Why Is This Happening? With Chris Hayes

You’ve probably heard about what Florida governor Ron DeSantis is up to. One of the most controversial things he’s done is sign the Individual Freedom Act, also known as the “Stop W.O.K.E Act,” short for Stop Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees. The law, among many things, prohibits teaching certain concepts related to race. Although there’s currently an injunction against the law, its implementation had far-reaching consequences for students and professors alike. Jonathan Cox is an assistant sociology professor at the University of Central Florida. He faced a tough decision last fall. Cox, who is the only Black professor in his department, could either teach two courses that would explore colorblind racism, “Race and Social Media” and “Race and Ethnicity,” or cancel his classes. He had to choose the latter option of cancelling some of his courses because of DeSantis’ law banning the teaching of critical race theory. Cox joins WITHpod to discuss the circumstances that led him to change the courses he taught last

Last year's Super Bowl featured a who's who of celebrities hawking cryptocurrency and crypto platforms like FTX. In retrospect that looks like the boom before the bust. This year, crypto prices have tumbled and one of the most valued exchanges, FTX, collapsed in a cloud of alleged fraud and federal indictments. So is it all a scam? A pyramid scheme? Will crypto endure? Our guest this week thinks it will, but says accused fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried has shown the world just how risky the market can be for new users. It remains unclear if FTX customers will ever get their money back or if crypto can ever be seen more broadly as a trustworthy store of value. Tonya Evans is a tenured full professor at Penn State Dickinson Law School whose work focuses on the legal, regulatory, policy and economic justice implications of new technologies and innovation. She also hosts a weekly podcast called “Tech Intersect,” all about the intersection of law, business and tech. Evans joins WITHpod to discuss why, in her view, the

Hi #WITHpod listeners! We have a special bonus episode for you. In the “National Day of Racial Healing: An MSNBC Town Hall,” MSNBC’s Chris Hayes, Joy Reid and Trymaine Lee talk with activists, journalists, artists and experts to explore the harm racism has caused in our society, and to consider how we might heal from it. The program initially aired on MSNBC and was streamed on Peacock the day after Dr. Martin Luther King Day. The programming was recorded in New Orleans and was sponsored by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. Click here to see the video version of this program.  

The history of lotteries spans over four millennia. The modern version of them arose out of a need for a form of more state funding that wouldn’t raise taxes. Jackpots have reached record levels in the past few years. And "Americans now spend more on lottery tickets every year than on cigarettes, coffee or smartphones," writes historian and author Jonathan Cohen. Cohen is author of “For a Dollar and a Dream: State Lotteries in Modern America,” a comprehensive history of America’s lottery obsession. In the book, he points out that lotteries are much less profitable for states than some proponents say, but on the other hand, they are extremely lucrative for private companies that manufacture tickets. Cohen joins WITHpod to discuss the evolution of lotteries, changes he thinks should be made to the way they are run, public misconceptions about the revenue generated by games and why he says state run lotteries shouldn’t exist.

Join as you help us celebrate our 250th #WITHpod! In our recent Mailbag episode, we asked you all to send over clips sharing why you listen to WITHpod, where you listen and or what’s your favorite ep. We loved hearing all of your submissions. Here’s a compilation that we put together for our special milestone. Thank you and cheers!

The language that is used to talk about immigrants in America is something that really bothers Chris. A common and unproductive trope that’s heard in media is “a flood of immigrants to the border.” At the same time, there is a growing dependance at the foundational level on the labor of immigrants in the U.S. As natural disasters are happening with increasing frequency and intensity, communities are relying more and more on immigrant laborers. Saket Soni is director of Resilience Force, a national initiative that advocates on behalf of disaster recovery workers. He’s also author of the upcoming book, “The Great Escape: A True Story of Forced Labor and Immigrant Dreams In America.” The subject of the story starts when Soni, who was 28 years old at the time, received an anonymous phone call from an Indian migrant who told him about incredibly inhumane worker conditions at a labor camp in Mississippi. The extraordinary journey that follows is told in the fascinating read about how Soni and 500 workers devised a

“My argument is because [right wing authoritarianism] is the central struggle of the day, we need the most effective, principled and impactful progressive organizations that are seeking to challenge that,” says Maurice Mitchell, national director of the Working Families Party. Mitchell is also an activist and co-founder of Blackbird, an organization that has provided infrastructure support for the Black Lives Matter movement and other groups around the country. The social movement strategist wrote a 6,000-word article for The Forge called “Building Resilient Organizations,” in which he described and shared potential solutions for overcoming some of the biggest problems within progressive spaces. He joins WITHpod to discuss the piece, roots of the longstanding political and social tensions within movements on the left and strategies for resetting.

The pandemic hasn’t raged within China the way it has in the rest of the world over the past few years. However, that’s beginning to change. Following a wave of protests, Chinese leadership officially rolled back some of the country’s most stringent Covid restrictions. The end of “zero Covid” policies, combined with an already strained medical system, along with low vaccination and immunity levels, could lead to disastrous public health and economic consequences. China could see over a million deaths in 2023, according to projections from the University of Washington Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation. Bill Bishop is a longtime expert on China, writer of his own Substack newsletter called “Sinocism,” co-founder of CBS Marketwatch and he worked in China for years. Bishop joins WITHpod to discuss how government control has been consolidated under president Xi Jinping, the timeline of events leading to this moment, why Covid case numbers in China are undercounted and what the latest developments portend

We're thrilled to publish our second live WITHpod mailbag, which was originally hosted on Twitter Spaces earlier this month. Join as Chris and producer Doni Holloway go through your questions, discuss feedback you’ve sent and share pod updates. You’re also in for a special treat as Brendan O’Melia, who has been with WITHpod since it started, joins the conversation!

Gender norms, particularly related to child care, have shifted dramatically over the past few decades. Journalist Tim Lee, whose wife is a doctor and often has to work nights, weekends and unpredictable hours, made the decision to “lean out” of his career to focus more on child care. As their family grew, it became increasingly clear that Lee couldn’t spend off hours doing the in-depth research and reporting that he used to do. He now writes for “Full Stack Economics,” a Substack that allows him to work flexible hours. The at-home dad previously wrote for various outlets including The Washington Post and Vox. While leaning out has meant a big pay cut, he’s able to do the majority of child care in his household, while also supporting the demands of his wife’s better paying career. Lee joins WITHpod to discuss what he learned from other dads who’ve made the same decision, why he says creating an equal society will require more comfort with unequal marriages, the lack of social stigma he’s experienced and more.

It’s been 174 years since Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote “The Communist Manifesto.” How is it still relevant today and what makes it such a vital guide to understanding present-day struggles? That’s the subject of China Mieville’s latest work, “A Spectre, Haunting: On the Communist Manifesto.” Miéville, a self-proclaimed Marxist and socialist, is a New York Times-bestselling author of fiction and non-fiction. His most recent book offers an analysis of what arguably remains the modern world’s most influential political document. He joins WITHpod to discuss criticisms of “The Manifesto,” the precipitating factors and peculiar nature of the text, how it still profoundly influences contemporary discourse and more.

Coming out of Thanksgiving week, we thought it was a good time to reshare our first WITHpod episode all about fitness. Fitness guru, writer and self-described “Swole Woman” Casey Johnston has written, “a lot of health content is focused on blowing smoke up you’re a-- about jade eggs and vitamins and toxin-dispersing cellulite-curing silver-thread leggings.” But why? What makes lifting and working out seem so complicated? We’re constantly bombarded with get-fit-quick marketing perpetuated by “bros” who got fit overnight, but achieving real gains often just requires an incremental, consistent and methodical approach. Casey joins for an enlightening conversation about building strength, maintaining form and to answer the age-old debate: are machines or weights better?

As the war intensifies in Ukraine, we thought it was time to revisit what’s going on there. Although the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson was recently liberated, the battle for freedom continues in other regions. Harry Rowe, known as Macer Gifford, is a British volunteer soldier fighting in Ukraine. Gifford assumed the pseudonym Macer Gifford after needing a new identify while fighting in Syria from 2015 to 2017. The former currency trader arrived on the ground in Ukraine 10 days before the war began. Gifford joins WITHpod to discuss the trajectory of the war since June, what he’s hearing from folks there versus what he’s heard from the West, his thoughts on how long the conflict could go on and more.

What in the heck is going on at Twitter since Elon Musk took over? From growing concerns about disinformation on the social network, to changes to how once coveted blue check marks are granted, there’s a lot to unpack. We couldn’t think of a better person to help make sense of it all than Kara Swisher, who has interviewed Musk numerous times and has covered tech for decades. Swisher is also host of the podcasts “On with Kara Swisher, “Pivot,” and is co-founder of the technology website Recode. Swisher points out that while Musk is very innovative, in her view, he’s been a “chaos monkey.” She joins Chris to discuss how the world’s richest man (as of this posting) is running Twitter, staff shakeups, growing competition in the social media space and more.

Lots of results continue coming in from the 2022 midterms. Control of the House and the Senate is still undecided and the outcome will come down to a handful of tight races. As we still await results, WITHpod is sharing a bonus behind the scenes episode as Chris Hayes and MSNBC political insiders break down the elections. Note that this special originally streamed on Peacock.

Thousands of people continue to rally on the streets of Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman, who was detained for not wearing her hijab “properly.” Sussan Tahmasebi is director of FEMENA, an organization that promotes gender equality and supports women human rights defenders, their organizations and feminist movements in the Middle East, North Africa and Asia regions. Tahmasebi has over 20 years of experience in promoting women's rights, peace and security at the regional, national and international levels. She joins Chris to discuss the precipitating factors for the sweeping protests in Iran, the structure of the Iranian political regime, fights for gender equality and more.

To understand the partisanship and bitterness of American politics today, we have to consider what happened in 1994, points out Steve Kornacki, National Political Correspondent for NBC News and MSNBC. That’s the story he tells in a new six-part original podcast series called “The Revolution,” all about how Georgia Congressman Newt Gingrich ushered in a wave of confrontation and conservatism. Lucky for us, Kornacki took some time away from the Big Board to walk through the history and distinct structural features of midterms, how we got to this moment and the numerous ways the elections this fall could parallel 1994.

The Reconstruction era is a pivotal point in our nation’s history and often misconstrued. What many hoped to be a time of promise and racial equality after the Civil war turned into a period marked by terror and violence against Black people and widespread efforts to undermine and stop Black progress. In her new book, “I Saw Death Coming: A History of Terror and Survival in the War Against Reconstruction,” Professor Kidada E. Williams of Wayne State University reexamines this period and shares the stories of those who fought against oppression. Williams joins WITHpod to discuss her new book and the impact of racial trauma on future generations.

Throughout history, the judicial system has employed many more men than women. “Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America” tells the story of heroic women in law who, in the face of Trumpism and MAGA movements, have stepped up to fight injustice. Part biography and part analysis, the book, written by author, journalist and podcast host Dahlia Lithwick, profiles a variety of women lawyers, judges, and activists who have stood up against racism, sexism, and xenophobia. She joins WITHpod to discuss the impetus for writing the book, the urgency of this moment and why the future of our democracy greatly depends on a more inclusive legal system.

What more can we say? Rachel Maddow is incredible. Luckily for us, her decision to dial back from the nightly cable news grind has allowed her to create a work in new media. One of her new projects is “Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra,” a podcast all about the history of pre-World-War-two American fascism, and those who worked to stop it. The historical, narrative style pod could hardly be more relevant, as the plot revolves around a sedition trial quite similar to the ongoing Oath Keepers one. As threats to American democracy abound, there’s more that has to be done to save it, said Maddow in our exclusive podcast interview. “I think there needs to be a bigger, broader, anti-fascist movement where people actually have work to do every day in trying to fight fascism and save the country,” she urged. Maddow joins WITHpod to discuss what she’s been up to, how she found the story that’s told in her new podcast, the editorial and creative process that has followed and more.