Why Is This Happening? With Chris Hayes

The future of our courts will be decided in the 2020 election. While the Trump administration grabs headlines with scandal after scandal, gaffe after gaffe, behind the scenes they are quietly chipping away at their central agenda of reshaping the courts. It’s a transformation happening at an historic rate, where one in four circuit judges is now a Trump appointee. They’ve already flipped the balance of the Supreme Court to a 5-4 conservative majority. If given another four years, Donald Trump would lock down the federal judiciary for decades to come. Senior legal correspondent for Slate Dahlia Lithwick has reported on all of this. From the President’s affinity for using the courts as a weapon to the changed dynamic of the Supreme Court in the wake Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation, Lithwick documents what the rule of law looks like in the Trump years. Listen as we discuss exactly what’s at stake this November.RELATED:Why I Haven’t Gone Back to SCOTUS Since Kavanaugh by Dahlia LithwickTrump’s Lawyers’ Impeachment

"What if you were a man, sort of?" In his new memoir, author Daniel M. Lavery remembers how, in the early days of his transition, he would say it was as if a demon ambushed him in the night, whispered this question into his ear, and then disappeared without another word. It was an immediate and instantaneous revelation, but also exceptionally vague on what was supposed to happen next. "Something That May Shock and Discredit You" (published under Daniel Mallory Ortberg - he got married!) is a sprawling collection of essays, pop culture pulls, comedic historical re-tellings, and personal reflections on Lavery's life as a transgender man. It is equal parts hilarious, poignant, weird and beautiful, jumping from the Rapture to transition to Mean Girls to sobriety and then over to Marcus Aurelius, for good measure. Together they form an evocative and personal look at Lavery's own journey, and what happens when you stop letting "I dare not" wait upon "I dare".RELATED READING:Something That May Shock and Discredit Yo

Democrats can beat Donald Trump in the 2020 election. Another four years of a Trump White House is not a foregone conclusion. With nine months to go before the general election, there’s a tremendous amount of fear and uncertainty hanging over many of us about the future of the American republic. Amidst this fear, Democratic voters are deciding which candidate is best suited to run against the President. But a lot of the fights over who that person could be are actually fights over how to build a coalition of voters big enough to beat Donald Trump in the electoral college. In envisioning how to build that coalition, you have to look at the margins. If the solid-blue, never-Trump contingency make up the reliable core of the voting bloc, then the folks on the margins are key to solving the puzzle of 2020. Former Obama speechwriter and Crooked Media co-founder Jon Favreau spent time talking with members of this crucial group in four battleground states for the second season of his podcast, "The Wilderness". He jo

This is an intimate portrait of what addiction looks like in America. From the board rooms of pharmaceutical companies to the living rooms across America, Beth Macy traces the path of devastation wrought by opioids. Her latest book, “Dopesick” gives life to the urgency of the epidemic, illustrating just how woefully insufficient the national response has been to the scale of the crisis. She lays out the often-insurmountable barriers that stand between someone suffering and the treatment they need, and why stigma may be the biggest obstacle of them all.RELATED READING:Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America by Beth MacyDying to Be Free by Jason CherkisIn Pain: A Bioethicist's Personal Struggle with Opioids by Travis RiederMy friend and I both took heroin. He overdosed. Why was I charged with his death? By Morgan GodvinYOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:Dying of Whiteness with Jonathan Metzl

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 American democracy that are manifesting themselves in two coalitions that are increasingly at each other's throats. Why We're Polarized by Ezra KleinYOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:White Identity Politics with Michael TeslerThe Information Crisis with David RobertsHow Bad Is It? with Ezra Klein

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 Howard Bryant examines in his new book "Full Dissidence: Notes from an Uneven Playing Field". In it, he explores what it means to be black in an industry hostile to blackness. Why isn't Colin Kaepernick playing in the NFL, why do football games have military flyovers, and when do opinions become dangerous? What is happening with the Houston Astros cheating scandal? And why should non-sports fans care about what happens to players with multi-million-dollar contracts? Howard Bryant has the answers.RELATED READING:Full Dissidence by Howard BryantTwilight of the Elites by Chris Hayes

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 stunning op-ed titled “Trump Should Be Removed from Office”. It was a daring departure for the signature publication of white evangelicals and the piece immediately attracted huge amounts of attention. For Galli, the President had crossed a line and he felt it was time his community reckoned with that fact. But will they?RELATED READING:Trump Should Be Removed from Office by Mark GalliThe Scandal of the Evangelical Mind

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 United States possessed tangible evidence that Russians hackers attacked American voting systems. After The Intercept published the story, complete with scans of the original papers, authorities immediately traced the leak back to Reality Winner. She was arrested, denied bail, and is now serving 5 years in a federal prison. Kerry Howley wrote an in-depth profile of Reality Winner for New York Magazine and joins to share the compelling story of who Winner is, why she did it, and the severe treatment she's received at the hands of the United States government.RELATED:Who Is Reality Winner? by Kerry HowleyThe Secret Governm

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 election, has the UK provided us with another premonition? Earlier this month, voters turned out to deliver Boris Johnson and the Conservative Party a resounding victory while rejecting Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party. So what happened and how closely should the US be reading into those results? Journalist Sarah Jaffe was embedded on the ground in the lead up to the election and joins to tell us what exactly went down.RELATED READING:Necessary Trouble: Americans in Revolt by Sarah JaffeYOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:Trump, Brexit, and Racial Grievance with Mehdi Hasan (Aug 28, 2018)

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.

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 through time, what it means to make art in this moment, why Jeremy O. Harris thinks Donald Trump is actually a pretty uninteresting character, and so much more. Find tickets for A Bright Room Called DayFind tickets for Slave Play

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 level of wealth inequality to begin with? There’s no one better to answer all these questions than Gabriel Zucman, an expert economist who worked with both campaigns to develop their wealth tax proposals based on his years of research.RELATED READING:The Triumph of Injustice: How the Rich Dodge Taxes and How to Make Them PayYOU MIGHT ALSO LIKECan We Tax the Rich? with Jesse Eisinger

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 experience working in a White House administration! Well luckily for us, Chris Hayes knows such a person. Because he lives with her. And is married to her. That’s right y’all, Kate Shaw is back and we have no chill about it. Listen to Professor Shaw weigh in on where we are in this moment, the history, the law, the legal theory, the practice, and much more.RELATED READING:Impeach by Neal KatyalThe Impeachers by Brenda WineappleYOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:The Rule of Law in the Era of Trump with Kate ShawImpeaching a President with Brenda WineappleStrict Scrutiny

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 with soldiers as they engaged in the brutal and bloody street by street combat that ultimately liberated Mosul. This conversation is both a gripping look into the heart of that battle as well as a crucial guide to the events that led to it. For an understanding of what is happening in Iraq today and how life there is permeated with the legacy of the American invasion 16 years ago, you need to know about the Battle of Mosul.RELATED READINGThey Will Have to Die Now by James VeriniYOU MIGHT ALSO LIKEThe Middle East with Dexter Filkins (May 15, 2018)

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 then demands from us in this moment.New York City - listen for important details about our December 8th show! We have a new guest and details for how to win free tickets!RELATED READING:The 1619 ProjectHow to Be an AntiracistStamped from the BeginningBlack Reconstruction in AmericaThe Warmth of Other SunsThe South SideYOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:School Segregation in 2018 with Nikole Hannah-Jones (July 31, 2018)

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 that happen. RELATED READING Reckoning: The Epic Battle Against Sexual Abuse and Harassment by Linda Hirshman Intercourse by Andrea Dworkin Deconstructing Clarence Thomas YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: Women, Rage, and Power with Rebecca Traister (Oct 2, 2018) Get tickets to our New York Live show with special guest Tony Kushner!

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!

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 fundamental questions we face if, in fact, this one life is all we have. Say there’s no afterlife - what does it then mean to mourn, to love, and to be a human on this planet? What do we owe each other and what do we owe ourselves? So this week, we look at one of the biggest and scariest and, depending how you look at it, most beautiful questions yet: what if this is it? RELATED READING: This Life: Secular Faith and Spiritual Freedom by Martin Hägglund Hey Chicago! Grab the last few standing room only tickets for our November 12th event with Nikole Hannah-Jones and Ibram X. Kendi! Find tickets here.

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 culture to properly convey the urgency of the climate crisis? How can storytelling break through the noise and get to the beating heart of the collective struggle our planet is in? And how will future generations think about the way we are meeting this moment? Like we said, maybe a teensy existential crisis. But we promise, you'll laugh a lot too. CHICAGO! We're releasing general admission standing only tickets for our Live WITHpod November 12th with Nikole Hannah-Jones and Ibram X. Kendi. Buy tickets here! RELATED: American War by Omar El Akkad The Great Hack The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells Sapiens

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 another dire warning of ostensibly liberal democracies engaging in authoritarian and illiberal behavior. This week, Hafsa Kanjwal, a Kashmiri Muslim woman and assistant professor at Lafayette college, talks about the complex history of Kashmir and the current lockdown the region now faces.