Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

By Chris Hayes, MSNBC & NBCNews THINK

Society & Culture

What's Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast about?

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.

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WITHpod Live - Answering Yo...

12.05.2023

We're thrilled to share our holiday WITHpod mailbag, which was originally hosted on Instagram Live. Does Chris have a doppelganger? What did he want to be when he grew up? What's his pitch for President Biden over Trump? Join as ...

Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast episodes:

12.05.2023 WITHpod Live - Answering Your Questions We're thrilled to share our holiday WITHpod mailbag, which was originally hosted on Instagram Live. Does Chris have a doppelganger? What did he want to be when he grew up? What's his pitch for President Biden over Trump? Join as ...
11.28.2023 The Origins of the Universe with Marcelo Gleiser What is the nature of existence? Why is there something rather than nothing? And what are our limits of knowledge? These are questions that have captured the imaginations of pretty much every culture that has ever existed. Our guest this ...
11.24.2023 WITHpod Live with Chris Hayes and Rachel Maddow We just wrapped up our fall 2023 national tour. We’ve so enjoyed taking WITHpod on the road and it’s been so good to hear feedback from so many of you. We couldn’t think of a better person to have for ...
11.21.2023 PREVIEW: WITHpod Live with Chris Hayes and Rachel Maddow We just wrapped up our fall 2023 WITHpod national tour. We couldn’t think of a better way to conclude than with the one and only Rachel Maddow. If you’re a regular listener, you know that we release full episodes every ...
11.14.2023 Life in the West Bank with Sari Bashi It’s been over a month since Hamas' rampage in Southern Israel killed over a thousand Israeli men, women and children, and over a month of Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza that has claimed 10,000 lives, according to the Gaza ...
11.07.2023 Defending Democracy Amid Division with Adam Kinzinger “You basically have one vote in 2024. Do you support democracy or do you not support democracy? And no other issue in my mind matters,” says our guest this week. Adam Kinzinger, a former Republican congressman, found himself a pariah ...
10.31.2023 The Making of Joy Reid We’re happy to share a recording of the second half of our double header WITHpod live program in Philadelphia, which was recorded on October 16th. Our own Joy Reid joined us for the most recent tour stop to discuss her ...
10.24.2023 "Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World” with Naomi Klein We are back from the third stop on our fall 2023 WITHpod tour and we’re thrilled to share a recording of the first half of our event in Philadelphia. Stay tuned for the second half in next week’s episode. From ...
10.17.2023 Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Hip-Hop with Trymaine Lee, Imani Perry and Vic Mensa We recently returned from Chicago, the second stop on our fall 2023 WITHpod tour, and we’re thrilled to share a recording of the event. Hip-hop, which is being celebrated for 50 years of impact this year, has grown into a ...
10.10.2023 Recovering Native Narratives and Data with Abigail Echo-Hawk The murder rate for native women and girls living on reservations in the U.S. is ten times higher than the national average for women, according to the Urban Indian Health Institute. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Justice’s federal missing person ...
10.05.2023 Introducing Grapevine As a bonus for Why Is This Happening? listeners, we’re sharing a special preview of Grapevine, a new original podcast series from NBC News Studios. From the same team that brought you the #1 podcast Southlake, Grapevine tells the story ...
10.03.2023 The Case for Unconditional Cash Transfers with Jiaying Zhao You’d probably guess that a major factor contributing to homelessness is a lack of money. Yet, very few programs provide unconditional and lump sum cash to unhoused individuals as a solution. There are a number of barriers that have impeded ...
09.29.2023 BONUS: How to Win 2024: The “Kiddie Table” Debate Introducing “How to Win 2024,” a new MSNBC podcast hosted by Claire McCaskill and Jennifer Palmieri.
09.26.2023 Prosecuting Donald Trump with Andrew Weissmann and Mary McCord We just got back from the first stop on our fall 2023 WITHpod tour. We’re thrilled to share a recording of our live event at the Texas Tribune Festival with Andrew Weissmann and Mary McCord, co-hosts of the MSNBC podcast, ...
09.19.2023 The Progressive Prosecutor Movement with Chesa Boudin The United States is one of the most incarcerated nations in the world. But why does the U.S. have so many people in prison and what are the biggest drivers of mass incarceration? One way to understand the answer to ...
09.15.2023 Introducing “How to Win 2024” Political insiders Claire McCaskill and Jennifer Palmieri share their insights into this unprecedented election on “How to Win 2024,” a new podcast from MSNBC.
09.12.2023 Hot Labor Summer with Alex Press It’s been a hot summer in more ways than one. From strikes in Hollywood to United Auto Workers voting in favor of strikes, the push for better working conditions isn’t showing signs of cooling down. It's been years since we've ...
09.05.2023 The Care Economy with Ai-jen Poo (2023) Given the Labor Day holiday, we're republishing one of our favorite episodes. From the original description: Every day in the United States, 10,000 people turn 65, according to the UN Population Division. We are about to have the largest older ...
08.29.2023 Answering Your Questions in Our #WITHpod Mailbag We're thrilled to share our summer #WITHpod mailbag, which was originally hosted on Instagram Live. Join as Chris and producer Doni Holloway talk about the upcoming #WITHpod tour, go through your questions, discuss feedback you’ve sent and share pod updates.
08.24.2023 Special Preview: “Velshi Banned Book Club” Ali Velshi gives a special preview of his new podcast, “Velshi Banned Book Club,” an act of resistance against the epidemic of book banning. In each episode, a different author of a banned book joins Ali—including Margaret Atwood, Nikole Hannah-Jones, ...
08.22.2023 “The Heat Will Kill You First” with Jeff Goodell This past July, Earth reached the hottest temperature since record-keeping began, according to the U.S. National Centers for Environmental Prediction. And the record-breaking temperatures are impacting everything from our bodies, to our food supplies to the habitability of the planet. ...
08.15.2023 The “Existential” Climate Crisis with Bill McKibben Much of Maui has been decimated following one of the deadliest wildfires in U.S. history, wildfires are still ravaging Canada, ice in the arctic is melting rapidly, sea levels are rising and we’ve had the hottest day measured on our ...
08.08.2023 “A Moral Moment in America” with Sen. Raphael Warnock “We are naive if we think that we don't have to fight for [our democracy] every single day,” says Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), in this week’s WITHpod. Given how imperiled our democracy is, we thought it would be good to ...
08.02.2023 BONUS: Prosecuting Donald Trump: The 2020 Election Indictment Read by Ali Velshi MSNBC host Ali Velshi reads the latest federal indictment against Donald Trump, charging him with 4 counts in connection with his efforts to try to overturn the 2020 election.
08.01.2023 AI: “An Exponential Disruption” with Kate Crawford (2023) Since Chris is just getting back from vacation this week, we're re-sharing one of our favorite episodes. You might be feeling that artificial intelligence is starting to seem a bit like magic. Our guest points out that AI, once the ...
07.25.2023 Being “Irrepressible” with Little Rock Nine Member Minnijean Brown-Trickey (2023) Since Chris is on vacation this week, we're re-sharing one of our favorite episodes. “I went because they didn’t want me there,” says Minnijean Brown-Trickey. It’s been more than 60 years since she made history. At 16-years-old, she and eight ...
07.18.2023 #WITHpod & Strict Scrutiny Crossover Another year, another pretty consequential Supreme Court term. SCOTUS recently ended its term with a number of big decisions including striking down affirmative action and issuing opinions in the 303 Creative case, in which the majority created a “constitutional right ...
07.11.2023 From Prison to Politics with Yusef Salaam Yusef Salaam was just 15 years old in 1989 when he, along with four other Black and Latino teenagers, were wrongly accused of the brutal rape and assault of a 28-year-old white woman who was jogging in Central Park. Salaam ...
07.04.2023 Decoding The Information Age with Scott Shapiro You’ve probably encountered phishing emails or computer viruses. Or maybe one or more of your accounts has been hacked or compromised. How and why do hackers hack and what are they generally seeking? Our guest this week points out that ...
06.27.2023 Timothy McVeigh and the Rise of Right-Wing Extremism with Jeffrey Toobin It’s been 28 years since the Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people and injured hundreds more. At 9:02 a.m. on April 19th, 1995, a bomb built by Timothy McVeigh, an American domestic terrorist, exploded in front of the Alfred ...
06.20.2023 Why Americans Are Dying So Young with Anne Case and Angus Deaton Life expectancy in the U.S. has been on the decline, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While the COVID-19 pandemic killed more than 1 million people in America, 2014-2015 was actually an inflection point for mortality rates. ...
06.13.2023 Leading Chicago with Mayor Brandon Johnson Not too long ago, Brandon Johnson was virtually unknown to many Chicagoans. Now, he’s the 57th mayor of America’s third-largest city. His path to power, fueled by a markedly progressive campaign, was pretty unusual. Before taking the helm of Chicago, ...
06.12.2023 BONUS: Rachel Maddow Presents: Déjà News As a bonus for listeners, we’re sharing a special preview of “Rachel Maddow Presents: Déjà News,” a new original podcast series from MSNBC. In each episode, Rachel Maddow and co-host Isaac-Davy Aronson seek a deeper understanding of a story in ...
06.11.2023 BONUS: Prosecuting Donald Trump: The Full Indictment Read by Ali Velshi MSNBC host Ali Velshi reads the entire 37-count federal indictment against Donald Trump.
06.06.2023 “The Phoenix Economy” with Felix Salmon We’ve experienced so much personal, social and economic disruption over the past few years. The pandemic reworked how we view some of the most fundamental and predictable aspects of our lives. How will we emerge from all of the trauma ...
05.30.2023 The Care Economy with Ai-jen Poo Every day in the United States, 10,000 people turn 65, according to the UN Population Division. We are about to have the largest older population ever. At the same time, nearly 4 million babies are born every year, leaving many ...
05.23.2023 “The Shadow Docket” with Steve Vladeck The Supreme Court has long had incredible authority to make decisions that affect millions of Americans. But in recent years, it has increasingly used its power to make stealth emergency decisions without public hearings or explanations. The cases that we ...
05.16.2023 A gun industry insider perspective with Ryan Busse (2022) We're republishing this episode, which was originally released in June of 2022. There are more guns than cars in the United States. And studies show that gun sales go up following mass shootings. Ryan Busse 30 years as a leader ...
05.09.2023 The Explosion of Online Sports Betting with Eric Lipton You’ve probably encountered an advertisement for sports betting in one form or another. In the past few years, there’s been a marked rise in the number of online sports betting ads from companies like DraftKings and FanDuel. Gambling companies now ...
05.02.2023 TikTok’s Uncertain Future with Jacob Ward 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 ...
04.25.2023 The Abortionist “Written Out of History” with Jennifer Wright Content warning: This episode contains occasional explicit sexual references and depictions of graphic events that some may find disturbing. Madame Restell is a figure you’ve likely never heard of. Our guest this week points out that Restell, an abortionist who ...
04.18.2023 AI: “An Exponential Disruption” with Kate Crawford You might be feeling that artificial intelligence is starting to seem a bit like magic. Our guest this week points out that AI, once the subject of science fiction, has seen the biggest rise of any consumer technology in history ...
04.11.2023 What’s Behind Israel’s Unprecedented Protests with Edo Konrad If you’ve been following international news, you’ve noticed the marked rise of protests and conflict in Israel. An unprecedentedly right-wing governing coalition has been elected with Netanyahu at the helm. Hundreds of thousands of people have been taking to the ...
04.10.2023 Special Preview: New episode of Tiffany Dover Is Dead* Podcast As a preview for Why Is This Happening listeners, here’s a sneak peek from a special new episode of Truthers: Tiffany Dover Is Dead*, an NBC News podcast about misinformation and conspiracy theories. Nine months after the series ended without ...
04.06.2023 Bonus: Prosecuting Donald Trump As a bonus for listeners, we’re sharing a preview from Prosecuting Donald Trump, a new original podcast series from MSNBC. Donald Trump became the first ex-president to be arraigned on criminal charges Tuesday. MSNBC legal analysts Andrew Weissmann and Mary ...
04.04.2023 The Fixation on Anti-Trans Legislation with Chase Strangio State legislatures have significantly advanced a record number of attacks aimed at restricting LGBTQ+ rights this year. Our guest this week points out that “the number one priority, without any ambiguity” of Republicans has been attacking trans people. Nearly half ...
03.28.2023 WTH Happened at Silicon Valley Bank? with Mike Konczal Silicon Valley Bank’s recent failure marked the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history and the largest since the 2008 financial crisis. The run on the bank sent shockwaves through the financial world. Nearly 94% of its total deposits were uninsured, ...
03.21.2023 The Dire Threat of Global Authoritarianism with Rula Jebreal There’s been a marked rise over the last decade of nationalist and authoritarian politics. Global freedom declined for a 17th consecutive year in 2022, according to a Freedom House annual report. The rise of MAGAism in the U.S., neo-fascism in ...
03.14.2023 Introducing: The Girl in the Blue Mustang As a bonus for you, we’re sharing the trailer for The Girl in the Blue Mustang, an all-new original podcast series from Dateline and Keith Morrison. When 18-year-old Michelle O’Keefe is found murdered in her shiny new blue Mustang in ...
03.14.2023 Changing Cop Culture with Neil Gross The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act would’ve addressed racial profiling and use of deadly force, among other things. But the bill, which was crafted in 2020, still hasn’t passed and it’s unclear if it ever will. Progress has often ...

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