Why Is This Happening? With Chris Hayes

If you trace the prescription opioid epidemic that is gripping the country to its source, you will find yourself at the feet of the Sackler family. Patrick Radden Keefe is back in a special bonus episode to discuss the newest revelations about the origins of America's OxyContin addiction and the lengths the Sackler’s went to build their empire of pain. RELATED READING: The Family That Built an Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe Dreamland by Sam Quinones And don't miss Patrick's original episode: The Ghosts of a Dirty War with Patrick Radden Keefe

No war can last forever, and when peace comes, those who lived through the horror of violence and hatred have to find a way to live with each other. So it is in Northern Ireland, where since 1998 Catholics and Unionists have lived side by side in a tenuous peace despite the three decades of bloodshed, violence and oppression that tore it apart from 1968 to 1998. But just because peace arrives doesn't mean old dark secrets disappear. This week Patrick Radden Keefe discusses his brilliant new book "Say Nothing", that traces the history of The Troubles in Northern Ireland through the tale of just one atrocity: the murder of a single mother of ten children, and the efforts to find out who did it. Keefe describes the process by which people become so radicalized they are able to commit war crimes, as well as what it means to the victims, the perpetrators and an entire traumatized society once peace actually comes, and dark mysteries remain. The book is a masterpiece and the lessons Keefe draws apply to a

What if we just got rid of prisons? The United States is the epicenter of mass incarceration – but exactly what is it we hope to get out of putting people in prisons? And whatever your answer is to that – is it working? It’s worthwhile to stop and interrogate our intentions about incarceration and whether it enacts justice or instead satisfies some urge to punish. Prison abolitionist Mariame Kaba wants us to explore some truly radical notions that force us to inspect those instincts towards punishment. Hear her dismantle what she calls the current "criminal punishment system" and instead employ the ideology of restorative justice. Email us at WITHpod@gmail.com Tweet using #WITHpod Read more at nbcnews.com/whyisthishappening RELATED: The Color Complex by Kathy Russel, Midge Wilson, and Ronald Hall Locking Up Our Own by James Forman Jr. Circles and Ciphers Project NIA

Is democracy doomed? Actually, let’s take one step back: what came to your mind when you read the word ‘democracy’? It’s one of those words that on first glance seems easy enough to define but can trip you up as you get deeper in parsing it. Luckily, filmmaker Astra Taylor has a new documentary out conveniently titled “What is Democracy?” It’s a movie that traffics less in trying to answer the title’s question and more in figuring out the right questions to ask about this big flawed experiment. Questions about who truly has the power in a democratic society, how the concept has changed over time, and how a person who lost by three million votes became President of the United States. Email us at WITHpod@gmail.com Tweet using #WITHpod Read more at nbcnews.com/whyisthishappening RELATED READING: The People’s Platform Democracy May Not Exist, but We'll Miss It When It's Gone

Life expectancy in America has gone down three years in a row. You might expect to see a decline in average life expectancy in the aftermath of war or famine – to witness it in an industrialized nation in the middle of an otherwise prosperous era, however, is unprecedented. It is a distress signal that something has gone horribly wrong. Jonathan Metzl traced that distress signal to its origin and found something remarkable. He writes that the policies promising to Make America Great Again, policies rooted in centering and maintaining the power of whiteness, are shortening the lives of the white Americans who vote for them. From supporting conceal carry to cutting social services, Metzl explores just what policies white voters are willing to risk their lives for.  This conversation explores death by suicide and gun violence Email us at WITHpod@gmail.com Tweet using #WITHpod Read more at nbcnews.com/whyisthishappening

There are a whole lot of people running for President. Already, the candidates are beginning their nationwide trek, pitching themselves to the Democratic base. Each campaign faces the same struggle: how to craft a message that appeals to a coalition made up of people from all different backgrounds and walks of life. This candidate primary of town halls and stump speeches and campaign stops is crafting the future of the Democratic party from the top down. But away from the national headlines is the crucial day in day out work of grassroots organizing. The art of stitching together a complex and diverse group of people who often have conflicting desires. So how does that political constituency get built and how do you turn that momentum into political power? President of Community Change Dorian Warren knows this work inside out, and explains how voters can set the Democratic agenda from the ground up.Email us at WITHpod@gmail.comTweet using #WITHpodRead more at nbcnews.com/whyisthishappeningYOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:

There’s a reason we keep revisiting identity on WITHpod. From Brittney Cooper to Alex Wagner to Michael Tesler to Amy Chua and on, it’s a topic worth circling back to because it’s one of the most fundamental axes of conflict in our society today. Identities themselves are as old as we as a species are, but the concept of identity is relatively recent. Our ideas of identities are shifting and changing the more we learn about others. And sometimes, it can take full on social movements, protests, riots and bloodshed for new identities to become part of the conversation. Why is that? What do we mean when we say something is an "identity", or talk about "identity politics"? We take a step back with Kwame Anthony Appiah to examine the origins of the identities we use to define ourselves – and why it might be time to rethink our ideas of who we are. Email us at WITHpod@gmail.comTweet using #WITHpodRead more at nbcnews.com/whyisthishappeningRELATED READING:The Lies That Bind: Rethinking Identity by Kwame Anthony Appi

Is it too late for us? Scientists have spent decades sounding the alarm on the devastating effects of climate change. And for decades, society decided to do pretty much nothing about it. In fact, over the past 30 years, we’ve done more damage to the climate than in all of human history! Now, there’s a real chance we may have waited too long to avoid widespread tragedy and suffering. In his book “The Uninhabitable Earth”, David Wallace-Wells depicts a catastrophic future far worse than we ever imagined...and far sooner than we thought. It is undoubtedly a brutal truth to face, as you will hear in this episode, but if there’s any hope to avert the worst case scenarios, we have to start now.Email us at WITHpod@gmail.comTweet using #WITHpodRead more at nbcnews.com/whyisthishappeningRELATED READING:The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-WellsIPCC Report on Global WarmingYOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:The Wicked Problem of Climate Change with Andrew Revkin (Aug 14)

It’s our second live edition of WITHpod, featuring special guest Stacey Abrams! Just a heads up, this is one of those episodes that'll make you laugh out loud in public. A lot.If you want to get to the heart of the most fundamental question facing the Democratic Party right now – what is the future of the coalition – look no further than Stacey Abrams. Her historic 2018 campaign for Georgia Governor was built around her vision of how to turn out a progressive majority at the ballot box. And though she lost that election, suffice it to say her theory caught the attention of the country. Now, she sits down with Chris Hayes and WITHpod listeners to reflect on that hard-fought campaign against Brian Kemp, her vision for the party, and how she not only delivered but also embodies the Democratic response to Donald Trump. Will she run for Senate? For President? Would she go out on a date with Idris Elba? Listen to find out.Email us at WITHpod@gmail.comTweet using #WITHpodRead more at nbcnews.com/whyisthishappeningRE

How soon after waking up do you check your phone? Do you compulsively refresh your Twitter feed? Can you find your way around without Google Maps? There are many obvious and tactile ways in which Silicon Valley has its hooks in our everyday lives. And as we see Big Tech face increased scrutiny, people are becoming more conscious of their interactions with technology: limiting screen time, quitting Facebook, shopping locally instead of using Amazon. But fully divorcing yourself from these companies is a lot harder than you may think, as journalist Kashmir Hill discovered. Just behind our obvious interactions with Big Tech, there are many more invisible ways they touch our lives. This is Kashmir’s story of what happens when you shine a light on those unseen encounters.Email us at WITHpod@gmail.comTweet using #WITHpodRead more at nbcnews.com/whyisthishappeningRELATED READINGLife Without the Tech Giants by Kashmir HillAmazon's Antitrust Paradox by Lina KhanYOU MIGHT ALSO LIKEAmazon's Wish List with Stacy Mitchell

**Listen for details on how to win tickets to our live WITHpod recording with Stacey Abrams!**Why is it so hard to raise taxes on the rich? From freshmen firebrands to Presidential hopefuls, taxing the wealthy has become the Congressional conversation du jour of 2019 that has no signs of slowing down. But before even getting into the policy debates and the ideological disputes, there’s one important and fundamental question that has to be answered: Do we have an IRS that has the capacity to do such a thing? ProPublica’s Jesse Eisinger has done stellar reporting to uncover the scandalous hidden story of the ways the Republican Party, corporate interests, and big donors have all succeeded in gutting the IRS of its ability to do the one thing it exists to do: collect taxes to fund the United States government. Email us at WITHpod@gmail.comTweet using #WITHpodRead more at nbcnews.com/whyisthishappeningRELATED READINGHow the IRS was GuttedThe Chickenshit Club by Jesse Eisinger

Why do we summarize things into ‘tweet length versions’? It requires the flattening of nuance and personality and information that we need to talk about complicated things. Whether it’s the 280 characters of a tweet or a clickbait headline, we’re trafficking in hollowed out means of communicating that lack space for depth and complexity. While society is in a crucial moment of trying to figure out how to communicate with folks from different backgrounds about their own identities, we aren’t going to get anywhere talking in ‘tweet length versions’. What we need are ‘thick descriptions’, which Tressie McMillan Cottom is a purveyor of. Whether it be rage, gender, or for profit colleges, McMillan Cottom is able to guide you to the deepest part of any topic and mine for meaning when you get there.Email us at WITHpod@gmail.comTweet using #WITHpodRead more at nbcnews.com/whyisthishappeningRELATED READING:Thick by Tressie McMillan CottomLower Ed by Tressie McMillan CottomRELATED EPISODES:The Personal is Political wit

Presale tickets available TODAY starting at 10a ET>>> Buy tickets here

*We have a new live show on the calendar! Listen for details.*If you care about battling climate change, then you might want to pay attention to the New York City subway system. We know there’s an urgent need to cut our carbon emissions and a big part of that is going to be transportation. We need to radically reimagine the way we get around in the coming years because we cannot continue to have an economy and a commute system that revolves around cars, particularly cars that are dependent on fossil fuels. In that way, the NYC subway system is a marvel - it’s a massive and democratic public good that nearly everyone relies on. It’s also in the midst of a slow motion crisis after decades of neglect and technological stasis. So if we want to make the subway a vision for the country, then the country needs to learn from the missteps of the New York subway - and transportation reporter Aaron Gordon has some ideas on where to start.Email us at WITHpod@gmail.comTweet using #WITHpodRead more at nbcnews.com/whyisthis

We have a Census update! When last we left you, Dale Ho was headed to court to argue against the Trump administration’s plan to add a citizenship question on the 2020 census. Now, Dale Ho is back to tell us what the court decided and what happens next.If you haven’t listened to the original episode, make sure to check that out first! The Trump Scheme to Rig the Census with Dale Ho (released November 6)

What does Amazon want from us? For consumers, Amazon can be a frictionless gateway to find everything from bed frames to dog food, baby clothes to award winning original tv series. There’s nothing quite like it – a position they’re in not by accident but by design. Amazon became the behemoth we know it to be by targeting and absorbing any competition, leveraging favorable government treatment, and picking winners and losers in the marketplace. But there’s much more they’re doing behind the scenes, including deals they’ve made with the CIA, the Pentagon, and more. Stacy Mitchell joins us to tell us what's on the other side of the bargain we’ve made in exchange for convenience.Email us at WITHpod@gmail.comTweet using #WITHpodRead more at nbcnews.com/whyisthishappeningYOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:Who Broke the Internet? with Tim Wu released May 29

What was so bad about NAFTA? If you ask the President, it was one of the worst deals ever made. A common 2016 campaign riff was him promising to bring jobs back, get companies to return production to the U.S., and scrap NAFTA. This anti-trade campaigning caught the attention of many voters struggling to find work. Interestingly, it also got the attention of progressive trade critics on the left who had also been calling to renegotiate NAFTA for decades. Lori Wallach, Director at Public Citizen’s Global Trade, explains how their critique of corporate-rigged trade policies managed to align in some surprising ways with the President’s nationalist trade agenda. And while NAFTA 2.0 shows some progress, there are still a lot of improvements they want to see made. But that was only the beginning, ‘phase 1’ as Wallach puts it. Now, it has to be chewed over by a newly Democratic House and phase 2 begins.Email us at WITHpod@gmail.comTweet using #WITHpodRead more at nbcnews.com/whyisthishappening

How can Democrats win in deep red America? During the midterms, momentum behind progressive candidates in red states garnered national attention – Beto O’Rourke in Texas, Andrew Gillum in Florida, and Stacey Abrams in Georgia. These were no overnight successes. They were the culmination of, among many things, the tireless efforts of grass roots organizers. Organizers like George Goehl, Director of People’s Action, who is focusing his efforts on white rural America. Hear how his own story of poverty and addiction helped inform how he works to build across race and place in order to lay the groundwork for radical change. Email us at WITHpod@gmail.comTweet using #WITHpodRead more at nbcnews.com/whyisthishappeningRELATED READING:Rules for Radicals by Saul Alinsky

You asked, Chris answered! In our inaugural mailbag episode, we talk about the organizing power of county fairs, why members of Congress contradict each other on Yemen, whether there’s any hope for the Internet, and more. Can you guess which WITHpod revelation Chris thinks is the most shocking yet? Also, the first ever appearance of WITHpod producer Tiffany Champion.EPISODES WE TALKED ABOUTWho Broke the Internet? with Tim Wu (released May 29)America's Role in the World's Worst Crisis with Shireen Al-Adeimi (released September 4)Investigating the President with Nick Akerman (released September 18)Social Infrastructure Week with Eric Klinenberg (released September 25)RELATED READINGThe Curse of Bigness by Tim WuPalaces for the People by Eric Klinenberg

Listen for a couple of WITHpod announcements!Since his first day in office, Donald Trump has been testing the boundaries of the law on multiple fronts. From his open hostility towards the investigation into his campaign’s involvement with a foreign adversary, to his policy prescriptions by way of executive order, to the way Donald Trump runs his own White House, this President has challenged the rule of law like no other recent President. So, in the case of Donald Trump v. the Law – who’s winning? And what can we learn from what’s happened so far? In this episode Chris gets answers from Kate Shaw, a law professor from the Cardozo School of Law who has worked in both the White House and the Supreme Court, and who also happens to be his wife. It also happened to be her birthday on the day this was recorded, and yes, that came up.Email us at WITHpod@gmail.comTweet using #WITHpodRead more at nbcnews.com/whyisthishappening