Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

Americans are stressed about a lot. As a result, climate change is often left out of the national conversation. Marine biologist and co-author of the Blue New Deal Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson joins Chris to discuss how transitioning to clean, green energy is not only cheaper than gas but also hugely important if America wants to keep up with China. They also talk about oil companies profiting off...

Writer and cultural critic Jamilah Lemieux published a collection of personal essays and testimonies called “Black. Single. Mother.” in March. When she joined Chris to talk about her experience of writing the book and then touring the country to promote it a few months later, she said she’d been changed. “I went into this book wanting to defend us, you know, wanting to stand up for us, wanting to...

Alex Bores, elected assembly member for the 73rd District of New York, a computer scientist, and co-founder of Who Decides, an effort to align the Democratic message on AI, joins Chris this week. Together, they sort through the Hugging Face incident, in which AI agents went rogue, and what it tells us about where we are with AI right now. And the answer is ... in a strange place. Because what's co...

Is the apocalyptic mood in our culture today just in our imagination, or are we witnessing the rise of a dangerous new political reality? Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor co-authored ‘End Times Fascism: And the Fight for the Living World' to help answer that question. They join WITHpod to discuss how the far-right has shifted from climate denialism to weaponizing ecological and economic crises, creati...

The valuations for sports teams have increased exponentially in recent years. It’s almost an understatement to say that sports is big business. What does this mean for the mechanics of sports operations? Pablo Torre is a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist and the host, executive editor, and co-owner of Pablo Torre Finds Out. Torre also recently reported on a bombshell alleged shell game of investme...

Silicon Valley was once viewed as a center-left stronghold where tech founders partnered with Democrats to push clean energy and digital innovation. But today, the world’s most powerful tech titans in many cases are bankrolling right-wing authoritarianism, promoting anti-democratic ideologies. Gil Durán is the author of “The Nerd Reich Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy.” He joins WIT...

There’s a lot to unpack about the economic effects of artificial intelligence. It’s clear that artificial intelligence is having a moment (to say the least) and that it has a profound impact on global GDP. But is it just a boom that will bust? Ed Zitron, author and host of the “Better Offline” podcast, is deeply worried about the long-term viability of the industry. He points out that AI lacks the...

We’re now in the second year of Donald Trump’s second term. And there’s a lot to be concerned about as it relates to the future of American democracy. How can everyday people push back against authoritarianism and antidemocratic forces? Zack Beauchamp is a senior correspondent at Vox. He’s also the author of “The Reactionary Spirit,” a book about this topic. Beauchamp joins WITHpod to discuss Demo...

There’s a lot to unpack about the risk of a historic global oil supply shock amid the U.S. war with Iran. Disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and other regions continues to drive fuel hoarding, panic buying and a marked rise in costs. Meanwhile, significant hurdles continue to impede efforts to transition to more green energy. Antonia Juhasz is an investigative journalist specializing in energy, a...

This was the first summer that Chris and his family took their annual road trip in an electric vehicle through the Midwest. It was doable, but not without some challenges. Where are we with regards to EVs in the U.S. and where do we go from here? Patrick George is the Detroit Bureau Chief for the Wall Street Journal. He joins WITHpod to discuss the logistics, policy and infrastructure hurdles that...

There’s no question that Trump’s 2024 win was in large part driven by chaos at the border. He still polls best in this area even as approval rates fall in other areas like inflation. There’s a lot to discuss about why this is the case. Ken Salazar is a former senator from Colorado, served as U.S. Secretary of the Interior in the Obama administration from 2009 to 2013 and as United States ambassado...

It seems like you can bet on anything nowadays and like you can make a wager on practically everything. Examples of the proliferation of this can be seen everywhere from service members betting on insider knowledge, to people making bets on sports games. One of the most mind-blowing aspects of all of this is that companies that dominate the betting space, like Polymarket and Kalshi, are essentiall...

The World Cup is captivating to watch not just for the sports element, but also for the profound global tensions that it highlights. From intense matches between former colonial powers and the nations they once colonized, to heavy concerns about corruption and the treatment of international teams by foreign governments, the games tell a layered geopolitical story. At the same time, fandom also uni...

Well, it’s that time of the year again when the ladies of Strict Scrutiny join Chris to break down the latest ways in which SCOTUS has taken a sledgehammer to constitutional principles. There's a lot to discuss as the 2025-2026 term was another consequential one. Kate Shaw, Melissa Murray and Leah Litman, co-hosts of Strict Scrutiny, join to break down some of the biggest decisions this most recen...

There’s so many scandals in this era. And one of the biggest ones has to do with highly controversial brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate who have built massive followings online as right wing anti-feminist, misogynistic and pro-patriarchal influencers. The two, who hold dual citizenship in the U.S. and U.K., face multiple legal investigations related to allegations of human trafficking, rape, and or...

Well, we just wrapped our special 8-part miniseries “The AI End Game,” and we’re back to regular new episodes of WITHpod. There’s a lot to discuss since the start of the miniseries a few weeks ago. Alex Wagner is an MS NOW senior political analyst and the host of “Runaway Country” on Crooked. She’s also the author “How the Hell with Alex Wagner” on Substack. She joins WITHpod to discuss the real p...

Scientists, philosophers, and artists all agree: consciousness is a unique feeling. And at the same time, one of the world’s most confounding and complex questions remains: what exactly is this feeling? Is it awareness? Is it thoughts? Feelings? Michael Pollan joins WITHpod to share what he’s learned about the force that animates all of us. Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to...

There’s a lot to unpack about the economic effects of artificial intelligence. It’s clear that artificial intelligence is having a moment (to say the least) and that it has a profound impact on global GDP. But is it just a boom that will bust? Ed Zitron, author and host of the “Better Offline” podcast, is deeply worried about the long-term viability of the industry. He points out that AI lacks the...

David Chalmers, one of the most preeminent philosophers and researchers in cognitive science, argues that nothing prevents machines from becoming truly conscious. Chalmers, who has studied the mind for decades, points out that there is a real possibility of AI creating a next stage of intelligence that is even capable of redesigning itself. He joins WITHpod to discuss what consciousness is and the...

Timnit Gebru founded the Distributed AI Research Institute after her high-profile exit from Google’s Ethical AI team. She’s been a vocal critic of the systemic lack of diversity in learning models and the need for more inclusion in the space. Her view is that because AI so heavily relies on human input, it largely mirrors pervasive biases inherent in society. What needs to be done to change that?...

Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing virtually every facet of our lives. While there’s a lot of doom and gloom predictions, what does a future look like if we’re more intentional about using AI to actually better lives? We’re sharing a recording of Chris and the New York Times’ Ezra Klein’s discussion at the Center for American Progress 2026 CAP IDEAS conference. They discuss what a new appr...

Tech billionaires love to claim that artificial intelligence is getting smarter by the day. But according to cognitive scientist and UC Berkeley professor Alison Gopnik, a typical two-year-old routinely outsmarts the most advanced AI models. She joins WITHpod to discuss how children vs. AI learn and why AI, in many cases, still falls behind human capabilities.   Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple...

Should we think of AI as a co-intelligence and digital coworker rather than just a chatbot? Ethan Mollick, a professor at Wharton and author of numerous books including the New York Times bestseller “Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI,” says so. He joins WITHpod to discuss the practical application, adoption, and transformative impact of AI on work. Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Pod...

The unified class project of billionaires is doing to white collar workers what globalization and neoliberalism did to blue collar workers. And artificial intelligence is only exacerbating this trend. Derek Thompson is a contributing writer for The Atlantic, co-author of “Abundance,” and has written extensively about the political power of the wealthy. He joins Chris Hayes to kick off our new spec...

We’re excited to announce a new special WITHpod series, "The AI End Game: Power, Profit, and Progress." AI – and coverage of it – is everywhere. But what is artificial intelligence, really, beyond the buzzword? Each week, we’ll be joined by preeminent experts on AI and its effects to help make sense of this revolutionary time in history. The series will feature in-depth conversations with experts,...