Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

Nuclear power contributes to nearly 20 percent of the electricity generated in America, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Enormous growth has occurred since the signing of the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, which allocated more money towards climate, and green energy subsidies than any piece of legislation in American history. But a lot of work still remains. Jigar Shah is director of the Department of Energy Loan Programs Office, a role in which he oversees investing and scaling carbon free energy. Before this position, he was a clean tech investor. He joins WITHpod to discuss recent inflection points, the future of nuclear, the importance of remembering that ?big things? can be done and why he?s more hopeful now about the space more than ever.

The Department of Justice, created in 1870, was initially formed in part to enforce Reconstruction era laws aimed at ensuring voting rights for formerly enslaved people. Yet, nearly 150 years later, voting access is still under attack. Eric Holder made history as the first black U.S. Attorney General, serving in the Obama administration. Holder now serves as the chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, which focuses on fighting back against gerrymandering to achieve fair maps. He joins WITHpod to discuss the fight for voting rights, growing redistricting concerns nationwide and how concerned he is about the possibility of former president Donald Trump being reelected.

2020 was undoubtedly one of the most consequential years in history. The ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, along with other cascading crises, can still be felt in almost every facet of our lives. Our guest this week points out that in order to heal, we must take time to reckon with what we lived through. Eric Klinenberg is a sociologist, the Helen Gould Shepard Professor of Social Science at NYU and the author of ?2020: One City, Seven People, and the Year Everything Changed.? Klinenberg is also the director at NYU's Institute for Public Knowledge. He joins WITHpod to discuss stories of people he profiled in the book, the importance of grappling with what we experienced, the increasing pressures of daily life and more.

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Just a few weeks ago, Chris and his family visited the Big Island of Hawaii. While there, he was completely enthralled with learning more about how the first inhabitants got to such a remote place and surrounding areas. For more than a thousand years, Polynesians have called some of the most distant islands in the Pacific Ocean home. Where did they come from, how did they get there and how did a group of people conquer the largest ocean in the world a thousand years ago? It?s one of the greatest mysteries ever. Our guest this week, who has familial roots to the area, set out to understand more. Christina Thompson is editor of Harvard Review and author of ?Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia.? She joins WITHpod to discuss what drew her to this story, what makes this mystery so complex, the impact of the arrival of European explorers, the limits of our understanding and more.

From unlocking our phones, to scanning our faces to board flights, facial recognition technology has become a ubiquitous part of modern life. And while its implementation can make life easier, what are the ramifications of companies capturing and selling our biometric data? And do we really own our faces? Our guest this week points that unregulated, this technological superpower can lead to dystopian, sci-fi novel-like applications. Kashmir Hill is a tech reporter at the New York Times and author of ?Your Face Belongs to Us: A Secretive Startup's Quest to End Privacy as We Know It,? in which she chronicles the rise of Clearview AI. She joins WITHpod to discuss the growth of this technology, privacy concerns, ways in which our online ?dossiers? are linked to our faces and more.

Armed conflict, increases in public debt and the climate crisis are just a few factors that will accelerate humanitarian crises globally in 2024, according to the International Rescue Committee. Meanwhile, there?s a number of practical issues that have been raised by the high pace of migrants presenting at borders and applying for asylum around the world. Our guest this week points out the importance of creating ?legal routes to hope? amid increased global migration. David Miliband is President & CEO of the International Rescue Committee (IRC), where he oversees the agency?s humanitarian relief operations in more than 40 war-affected countries and its refugee resettlement and assistance programs in the U.S. Before that, he served as a Foreign Secretary of the U.K. He joins to discuss the IRC?s 2024 Emergency Watchlist, myths about the global humanitarian crisis that have become a part of media discourse, actionable solutions and more.

We just experienced the hottest year on record in 2023. But amid so much doom and gloom, last year was also one of the best years ever for clean energy technology development and deployment. And while we?ve seen incredible strides towards a net zero emissions future, further innovation and policy action is still needed in order to bring to market more low-emissions technologies. Robinson Meyer is the founding executive editor of Heatmap, a new media company focused on climate change and decarbonization. Meyer is also a contributing opinion writer at The New York Times. He joins WITHpod to discuss the impact of rising fossil fuel emissions, recent inflection points, driving down the costs of clean tech and more.

Happy New Year! As our team returns from break, we're re-sharing another part of our "Future of" miniseries that originally aired in March 2022. From the original description: Time is running out to reverse the damage done by climate change, according to a report released by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in February 2022. Preventing further destruction will be the biggest undertaking in the history of human civilization. Can it be done? Jonah Goldman joined Gates Ventures, Bill Gates?s private office, in September 2014, where he is responsible for the organization?s relationships with policymakers around the world. In 2020, he helped Bill establish Breakthrough Energy (BE). BE is a network of entities and initiatives, including investment funds, nonprofit and philanthropic programs, and policy efforts linked by a common commitment to scale the technologies we need to achieve a path to net zero emissions by 2050. Goldman joins to provide a gut check on where we stand on the timeline for change as it relates to the future of energy.

Happy holidays! As our team takes some time away for a break, we're re-sharing another part of our "Future of" miniseries that originally aired in March 2022. From the original description: BFF connections have transformed rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic. FaceTime calls, Zoom happy hours, voice memos, group chats and virtual game nights, in many cases, have reworked our in-person interactions of the past. What does the future of friendship look like? Ann Friedman and Aminatou Sow have been friends for over a decade, twelve years to be exact. Living on opposite coasts for years now, they had a head start on managing a long-distance friendship. Ann, a journalist, essayist and media entrepreneur and Aminatou, a writer, interviewer and cultural commentator, co-wrote ?Big Friendship,? a book all about maintaining their close bond. They join for an inspiring conversation about the future of friendship and what it takes to stay connected for the long haul.

Happy holidays! As our team takes some time away for a break, we're re-sharing part of our "Future of" miniseries that originally aired in March 2022. From the original description: The ways we consume media have changed tremendously over the last decade. Shows with live audiences, perhaps more than any other type of program, had to pivot virtually almost overnight when the pandemic started. That certainly was the case with ?Late Night with Seth Meyers.? As viewers have more sources for entertainment now than ever before, the show had to find creative ways to keep fans engaged and entertained. Lucky for us, Seth Meyers, the affable host of the show bearing his name, joins to discuss what he thinks about the future of entertainment and comedy, why he felt closer to the audience while hosting from home and more.

Home schooling has become America?s fastest-growing form of education, according to a Washington Post analysis. This form of education, which largely has roots within evangelical Christian households, has grown into a broader movement, especially since the pandemic. Laura Meckler is national education writer at The Washington Post and is co-author of a series for The Post called ?Homeschool Nation,? which takes an in-depth look at the surge in home schooling in the U.S. and motivations for its rise, which include concerns over school shootings, curriculum ideologies and more. She joins WITHpod to discuss how this mode of education has evolved, the forces that have driven its growth, recent declines in public school enrollment, the increasing popularity of microschools and more.

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 Chris Hayes and producer Doni Holloway reflect on the WITHpod national tour, go through your questions and discuss feedback you?ve sent.

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.

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 our tour culmination than the one and only Rachel Maddow. It was a fascinating conversation all about what we can do to save American democracy, how we got to this particular political moment and her amazing New York Times bestselling book, ?Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism.? We?re thrilled to share the full recording of the event with you.

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 Tuesday, but we?re doing something different this week. We are excited to share a preview of the conversation today. It was a fascinating convo all about what we can do to preserve American democracy, the rise of authoritarianism and the historical events that have led to this moment, as told in her incredible New York Times bestselling book, ?Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism.? You can hear the full conversation in our feed this Friday, 11/24.

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 Health Ministry. In this episode, we?re focusing on the precipitating factors that led to the conflict and issues that continue to impede a resolution. Sari Bashi, who lives in the West Bank and is married to a Palestinian, has a unique perspective as a Jewish woman with U.S.-Israeli citizenship, living in a household that transcends the conflict. Bashi is the program director at Human Rights Watch, an author and is the co-founder of Gisha Access, an Israeli NGO whose goal is to protect the freedom of movement of Palestinians, especially Gaza residents. She joins WITHpod to discuss what the year before the war looked like, violations of international laws, the devastating impact on civilians, calls for countries to suspend military aid and more. Note: An earlier version of this episode's audio misstated the scale of the civilian death toll in Gaza. This version has been edited to omit this.

?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 of sorts after he voted to impeach Donald Trump, following the former president?s attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. Kinzinger was one of two Republicans tapped to be on the January 6th committee after the 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. He stepped away from politics this year and recently authored ?Renegade: Defending Democracy and Liberty in Our Divided Country,? a memoir all about his life and political career. Kinzinger joins WITHpod to discuss the transformation of the Republican Party, crossing political lines during the House Impeachment vote, why he feels Trump avoids in-person confrontation, preserving American democracy and more.

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 fascinating trajectory, including her years in Florida, which have given her unique insight into the state?s current culture wars. She also talks about her time working on political campaigns, the anti-CRT movement, the peril of this political moment and more. ?

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 widespread conspiracies, to AI generated content, to mistrust of vaccines magnified by social media, it?s hard to know what?s real and what?s not in this era. Our guest this week points to a sense of ?collective vertigo" that we?re experiencing as our realities warp around us in what she calls the ?mirror world.? Naomi Klein is an award-winning journalist and a New York Times best-selling author of numerous books including her latest one, ?Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World.? She joins WITHpod to discuss the trajectory of her own doppelganger (the impetus for the book), the convergence of paranoid conspiracy culture merging with broad reactionary scary visions of the future, how we got to this moment and how we might move forward.

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 global phenomenon. The music genre, born out of a very specific set of cultural and sociological conditions, continues to shape so many facets of international culture. MSNBC correspondent and host of "Into America," Trymaine Lee, New York Times best-selling author Imani Perry and hip-hop artist, actor and activist Vic Mensa joined to discuss the precipitating conditions contributing to hip-hop?s rise, its growth and success, the impact of commercialization on artists and more.

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 database only logs a fraction of those cases. Our guest this week, who has investigated cases for indigenous girls from nine months old to women in their eighties, points out that this is part of a broader trend of data erasure. Abigail Echo-Hawk is the director of the Urban Indian Health Institute, which focuses on research and decolonizing data for urban American Indian and Alaska Native communities. She also serves as executive vice president of the Seattle Indian Health Board and is an enrolled citizen of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma. She joins WITHpod to discuss recovering the true story of her people prior to and post the Columbus encounter, the importance of rethinking misconceptions, health disparities in indigenous and Alaska native communities,  and the work that lies ahead to break down feelings of ?invisibility.?

**WITHpod Live Tour Special Announcement**

Join us on the road.  Buy your tickets now at msnbc.com/withpodtour.

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 the broad implementation of this type of assistance, which include the lack of policymaker support and public mistrust in homeless people?s ability to manage money. Our guest this week found that direct cash transfers actually result in net societal savings over time. Jiaying Zhao is an associate professor, Canada research chair and a Sauder distinguished scholar at the University of British Columbia. She co-authored ?Unconditional cash transfers reduce homelessness,? which was published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal. Zhao, who has personally experienced housing insecurity in the past, joins WITHpod to discuss the cognitive taxes of poverty, rethinking the homogenous narrative about who homeless people are, the most surprising findings from the study, intended policy changes and more. 

**WITHpod Live Tour Special Announcement**

Join us on the road.  Buy your tickets now at msnbc.com/withpodtour.

Debate guru Ron Klain joins Claire McCaskill and Jennifer Palmieri on their new podcast ?How to Win 2024? to discuss the winners and losers of the 2nd GOP debate and what it could mean for President Biden?s re-election campaign. Plus, the House Republicans? impeachment effort that voters want nothing to do with. Listen each week and click here to follow the show.

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, ?Prosecuting Donald Trump.? Weissmann and McCord, who are both former federal prosecutors, joined in Austin, TX to discuss former president and criminal defendant Trump?s continually growing legal issues as the country prepares for the presidential election in 2024. They also talk about the key point that up until recently, everything that's ever happened to Trump in the past with regards to the law has happened in the regime of civil law, which charges in their view will be the clearest, whether they think he will be convicted before Election Day in 2024 and so much more.

**WITHpod Live Tour Special Announcement**

Join us on the road. We still have a limited number of tickets available for you to join us in Chicago on 10/9. And join us in Philadelphia on 10/16.  Buy your tickets now at msnbc.com/withpodtour.

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 this question is to look at how prosecution is done in America. Reimagining criminal justice procedures has been the focus of a growing progressive prosecutor movement. Chesa Boudin, a proponent of reforming prosecutorial procedures, is the former district attorney of San Francisco, a position that he held until his recall in 2022. His biological parents spent a combined 62 years in prison starting when he was a baby. He?s now the founding executive director of Berkeley?s Criminal Law and Justice Center. Boudin joins WITHpod to discuss his familial experience with incarceration, the backlash he received while in office, building out alternative infrastructures, rethinking decarceration and more.

**WITHpod Live Tour Special Announcement**

We're taking #WITHpod back on the road. We still have a limited number of tickets available for you to join us in Chicago on 10/9. And join us in Philadelphia on 10/16.  Buy your tickets now at msnbc.com/withpodtour.

How do you win an unprecedented election that could see a criminally indicted ex-president take on the current Commander in Chief? How do you win crucial down-ballot races that will ultimately shape the power dynamics for whoever wins the White House? And how do you win over voters ? of any party -- when mistrust in leadership is at an all-time high? Claire McCaskill and Jennifer Palmieri, are two of the most well-respected voices in American politics today and have some ideas. Listen to their new podcast ?How to Win 2024? and follow the show: https://link.chtbl.com/htw_fdlw

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 seen this kind of burst of workplace organizing, and it recalls some of the most famous moments of labor history. We couldn?t think of a better voice than our guest this week to help us unpack everything that?s been going on. Alex Press is a staff writer for Jacobin Magazine where she covers labor. Her work has appeared in outlets including the New York Times and the Washington Post, just to name a few. She was a union organizer before becoming a reporter. Press joins WITHpod to discuss what has contributed to this current wave, pandemic induced changes to how people think about labor, shifts in power during this moment and the outlook ahead.

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 population ever. At the same time, nearly 4 million babies are born every year, leaving many Americans juggling caring for young children and aging parents. Caregiving is often cast as nonproductive labor, despite the incredible mental, emotional and physical toll it can take. It?s increasingly clear that more resources are urgently needed to support caregivers. How can we rethink our social and economic policies to ensure that more people can age with dignity? Ai-jen Poo is president of the National Domestic Workers Alliance and executive director of Caring Across Generations. She is also author of the 2015 book ?The Age of Dignity: Preparing for the Elder Boom in a Changing America.? She joins WITHpod to discuss her personal experiences that led her to be an activist, the need for more infrastructure to support caring for aging populations, the care economy and more.

**WITHpod Live Tour Special Announcement**

We're taking #WITHpod back on the road for a live three-city tour. Join Chris in Chicago on 10/9, Philadelphia on 10/16, and NYC on 11/12. Buy your tickets now with special code WITHPOD: msnbc.com/withpodtour.

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. 

**WITHpod Live Tour Special Announcement**

We're taking #WITHpod back on the road. Join us in Chicago on 10/9, Philadelphia on 10/16, and NYC on 11/12. Buy your tickets now at msnbc.com/withpodtour.

Links to some episodes mentioned:

Being ?Irrepressible? with Little Rock Nine Member Minnijean Brown-Trickey

The Dire Threat of Global Authoritarianism with Rula Jebreal

AI: ?An Exponential Disruption? with Kate Crawford

The Care Economy with Ai-jen Poo

Why Americans Are Dying So Young with Anne Case and Angus Deaton

?A Moral Moment in America? with Sen. Raphael Warnock

#WITHpod & Strict Scrutiny Crossover (2023)




 

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. Meanwhile, Texas Governor Abbot recently signed legislation prohibiting localities from passing any laws that require shade or water breaks for outdoor construction workers. As we continue to see the devastating effects of rising temps, it?s clear we need to rethink how we conceptualize and deal with heat. Our guest this week points out that simply cranking up our A.C. units isn?t the way out of this and that we instead need to urgently reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. Jeff Goodell is author of ?The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet? and a contributing writer at Rolling Stone. Goodell joins WITHpod to discuss the deleterious ways extreme heat impacts every living thing, what rising temps reveal about fault lines in governments and more. **WITHpod Live Tour Special Announcement** We're taking #WITHpod back on the road for a live three-city tour. Join Chris in Chicago on 10/9, Philadelphia on 10/16, and NYC on 11/12. Buy your tickets now with special code WITHPOD: msnbc.com/withpodtour.

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 planet this year. There?s a lot happening as it relates to climate change. ?It?s not the summer from hell, it?s the summer that sort of is hell,? says our guest this week. Bill McKibben is an environmentalist, educator, author and founder of Third Act, which has a mission to organize people over the age of 60 for action on climate and justice. He?s also a founder of 350.org, the first global grassroots climate campaign. His 1989 book, ?The End of Nature? is regarded as the first book for a general audience about climate change. McKibben recently wrote a piece for the New Yorker titled, ?To Save the Planet, Should We Really Be Moving Slower?,? which talks about the degrowth movement, which calls on countries to embrace zero or negative G.D.P. growth, making a comeback. He joins WITHpod to discuss the growth debates of the 70s vs. contemporary ones, parallels between protecting the planet and our democracy, why this moment is such an inflection point and more.

?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 talk about the nation?s democratic health with someone who has navigated some of the most difficult terrain in American politics. Sen. Warnock, who defeated Republican challenger Herschel Walker, is the author of numerous books, including his latest titled, ?A Way Out of No Way: A Memoir of Truth, Transformation, and the New American Story.? He?s also the pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. He joins WITHpod to discuss his concerns about the state of our democracy, his efforts to renew the fight for voting rights, the most surprising part of being a U.S. senator, what he thinks the worst part of his job is and more.

For the third time in 4 months Donald Trump has been indicted, twice at the federal level, but legal experts say this is the most serious one yet. MSNBC host Ali Velshi reads every word of the DOJ?s latest allegations against the former president, charging him with 4 counts in connection with his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

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 subject of science fiction, has seen the biggest rise of any consumer technology in history and has outpaced the uptake of TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. As we see AI becoming more of an everyday tool, students are even using chatbots like ChatGPT to write papers. While automating certain tasks can help with productivity, we?re starting to see more examples of the dark side of the technology. How close are we to genuine external intelligence? Kate Crawford is an AI expert, research professor at USC Annenberg, honorary professor at the University of Sydney and senior principal researcher at Microsoft Research Lab in New York City. She?s also author of ?Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence.? Crawford joins WITHpod to discuss the social and political implications of AI, exploited labor behind its growth, why she says it?s ?neither artificial nor intelligent,? climate change concerns, the need for regulation and more.

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 other black students found an angry mob and the national guard blocking their entry to Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas. Backed by 1,200 soldiers, they eventually made it inside for their first full day of class. White students threw hot food at them, called them names and even sprayed some of them with acid. One day, a white kid hit Minnijean with a purse. She responded by calling the student ?white trash.? For that, she was expelled, which profoundly affected her trajectory. She ended up finishing her education in New York City and went on to become a civil rights activist and speaker. Minnijean joins WITHpod for a moving conversation about how she channeled the trauma she experienced into a life of activism, the continued fight for racial equality and more.

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 to refuse to serve members of a protected class,? as noted in Justice Sotomayor?s dissent. It also invalidated the Biden administration?s student debt relief program. Meanwhile, there?s increasing concern about recent allegations of ethical improprieties of SCOTUS justices, like the luxury fishing trip, reported by ProPublica, that Justice Alito took back in 2008 with GOP billionaire Paul Singer, who later had at least 10 cases before the high court. There?s a lot to unpack and we?re excited to share our second crossover episode with the hosts of the Strict Scrutiny podcast, Chris? wife Kate Shaw, and her co-hosts Melissa Murray and Leah Litman. They join to discuss some of the most egregious actions from the super conservative majority of the Court, what?s at stake for American democracy and cases to look out for in the next term.

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 was convicted at 16 and was incarcerated for seven years. The group, known as the Central Park Five, maintained their innocence and they were exonerated in 2002 only after a convicted murderer and serial rapist confessed to the crimes. Salaam, who has since become known as one of the Exonerated Central Park Five, has turned his pain into purpose as an activist, criminal justice reform advocate and motivational speaker. He is the author of ?Better, Not Bitter: Living on Purpose in the Pursuit of Racial Justice? and his story has been told in numerous films and books. Salaam, who is now 49, launched a political campaign earlier this year and recently won the Democratic primary for a New York City Council seat in Harlem. He joins WITHpod to discuss his trajectory, being ?run over by the spike wheels of justice,? and why he got involved in politics.

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 understanding the answers to those questions is essential for making sense of the psychological, economic, political and social effects of cybercrime. Scott Shapiro is Southmayd Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy at Yale Law School. He is the author of a new book called, ?Fancy Bear Goes Phishing: The Dark History of the Information Age, in Five Extraordinary Hacks.? The book dives into five historical examples, one of which involves its namesake, Fancy Bear, a Russian cyberintelligence unit responsible for hacking the Democratic National Convention. Shapiro joins WITHpod to discuss some of the biggest inflection points in the history of hacking, why the internet is so vulnerable, the role that generative AI may place in future cybercrime and his thoughts on if we should really be concerned about cyberwar.

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 P. Murray Federal Building. It remains one of the deadliest acts of domestic terrorism in U.S. history. The motivations for the attack, its deleterious effects, and the longstanding impact on right-wing movements, including the January 6th insurrection, is the subject of ?Homegrown: Timothy McVeigh and the Rise of Right-Wing Extremism.? The book, written by journalist and lawyer Jeffrey Toobin, is based on nearly a million previously unreleased materials. Toobin joins WITHpod to discuss what often drives extremists, ominous parallels between McVeigh and more recent insurrectionists, the role of social media in the incitement of anti-government violence, and why the book is a ?warning for the future.?

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. What went wrong and what?s behind the downward trend? Our guests this week point out that drug overdoses, suicides and alcoholism have fueled an increase in what they term ?deaths of despair.? Anne Case is the Alexander Stewart 1886 Professor of Economics and Public Affairs, Emeritus at the Princeton University School of Public and International Affairs. Angus Deaton is a Nobel Prize Winner and Senior Scholar and the Dwight D. Eisenhower Professor of Economics and International Affairs Emeritus at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and the Economics Department. Together, they published their groundbreaking findings in 2015 and later co-authored ?Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism? in March of 2020. Case and Deaton join WITHpod to discuss what their findings reveal about capitalism and the U.S. healthcare system, education-related disparities in mortality, what might be done to reverse the surge in deaths and more.

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, he was a school teacher, union organizer and county commissioner. Johnson, who lives on the West Side, has experienced his share of some of the city?s biggest issues. But perhaps one of his biggest challenges still lies ahead: leading the city amidst the numerous inherited issues including growing public safety concerns, persistent disinvestment and a downtown that?s emptier than before the pandemic. Johnson joins WITHpod to discuss his trajectory, what he envisions for Chicago, how he plans to turn his proposals into results and more.

What exactly is inside that historic 37-count federal indictment against Donald Trump? MSNBC host Ali Velshi reads every word of the DOJ?s allegations against the former president, including a transcript of a conversation Trump allegedly had about a classified military document and texts between his employees.

If you have questions, you can leave us a voicemail at 917-342-2934 and maybe we?ll play it on the pod! You can also email us at [email protected]. 

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 and upheaval? Our guest this week points out that part of our recovery will require us embracing the unexpected and a more high-risk world. Felix Salmon is the chief financial correspondent at Axios and hosts the Slate Money podcast. Salmon is also author of ?The Phoenix Economy: Work, Life, and Money in the New Not Normal.? He joins WITHpod to discuss the potential of ?phoenixes emerging from the ashes? of this moment, the interconnectedness and impact of global climate change on volatility, why he says we should acclimate to increased unpredictability and more.

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 Americans juggling caring for young children and aging parents. Caregiving is often cast as nonproductive labor, despite the incredible mental, emotional and physical toll it can take. It?s increasingly clear that more resources are urgently needed to support caregivers. How can we rethink our social and economic policies to ensure that more people can age with dignity? Ai-jen Poo is president of the National Domestic Workers Alliance and executive director of Caring Across Generations. She is also author of the 2015 book ?The Age of Dignity: Preparing for the Elder Boom in a Changing America.? She joins WITHpod to discuss her personal experiences that led her to be an activist, the need for more infrastructure to support caring for aging populations, the care economy and more.

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 often hear about on the high court?s so-called merits docket only represent about one percent of what the court decides. Since the mid-2010s, 99 percent of SCOTUS rulings, including ones increasingly related to consequential issues like abortion, immigration and COVID restrictions, have taken place on what some legal scholars have taken to calling ?the shadow docket.? What does this obscure procedure mean for each of us? Steve Vladeck is the Charles Alan Wright Chair in Federal Courts at The University of Texas School of Law. He?s also author of a new book, ?The Shadow Docket: How the Supreme Court Uses Stealth Rulings to Amass Power and Undermine the Republic.? He joins WITHpod to discuss how we got to this moment, what the shadow docket means for the rule of law and strategies for ameliorating inconsistencies in the court?s process.

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 at one of America?s most popular gun companies. Busse is a former firearms executive at Kimber America and is author of ?Gunfight: My Battle Against the Industry that Radicalized America,? in which he talks about how America?s multibillion-dollar gun industry has profited from and fueled cultural divisions. He joins WITHpod to discuss how we got to this point, why he chose to leave the industry, what he observed behind closed doors at NRA meetings, how political division fuels extremism and what the failure to enact stricter legislation means for the future of our democracy.

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 spend billions of dollars a year on advertising. At the same time, there?s growing concern over the effect betting is having on our experience with sports, the lack of comprehensive federal regulation and its addictive potential.  Eric Lipton is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and New York Times investigative reporter. He?s spent years following the sports betting boom. Lipton joins WITHpod to discuss how we got to this moment where sports gambling ads are integrated into almost every sports broadcast, the role of lobbying in the explosion of online betting, how the space is policed and more.

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 that the Chinese-owned company be sold, or face a federal ban. Montana lawmakers have already passed legislation banning the platform on personal devices, sending the bill to the governor. A lot of questions remain about the feasibility of statewide and federal bans, and why, exactly, do U.S. policymakers view this platform, that started as a lip syncing app, as such a threat? Jacob Ward is the NBC News technology correspondent and is author of ?In The Loop: How Technology Is Creating a World Without Choices and How to Fight Back.? He joins WITHpod to discuss what?s driven the app?s exponential growth, the company?s lack of transparency in the past, the case for and against it, what could be ahead on the regulatory front and more.

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 became one of the most influential and wealthiest women in NYC during the 19th century, has been ?deliberately written out of history.? But learning about Restell?s story provides incredible insight into the longstanding and contemporary battles over abortion access in the U.S. Jennifer Wright is a journalist and author of ?Madame Restell: The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Old New York?s Most Fabulous, Fearless, and Infamous Abortionist.? Wright joins WITHpod to discuss Restell?s rise to prominence, the opposition Restell faced from anti-vice crusaders like Anthony Comstock, why she says the U.S. is ?heading back not only 50 years, but 150 years? and more.