328 episodes

Every week Chris Hayes asks the big questions that keep him up at night. How do we make sense of this unprecedented moment in world history? Why is this (all) happening?

This podcast starts to answer these questions. Writers, experts, and thinkers who are also trying to get to the bottom of them join Chris to break it all down and help him get a better night’s rest. “Why is this Happening?” is presented by MSNBC and NBCNews Think.

Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast MSNBC

    • News
    • 4.6 • 98 Ratings

Every week Chris Hayes asks the big questions that keep him up at night. How do we make sense of this unprecedented moment in world history? Why is this (all) happening?

This podcast starts to answer these questions. Writers, experts, and thinkers who are also trying to get to the bottom of them join Chris to break it all down and help him get a better night’s rest. “Why is this Happening?” is presented by MSNBC and NBCNews Think.

    BONUS: TikTok’s Uncertain Future with Jacob Ward

    BONUS: TikTok’s Uncertain Future with Jacob Ward

    If you’ve been following the news, you’ve seen that this week the House passed a bill designed to force the sale of TikTok from its Chinese parent company. If you’re confused about the ins and outs of this issue, we did an extensive exploration of it with NBC News technology correspondent Jacob Ward last year. So, we thought it would be good to re-share this TikTok 101. This conversation was originally recorded in April 2023. 



    From the original description: 
TikTok is one of the fastest growing social media platforms in the world, and now has over a billion users worldwide. But its future in the United States remains in limbo. The Biden administration, citing national security concerns, has demanded that the Chinese-owned company be sold, or face a federal ban. Montana lawmakers have already passed legislation banning the platform on personal devices, sending the bill to the governor. A lot of questions remain about the feasibility of statewide and federal bans, and why, exactly, do U.S. policymakers view this platform, that started as a lip syncing app, as such a threat? Jacob Ward is the NBC News technology correspondent and is author of “In The Loop: How Technology Is Creating a World Without Choices and How to Fight Back.” He joins WITHpod to discuss what’s driven the app’s exponential growth, the company’s lack of transparency in the past, the case for and against it, what could be ahead on the regulatory front and more.

    • 1 hr
    Confronting Christian Nationalism with Doug Pagitt

    Confronting Christian Nationalism with Doug Pagitt

    Our guest this week recently traveled down to the border to confront the so-called “Army of God” as part of a larger project of providing alternative ideologies to Christian nationalism. Doug Pagitt is a pastor, author and the executive director of Vote Common Good, an organization aimed at influencing evangelical Christians. His group has been on a nationwide tour focused on directly engaging evangelicals in key swing states with the hope of swaying a critical percentage of them against former President Donald Trump. Pagitt believes a small portion of these voters are swayable and that if they are engaged, election outcomes can be flipped. He joins WITHpod to discuss the trajectory of evangelical politics, what he’s learned on tour and what’s at stake in this year’s election.

    • 58 min
    A Mediapocalypse? with Ben Smith

    A Mediapocalypse? with Ben Smith

    It can feel like the news industry is in a moment of crisis. Over 500 journalists were laid off from news outlets in January 2024 alone, according to a report from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. These layoffs are part of a broader trend of seismic changes within the media industry over the past few decades. As disinformation concerns continue to rise and we prepare for another consequential election, why are newsrooms drastically reducing headcount? Ben Smith is editor in chief and cofounder at Semafor, a recently launched digital news platform. He is author of “Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral,” which unpacks the ups and downs of the digital media business. Smith is also a former New York Times media columnist and the former editor-in-chief of Buzzfeed News. He joins WITHpod to discuss how we got to this moment, the impact of evolving news consumption habits, changing revenue models and more.

    • 49 min
    The Explosion in Green Tech with Jigar Shah

    The Explosion in Green Tech with Jigar Shah

    Nuclear power contributes to nearly 20 percent of the electricity generated in America, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Enormous growth has occurred since the signing of the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, which allocated more money towards climate, and green energy subsidies than any piece of legislation in American history. But a lot of work still remains. Jigar Shah is director of the Department of Energy Loan Programs Office, a role in which he oversees investing and scaling carbon free energy. Before this position, he was a clean tech investor. He joins WITHpod to discuss recent inflection points, the future of nuclear, the importance of remembering that “big things” can be done and why he’s more hopeful now about the space more than ever.

    • 56 min
    Protecting Voting Rights with Eric Holder

    Protecting Voting Rights with Eric Holder

    The Department of Justice, created in 1870, was initially formed in part to enforce Reconstruction era laws aimed at ensuring voting rights for formerly enslaved people. Yet, nearly 150 years later, voting access is still under attack. Eric Holder made history as the first black U.S. Attorney General, serving in the Obama administration. Holder now serves as the chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, which focuses on fighting back against gerrymandering to achieve fair maps. He joins WITHpod to discuss the fight for voting rights, growing redistricting concerns nationwide and how concerned he is about the possibility of former president Donald Trump being reelected.

    • 44 min
    2020: The Year Everything Changed with Eric Klinenberg

    2020: The Year Everything Changed with Eric Klinenberg

    2020 was undoubtedly one of the most consequential years in history. The ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, along with other cascading crises, can still be felt in almost every facet of our lives. Our guest this week points out that in order to heal, we must take time to reckon with what we lived through. Eric Klinenberg is a sociologist, the Helen Gould Shepard Professor of Social Science at NYU and the author of “2020: One City, Seven People, and the Year Everything Changed.” Klinenberg is also the director at NYU's Institute for Public Knowledge. He joins WITHpod to discuss stories of people he profiled in the book, the importance of grappling with what we experienced, the increasing pressures of daily life and more.

    • 1 hr

Customer Reviews

4.6 out of 5
98 Ratings

98 Ratings

mzgenie ,

The Fixation of Anti Trans

Thank you Chris for your excellent pod cast on this issue…and I might add on many other issues in this Podcast.
Very enlightening and crucial information for the debate, especially given the background of what is happening in the US re this and other related issues. Scary times. Keep shining your light on these and other issues in these times of “madness”

Elephantoplasty ,

Pity….

I wanted to enjoy this, but how can I take seriously someone who hasn’t managed to grow out of the way teenagers use the word ‘like’.

It drives me nuts constantly hearing ‘like’ being used in entirely irrelevant places as an unnecessary fill word.

Idinikle ,

Wonderful Interview with Natalie Wynn

I found your podcast when I found your wonderful interview with Natalie Wynn a.k.a Contrapoints!! Being a huge fan of Natalie’s work and her advocacy, listening to her, and her brilliant responses to your thoughtful questions was great!!

Top Podcasts In News

Black Box
The Guardian
The Pornhub Empire: Understood
CBC
Full Story
The Guardian
The Daily
The New York Times
7am
Schwartz Media
The Daily Aus
The Daily Aus

You Might Also Like

All In with Chris Hayes
Chris Hayes, MSNBC
The Rachel Maddow Show
Rachel Maddow, MSNBC
Rachel Maddow Presents: Déjà News
Rachel Maddow, MSNBC
Prosecuting Donald Trump
MSNBC
The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell
Lawrence O'Donnell, MSNBC
The Beat with Ari Melber
Ari Melber, MSNBC

More by NBC News

Dateline NBC
NBC News
Deadline: White House
Nicolle Wallace, MSNBC
The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell
Lawrence O'Donnell, MSNBC
The Rachel Maddow Show
Rachel Maddow, MSNBC
The Beat with Ari Melber
Ari Melber, MSNBC
Morning Joe
Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, MSNBC