining and does what VOX does best, make short videos about topics that most people have heard of but don't exactly understand.
When I watched the "K-Pop" episode along with others like "e-sport" or "the stock market" I was absolutely intrigued. They are fiercely interesting 20 minutes that seemingly gave me the gist of what the subject matter was. However, after watching the new episode on "Cricket" I realised that the other episodes I loved so much is to be taken with a huge grain of salt. Almost any cricket fan would watch the Cricket episode and be confused with how the episode focuses on India and Twenty20 cricket to the exclusion of almost everything else. Not even The Ashes, Bodyline, the evolution of batting gear, or any of the million interesting factoids about the games' chess-like gameplay are mentioned.
Vox dishonestly portrays test cricket as a thing of the past, when in every cricket nation (including India) it is still the most prestigious form of the game. But because T20 is flashier, Vox focuses almost exclusively on it, cheekily implying that T20 is what the majority of the fans are fixated on, which is the exact opposite from the truth. It's frustrating that any laymen interested in learning about cricket is instead going to have 5 minutes of the rules explained to them, and then 10 minutes of a narrative pushed on them that is so over simplified and in the end has more to do with business and marketing than it does the actual sport. In a game that is as universally adored as football, VOX focuses almost entirely on the most narrow of stories. It's not about the subject, it's about a fluffed up narrative that covers less than 1% of the actual narrative. It would be as if VOX released a documentary about football that entirely neglected to mention the EPL or the World Cup.
So I've watched the show and found it fun and interesting. However, I am not going to take it as anything more than a superficial look at subjects Vox themselves only have a passing knowledge of. There are a million other documentaries on Netflix you can watch that are more in-depth, honest and intelligent. I admire their attempts to branch out, but until Vox stops caring about visuals over facts, they should stick to their short youtube videos, which is where their best work has been done, the best episodes of this show are just normal Vox videos with a bit of filler in them to get them to the 15-20 minute mark. -
This show can be informative, and educational, but some episodes are clearly socially motivated and coercive. A documentary is made to educate, using scientific data and ethical, unbiased reporting. Some of these episodes however, rely on socially motivated testimony, anecdotal evidence, and pop-culture pseudoscience to convince the audience of one point of view or perspective. These episodes are much closer to a coercive essay or even propoganda, leading the audience to believe the opinion of the new-age narrative to be fact, rather than reporting on all perspectives and data leaving the conclusions to the audience. Be weary if you leave the show feeling convinced of something; documentaries should educate and inform an audience, using ethical reporting and unbiased opinions without presenting a conclusion so that the audience can reach conclusions or opinions of their own. A documentary or report should not, however, aim to convince an audience using coercive language, unethical reporting, and motivated testimony to support the conclusion drawn or thesis or presented to be true.
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Tom547355 December 2021Used to like it until the agenda creeped in.
There's an episode on brainwashing which literally tries to brainwash the younger viewer.
It is very important to learn impartiality without this science is dangerous. -
nina-7131631 August 2018I like watching documentaries on Netflix and I really enjoyed this serie's of condensed episodes mixing more serious subjects with pop culture. Following the journalists while covering a story from start to finish. Translating a news article into film makes a story come to life much more than any carefully typed letters can. This is especially true for the episodes "Intersex" and "Mens Rights", with some powerful scenes and good journalism ond display.
Tight, well edited, with ease and warmth! I hope to see much more of this kind of serie on my screen this winter. -
viikusharma13 August 2018I Absolutely Loved This Doc as It Explains the Modern Day Cricket Really Really well.. If You Want Explaination of Modern Day Cricket this is the Way To Go for You. I have Read a Reviewer Over that this Only Shows T20 Cricket and Not Test Cricket so let me tell you one thing...T20 Cricket is the Most Popular Format of Cricket Currently with 97% of Cricket fans Liking The Format and The Biggest Reason is It Last Only 3 hours and Provides Great Show of Skills , Athleticism & Entertainment...Whereas Test Cricket is a 5 Day Long Boring Sport & Is the Least Popular format In Cricket with only 57% Liking.. The Reviewer also Claimed that Test Cricket is Pinnacle and Etc etc...But NO... Test Cricket is Nearly Dead in South Asia , Carribean Nations , South Africa, Zimbabwe & New Zealand... The Stadiums are Empty And Very few Watch it on TV whereas T20 Cricket is on Its Rise with Jam Packed Stadiums And Extremely High Viewership.. The Indian T20 League Garnered 420 million viewers for the 2018 final... Test Cricket is Only Popular in England & A Lil Bit in Australia... And Due to the Oldies Obsession with Test Cricket the sport of Cricket is almost Dead in English Teens and Because of the The England Board is Coming up with New T20 Tournament.. That Reviewer was Just A Test Cricket fan and He just wanted his Fav. format to be there But the Real Story is very Different...T20 Cricket is the future as this is Format which is Gonna be played in 2028 Olympics.. Netflix and Vox have done a Great Job of Explaining Cricket as This Is 2018 and U don't want to Explain a Format of Colonial Period.. Anyways Great Doc and a Must Watch
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erynfabulous7 August 2018I was surprised that this show had some bad ratings but then it hit me that it is because some people are big mad about the first episode: "Racial wage gap" lmao
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davidferreiro-7076230 March 2020I see a lot of people talking about bias and "left-wing" propaganda but they never point out whstever it is that they consider biased or untrue. I've seen almost all of the episodes by now and I can't believe all these people and I watched the same show. It's sad how, for some people, anything that questions their reality or perspective is deemed as propaganda.
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kperdue-5765419 August 2020I loved this series and this just states the facts and allows you to make your own ideas of each topic.
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ollierox-810127 October 2019I stumbled across this docuseries in Netlifx trying to find something interesting to watch. I didn't really feel like I was in the mood for watching documentaries, I was really hoping to stumble across a new comedy series that was actually funny. But nevertheless I decided that it was worth watching this over something I've already seen a million times. I found myself watching episode after episode. I found myself being interested in topic after topic that I never thought it possible for me to be interested in, such as biology and economics. Each episode contained enough information to inform me of the basics around the topic and the conversations that experts were having in that field, but didn't drone on about the same point or the same piece of information. Many crime documentaries that I've watched often go over one small piece of information over and over again that I just become bored so easily, even though criminology (the study of crime) is a big passion of mine, and one of the university degrees that I'm studying. But this series doesn't drone on about the same piece of information and only elaborates on a point if it's super important to the overall topic.
Many people who have written reviews for this series complain that it forms an agenda, or that it takes on leftist arguments as fact, basically that it's quite subjective and biased. If you are looking through these reviews and deciding whether or not to watch this series, please don't listen to those who say that it is biased. Please watch it yourself an form your own opinion about whether the show is biased, whether you agree with certain subjects raised in the series and whether you think each topic is interesting or important enough to be discussed. -
carynntey13 April 2019Doesn't present the most checked point of view but it's information that is useful one way or another.
Information may not always be the most accurate, for instance in the episode about Political Correctness, no, the Chinese do not have separate terms for a married and unmarried woman. Women do not even take their husbands' last names.
It's anecdotal but there are more instances of quick facts like that that aren't true. Maybe better fact-checking? -
adilmahsan17 September 2018This is one of my favorite series on Netflix... I'm really glad they decided to produce this and i hope they stick with this...
Essentially, each episode is like a 20-minute factual dive into a topic of interest and in some cases, some intricacy... The content tends to be fun, informative, factual and concise....
I was surprised to see the low rating for such an awesome show... Then I saw what the problem was for the people... Most people were giving it a low rating owing to a perceived bias...
To this, I would like to quote a comedian who once said, "Reality has a well-known liberal bias"....
It's factual, so check it out for yourself... And in case you happen to be a fan of informative content, like the stuff produced by Neil Shubin, Carl Sagan or Neil deGrasse Tyson, I'm fairly certain you'll enjoy this... -
chkapp-1435923 July 2021Really love this show, small.bite size episodes. Really informative. Except for season 3 episode 2,royalty. Straight into racism, slavery. Not really royalty explained. Have white people saying how they enjoy following the royal around the world. And only Black people saying down with royals as they represent slavery and suffering. Really bad and an attempt to go political with BLM movement.
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d-joseph-winter14 August 2021Some episodes are really well researched and informative. There are some that make you want to understand the topic more and happily research it further. However, others are a very biased monologue with a very specific ideological narrative that doesn't give the 360 view that something that is explaining a topic should give.