Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

Since the U.S. withdrew its final troop from Afghanistan last summer, U.S. coverage of the country has also precipitously declined, even as the country faces a dire humanitarian emergency. So we thought it was time to do a gut check with one of the most prolific reporters on the topic. Award-winning journalist and author of “No Good Men Among The Living,” Anand Gopal, has covered global conflict and the Middle East for more than a decade. In 2021, his reporting took him to Helmand Province, the epicenter of conflict in the war-torn country. His experience there led him to write “The Other Afghan Women,” one of the most comprehensive reports about the plight of women in the countryside. Gopal’s work has appeared in outlets including The New York Times, The Atlantic, Harpers and in The New Yorker, where he currently covers war, revolution and democracy. He joins to discuss his latest experience on the ground, the Taliban’s rapid rise to power, how and where the war on terror continues to be waged and the long-term prospects for the Afghan people under Taliban rule.

Smedley Butler was one of the most decorated warfighters in history. From an early age, “The Fighting Quaker” played a pivotal role in America’s path to global power. Yet in retirement, Butler turned into a warrior against war, imperialism and big business, declaring that he was a “racketeer for capitalism." Award-winning author Jonathan Katz writes about his life in a new book, “Gangsters of Capitalism: Smedley Butler, the Marines, and the Making and Breaking of America's Empire.” Katz joins to discuss efforts throughout history to establish a fascist dictatorship, parallels between the January 6th insurrection and an attempted coup in 1934 and the role of globalism in capitalism.

Time for our mailbag! Join as Chris and producers Tiffany Champion and Doni Holloway answer your questions and talk about what’s new on the pod. Chris also discusses which interview in 2021 stuck with him the most. And we share an exciting WITHpod milestone that we need your help to celebrate!

Late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg once said, “it’s hard not to have a big year at the Supreme Court.” With that in mind, we thought it would be good to do a gut check as 2022 promises to be one of the most important years in the Court’s history. We like doing new things here at WITHpod, so we’re excited to share our first crossover episode with the hosts of The Strict Scrutiny podcast, Chris’ wife Kate Shaw, and her co-hosts Melissa Murray, and Leah Litman. Between the possibility of Roe v. Wade being overturned, historic potential rulings on voting and gun rights, and more contentious political battles, the year ahead will certainly be one for the books.

Congressman Jamie Raskin’s life was forever changed on Dec. 31, 2020 when his 25-year-old son Tommy died by suicide. Raskin writes about the loss of his beloved middle child in “Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy,” a deeply personal memoir out January 2022. Nearly a week after losing his son, another tragedy occurred: the Jan. 6th insurrection at the Capitol. Shortly after, he writes, Speaker Pelosi “threw [him] a lifeline” when she asked him to lead the second impeachment of former president Donald Trump. Raskin joins to discuss navigating the unimaginable convergence of personal and public trauma, finding the strength to lead following double blows and what’s ahead in the aftermath of modern democracy’s darkest day. Note: This episode contains mentions of suicide. Anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress can contact The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 24/7 at 1-800-273-8255.

It’s a special edition of our podcast: our first crossover episode with All In with Chris Hayes, which airs at 8pm weekdays on MSNBC. We’re sharing two full conversations, portions of which aired on All In, with two people at the forefront of one of the most important stories of the moment: the fight to save our democracy. Lucky for us, Bart Gellman, a correspondent for The Atlantic, and Sherrilyn Ifill, head of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, joined to walk through this very pivotal moment in our nation’s history and how we can move forward amidst immense distrust, uncertainty and dwindling morale.

Fitness guru, writer and self-described “Swole Woman” Casey Johnston has written, “a lot of health content is focused on blowing smoke up you’re a** about jade eggs and vitamins and toxin-dispersing cellulite-curing silver-thread leggings.” But why? What makes lifting and working out seem so complicated? We’re constantly bombarded with get-fit-quick marketing perpetuated by “bros” who got fit overnight, but achieving real gains often just requires an incremental, consistent and methodical approach. Casey joins for an enlightening conversation about building strength, maintaining form and to answer the age-old debate: are machines or weights better?

Non Fungible Tokens, known as NFTs, are the hottest craze in the cryptocurrency world. But what are they? With a multibillion-dollar market cap, why do people pay hundreds of thousands of dollars, and in some cases, millions for digitally stored avatars, pictures, art, GIFs, tokens (and the list goes on)? Kevin Roose covers NFTs, crypto, AI and social media as a columnist for The New York Times. In 2021, a PNG of his NYT column sold for over $500,000. He joins to discuss the value proposition of blockchain-based assets, the role of scarcity and speculation in determining value and the future of cryptographic assets in a metaverse focused future.

Statistics plays a role in virtually every facet of our lives. And throughout the pandemic, we’ve heard more stats than ever before, whether through headlines about Covid infection rates or vaccine effectiveness. But how are these figures calculated? How do we know when data is manipulated for nefarious reasons, and when it represents some true thing out there in the world? Lucky for us, Harvard Phd student Kareem Carr joined WITHpod for a heady conversation to break that and more down. Earlier in 2021, he shook up Twitter with a post about 2+2 equaling five, a thread aimed at provoking some meditations on the nature of mathematical truth. He joins to discuss that, the importance of neutral AI algorithms, why statistics are anti-racist and why it’s essential to have a healthy level of skepticism of numbers. Sidenote: we’re approaching our holiday WITHpod Mailbag. Email us at withpod@gmail.com to share what you love about the podcast and what’s on your mind.

Hank Green has been on the leading edge of online content creation for more than a decade. He and his brother John created VidCon, the world’s largest video conference and have steadily built a wildly popular online community. You may know Hank as the host of science Crash Course videos, for his Vlogbrothers series, or his numerous other YouTube channels. We couldn’t think of a better person to help us understand where we’ve been, where we are, and where the future of online content is going. He joined to discuss the growing popularity of platforms like TikTok, using the internet to do good and how monetization has evolved in an increasingly more competitive space. He also answers questions from WITHpod listeners Casey, Jake and Dan. And Chris has a special shoutout at the end for Asher, who has listened to 45 WITHpod episodes, totaling 2,495 minutes, this year.