The Maine senator has dodged decades of attacks, but President Trump’s low approval ratings could be her political deathblow. This episode was produced by Avishay Artsy and Dustin DeSoto, edited by Amina Al-Sadi, fact-checked by Gabriel Dunatov, engineered by David Tatasciore and Bridger Dunnagan, and hosted by Sean Rameswaram. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) is seen before her debate with Democratic candidate for the Senate Troy Jackson in Bangor, Maine on October 15, 2026. Photo by Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images. Listen to Today, Explained ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. Ne...
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But today, explain host Sean Ramaswurm was like boring.
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Is this episode right for you?
B2 · Upper-intermediate
Comfortable if you already follow TV news
- 86% of the words are B1 or easier.
- 178 words a minute: natural, fairly fast speech.
- 139 harder words (B2 and up) in the whole episode.
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Today, explain producer Denise Guerra wanted to make a show about Susan Collins. But today, explain host Sean Ramaswurm was like boring. But then Denise said, She's like a ninja.
Susan Collins is not Denise's beat though, so we asked Alex Seitz-Wald from Maine's Mid-Coast Villager. He's writing about her race, which could decide the balance of the United States Senate. would not be the first thing that comes to mind when I think about Susan Collins, but
actually pretty good comparison. She's quiet. She is flexible. She's quick. She can do things that seem impossible. She's lasted a lot longer than any Republican in New England or a blue state like her. Susan Collins is a ninja on the 2000th episode of Today Explained from Vox.
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