It seems like everyone is talking about AI. Because they are.
Across both sides of the aisle, whether you support it or you loathe it, AI is one of the most talked-about hot-button issues of 2026. It's everywhere — in our phones, on our computers, at our jobs, and even in our backyards thanks to data centers and flock surveillance cameras. Hell, even the Taco Bell drive-thru isn't safe anymore. Understandably, a lot of folks want AI gone, but are they actually convincing anyone to put down Chat GPT?
Our guest Dr. Fatima is an Astrophysicist-turned-creator who made a video about "how to anti-AI better". According to her, shame isn't the most effective method to get people to turn on our new robot overlords. The question is: what is?

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When students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School launched March For Our Lives after the Parkland shooting, they helped spark one of the largest youth-led movements in American history.

But nearly a decade later, gun violence remains the leading cause of death for American children and teens—and the issue no longer commands the same national attention it once did.

This week, Akilah Hughes talks with March For Our Lives Executive Director and Parkland survivor Jaclyn Corin about what comes after the marches, how activism has changed since 2018, and why the organization is shifting its focus toward culture, media, and the battle for attention itself.

Support March for Our Lives: https://marchforourlives.org/

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Today, we are sharing an episode we first-aired a year ago (nearly to the day). Back then, Trump and his administration would not stop saying "DEI" as if it were a slur. Their efforts to white-wash history have not gone away, so we wanted to share this episode again, today, on Juneteenth.

Guests:

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A UFC fight on the White House lawn sounds like satire. But it's real.

Before Ryan Broderick and Grant Irving of Panic World travel to Washington to attend the event, Akilah Hughes talks with them about what they expect to find there, who they're hoping to talk to, and what this bizarre spectacle might reveal about American politics.

Ryan and Grant will be reporting from the event itself, but first, they're helping us understand what this moment says about the country before the first punch is thrown.

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Long before Donald Trump entered politics, he understood professional wrestling.

In this bonus conversation from How Is This Better?, Akilah Hughes sits down with writer and former WWE writer Dave Schilling to unpack how wrestling became a blueprint for modern political culture. From Trump’s relationship with Vince McMahon to the rise of political "heels," they explore why voters connect more with characters than policies, why Democrats struggle to create compelling narratives, and what professional wrestling can teach us about charisma, authenticity, and power.

Drawing on his experience inside WWE's writers room, Dave explains how stars are built, how audiences become emotionally invested in underdogs, and why today's politicians often resemble wrestlers more than public servants.

If politics feels more like entertainment than ever before, this conversation might explain why.

Moments from this conversation, and others, appeared in our episode Politics is Wrestling.

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Akilah Hughes travels to Selma and Montgomery, Alabama for “All Roads Lead to the South,” a national day of action responding to the Supreme Court’s latest attack on the Voting Rights Act.

Along the way, she speaks with Bernice King, Justin Pearson, and Janai Nelson about the fight over racial gerrymandering, the future of democracy in the South, and why organizers say this moment demands action from the entire country.

61 years after Bloody Sunday, the battle over voting rights is far from over.

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Young voters — especially young men — are drifting to the right. At least, that’s the narrative dominating politics right now.

But according to Elise Joshi, the head of More Perfect University, the bigger story might actually be something deeper: a generation that feels increasingly disillusioned with the economy, institutions, and the promise that hard work still leads to stability.

This week on How Is This Better? –  Akilah Hughes talks with Elise about why organizations like Turning Point USA have been so successful on college campuses, why AI has become such a political flashpoint for Gen Z, and how the left is trying to build a competing media and organizing ecosystem through More Perfect Union and More Perfect University.

Follow More Perfect University @moreperfectuniversity

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After Charlie Kirk’s assassination, Erika Kirk tried to turn grief into political momentum. Instead, the internet turned the entire thing into a meme.

Akilah Hughes talks with journalist Kat Tenbarge about Erika Kirk’s chaotic rise inside Turning Point USA, the backlash to her grief tour, and her feud with Candace Owens.

This episode explores internet culture, conservative media, gender politics, and the efforts to capture the post-Trump MAGA universe.

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What happens when fashion’s biggest night starts to look like a billionaire branding exercise?

This week, we examine the growing influence of Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos on the Met Gala—and what it says about power, philanthropy, and who gets to shape culture in America.

With Rebecca Sananes and Meredith Lynch, Akilah unpacks the contradictions at the center of the event: a fundraiser dependent on extreme wealth, a cultural institution tied to political influence, and a public that’s increasingly skeptical of both.

Then designer Jonathan Hayden breaks down what’s happening behind the scenes—from labor realities to the economic pressures reshaping fashion from the ground up.

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The American healthcare system is sick.

This week, Akilah talks with Abdul El-Sayed—physician, public health expert, and U.S. Senate candidate—about the structural problems at the heart of American healthcare, from medical debt to for-profit insurance.

They also unpack the growing gap between real public health expertise and the rise of political figures like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Mehmet Oz, and what it says about trust, media, and power.

It’s a conversation about systems, incentives—and what it would actually take to build something better.

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