Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

What was it like to be in the room for some of the most consequential foreign policy decisions of the Obama administration? Samantha Power started as an outsider, a war correspondent who became a voice of moral witness about the failings of the American government. That voice earned her a job in the cabinet of President Barack Obama, helping shape the foreign policy she was once a harsh critic of. Both as a member of the National Security Council, and later as Ambassador to the UN, she had the challenge of addressing her own criticisms within the confines of the job. Now, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author joins to give a rare glimpse into the experience of navigating those halls of power. RELATED READING: The Education of an Idealist by Samantha Power "A Problem From Hell" by Samantha Power

How do you know when it’s time to ask for help? For former Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander, the moment came just as his political star was rising. October of 2018, in the final stages of what looked like a successful mayoral bid, and while part of conversations about potential 2020 contenders, Kander stepped back. “After 11 years of trying to outrun depression and PTSD symptoms, I have finally concluded that it’s faster than me,” he wrote. “That I have to stop running, turn around, and confront it.” Now, nearly a year later, he joins to talk about what brought him to that point. He walks through his deployment and the lasting impact of living in mortal danger, how he used running for office as a coping mechanism, and the life changing power of therapy.  WARNING: This episode discusses suicidal ideation. National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 1-800-273-8255 RELATED: Veterans Community Project VA Mental Health Resources Outside the Wire by Jason Kander Let America Vote Jason Kander’s Campaign Ad for Background Checks

The Trump administration wants to legalize transgender discrimination in the workplace. This week’s conversation breaks down how we reached this point. From the ways our social system constructs and uses gender, to the law and its limitations, to the political struggles within the LGBTQ community, Chase Strangio discusses many of the complex factors at play in the fight for transgender rights. A lawyer at the ACLU and a trans man himself, Strangio has been at the epicenter of the extremely high stakes battle for transgender people to receive equaity and recognition. Right now, he is part of the legal team preparing to challenge the Trump administration before the Supreme Court, representing a woman fired for being trans. RELATED READING: Sexing the Body By Anne Fausto-Sterling Trump's fight to make transgender discrimination legal may make all sex discrimination legal again by Chase Strangio YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: “Futureface” with Alex Wagner The Personal is Political with Brittney Cooper Rethinking Identity with Kwame Anthony Appiah LIVE WITHpod: https://festival.texastribune.org/

Why is it so expensive to go to college? Going to a four-year university and getting a bachelor’s degree is considered the most direct path to the middle class. At the same time, families in the middle class are forced to take extreme and desperate measures to pay for soaring school fees. It’s a broken system that’s taken its toll – we now have more college debt in this country than auto loan or credit card debt. So why is the barrier into the middle class so inaccessible? Caitlin Zaloom, author of "Indebted", tells the stories of families struggling with the financial pressures that come with trying to fund a college education. In this episode, she discusses the psychic toll of this fundamental paradox, both for those who go to college and those who don’t. RELATED READING: Indebted: How Families Make College Work at Any Cost by Caitlin Zaloom Lower Ed: The Troubling Rise of For-Profit Colleges in the New Economy by Tressie McMillan Cottom Twilight of the Elites: America After Meritocracy by Chris Hayes YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: Thick Descriptions with Tressie McMillan Cottom (Feb 6)

What does it mean to apply for asylum? This is the story of one man, Luis Mancheno, and the events that unfolded in his home country of Ecuador that led him to seek refuge in the United States. His journey is heartbreaking and harrowing and powerful – and best heard in his own words.  RELATED: “Refugee, Immigrant and Citizen” (The New York Times, 2017) Follow Luis Mancheno here

Law professor Katie Porter never considered running for office. She worked under then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris and had Sen. Elizabeth Warren as a professor and mentor, but the idea of holding office herself was never even on the drawing board. That all changed election night 2016. Two years later Katie Porter flips California’s 45th district, delivering a Democratic victory that helped fuel the blue wave of 2018. Now the freshman Congresswoman is known for her signature ability to grill witnesses in congressional hearings. Let’s put it this way - it takes a LOT for a hearing to produce a viral video and yet, Rep. Porter has had her fair share. Hear her talk about the moment she decided to run, how she is using her office to stand up to special interests, and what convinced her to come out in favor of an impeachment inquiry. RELATED: WATCH Rep. Porter Calls out Equifax CEO WATCH Rep. Porter questions CFPB Director on what an APR is YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: From Red to Blue with Rep. Max Rose (July 25)

Migration is central to the human experience. For as long as we’ve been around, people have been moving from one place to another. Though it’s never been easier to get from point A to point B, the inequality between those places could be as great as they’ve ever been. We’re now on the front edge of a climate crisis, launching the greatest period of human migration that will ever have happened on the planet. The backdrop of this great migration, however, is a political landscape marred by virulent reactionary movements against immigrants. So how do you reconcile this vitriol with the impending climate refugee crisis? Suketu Mehta immigrated to this country as a teenager. Now, he’s written a manifesto about his vision of America and what it means for the country to be welcoming to the stranger. It’s a book he says he felt compelled to write after seeing how Donald Trump stands as a threat to that vision. RELATED READING: This Land Is Our Land: An Immigrant's Manifesto Maximum City 

Last week the Governor of Puerto Rico resigned after hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in two weeks of sustained protest. Leaked inappropriate texts between Gov. Ricardo Rosselló and his inner circle provided the spark, but corruption and deeper frustrations on the U.S territory kindled the fury of citizens into mass mobilization. This week journalist Julio Ricardo Varela explains the political history and dynamics of Puerto Rico and what pushed people to take to the streets and demand a change in leadership.  RELATED READING “Politicians think Puerto Ricans are dumb. But we know the debt crisis is their doing” by Julio Ricardo Varela   "At Puerto Rico protests, Ricky Martin and Bad Bunny joined the 'Rick renuncia' fight. Here's why." by Julio Ricardo Varela YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE  Destruction in Puerto Rico with Naomi Klein (June 19, 2018) 

Gov. Jay Inslee is running a presidential campaign unlike any other. The Washington governor is basing his run on the fundamental organizing premise that the climate crisis is more important than anything else. It’s a unique strategy that comes at a time when more and more people are recognizing the urgency of the climate crisis. But while climate is moving up on the list of issues voters care about, Gov. Inslee is making the case that it’s not just ‘an issue – it’s ‘the issue’. RELATED READING Apollo’s Fire: Igniting America's Clean Energy Economy by Gov. Jay Inslee Freedom’s Forge by Arthur Herman Decision Makers YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE The Uninhabitable Earth with David Wallace-Wells (March 5) The Wicked Problem of Climate Change with Andrew Revkin (Aug 14, 2018)

How do you build a movement? How do you connect people across race and religion and identity in order to create a united coalition? This is the work of Rev. Dr. William Barber II, one of the best and most important political voices in America right now. He has dedicated his life to the fight against systemic racism and poverty, and is known for his ability to organize diverse coalitions around every manner of social justice issues. He’s an incredible figure in movement building politics, particularly in the South, who is doing the tireless work of stitching together a multiracial democracy. RELATED READING The Third Reconstruction by Rev. Dr. William Barber II Revive Us Again by Rev. Dr. William Barber II Repairers of the Breach Poor People's Campaign REPORT: The Souls of Poor Folk YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE Organizing in Trump Country with George Goehl (Jan 8) Building a Progressive Majority with Dorian Warren (March 19)