Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

Just one week left until the midterms and race and identity politics are playing a major role in the messaging of both parties. For Republicans, it comes in the shape of fear-mongering about the threat imposed by anyone ‘other’, a play ripped directly from the campaign that won Donald Trump the presidency. While these candidates are following in the steps of President Trump, they are tapping in to a divide that was exacerbated not just in the 2016 election, but starting back in 2008. Something profound happened when the country elected Barack Obama, something that took years to fully manifest. Listen to Michael Tesler explain his revelations on racial resentment, economic anxiety, and how it changes the way we think about the 2016 election.Email us at WITHpod@gmail.comTweet using #WITHpodRead more at nbcnews.com/whyisthishappening

What would it mean to have Medicare for All? The issue of healthcare emerged as a key campaign fight in the coming midterm elections, with ads and debate questions centered on coverage of pre-existing conditions. While Republicans dig deeper into a fear mongering campaign that Medicare for All means Medicare for none, a growing number of Democrats are throwing their support behind single payer healthcare. Although Medicare for All is proving popular in polling, the left has a lot of work to do if they want to embrace it as a political project. Abdul El-Sayed has put a lot of thought into exactly that, having worked as the Health Director of Detroit and then ran on a universal healthcare platform in his recent bid for Governor of Michigan. Email us at WITHpod@gmail.comTweet using #WITHpodRead more at nbcnews.com/whyisthishappening

Why are Republicans so obsessed with voter fraud? Study after study finds no evidence of any large-scale voter fraud in the country, yet we keep hearing about necessary changes to voting systems in order to combat this major threat to democracy. Here’s the thing - it’s a sleight of hand trick, just the latest in a long history of racist voter suppression laws. By crying ‘voter fraud’, the government has been able to tap into policies based in white supremacy with the intent of curbing voter turnout, particularly among black voters. Carol Anderson follows her wildly popular book “White Rage” with “One Person, No Vote”, detailing the sustained attacks on voting rights that we are watching unfold as we head into the midterm elections. Email us at WITHpod@gmail.comTweet using #WITHpodRead more at nbcnews.com/whyisthishappening

Will a ride-sharing app battle religious intolerance? Can a billionaire combat illiteracy by sending laptops to underfunded communities? Would a bank’s involvement in one of the largest financial crises in American history be forgotten if they donate enough money to nonprofit organizations? The ruling class - those at the top who hold all the power - want people to believe that they can do good for the world by continuing to do well for themselves; the more money and power they have, the more good they can do. They put themselves in a position of authority that is packaged and sold as both necessary and benevolent. But Anand Giridharadas argues in his new book, “Winners Take All”, that this philanthropy amongst elites is a charade, and that the ruling class is only willing to change the world so long as it doesn’t change their world.Email us at WITHpod@gmail.comTweet using #WITHpodRead more at nbcnews.com/whyisthishappening

Women are pissed. After the election of Donald Trump, the sustained fury of American women has been one of the defining features of his political backlash. From the immediate outpouring of rage in the Women’s Marches to the reckoning of the #MeToo moment to the historic number of women on the ballot in the coming midterm elections, the country is witnessing the beginnings of a social upheaval that’s been long in the making. In her new book, Rebecca Traister traces the historical and current potency of women’s political rage. Email us at WITHpod@gmail.comTweet using #WITHpodRead more at nbcnews.com/whyisthishappening

Can a library save your life? Could public parks help address crime and addiction in your neighborhood? Think about libraries and churches and crowded subway trains – they’re shared spaces that can push all types of people together, playing a crucial role in civic life. Eric Klinenberg calls this phenomenon social infrastructure. And, while crumbling bridges and roads can mean the difference between life and death, so too, argues Klinenberg, can the crumbling of our social infrastructure.Email us at WITHpod@gmail.comTweet using #WITHpodRead more at nbcnews.com/whyisthishappening

It’s time we talked about Watergate. The crime, the greed, the paranoia and the investigation; how does one of the most significant criminal conspiracies in the history of the American republic help to inform us about what’s unfolding with Robert Mueller’s investigation? Former Watergate prosecutor Nick Akerman tells the story of what it was like on the inside of the investigation. Hear him explain the exact moment he knew President Nixon was guilty, the vast gap between what we know and what Robert Mueller knows, and how he thinks we ended up back here nearly 50 years later.Email us at WITHpod@gmail.comTweet using #WITHpodRead more at nbcnews.com/whyisthishappening

Can the Democratic Party keep up with the new left? The left-most wing of the party is growing and expanding, pushing platforms like Medicare for all, free college, and abolishing ICE. Though this group is the minority, the space they’re creating is the space in which the entirety of the party will have to participate in the coming elections. For example, Abolish ICE was first popularized by a twitter hashtag pushed by Sean McElwee. Now, it’s a common campaign issue that the President rails against in his speeches and that any 2020 Democratic hopeful will have to answer to. Sean McElwee pops up again in the primaries, having foreseen two of the biggest Democratic upsets months in advance. As someone at the nexus of the changing winds of the left, McElwee joins us to share his thoughts on what he sees as the way forward for the Democratic Party. Email us at WITHpod@gmail.comTweet using #WITHpodRead more at nbcnews.com/whyisthishappening

The people of Yemen are experiencing the worst humanitarian crisis on the planet, according to the United Nations. They are devastated by a war that the United States supports. Why is the U.S. involved in a conflict that has left an estimated tens of thousands dead and millions more displaced? Why is the U.S. providing weapons to a coalition that launched an airstrike killing dozens of children? How did Yemen get to this point? Shireen Al-Adeimi has the answers for us, having worked tireless to raise awareness of the civil war in the country she calls home.Email us at WITHpod@Gmail.comTweet using #WITHpodRead more at nbcnews.com/whyisthishappening

Donald Trump’s victory wasn’t the only 2016 election result to shock the world. Just months earlier voters in the United Kingdom made history when they opted for Brexit, thereby initiating the withdrawal of the UK from the European Union. While the two elections took place on opposite sides of the world, the roots of both winning movements can be traced to similar origins. British journalist Mehdi Hasan talks about the role of racial grievances from the US to the UK, where things stand with Brexit, and how many people are feeling intense ‘Bregret’.Email us at WITHpod@Gmail.comTweet using #WITHpodRead more at nbcnews.com/whyisthishappening