341 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 • 8.7K 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.

    Winning Elections in the Disinformation Age with Sasha Issenberg

    Winning Elections in the Disinformation Age with Sasha Issenberg

    One of the most pressing challenges for candidates and campaigns today is how to win in a world where disinformation is so pervasive. Why is the information environment in this election year so hard to parse? Our guest this week has written about the keys to winning campaigns for more than a decade. Sasha Issenberg is a journalist and author of numerous books including his latest, “The Lie Detectives: In Search of a Playbook for Winning Elections in the Disinformation Age.” He joins WITHpod to discuss the often insidious nature of disinformation, work to curtail its spread, how we can make sense of a world awash in lies and more.

    • 50 min
    Introducing: Season 2 of “Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra”

    Introducing: Season 2 of “Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra”

    As a new authoritarian movement rises in American politics, stoked by one of the country’s most outrageous demagogues, there is an all-out international manhunt for an American traitor. The U.S. Army’s Nazi war crimes trials in Germany have been infiltrated by a spy -- a mole for the other side. A gruesome foreign influence operation unfolds in Washington. A blackmail plot turns deadly in the U.S. Senate. A Hail Mary scheme to stop the counting of the Electoral College votes rattles democracy’s cage. With the line between the violent ultra-right and mainstream American politics fraying beyond recognition, with the FBI always one step behind their quarry, Americans of all stripes step up to confront a seemingly unstoppable, ascendant, anti-democratic force. Join Rachel Maddow for Episode One, launching June 10, 2024, and follow now: https://link.chtbl.com/rmpust_fdtw. You can also subscribe to MSNBC Premium on Apple Podcasts for early access to every episode the Friday before it drops, and ad-free listening to all episodes in Ultra seasons one and two.

    • 1 min
    Reimagining Leadership & Protests with Eddie S. Glaude Jr.

    Reimagining Leadership & Protests with Eddie S. Glaude Jr.

    Its been four years since the murder of George Floyd at the hands Minneapolis police officers and the unrest that was unleashed in the wake of his death. And now we’re in a moment where another global protest movement is flourishing in denouncement of the Israeli war in Gaza. This week, we’re taking a look at the historical lineage and efficacy of protests, as well as ways we might rethink mobilization. Our guest this week has spent decades researching and writing about the dynamic nature and effectiveness of social movements. Eddie S. Glaude Jr. is the James S. McDonnell distinguished professor of African American studies at Princeton University and is the author of numerous books including his latest, “We Are the Leaders We Have Been Looking For.” Glaude joins WITHpod to discuss inflection points in historical and contemporary mass movements, reaction to recent protests on college campuses, why he says we must avoid “outsourcing” change and more.

    • 53 min
    The Stakes for Climate and Energy with David Roberts

    The Stakes for Climate and Energy with David Roberts

    We’re back with another episode of our WITHpod 2024: The Stakes series, in which we choose specific areas of policy and talk to an expert about Trump and Biden’s records on the topic. This week, we’re discussing what’s at stake for an area of top salience: climate and energy. There’s a lot to unpack. David Roberts is the founder of the Volts podcast, newsletter and community. He joins WITHpod to discuss the Biden administration’s record action on climate, rollbacks that would be likely during a second Trump term, why this moment is such an inflection point and more.

    • 52 min
    Resisting The Right-Wing Attack on Democracy with Ari Berman

    Resisting The Right-Wing Attack on Democracy with Ari Berman

    This week, we’re sharing a recording of an event hosted at the Center for Brooklyn History where Chris interviewed author Ari Berman. Berman is the national voting rights correspondent for Mother Jones and has written numerous books including his latest, “Minority Rule: The Right-Wing Attack on the Will of the People—and the Fight to Resist It,” which is the subject of this conversation. They discuss parallels between founding fathers’ ideologies and contemporary figures, threats to our democracy and the movement to counter regressive efforts. 


    • 59 min
    The Stakes for Reproductive Rights with Jessica Valenti

    The Stakes for Reproductive Rights with Jessica Valenti

    We’re sharing another episode in our WITHpod 2024: The Stakes series, in which we choose specific areas of policy and talk to an expert about Trump and Biden’s records on the topic. This week, we’re discussing the seismic changes to reproductive rights over the past few years and both candidates’ stances. Jessica Valenti is an author and the founder of abortioneveryday.com. She joins WITHpod to discuss Trump creating the conditions for Roe v. Wade to be overturned during Biden’s term and what the overturning of it has meant, the status of abortion laws across states, why she feels hormonal birth control will be taken away from teenagers and more.

    • 52 min

Customer Reviews

4.6 out of 5
8.7K Ratings

8.7K Ratings

Tsnag ,

Always Awesome Preparation and Presentation

Chris and crew provide well planned and interesting topics week in and week out.

rhexvyb ,

Still waiting

Wondering when Chris will discuss all the angles of the human slaughter at the hands of the Israeli war machine

McNancy1 ,

From Another Recovering Catholic

Excellent episode. I think you are the first, perhaps the only, commentator to address the issue of the underpinnings of the MAGA movement. It’s an important distinction; Trump (or as I prefer to refer to him, the loser) didn’t originate the so-called MAGA movement he simply stepped into the role as leader thereby providing a figure head.

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