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 week, Marcelo Gleiser, co-authored a fascinating New York Times op-ed titled, “The Story of Our Universe May Be Starting to Unravel.” Gleiser is the Appleton Professor of Natural Philosophy and a professor of physics and astronomy at Dartmouth College. He’s also author of numerous books, including his most recent one, “The Dawn of a Mindful Universe: A Manifesto for Humanity's Future.” Gleiser joins WITHpod to discuss why different scientific methods of measuring the age of the universe continually yield different results, contemporary departures from longstanding theories about the origins of the universe, the importance of us cultivating time to think about life’s big questions and more. Note that this episode was recorded on September 28th, 2023 and we held it for release until today.

The Origins of the Universe with Marcelo Gleiser

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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It’s been a wild last year or so in tech. We’ve seen a marked rise in the development of artificial intelligence, large language models and prolific growth of augmented reality systems. At the same time, it can feel like we’re moving backwards as concerns continue to rise about user privacy and the methods by which personal data is collected and monetized. Our guest this week points out that protecting privacy requires tech companies to ditch traditional business models that monetize user surveillance. Meredith Whittaker is president of Signal App and serves as the chief advisor for the AI Now Institute. She joins WITHpod to discuss the rise of big tech, the trajectory of the internet from being more commercialized to open, concerns about tech’s role in American democracy, her thoughts on proposed TikTok bans and more.

This Moment in Tech with Meredith Whittaker

We’re thrilled to share the second 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 discuss the candidates’ stances and records on one of the most important and contested topics: tax policy. Kimberly Clausing is the Eric M. Zolt Chair in Tax Law and Policy at the UCLA School of Law. Before that, she was the deputy assistant secretary for tax analysis in the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Clausing also served as the lead economist in the Office of Tax Policy during the first part of the Biden Administration. She joins WITHpod to discuss Trump vs. Biden tax and economic policy, notable changes in IRS funding, who is most affected by recent major tax legislation and more.

The Stakes of Tax Policy with Kimberly Clausing

We’re excited to share the first conversation in our WITHpod 2024: The Stakes series. For the first time since 1892, we have an election in which both candidates have presidential records, which provides a unique opportunity to cut through messaging and rhetoric and culture war flotsam and actually take a hard look at what each man has actually done as president. On The Stakes, WITHPod will choose specific areas of policy -- immigration, taxes, climate -- and talk to an expert about the two candidates' records on the topic. We’re starting with one of the highest salience and most complex policy areas: immigration. Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director at the American Immigration Council, joins to unpack immigration policies under Trump vs. Biden, border enforcement, the state of the asylum system and more.

The Stakes of Immigration with Aaron Reichlin-Melnick

Our guest this week was thrown in jail and fired from his job after social media posts he made about Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7th. Meir Baruchin, 62, is an Israeli history and civics teacher who was held in solitary confinement for four days after posts he made denouncing the war in Gaza. There was an adjudicated process in which he was later found to be wrongly fired from his job in the central Israeli city of Petah Tikv. He was later reinstated. Baruchin joins WITHpod to discuss the political persecution he says he’s faced, the intense suffering he’s witnessed, the ongoing legal process he’s experienced and more.


UPDATE: Since publishing this episode, Baruchin was granted a permanent injunction against the Ministry of Education and the municipality of Petah Tikva, which will allow him to continue teaching and physically re-enter his classes.

The Story of an Israeli Dissident with Meir Baruchin

There’s so much discourse about polling and it seems like there’s a poll for nearly every political issue. At the same time, polls often don’t successfully help us to predict the future, including election outcomes. What contributes to the mismatch between what we expect of them and what they actually deliver? Nate Cohn is the chief political analyst at the New York Times where he created the Times/Siena poll. Cohn points out that, among many things, polling plays a “central role in the way we understand the way campaigns ought to behave.” He joins WITHpod to discuss the complexities of polling, survey methodology, systematic biases and more.

The Origins of the Universe with Marcelo Gleiser

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