The minerals that rule our world

Today, Explained

Vox

Daily News, Politics, News

4.4 • 9.5K Ratings

🗓️ 27 May 2025

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The race to control critical mineral deposits has become a major driver of US foreign policy -- and is redrawing global alliances. This episode was made in partnership with Vox’s Future Perfect team. It was produced by Avishay Artsy, edited by Jolie Myers, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Andrea Kristinsdottir and Patrick Boyd, and hosted by Noel King. Listen to Today, Explained ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. Transcript at vox.com/today-explained-podcast. Mining for chromite at the Mughulkhil mine in Logar Province, Afghanistan. Photo by MARCUS YAM / LOS ANGELES TIMES). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	In President Trump's second term, we've seen a lot of news about tariffs.
0:09.3	Chinese imports into the U.S. now face a 30% tariff down.
0:14.1	About Congress.
0:15.1	The one big beautiful bill enshrines into law and funds President Trump's promises.
0:19.0	About Elon Musk and Doge.
0:23.8	This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy.
0:28.3	Those are the loud stories of the Trump administration.
0:29.9	There's a quieter story, though.
0:33.5	President Trump's obsession with critical minerals.
0:39.7	We believe it's possible to extract enormous amounts of critical minerals and rare earths,
0:43.7	which you know we need for technology and high technology in the process. In South Africa, Ukraine, China, Greenland, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the ocean.
0:49.4	What exactly is going on right now?
0:51.6	That's coming up on Today Explained.
1:00.0	Okay. is going on right now. That's coming up on Today Explained. Support for the show comes from CyberArc. Did you know that 93% of organizations have
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1:32.4	Learn more at cyberarc.com slash Vox.
	...

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