Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

It was only a year ago that Los Angeles was devastated by some of the worst wildfires in recent recorded history. Jacob Soboroff is the Senior Political and National Reporter for MS NOW and the New York Times best-selling author of "Firestorm: The Great Los Angeles Fires and America’s New Age of Disaster.” He joins WITHpod to discuss his own personal connection and story with his childhood home burning down, the politics of rebuilding and more. Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads. You'll also get exclusive bonus content from this and other shows. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's been a little more than a week since the United States invaded Venezuela and abducted its president Nicolás Maduro. Trump has contended that Venezuela, which reportedly has the world’s largest known oil reserves, has "unilaterally seized and sold American oil." There's a lot to discuss about the geopolitical context and how it intersects with new energy developments. Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) is the creator of a new energy plan and joins Chris Hayes to talk about that plan, his reaction to Venezuela and more. Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads. You'll also get exclusive bonus content from this and other shows. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Listen to this special invitation from Rachel Maddow and sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to take advantage of a 3-month free trial! With MS NOW Premium, you can get our entire suite of podcasts – everything from “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” to “The Best People with Nicolle Wallace” – all ad-free. As a subscriber, you also get early access to select shows, plus exclusive bonus content – like a new episode of “Rachel Maddow Presents: Burn Order,” out Friday. Sign up right here, then search “Burn Order” to listen to that Premium episode. There’s a lot in store for 2026. So to celebrate the new year, we’re giving away 3 months free if you sign up by the end of January! It’s just $2.99/month or $29.99/year after that. Thanks for listening! Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads. You'll also get exclusive bonus content from this and other shows. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Autonomous vehicle technology and safety has changed drastically recently. Once thought of as a far off goal, we’re now at a point where self-driving cars have begun operating at quite a sophisticated and high level. But there's still a lot of work to be done before these vehicles become more mainstream. Tim Lee is a journalist and the founder of UnderstandingAI. He joins WITHpod to discuss advancements in autonomous tech, the impact on jobs, safety concerns and more. Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads. You'll also get exclusive bonus content from this and other shows. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Happy New Year! Given the holidays, we're re-sharing one of our most memorable conversations. You’ve probably come across content online that seems real but is actually fake. And that experience is becoming more common with the proliferation of AI generated content. Our guest this week points out that the mental gymnastics of this starts to take a toll. Jia Tolentino, a staff writer at The New Yorker, wrote a piece all about this aptly titled, “My Brain Finally Broke.” She joins WITHpod to discuss how AI is changing our perception of the world, how online content can make us more likely to detach from reality and more. Note: this episode was recorded on 6/11/25. Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads. You'll also get exclusive bonus content from this and other shows. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We’re approaching the fourth anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2026. There’s been a few inflection points recently, including talks of a peace deal amidst the gruesome conflict. Tim Mak is a journalist and the founder of The Counteroffensive, which covers the war in Ukraine from a human interest perspective. He joins WITHpod to discuss what life has been like for him living in Kyiv, what he sees as a possible way forward politically and more. Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads. You'll also get exclusive bonus content from this and other shows. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Saudi Arabia has executed more than 335 people this year, according to a tally by international news agency AFP. It’s something that hasn’t gotten much coverage in the U.S. What’s behind this killing spree? Ebtihal Mubarak is a journalist from Saudi Arabia, who now lives in the U.S. She joins WITHpod to discuss what’s been driving this trend, relations with the U.S., the role that Saudi Arabia’s entertainment industry plays in perceptions of the country and more. Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads. You'll also get exclusive bonus content from this and other shows. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Political violence has become an increasingly urgent issue in Trump 2.0. Elected officials continue to grapple with What’s driving this and why does it flummox officials from both parties so much? That’s the subject of a recent piece, “In The Line of Fire,” written by Benjamin Wallace-Wells, a staff writer at The New Yorker. He joins WITHpod to discuss the marked rise of political violence in the U.S., what it means and how we might envision a less bleak future. Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads. You'll also get exclusive bonus content from this and other shows. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Senator Chuck Schumer posted this week in part, “Trump’s only principles are hypocrisy and corruption. Bombing unmarked boats in the Caribbean one day, pardoning notorious drug traffickers the next.” How can such high levels of corruption happen and what has led us to this point? Journalist and author David Sirota points out that the staggering levels of corruption that we’re seeing within U.S. politics right now is the result of a decades long agenda to essentially make anti-bribery laws unenforceable. Sirota is a co-author of “Master Plan: The Hidden Plot To Legalize Corruption In America” and the founder and editor-in-chief of The Lever. He joins WITHpod to discuss historical parallels to the present moment, corruption being normalized and more. Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads. You'll also get exclusive bonus content from this and other shows. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Rachel Maddow’s new series lays bare one of the most shocking decisions in American history. It’s story that reveals how an executive order authorizing the mass roundup of innocent Japanese Americans came to be, the powerful players who engineered it, and the burn order that tried to erase it from history. Stay right here to listen to a special preview of “Rachel Maddow Presents: Burn Order.” And for the full episode, search for “Burn Order” and follow the show. Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads. You'll also get exclusive bonus content from this and other shows. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Well, the government shutdown is over, but if you ask most Democrats about the unresolved challenge that the shutdown was about, the answer would be healthcare. This week the White House postponed its planned rollout of a new proposal to address health care costs. And with open enrollment season upon us, millions of Americans are already seeing higher health insurance costs as subsidies are set to expire. Jonathan Cohn is a senior national correspondent at The Bulwark and the author of “Sick: The Untold Story of America's Health Care Crisis— and the People Who Pay the Price” and “The Ten Year War: Obamacare and the Unfinished Crusade for Universal Coverage.” He joins WITHpod to discuss what’s driving higher prices, biggest inflection points since the Affordable Care Act was passed and what he sees as the most viable next steps. Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads. You'll also get exclusive bonus content from this and other shows. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

"Rachel Maddow Presents: Burn Order" is the story of one of the most shocking decisions in American history: the executive order to target and round up innocent citizens, Japanese Americans, at the outbreak of World War II. This six-episode narrative podcast will examine and shed new light on how that policy came to be, who was behind it, who attempted to stop it, and the heroism needed to end the policy for good. Listen to the trailer here and search for “Burn Order” to follow the show. The first two episodes drop December 1st. Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads. You'll also get exclusive bonus content from this and other shows. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Since earlier this summer, we’ve seen a massive deployment of federal agents deployed for the purposes of aggressive- and often violent- immigration enforcement. And what happened in Los Angeles has represented a turning point of sorts for the U.S. Memo Torres is a multimedia journalist and the director of engagement at LA TACO. He joins WITHpod to discuss immigration raids consistently ramping up in Los Angeles and beyond, the impact of civilian intervention, how enforcement strategy has changed and more. This conversation was recorded on November 12th, 2025. Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads. You'll also get exclusive bonus content from this and other shows. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The U.S. has carried out multiple strikes on boats in the Caribbean off of Venezuela, killing dozens of people. And yet there’s very little legal rationale for the military action we’ve seen. Benjamin Gedan is a senior fellow and director of the Latin America Program at the Stimson Center and Adjunct Lecturer and Fellow at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He also served as the South America director on the National Security Council staff in the Obama administration. Gedan joins WITHpod to discuss the U.S.’ relationship with Venezuela, thoughts on regime changes, military pressure ratcheting up and more. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The UN has warned of an alarming rise in violence and restrictions by Israeli settlers and security forces in the West Bank. American journalist Jasper Nathaniel has spent time in the region and captured a recent brutal attack on a Palestinian woman- one incident among a growing number of violent acts. He joins WITHpod to discuss key inflection points, his thoughts on formal annexation, observations of the response from Israel Defense Forces troops and more. We should note that the Israel Defense Forces has released a statement that addresses the ambush Jasper Nathaniel recounts, saying the confrontation was dispersed after its forces arrived, and that it "strongly condemns any form of violence" by settlers. This conversation was recorded on October 29th, 2025. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We’ve seen a growing political and ideological divide between urban and rural populations in America. What has happened in Urbana, Ohio is a case study in how politics can shake a town to its core. Beth Macy is the author of “Paper Girl: A Memoir of Home and Family in a Fractured America.” She joins WITHpod to discuss how Urbana has changed from the time she grew up there, themes that connect other rural American cities, thoughts on having civil discussions despite political differences, the nationalization of politics and more. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Cars play such a big part in contemporary life. But why? And to what effect? Our guests this week point out that it's an incredible moment to rethink our relationship to cars. Sarah Goodyear and Doug Gordon are the co-hosts of the “War on Cars” podcast and the authors, along with Aaron Naparstek, of “Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile.” They join WITHpod to discuss the politics of cars, the impact cars have on children, the planet and more. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jen Psaki is on a mission to show us how the Democratic party can use this political moment to fight and win again. On Season 2 of her podcast, “The Blueprint,” she interviews the people reshaping the party, starting with Texas Congressman Greg Casar, Chair of the Progressive Caucus. The first two episodes of “The Blueprint with Jen Psaki” are available now, and will continue to drop every Wednesday, from now through mid-November. Stay right here to listen to a special preview. And for the full episode, search for “The Blueprint with Jen Psaki” and follow the show. Plus, subscribe to MSNBC Premium on Apple Podcasts for ad-free listening. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On October 8, 2025, President Trump deployed the Texas National Guard to the Chicago area – marking yet another instance of military force being used domestically under his leadership. This follows earlier deployments of federal troops to states like California and Oregon. These actions point to a deeply troubling pattern: the use of U.S. military forces – trained to defend the nation from foreign threats – against its own citizens. Mary McCord, Executive Director of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection and a Visiting Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center, joins WITHpod to discuss the legal and ethical implications of this alarming trend – and what it means for democracy. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Democrats are looking to regain power, and there is a whole lot of warranted debate about what a winning formula looks like. “The Blueprint with Jen Psaki” is a forum where those discussions take place. On season two of her podcast, Jen sits down with some of the biggest names on the left side of the political spectrum to talk about confronting Trump 2.0 and how the Democratic party can shape the future they’d like to see. New episodes drop October 15th. Search for “The Blueprint with Jen Psaki” to follow the show. And subscribe to MSNBC Premium on Apple Podcasts for ad-free listening. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.