Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

What is the most devastating impact Donald Trump has had on the highest office? His lies and rhetoric and bigotry have all had a poisonous effect on our national discourse. But when it comes to his destruction of norms, those are only the ones most visible to the public. What about the destruction of norms going on behind the scenes, disrupting the most critical work necessary for running the federal government? Michael Lewis, the prolific author of "The Big Short", "Moneyball", and many more, turned his attention to the engine rooms of government in the aftermath of President Trump's election. His latest book, "The Fifth Risk", chronicles not only the crippling of federal agencies under the Trump administration, but also the dedicated and tireless work of civil servants who show up every day, no matter what Hear more from Michael Lewis on his new podcast, Against the Rules with Michael Lewis RELATED: The Fifth Risk Medicare for All with Abdul El-Sayed Back to the Future of Transportation with Aaron Gordon Social Infrastructure Week with Eric Klinenberg

Did you know there are roughly one million people currently held in internment camps in China? One million people detained against their will, facing no criminal charges, cut off from the outside world. This is the story of the Uyghurs, a small insulated ethnic minority in Western China. The predominantly Muslim group has faced growing levels of Islamophobia and paranoia from the Chinese government. Right now, roughly ten percent of the Uyghur population has been ‘disappeared’, held indefinitely in re-education camps where they are subjected to totalitarian indoctrination in an attempt to erase their identity, their language, their religion and their culture. Rian Thum, who has spent his career studying the Uyghurs, joins us to explain everything we know about the camps and how they came to be – including the prison-like surveillance state that Uyghurs outside of the camps are forced to live in. LINKS The Sacred Routes of Uyghur History by Rian Thum How China Turned a City Into a Prison “Eradicating Ideological Viruses”: China’s Campaign of Repression Against Xinjiang’s Muslims

If you trace the prescription opioid epidemic that is gripping the country to its source, you will find yourself at the feet of the Sackler family. Patrick Radden Keefe is back in a special bonus episode to discuss the newest revelations about the origins of America's OxyContin addiction and the lengths the Sackler’s went to build their empire of pain. RELATED READING: The Family That Built an Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe Dreamland by Sam Quinones And don't miss Patrick's original episode: The Ghosts of a Dirty War with Patrick Radden Keefe

No war can last forever, and when peace comes, those who lived through the horror of violence and hatred have to find a way to live with each other. So it is in Northern Ireland, where since 1998 Catholics and Unionists have lived side by side in a tenuous peace despite the three decades of bloodshed, violence and oppression that tore it apart from 1968 to 1998. But just because peace arrives doesn't mean old dark secrets disappear. This week Patrick Radden Keefe discusses his brilliant new book "Say Nothing", that traces the history of The Troubles in Northern Ireland through the tale of just one atrocity: the murder of a single mother of ten children, and the efforts to find out who did it. Keefe describes the process by which people become so radicalized they are able to commit war crimes, as well as what it means to the victims, the perpetrators and an entire traumatized society once peace actually comes, and dark mysteries remain. The book is a masterpiece and the lessons Keefe draws apply to any society anywhere trying to reckon with its past. RELATED READING: Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe Email us at WITHpod@gmail.com Tweet using #WITHpod Read more at nbcnews.com/whyisthishappening

What if we just got rid of prisons? The United States is the epicenter of mass incarceration – but exactly what is it we hope to get out of putting people in prisons? And whatever your answer is to that – is it working? It’s worthwhile to stop and interrogate our intentions about incarceration and whether it enacts justice or instead satisfies some urge to punish. Prison abolitionist Mariame Kaba wants us to explore some truly radical notions that force us to inspect those instincts towards punishment. Hear her dismantle what she calls the current "criminal punishment system" and instead employ the ideology of restorative justice. Email us at WITHpod@gmail.com Tweet using #WITHpod Read more at nbcnews.com/whyisthishappening RELATED: The Color Complex by Kathy Russel, Midge Wilson, and Ronald Hall Locking Up Our Own by James Forman Jr. Circles and Ciphers Project NIA

Is democracy doomed? Actually, let’s take one step back: what came to your mind when you read the word ‘democracy’? It’s one of those words that on first glance seems easy enough to define but can trip you up as you get deeper in parsing it. Luckily, filmmaker Astra Taylor has a new documentary out conveniently titled “What is Democracy?” It’s a movie that traffics less in trying to answer the title’s question and more in figuring out the right questions to ask about this big flawed experiment. Questions about who truly has the power in a democratic society, how the concept has changed over time, and how a person who lost by three million votes became President of the United States. Email us at WITHpod@gmail.com Tweet using #WITHpod Read more at nbcnews.com/whyisthishappening RELATED READING: The People’s Platform Democracy May Not Exist, but We'll Miss It When It's Gone

Life expectancy in America has gone down three years in a row. You might expect to see a decline in average life expectancy in the aftermath of war or famine – to witness it in an industrialized nation in the middle of an otherwise prosperous era, however, is unprecedented. It is a distress signal that something has gone horribly wrong. Jonathan Metzl traced that distress signal to its origin and found something remarkable. He writes that the policies promising to Make America Great Again, policies rooted in centering and maintaining the power of whiteness, are shortening the lives of the white Americans who vote for them. From supporting conceal carry to cutting social services, Metzl explores just what policies white voters are willing to risk their lives for.  This conversation explores death by suicide and gun violence Email us at WITHpod@gmail.com Tweet using #WITHpod Read more at nbcnews.com/whyisthishappening

There are a whole lot of people running for President. Already, the candidates are beginning their nationwide trek, pitching themselves to the Democratic base. Each campaign faces the same struggle: how to craft a message that appeals to a coalition made up of people from all different backgrounds and walks of life. This candidate primary of town halls and stump speeches and campaign stops is crafting the future of the Democratic party from the top down. But away from the national headlines is the crucial day in day out work of grassroots organizing. The art of stitching together a complex and diverse group of people who often have conflicting desires. So how does that political constituency get built and how do you turn that momentum into political power? President of Community Change Dorian Warren knows this work inside out, and explains how voters can set the Democratic agenda from the ground up.Email us at WITHpod@gmail.comTweet using #WITHpodRead more at nbcnews.com/whyisthishappeningYOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:Rethinking Identity with Kwame Anthony Appiah (March 12)The Democratic Response with Stacey Abrams (Feb 26)Organizing in Trump Country with George Goehl (Jan 8)White Identity Politics with Michael Tesler (Oct 30)

There’s a reason we keep revisiting identity on WITHpod. From Brittney Cooper to Alex Wagner to Michael Tesler to Amy Chua and on, it’s a topic worth circling back to because it’s one of the most fundamental axes of conflict in our society today. Identities themselves are as old as we as a species are, but the concept of identity is relatively recent. Our ideas of identities are shifting and changing the more we learn about others. And sometimes, it can take full on social movements, protests, riots and bloodshed for new identities to become part of the conversation. Why is that? What do we mean when we say something is an "identity", or talk about "identity politics"? We take a step back with Kwame Anthony Appiah to examine the origins of the identities we use to define ourselves – and why it might be time to rethink our ideas of who we are. Email us at WITHpod@gmail.comTweet using #WITHpodRead more at nbcnews.com/whyisthishappeningRELATED READING:The Lies That Bind: Rethinking Identity by Kwame Anthony AppiahYOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:The Personal is Political with Brittney Cooper (May 15)Political Tribalism with Amy Chua (June 12)Futureface with Alex Wagner (July 17)White Identity Politics with Michael Tesler (Oct 30)

Is it too late for us? Scientists have spent decades sounding the alarm on the devastating effects of climate change. And for decades, society decided to do pretty much nothing about it. In fact, over the past 30 years, we’ve done more damage to the climate than in all of human history! Now, there’s a real chance we may have waited too long to avoid widespread tragedy and suffering. In his book “The Uninhabitable Earth”, David Wallace-Wells depicts a catastrophic future far worse than we ever imagined...and far sooner than we thought. It is undoubtedly a brutal truth to face, as you will hear in this episode, but if there’s any hope to avert the worst case scenarios, we have to start now.Email us at WITHpod@gmail.comTweet using #WITHpodRead more at nbcnews.com/whyisthishappeningRELATED READING:The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-WellsIPCC Report on Global WarmingYOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:The Wicked Problem of Climate Change with Andrew Revkin (Aug 14)