Things are pretty dire in Cuba right now as issues have ratcheted up to an almost unprecedented degree in the last few months. This is happening as President Trump says the U.S. may “stop by” Cuba after it finishes the war in Iran. Meanwhile, Cuba's president says they ‘would die' to defend against a U.S. invasion. Jon Lee Anderson is a staff writer at The New Yorker. He joins WITHpod to discuss the Trump administration’s threats to Cuba, how the current U.S. relationship with Cuba compares to the past and more.

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There’s a lot to unpack about the risk of a historic global oil supply shock amid the U.S. war with Iran. Disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and other regions continues to drive fuel hoarding, panic buying and a marked rise in costs. Meanwhile, significant hurdles continue to impede efforts to transition to more green energy. Antonia Juhasz is an investigative journalist specializing in energy, author and politics reporter for Rolling Stone. She joins WITHpod to discuss the impact the war in Iran is having on oil, why she says fossil fuels are being used as weapons of war and more.

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The WNBA and its players union recently reached a historic collective bargaining agreement. And the league will have its first million-dollar players as a result. There’s a lot to discuss about what this moment means. Tamika Tremaglio is the former executive director of the National Basketball Players Association. She’s currently the managing director at Secretariat, a consulting firm where she leads global sports consulting. She joins WITHpod to discuss WNBA labor negotiations, why she says revenue sharing based on gross matters more than net, mental health pressures in the league and more.

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There’s a lot of questions about the war in Iran. And it’s a bit unclear what exactly Trump’s strategy is. Will ground troops be deployed? Could all operations focus solely on air war? Robert Pape is a professor of political science at the University of Chicago where he specializes in international security affairs. He also writes The Escalation Trap newsletter on Substack. He joins WITHpod to discuss the war in Iran, the lack of logistical consideration on the U.S. part and more.

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For decades, the Republican party and the conservative movement coalition have been cross pressured on immigration, which has been the source of immense tension. With so many changes happening, we thought it would be a good time to unpack the wave of immigration reform in Trump 2.0 and what the implications are. David Bier is the director of immigration studies and the Selz Foundation chair in immigration policy at the Cato Institute. He joins Chris Hayes to discuss the ways in which legal paths to immigration have been interrupted and more.

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We’re now in the second year of Donald Trump’s second term. And there’s a lot to be concerned about as it relates to the future of American democracy. How can everyday people push back against authoritarianism and antidemocratic forces? Zack Beauchamp is a senior correspondent at Vox. He’s also the author of “The Reactionary Spirit,” a book about this topic. Beauchamp joins WITHpod to discuss Democratic backsliding, the role of protests in stopping dictators and lessons that can be learned from Brazil, South Korea and Poland.

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There’s no question that we’re in the midst of one of the most intense periods of AI focus and hype. A lot of key players exist in the space and one of the biggest is Anthropic, an artificial intelligence company known for Claude, its collection of large language models. And the company’s recent feud with the Pentagon has created even more buzz. But what exactly is Claude and why is it often seen as so difficult to understand that question? Gideon Lewis-Kraus is a staff writer at The New Yorker. He joins WITHpod to discuss how Claude works, automation’s threat to knowledge work and more.

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The United States is pretty intertwined with Latin America. So why has it historically been seen as more of a European outpost than a nation in the Western hemisphere that is part of the broader Americas? Our guest this week points out that there are other ways to understand the history and identity of the U.S. aside from the narrative that is so often a part of contemporary discourse. Greg Grandin is the C. Vann Woodard Professor of History at Yale and the author of “America, América: A New History of the New World.” He joins WITHpod to discuss a revolutionary concept of the “New World,” democratic backsliding in the U.S., why he says we should rethink hemispheric history, and more. 

Note: this episode was recorded on 4/17/25. 

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We are years into uncovering new details about Jeffrey Epstein. And now we’re making sense of all of the files that have been disclosed and grappling with the fact that there are tons of redactions. Does this moment represent a MeToo 2.0? Rebecca Traister is writer at large for New York magazine.  She is the author of numerous books including “Good and Mad” and “All the Single Ladies,” both New York Times best-sellers. She joins WITHpod to discuss the trajectory of MeToo, how this moment represents a recapitulation of the first MeToo movement and more.

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“MS NOW Presents: Clock It” is an invitation to the liveliest and most informed groupchat in your feed. Symone Sanders Townsend and Eugene Daniels are long-time political powerhouses. And they understand more than most how culture influences politics, and the role politics plays in culture. On “Clock It,” they’re helping you put your finger on the pulse of the hottest political gossip and their off-air conversations too colorful for TV.

In the first episode of their new show, “Clock It,” they’re joined by actors Tony Goldwyn and Myles Frost for a conversation about making thought-provoking art when political tensions are at their highest. And they dig in on the Super Bowl halftime show, why cuts to The Washington Post matter for democracy, and the race to the Senate in Texas.

Stay here to get a sneak peek. Then search and follow the show to get new episodes every Thursday.

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