Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

The title says it all on this one, folks. What is it about the American political system that cultivated this deeply dysfunctional and polarized climate? Last year, we had Ezra Klein on the show to assess how bad things were in the Trump era (conclusion: not great). Now, Klein is back to discuss his new book "Why We're Polarized" which provides a systematic look at the deep structural defects in A...

Professional sports are never more than an inch away from the deepest core of what's happening in America. They are an amazing crucible of politics and culture that manage to reflect the issues we are working through as a country. And because these spaces are so integrated, particularly in football and basketball, racial politics quickly come to the foreground. This is the intersection ESPN writer...

Why do white evangelical Christians support President Trump? They delivered him 81% of their votes on election day and consistently give him higher favorability ratings than any other voting bloc. As former Christianity Today editor-in-chief Mark Galli puts it, white evangelicals elected Trump to be their champion. So these were the exact people Galli hoped were listening when he published a stunn...

In the summer of 2017, a 25-year-old government contractor exposed detailed evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Reality Winner printed out classified US Intelligence documents, hid the papers in her pantyhose as she left work, and then put them in the mail to The Intercept. The report they published was the first piece of concrete evidence shared with the public proving the Unit...

It’s hard not to make comparisons between the political landscapes of the US and the UK. In 2016 when the UK shocked the world with the Brexit vote, a lot of folks saw it as a bellwether for the coming presidential election. If it could happen there, why couldn’t it happen here? And sure enough it did, kicking off three years of political turmoil. Now, as we prepare for the 2020 presidential elect...

It's that time of year, friends! Come sit by the fire as Chris Hayes and producer Tiffany Champion tackle your questions from the WITHpod mailbag. As promised, click here for the sketch that inspired the secret santa gift. Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads. You'll also get exclusive bonus content from this and other shows. Hosted...

In the final stop of our Fall tour, we invited playwrights Tony Kushner and Jeremy O. Harris to talk about all things spectacle, storytelling, and how they relate to this political moment. They are both artists who use their firm grounding in our own reality to give life to alternate worlds, ones full of drama and conflict and pathos. In this hour, they discuss the ways they hope their art echoes...

Could a wealth tax help reduce the vast income and wealth inequality in the country? It’s an idea that not only has the backing of two Democratic primary frontrunners - Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren - but also enjoys wide public support. So what would it look like to have a wealth tax, who would end up paying, and why is Wall Street freaking out about it? And how did we get to this...

Now might be a good time to get acquainted with impeachment. In fact, we here at #WITHpod believe everyone should listen to an hour-long conversation with a person who is not only familiar with the history of impeachment but who also has granular expertise in that area of law. Heck, how great would it be if that constitutional law scholar once clerked on the Supreme Court and has firsthand experie...

How did Iraqi soldiers wrestle Mosul back from the grip of ISIS fighters? In the summer of 2014, at the height of their expansion, the terror group managed to take one of Iraq's largest cities in a matter of days. Two years later, it took the Iraqi army nine months to win it back. War correspondent James Verini thought his summer assignment to Iraq would be a short one. Instead, he stayed embedded...

In our third stop of the Fall tour, Nikole Hannah-Jones, the architect behind The 1619 Project, and Ibram Kendi, author of “How To Be an Antiracist”, join Chris Hayes to examine the 400 year legacy of slavery in America. Together they examine the sinister discrepancy between the history of this nation as it * was * and the history of this nation as we are taught it, and discuss what that history t...

What came before the #MeToo movement? Acclaimed author Linda Hirshman's new book "Reckoning" traces 50 years of brave women, crucial court battles, and social awakenings that preceded the movement we're witnessing today. This conversation illustrates in vivid detail the decades of struggle to hold those in power accountable, and introduces you to the women who worked tirelessly to make t...

It's our New York City live show announcement! Listen for our special guest reveal and information about presale ticket access! Presale begins 10am Wednesday November 6th and goes until 10pm Thursday November 7th. Click here to get your tickets now! Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads. You'll also get exclusive bonus content from th...

Yeah, we’re going there. In one of our mailbag episodes, Chris Hayes joked about doing an hourlong meditation on mortality. Surprisingly, more than a few of you spoke up in favor of the idea, and one of our #WITHpod listeners suggested checking out a book called “This Life: Secular Faith and Spiritual Freedom” by philosopher Martin Hägglund. In his book, Hägglund takes on some of the most fundamen...

Y'all - this is a good one. Trust us. It'll make you laugh, it'll make you reflect, it'll inspire...it might even give you that special WITHpod brand of existential crisis. Our second stop of the fall tour brought Chris Hayes to the stunning Theatre at the Ace Hotel with screenwriter and director Adam Mckay along with debut novelist Omar El Akkad. The question at hand - how can we use art and pop...

Over the past few months communication coming in and out of Kashmir, the highly contested land between India and Pakistan, has been increasingly difficult. The Indian government lead by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken steps to blackout the region in to order to once and for all place Kashmir under Indian control. The move has been roundly condemned by international groups, and serves as ano...

CHICAGO! We have a date, we have guests, and we have a SPECIAL PRESALE CODE! Join us Tuesday, November 12th at the House of Blues Chicago with special guests Nikole Hannah-Jones and Ibram X. Kendi. Presale starts Friday, October 18 at 10am ct and goes until Sunday, October 20 at 10pm ct. Presale code -- withpod Remaining tickets will be released Monday October 21st at 10am central. Sign up for MS...

Listen for details on how to win tickets to our Los Angeles live show! Salman Rushdie is a most singular figure. He’s authored 19 books, accrued countless awards, and spent about a decade in hiding after the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini called for his death. Needless to say, Chris Hayes jumped at the chance to have a conversation with Salman Rushdie about his life and the ways his particular experi...

You’ve likely heard of redlining - the practice of systematizing discrimination based on where you live. You’ve probably even heard us talk about the ways its legacy continues to impact the upward mobility of communities of color. But do you know what happened next? In the wake of urban uprisings in the late 1960s, politicians pushed to end redlining, to lift people up out of poverty and improve t...

What is conservatism in the era of Trump? During the 2016 primaries, Senator Ted Cruz argued that he alone was the true conservative candidate, consistently attacking Donald Trump as a big government liberal. So what does Sen. Cruz make of the conservatives that rejected him and went on to put Trump in the White House? At The 2019 Texas Tribune Festival, Chris Hayes and Sen. Cruz sat down in The P...

Get your tickets today! Listen for details on how to get EXCLUSIVE presale access to tickets for our WITHpod Live event in Los Angeles happening Monday, October 21st with special guests Adam Mckay and Omar El Akkad. Presale is from 10am-10pm pacific time TODAY, September 26th - you can access the website here. Regular sale starts Friday, September 27th at 10am pacific time. And don't forget to com...

Andrew Marantz spent three years embedded in some of the ugliest corners of the Internet. His goal: find out how trolls and  alt-right propagandists were able to so effectively turn social media platforms into a vehicle for taking their fringe opinions into the mainstream. Unable to talk to the gate keepers of the Internet, Marantz went to the gate crashers. What he found is a clear guide to a sor...

What was it like to be in the room for some of the most consequential foreign policy decisions of the Obama administration? Samantha Power started as an outsider, a war correspondent who became a voice of moral witness about the failings of the American government. That voice earned her a job in the cabinet of President Barack Obama, helping shape the foreign policy she was once a harsh critic of....

How do you know when it’s time to ask for help? For former Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander, the moment came just as his political star was rising. October of 2018, in the final stages of what looked like a successful mayoral bid, and while part of conversations about potential 2020 contenders, Kander stepped back. “After 11 years of trying to outrun depression and PTSD symptoms, I have fi...

The Trump administration wants to legalize transgender discrimination in the workplace. This week’s conversation breaks down how we reached this point. From the ways our social system constructs and uses gender, to the law and its limitations, to the political struggles within the LGBTQ community, Chase Strangio discusses many of the complex factors at play in the fight for transgender rights. A l...