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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WTH Happened at Silicon Val...

03.28.2023

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, ...

Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast episodes:

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 ...
03.07.2023 Cities After Covid with Brad Lander Even if the worst of the pandemic is over, some of the changes it foisted on our lives seem like they're here to stay. In cities around the nation, office space in dense downtown areas is well below full utilization, ...
02.28.2023 Treating Trans Youth with Dr. Izzy Lowell (2021) Since Chris was on vacation last week and given the wave of recent anti-trans legislation, we’re revisiting and providing an update on our episode with Dr. Izzy Lowell, who runs Queer Med, a private clinic that specializes in providing accessible ...
02.21.2023 The ‘Havana Syndrome’ with Jon Lee Anderson and Adam Entous Starting in 2016, U.S. diplomats and spies began reporting a wide range of mysterious and debilitating medical symptoms, first in Cuba and then around the world. Doctors who initially treated patients couldn’t come up with a diagnosis and some just ...
02.14.2023 Being “Irrepressible” with Little Rock Nine Member Minnijean Brown-Trickey “I went because they didn’t want me there,” says Minnijean Brown-Trickey, our guest this week. It’s been more than 60 years since she made history. At 16-years-old, she and eight other black students found an angry mob and the national ...
02.09.2023 Special preview: Trymaine Lee on 50 years of hip-hop This Black History Month, MSNBC’s “Into America” podcast celebrates the 50th anniversary of hip-hop with a special mini-series, “Street Disciples: Politics, Power and the Rise of Hip-Hop.” Hosted by Trymaine Lee, the series explores how our country’s political and economic ...
02.07.2023 “The E-bike is Here to Stay” with Mike Radenbaugh You’ve probably encountered an e-bike in some form or another. Maybe you’ve ridden one. Perhaps one has buzzed passed you on the street, in a bike lane, or on the sidewalk. We’ve seen your requests and we’re glad to finally ...
01.31.2023 The Effects of the ‘Stop W.O.K.E’ Act with Jonathan Cox You’ve probably heard about what Florida governor Ron DeSantis is up to. One of the most controversial things he’s done is sign the Individual Freedom Act, also known as the “Stop W.O.K.E Act,” short for Stop Wrongs to Our Kids ...
01.24.2023 WTH Happened with FTX? with Tonya Evans Last year's Super Bowl featured a who's who of celebrities hawking cryptocurrency and crypto platforms like FTX. In retrospect that looks like the boom before the bust. This year, crypto prices have tumbled and one of the most valued exchanges, ...
01.21.2023 BONUS: Chris Hayes co-hosts National Day of Racial Healing town hall Hi #WITHpod listeners! We have a special bonus episode for you. In the “National Day of Racial Healing: An MSNBC Town Hall,” MSNBC’s Chris Hayes, Joy Reid and Trymaine Lee talk with activists, journalists, artists and experts to explore the ...
01.17.2023 Has the Lottery Played Us? with Jonathan Cohen The history of lotteries spans over four millennia. The modern version of them arose out of a need for a form of more state funding that wouldn’t raise taxes. Jackpots have reached record levels in the past few years. And ...
01.10.2023 Celebrating 250 #WITHpod Episodes Join as you help us celebrate our 250th #WITHpod! In our recent Mailbag episode, we asked you all to send over clips sharing why you listen to WITHpod, where you listen and or what’s your favorite ep. We loved hearing ...
01.10.2023 Strengthening America’s Immigrant ‘Resilience Force’ with Saket Soni The language that is used to talk about immigrants in America is something that really bothers Chris. A common and unproductive trope that’s heard in media is “a flood of immigrants to the border.” At the same time, there is ...
01.03.2023 The Debate Inside Progressive Politics with Maurice Mitchell “My argument is because [right wing authoritarianism] is the central struggle of the day, we need the most effective, principled and impactful progressive organizations that are seeking to challenge that,” says Maurice Mitchell, national director of the Working Families Party. ...
12.27.2022 What the End of ‘Zero Covid’ in China Means with Bill Bishop The pandemic hasn’t raged within China the way it has in the rest of the world over the past few years. However, that’s beginning to change. Following a wave of protests, Chinese leadership officially rolled back some of the country’s ...
12.20.2022 The #WITHpod Holiday Mailbag We're thrilled to publish our second live WITHpod mailbag, which was originally hosted on Twitter Spaces earlier this month. Join as Chris and producer Doni Holloway go through your questions, discuss feedback you’ve sent and share pod updates. You’re also ...
12.13.2022 Dads Who “Lean Out” with Tim Lee Gender norms, particularly related to child care, have shifted dramatically over the past few decades. Journalist Tim Lee, whose wife is a doctor and often has to work nights, weekends and unpredictable hours, made the decision to “lean out” of ...
12.06.2022 What ‘The Communist Manifesto’ Means Today with China Miéville It’s been 174 years since Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote “The Communist Manifesto.” How is it still relevant today and what makes it such a vital guide to understanding present-day struggles? That’s the subject of China Mieville’s latest work, ...
11.29.2022 Ask a Swole Woman with Casey Johnston (2021) Coming out of Thanksgiving week, we thought it was a good time to reshare our first WITHpod episode all about fitness. Fitness guru, writer and self-described “Swole Woman” Casey Johnston has written, “a lot of health content is focused on ...
11.22.2022 Fighting on the Frontlines in Ukraine with Macer Gifford As the war intensifies in Ukraine, we thought it was time to revisit what’s going on there. Although the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson was recently liberated, the battle for freedom continues in other regions. Harry Rowe, known as Macer ...
11.15.2022 Introducing: Murder & Magnolias As a bonus for you, we’re sharing the trailer for Murder & Magnolias, an all-new original podcast series from Dateline and Keith Morrison. The story starts with a picture-perfect couple in the land of Spanish moss and sweet magnolias. But ...
11.15.2022 Twitter's Elon Musk Era with Kara Swisher What in the heck is going on at Twitter since Elon Musk took over? From growing concerns about disinformation on the social network, to changes to how once coveted blue check marks are granted, there’s a lot to unpack. We ...
11.10.2022 WITHpod BONUS: Chris and the MSNBC Insiders on the Midterms Lots of results continue coming in from the 2022 midterms. Control of the House and the Senate is still undecided and the outcome will come down to a handful of tight races. As we still await results, WITHpod is sharing ...
11.08.2022 Iran’s Growing Protests with Sussan Tahmasebi Thousands of people continue to rally on the streets of Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman, who was detained for not wearing her hijab “properly.” Sussan Tahmasebi is director of FEMENA, an organization that promotes ...
11.01.2022 Echoes of the 1994 Midterms in 2022 with Steve Kornacki To understand the partisanship and bitterness of American politics today, we have to consider what happened in 1994, points out Steve Kornacki, National Political Correspondent for NBC News and MSNBC. That’s the story he tells in a new six-part original ...
10.31.2022 Special Preview: “The Revolution with Steve Kornacki” Steve Kornacki gives a special preview of his new podcast, “The Revolution with Steve Kornacki.” In this six-part original series, Kornacki steps back from the Big Board to tell the origin story of the 1994 Republican “revolution,” the midterm election ...
10.25.2022 The Klan and Reconstruction with Kidada Williams The Reconstruction era is a pivotal point in our nation’s history and often misconstrued. What many hoped to be a time of promise and racial equality after the Civil war turned into a period marked by terror and violence against ...
10.24.2022 Steve Kornacki previews his new podcast Steve Kornacki gives a special preview of his new podcast, “The Revolution with Steve Kornacki.” In this six-part original series, Kornacki steps back from the Big Board to tell the origin story of the 1994 Republican “revolution,” the midterm election ...
10.18.2022 Lady Justice in the Age of Trump and Dobbs with Dahlia Lithwick Throughout history, the judicial system has employed many more men than women. “Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America” tells the story of heroic women in law who, in the face of Trumpism and MAGA movements, ...
10.11.2022 An exclusive #WITHpod conversation with Rachel Maddow What more can we say? Rachel Maddow is incredible. Luckily for us, her decision to dial back from the nightly cable news grind has allowed her to create a work in new media. One of her new projects is “Rachel ...
10.10.2022 Special preview: “Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra” Rachel Maddow gives a special preview of her new podcast, “Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra.” In this eight-part original series, Rachel tells an all-but-forgotten true story of American extremism getting supercharged, connecting the dots between sitting members of Congress aiding and ...
10.04.2022 The Death and Life of Seth Rich with Andy Kroll Seth Rich was a young DNC staffer in Washington, DC who was tragically murdered early one morning in 2016. Our WITHpod guest this week described him as smart, ambitious, telegenic and someone who might run a presidential campaign someday. In ...
09.27.2022 The Power of the Black Vote with Trymaine Lee With less than two months to the midterms, a lot is at stake for the future of American democracy. Understanding the political mood of the country is something that’s been on Chris’ mind. The past few years have been filled ...
09.20.2022 Introducing: Internal Affairs As a bonus for you, we’re sharing the trailer of Internal Affairs, an all-new original podcast series from Dateline. A sudden moment of terror launches a frantic search for a costumed killer. Reported by Josh Mankiewicz, Internal Affairs is a ...
09.20.2022 Joe Biden and the End of Reaganomics with Felicia Wong Over the past few years, we’ve seen enormous shifts in the ideological and intellectual foundations of government policy. Trillions of dollars have been allocated through programs including the Infrastructure Bill, the CHIPS Act, and the American Rescue Plan. At the ...
09.16.2022 Presenting Into America: The Power of the Black Vote With this year’s midterms more critical than ever, MSNBC correspondent Trymaine Lee is taking his podcast, Into America, to some of the country’s most prominent Historically Black Colleges and Universities in a special series “Into America: The Power of the ...
09.13.2022 What’s Going on With the Economy? with Matthew Klein The United States hasn’t seen inflation like current levels since the late 1970s. The pandemic prompted unusually high levels of fiscal stimulus, including the rollout of relief through programs like the American Rescue Plan, which some have blamed for inflation. ...
09.06.2022 The Case for Public Schools with Courtney Martin Which school a child attends and with who has an enormous effect on their life trajectory. For decades, the question of which kids get access to which schools has been a central point of conflict in American democratic politics. The ...
08.30.2022 ‘Out of Office’ with Anne Helen Petersen The pandemic has transformed the way work is done. For many, gone are the days of dressing up, commuting to an office, and working in-person five days a week. But with the broad availability of vaccines and boosters, as well ...
08.23.2022 How Pandemics End with Ellie Murray The COVID pandemic has been going on for more than two years. Will it ever end? It’s a question that doesn’t have a straightforward answer, as much as we all desperately want one. Dr. Ellie Murray is an epidemiology assistant ...
08.16.2022 Our First Live #WITHpod Mailbag We’re thrilled to publish our first live WITHpod mailbag, which was hosted on Twitter Spaces. Join as Chris and producer Doni Holloway go through your questions, discuss feedback you’ve sent, and share pod updates. You’re in for a special treat ...
08.11.2022 What It's Like to Be Great at Something with Dirk Nowitzki (2022) Chris is wrapping up vacation this week, so WITHpod is sharing another favorite recent episode. From the original description: Seven-foot-tall Dirk Nowitzki is one of the greatest NBA players in history. Throughout his illustrious and landmark career, he’s redefined the ...
08.09.2022 Performance in a Pandemic with Ani DiFranco (2021) Chris is on vacation this week, so WITHpod is republishing another favorite episode. From the original description: Grammy award-winning musician Ani DiFranco joins for an enlightening conversation about her creative process, how she’s pivoted during the pandemic, and what’s enabled ...
08.04.2022 The Future of Entertainment with Seth Meyers (2022) Chris is on vacation this week, so WITHpod is sharing a favorite recent episode from our inaugural “Future Of” series. From the original description: The ways we consume media have changed tremendously over the last decade. Shows with live audiences, ...
08.02.2022 ‘Allow Me to Retort’ with Elie Mystal (2022) Chris is on vacation this week, so we're sharing a favorite recent episode. Please note that this conversation was originally recorded in May of 2022 before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. From the original description: “Forced labor is ...
07.26.2022 Introducing Dateline: Missing in America As a bonus for you, we’re sharing the trailer of Dateline: Missing in America, an all-new original podcast series from Dateline. Are you the key to solving a mystery? In this podcast, correspondents Josh Mankiewicz and Andrea Canning report on ...
07.26.2022 ‘The G Word’ with Adam Conover From GPS systems, to weather forecasts, to the food we consume, the U.S. government plays a role in virtually every facet of our lives. What happens behind the scenes and how do these background actions impact our lives, good and ...

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