‘How the Powerful Took Over Identity Politics’ with Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò

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How Democratic Backsliding Happens with Steve Levitsky: We’re in strange times. In the U.S., we’re finding ourselves in a situation in which the possibility of genuine democratic retrenchment and some version of presidential authoritarian dictatorship is a real possibility. There’s a lot to consider as the liberal democracy we’ve become accustomed to could erode right before our eyes in the near future. Steve Levitsky is a professor of government at Harvard and serves as the director of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies. Levitsky is also a New York Times bestselling author of numerous books including, “How Democracies Die” and “Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point,” which he co-authored with Daniel Ziblatt. He joins WITHpod to discuss entering into a new era, the uncertainty of this moment, the process by which a democracy might backslide into something that's less democratic and resisting the erosion. by Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

52 min listen

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Chris is the guest this week!: There’s a lot to consider about what Trump 2.0 portends for the future of our country, lives and democracy. A lot of questions remain. And perhaps maybe now more than ever, it’s all been keeping Chris up really late at night, like so many of you. Chris and WITHpod producer Doni Holloway unpack post-election thoughts and discuss moving forward. by Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

57 min listen

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Conservatism in the Trump 2.0 Years with McKay Coppins: It’s a given that any political party is going to have ideological factions around different issues. But what happens when the ostensible leader of a party has no real ideology? It’s a big question to consider in the wake of Donald Trump’s re-election. Our guest this week has followed the inherent tensions, fissures and changes within the Republican Party. McKay Coppins is a staff writer at The Atlantic, an MSNBC contributor, and New York Times bestselling author of “Romney: A Reckoning.” He joins WITHpod to discuss his view of what conservatism is now at an ideological level, the rife contradictions amongst conservatives in this moment and what the Trump 2.0 years could mean for growing party incoherence. by Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

55 min listen

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The Role of the Press in This Moment with Matt Pearce: The information environment is rapidly changing. And with more media sources at our disposal than ever before, we’re constantly navigating between online and IRL, or in real life spaces. How does that affect our understanding of the world around us, particularly in this unprecedented moment? Our guest this week has spent a lot of time thinking and writing about this. Matt Pearce is a journalist and serves as the president of Media Guild of the West, which represents unionized journalists in Southern California, Arizona and Texas. Pearce is also a former reporter for the Los Angeles Times and writes own Substack, which you can find at mattdpearce.substack.com. He joins WITHpod to discuss what’s happened to the press, its role post the 2024 election and more. by Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

56 min listen

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Where Do We Go From Here? with Anna Galland: Whew, the past few days have been a lot. Like you probably, Chris hasn’t slept much this past week. There’s a lot to process given that Donald Trump is now president-elect… again. Our guest this week, who has worked as an organizer throughout numerous political ups and downs, points out that we “must not neglect the work of standing up right now to fight back.” Anna Galland is the former executive director of MoveOn Civic Action from 2012 to 2019. She now works with a range of national pro-democracy organizations, coalitions, and leaders. Galland also teaches about democracy renewal & social movements at Northwestern University. She joins WITHpod to help us take stock of this moment, what the progressive movement can do right now, reasons for hope (we could use it, right?) and more. by Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

59 min listen

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“Polarized by Degrees” with Matt Grossmann and Dave Hopkins: A lot of things will really change over the course of this week, no matter the election outcome. And with that, we were thinking it would be good to share a conversation that would be illuminating regardless of what happens. Over the past few decades, American society has experienced seismic changes. One of the trends we have seen is a rightward shift towards the Republican Party among voters without a four-year college degree and a pro democratic center-left shift of voters who have a four-year college degree. There’s a lot to unpack about what has animated these changes. Matt Grossmann is the director of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research and a professor of political science at Michigan State University. Dave Hopkins is a political scientist at Boston College. Grossmann and Hopkins are the co-authors of “Polarized by Degrees: How the Diploma Divide and the Culture War Transformed American Politics.” They jo by Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

56 min listen

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Talking Harris, Hawaii and More with Senator Brian Schatz: Senator Brian Schatz joins WITHpod to discuss Vice President Harris, affordable housing concerns in the Aloha state, effects of climate change in his home state, his favorite part of the job, why he says Trump could be vanquished and more. by Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

49 min listen

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The Rise of The Latino Far Right with Paola Ramos: Journalist and author Paola Ramos joins WITHpod to discuss forces spearheading Latino support of far-right politics, the effects of radicalization and more. by Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

55 min listen

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Harris’ Media Blitz and Strategy with Symone Sanders-Townsend: Symone Sanders-Townsend joins WITHpod to discuss how campaign political media strategy is crafted and her experience working closely with VP Harris. by Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

54 min listen

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Listen to “Kamala: Next in Line”: Reintroducing “Kamala: Next in Line,” a podcast on the stories that shaped the life and politics of Vice President Kamala Harris. by Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

10 min listen

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Reflecting on October 7th with Amir Tibon: It’s been one year since the devastating October 7th attacks by Hamas into Israel. It’s a truly awful anniversary to observe for numerous reasons. In the past year, there’s been immeasurable horror, violence, destruction and death. It is estimated that at least 40,000 people have died in Gaza and there are still over a hundred hostages. Our guest this week survived the attacks on October 7th and the chaos that ensued. Amir Tibon is an Israeli journalist working for Haaretz Newspaper and is the author of a newly published book titled "The Gates of Gaza: A Story of Betrayal, Survival, and Hope in Israel's Borderlands.” He joins WITHpod to discuss what has transpired over the last year, internal politics in Gaza now, the U.S. response and what he hopes will happen in the future. by Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

58 min listen

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Crafting a Bipartisan Miracle with Chris Murphy: Comprehensive border and immigration reform has eluded policymakers in the U.S. for decades. As global turmoil and conflict grows, questions and concerns still remain about the economic, security, and humanitarian justification and rationale for immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees seeking entry into the U.S. Vitriolic rhetoric, which has largely impeded meaningful progress, has only intensified in the months leading up to one of the most consequential elections in history. In the midst of all of this, somewhat of a miracle has materialized: bipartisan collaboration. Our guest this week served as the chief negotiator of a border bill that was negotiated between Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans. Democratic Senator Chris Murphy is the junior U.S. Senator for Connecticut and is a member of the Foreign Relations Committee. He joins WITHpod to discuss what has historically hindered a significant revamp of American immigration policy by Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

56 min listen

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The Coalition of the Weird with Dave Weigel by Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

57 min listen

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The Threat of Project 2025 on Climate: A look at how Project 2025 could impact the future of our climate, presented in collaboration with MSNBC’s How to Win podcast. by Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

44 min listen

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MSNBC Live: Democracy 2024: We’re thrilled to share a mashup of our MSNBC Live: Democracy 2024 event that we recently held at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Enjoy key conversations from this first of its kind in-person, interactive experience. by Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

107 min listen

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Building a New South with Anderson Clayton: North Carolina is one of the most interesting swing states in this election. Democrats have not won the Tar Heel state at the presidential level since 2008 when Barack Obama won it. It was a close race in 2020 and recent polling has shown Harris and Trump neck and neck in the state. There’s a lot to unpack about what’s going on. Anderson Clayton is the chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party. Elected at 25 years old, she is the youngest chair of a state Democratic Party in the U.S. Clayton joins WITHpod to discuss her political trajectory, the state of North Carolina politics, key issues including gerrymandering, her experience at the DNC and more. by Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

44 min listen

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The Biden Miracle with Jay Turner: During this year’s DNC, President Biden reflected on numerous accomplishments and discussed his track record. One of the signature pieces of legislation of the Biden presidency, and of Democrats in this era, is the Inflation Reduction Act, also known as the IRA. This August marked the 2-year anniversary of the landmark federal law. Our guest this week teamed up with his students to track the cumulative effects of the implementation of the IRA. Jay Turner is the Wiliam R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Environmental Studies at Wellesley College. He’s also a historian, author on U.S. environmental politics and wrote “Charged: A History of Batteries and Lessons for a Clean Energy Future.” He joins WITHpod to discuss progress made, developments in batteries and electric energy sources, possible paths forward to reach ambitious goals and more. by Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

57 min listen

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Recapping an Electric DNC with Alex Wagner: The Democratic national convention was a whole vibe this year. History was made during the electric four-day convention, which culminated with Vice President Harris accepting the Democratic Party’s nomination, the first black woman and person of South Asian decent to do so. Lucky for us, our own Alex Wagner, host of “Alex Wagner Tonight” on MSNBC, joined us fresh off her flight from Chicago to unpack what the “whirlwind” experience was like. Wagner also discusses the people who were there and what they mean for the party, areas of possible trouble or friction ahead that may not have been evident on TV and more. by Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

46 min listen

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What Would a Fair Society Look Like? with Daniel Chandler: Could the answer to building a more just society lie in 50-year-old ideas? Our guest this week points to the ideas of John Rawls, one of the greatest political philosophers, as a blueprint of sorts for building a more equitable society. Daniel Chandler is the research director of the Programme on Cohesive Capitalism at the London School of Economics. He’s also an economist, philosopher and author of “Free and Equal: A Manifesto for a Just Society.” He joins WITHpod to discuss how we might overcome some of the most devastating and escalating present day crises, what adopting Rawls’ liberal political framework could look like and more. by Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

51 min listen

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The Rise of Kamala Harris with Heather McGhee: Chris just got back from vacation. It just so happened that he was way during one of the most remarkable periods in American presidential political history. There’s a lot to unpack with our guest this week. Heather McGhee is a New York Times bestselling author of “The Sum of Us” and the board chair at Color of Change, the nation’s largest online racial justice group. She joins WITHpod to discuss the most seismic recent political developments, vibes within the Democratic Party and more. by Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

48 min listen

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Book Bans with Dave Eggers: We’ve seen a wave of campaigns in school districts and municipalities across the country to ban literary works over the past few years. One instance of this is the subject of MSNBC Films’ "To Be Destroyed," the latest installment of "The Turning Point" documentary series from Executive Producer Trevor Noah. The feature documentary explores a South Dakota community's fight against book banning after five books – including one by best-selling author Dave Eggers – were pulled from the shelves. Eggers joins WITHpod to discuss how he views his role as a writer in this era, the efforts to ban books, why and where they’re happening and the reactionary moment that we’re in. by Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

49 min listen

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“When the Clock Broke” with John Ganz: There’s a lot of unprecedented things going on nowadays. And with everything going on, it can be tempting to distort the moment we’re in and to view things as totally new and completely abrupt. Our guest this week has written about the source of historical continuity, particularly in the 1990s, that has brought us to our current moment. by Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

57 min listen

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“The Big Dig” with Ian Coss: Why does it seem so hard to build big things nowadays? Our guest this week points out that no one project embodies that cynicism quite like Boston’s Big Dig. Boston’s Central Artery/Tunnel Project, commonly known as the Big Dig, was the most complex and technically challenging highway project in American history. Ian Coss is host and creator of “The Big Dig” podcast, produced by GBH, which unpacks why the endeavor was so difficult and what it represented more broadly about ambitious efforts like it. He joins WITHpod to discuss lessons learned from the project, his storytelling process and why big infrastructure projects so often fail. by Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

55 min listen

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What’s Next for Biden? with Jamelle Bouie: The Democratic Party coalition is a complicated one to say the least. A growing number of Democrats have called on President Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential election in recent weeks. Those encouraging him to step aside have cited concerns about his fitness for office and ability to win reelection. Our guest this week points out that he doesn’t think “any 84-year-old would be appropriate” to serve as president. Jamelle Bouie is a New York Times opinion columnist and is a co-host of the Unclear and Present Danger podcast. He joins WITHpod to discuss the lack of mechanisms to force an incumbent president to withdraw from the race, the mostly unprecedented set of circumstances surrounding all of this, the case for and against Vice President Kamala Harris as a replacement Democratic nominee. Note that this conversation was recorded on Friday, July 12th before the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a campai by Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

53 min listen

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SCOTUS Doing Its Worst - Strict Scrutiny Crossover: Another year, another pretty wild Supreme Court term. SCOTUS recently ended its term with a number of big decisions including ruling that former president Donald Trump is immune from prosecution for his “official acts” in office. And it also overturned the Chevron doctrine, reversing a 40-year-old precedent that afforded federal agencies a degree of discretion in interpreting ambiguous laws. As always, there’s a lot to unpack and we’re excited to share our third 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 alarming actions from the super conservative majority of the Court, attacks on government agencies and more. by Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

63 min listen

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The End of Libraries as We Know Them? with Brewster Kahle and Kyle Courtney: Could the future of libraries as we’ve known them be completely different? Our guests this week say so. Megapublishers are suing the Internet Archive, perhaps best known for its Wayback Machine, to redefine e-books as legally different from paper books. A difference in how they are classified would mean sweeping changes for the way libraries operate. Brewster Kahle is a digital librarian at the Internet Archive. Kyle Courtney is a lawyer, librarian, director of copyright and information policy for Harvard Library. He's the co-founder of Library Futures, which aims to empower the digital future for America's libraries. They join to discuss what’s animating the lawsuit, information as a public good and the consequences should the publishers ultimately prevail. by Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

58 min listen

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WTH is Project 2025? with Thomas Zimmer by Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

61 min listen

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Criminal Justice, Faith and Politics with Rep. Jasmine Crockett: Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett is one of the most interesting figures in Congress. You may have been introduced to her in recent weeks following a House committee during which Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene insulted her appearance. The verbal spat between the two took the internet by storm and became a viral moment. But that exchange, and her clapback, is only one part of her story as a rising star within the Democratic Party. She joins WITHpod to discuss the impetus for her political work, how her faith keeps her grounded in the often vitriolic world of politics, serving as a criminal justice advocate and more. by Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

55 min listen

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The Stakes for Antitrust with Timothy Wu: We’re sharing another 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. We couldn’t think of a better person than our guest this week to help unpack the two candidates’ stances on antitrust. Timothy Wu is the Julius Silver professor of law, science and technology at Columbia University. He’s known as the "architect" of the Biden administration's competition and antitrust policies. Wu joins WITHpod to discuss Trump and Biden’s different views on corporate power, the current antitrust landscape, major mergers being challenged this year and more. by Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

45 min listen

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‘How the Powerful Took Over Identity Politics’ with Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò

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