Explained Season 1

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex

Self (archive footage)

John Waters

Narrator (voice)

Keri Russell

Narrator (voice)

Bernie Sanders

Self

Stephen Colbert

Self (archive footage)

Cleo Abram

Narrator (voice)

Natasha Lyonne

Narrator (voice)

Vincent Kartheiser

Narrator (voice)

Bill Gates

Self

J.K. Simmons

Narrator (voice)

Karlie Kloss

Narrator (voice)

Aya Cash

Narrator (voice)

Adolf Hitler

Self (archive footage)

George W. Bush

Self (archive footage)

Rosario Dawson

Narrator (voice)

Mike Wallace

Self (archive footage)

Fidel Castro

Self (archive footage)

Noam Chomsky

Self (archive footage)

Jane Fonda

Self (archive footage)

Big Boi

Self (archive footage)

Adolf Eichmann

Self (archive footage)

LaKeith Stanfield

Narrator (voice)

Mark Cuban

Self

Donald Trump

Self (archive footage)

Maria Bello

Narrator (voice)

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Self (archive footage)

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Self (archive footage)

John Franklin Stephens

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

Reena Ninan

Herself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

Keith Morrison

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

Don Lemon

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

Dick Costolo

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

Vladimir Poutine

Self (archive footage)

Bernie Sanders

Himself

Michael Jordan

Self (archive footage)

Abigail Disney

Self

Maggie Siff

Narrator (voice)

Hilary Swank

Narrator (voice)

RM

Self (archive footage)

진

Self (archive footage)

지민

Self (archive footage)

Yara Shahidi

Narrator (voice)

Nick Kroll

Narrator (voice)

Francis Collins

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

Jackie Speier

Self

Justin Trudeau

Self (archive footage)

习近平

Self (archive footage)

문재인

Self (archive footage)

Doja Cat

Self (archive footage)

Charli D'Amelio

Self (archive footage)

Ruth Negga

Narrator (voice)

Connie Britton

Narrator (voice)

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Narrator (voice)

Kelly Rowland

Narrator (voice)

Ted Cruz

Self (archive footage)

Michael Bloomberg

Self (archive footage)

Leo J. Ryan

Self (archive footage)

Gigi Hadid

Self (archive footage)

Doug E. Fresh

Self (archive footage)

Mohamed Ali

Self (archive footage)

Mark Zuckerberg

Self (archive footage)

Catherine Oxenberg

Self - Mother of NXIVM Cult Member

Jim Jones

Self (archive footage)

Primary

Self

서태지

Self (archive footage)

Kim Cattrall

Narrator (voice)

Héctor Elizondo

Narrator (voice)

Dan Rather

Self (archive footage)

Princess Margaret

Self (archive footage)

Peter Jennings

Self (archive footage)

Emperor Hirohito of Japan

Self (archive footage)

Ann Coulter

Self (archive footage)

Akihito

Self (archive footage)

박근혜

Self (archive footage)

Naruhito

Self (archive footage)

Ronald Reagan

Self (archive footage)

King Charles III of the United Kingdom

Self (archive footage)

Kim Kardashian

Self (archive footage)

Keke Palmer

Narrator (voice)

Sophie Okonedo

Narrator (voice)

Rainn Wilson

Narrator (voice)

Jake Gyllenhaal

Narrator (voice)

Boris Johnson

Self (archive footage)

Ethan Hawke

Narrator (voice)

Oprah Winfrey

Self (archive footage)

Diana, Princess of Wales

Self (archive footage)

Tom Brokaw

Self (archive footage)

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex

Self (archive footage)

Kirsten Gillibrand

Herself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

양현석

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

박정희

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

제이홉

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

정국

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

뷔

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

슈가

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

타블로

Himself / Self

Carly Rae Jepsen

Narrator (voice) / Narrator - Herself

Kyle MacLachlan

Narrator (voice) / Narrator - Himself

투컷

Himself / Self

미쓰라

Himself / Self

Elizabeth Warren

Herself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

Valentine Rugwabiza

Herself / Self

Hillary Clinton

Herself / Self

Eleanor Roosevelt

Herself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

Virginia Woolf

Herself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

Grace Kelly

Herself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

싸이

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

김대중

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

이수만

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

Rachel McAdams

Narrator (voice) / Narrator - Herself

Jerry Springer

Narrator (voice) / Narrator - Himself

Richard Nixon

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

George H. W. Bush

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

Nelson Mandela

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

William, Prince of Wales

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

Catherine, Princess of Wales

Herself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

Samira Wiley

Narrator (voice) / Narrator - Herself

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

Bill Clinton

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

Estelle Caswell

Narrator (voice) / Narrator - Herself

Jay-Z

Himself (voice) / Self (archive footage) / Self (voice)

Lyndon B. Johnson

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

Rachel Bloom

Narrator (voice) / Narrator - Herself

Kristen Bell

Narrator (voice) / Narrator - Herself

Coleman Lowndes

Narrator (voice) / Narrator - Himself

Kevin Smith

Narrator (voice) / Narrator - Himself

Aasif Mandvi

Narrator (voice) / Narrator - Himself

LeVar Burton

Narrator (voice) / Narrator - Himself

Christian Slater

Narrator (voice) / Narrator - Himself

Joss Fong

Narrator (voice) / Narrator - Herself

Joe Biden

Self (archive footage)

Barack Obama

Himself (archive footage) / Himself - First Black President (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

Emmanuelle Charpentier

Herself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

Jackie Robinson

Himself - First Black MLB Player (archive footage) / Self - First Black MLB Player (archive footage)

Hiram Revels

Himself - First Black Senator (archive footage) / Self - First Black Senator (archive footage)

Joseph Rainey

Himself - First Black Congressperson (archive footage) / Self - First Black Congressperson (archive footage)

Colin Powell

Himself - First Black Secretary of State (archive footage) / Self - First Black Secretary of State (archive footage)

Jesse Owens

Himself - Four-Time Olympic Gold Medalist (archive footage) / Self - Four-Time Olympic Gold Medalist (archive footage)

Michelle Obama

Herself - First Black First Lady (archive footage) / Self - First Black First Lady (archive footage)

Hattie McDaniel

Herself - First Black Oscar Winner (archive footage) / Self - First Black Oscar Winner (archive footage)

Thurgood Marshall

Himself - First Black Supreme Court Justice (archive footage) / Self - First Black Supreme Court Justice (archive footage)

Malcolm X

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

Rick Santelli

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

William Tecumseh Sherman

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

Rebecca Cokley

Herself - Disability Rights Activist / Self - Disability Rights Activist

Hank Greely

Himself - Law Professor / Self - Law Professor

John Evans

Himself - Sociologist / Self - Sociologist

Jennifer Doudna

Herself - CRISPR Pioneer / Self - CRISPR Pioneer

Neville Sanjana

Himself - Biologist / Self - Biologist

Brian Williams

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

George Stephanopoulos

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

Edwin M. Stanton

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

Ruth Simmons

Herself - First Black Ivy League President (archive footage) / Self - First Black Ivy League President (archive footage)

Alain Leroy Locke

Himself - First Black Rhodes Scholar (archive footage) / Self - First Black Rhodes Scholar (archive footage)

Abraham Lincoln

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

Thomas Shapiro

Himself - Sociologist / Self - Sociologist

Cory Booker

Himself - U.S. Senator / Self - U.S. Senator

Mehrsa Baradaran

Herself - Author / Self - Author

John Maynard Keynes

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

Cornelius Vanderbilt

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

John D. Rockefeller

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

Warren Buffett

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

Andrew Carnegie

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

Anderson Cooper

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

Beth Jacobson

Herself - Foreclosure Specialist / Self - Foreclosure Specialist

James Baldwin

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

Dennis Kucinich

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

Martin Luther King Jr.

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

Robert L. Johnson

Himself - First Black Billionaire (archive footage) / Self - First Black Billionaire (archive footage)

Jesse Jackson

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

Alan Greenspan

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

Bessie Coleman

Herself - First Black Licensed Pilot (archive footage) / Self - First Black Licensed Pilot (archive footage)

Ta-Nehisi Coates

Himself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

Shirley Chisholm

Herself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)

Edward A. Bouchet

Himself - First Black Ph.D Recipient (archive footage) / Self - First Black Ph.D Recipient (archive footage)

Sandra Day O'Connor

Herself (archive footage) / Self (archive footage)