Note: this episode originally published on 02/11/25. A lot of things are changing. And there’s a lot of things that the new White House administration wants to do differently. One of the areas where we’ve seen a lot of attention is cryptocurrency. Some of the latest developments are pretty confounding, to say the least. Lucky for us, our guest this week has spent years following crypto. Zeke Faux is a reporter for Bloomberg News and the author of “Number Go Up: Inside Crypto's Wild Rise and Staggering Fall.” He joins WITHpod to discuss some of the latest developments in cryptocurrency, concerns about the government purchasing it, Trump memecoins and more.

When news alerts went out that the US sent missiles to bomb Iranian nuclear sites, debates began about how deeply the US would continue to wade into the conflict between Israel and Iran. After days of panic, President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between the two countries. But it was Trump himself who, in his first term, stopped US efforts to limit Iran’s nuclear program. Robert Malley was the lead negotiator of the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal under then-President Barack Obama. To give context to the latest developments in the region, Malley joins WITHpod to talk about the the 2015 deal and its unraveling under Trump’s first administration. Malley is also a lecturer at Yale University and the co-author of the upcoming book, “Tomorrow Is Yesterday: Life, Death, and the Pursuit of Peace in Israel/Palestine.” This conversation was recorded June 25, 2025.

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.

Note: this episode originally published on 01/07/25.

Our guest this week co-founded one of the biggest groups that initially came about in response to Trump 1.0. Leah Greenberg is co-founder and co-executive director of Indivisible, an organization with a mission to organize thousands of local groups to resist the GOPs agenda, elect local champions and fight for progressive policies. She joins WITHpod to discuss lessons learned from the past, ideas within Indivisible’s “Practical Guide to Democracy on The Brink” and glimmers of hope as ordinary people fight back.

It can be hard to follow and make sense of all of the volatility we’ve been seeing in the markets and economy recently. Lucky for us, Joe Weisenthal, co-host of Bloomberg’s “Odd Lots” podcast is joining this week to help break down what’s been going on. He joins WITHpod to discuss recent economic volatility and what it means for financial markets vs. the real economy, the impact of tariffs and more.

There’s a good chance that before November of 2022, you hadn’t heard of tech nonprofit OpenAI or cofounder Sam Altman. But over the last few years, they’ve become household names with the explosive growth of the generative AI tool called ChatGPT. What’s been going on behind the scenes at one of the most influential companies in history and what effect has this had on so many facets of our lives? Karen Hao is an award-winning journalist and the author of “Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI” and has covered the impacts of artificial intelligence on society. She joins WITHpod to discuss the trajectory AI has been on, economic effects, whether or not she thinks the AI bubble will pop and more.

Note: this episode originally published on 11/12/24.

From original description:
Whew, the past few days have been a lot. Like you probably, Chris hasn’t slept much this past week. There’s a lot to process given that Donald Trump is now president-elect… again. Our guest this week, who has worked as an organizer throughout numerous political ups and downs, points out that we “must not neglect the work of standing up right now to fight back.” Anna Galland is the former executive director of MoveOn Civic Action from 2012 to 2019. She now works with a range of national pro-democracy organizations, coalitions, and leaders. Galland also teaches about democracy renewal & social movements at Northwestern University. She joins WITHpod to help us take stock of this moment, what the progressive movement can do right now, reasons for hope (we could use it, right?) and more.

Tax policy has been a core part of the Republican party. A central feature within the GOP, particularly since Reagan, has been cutting taxes for corporations and some of the wealthiest Americans. President Trump, breaking away from traditional party orthodoxy, recently raised the idea of increasing taxes on some of the country’s richest. Our guest this week points out that Republicans have made a “devil’s bargain” with Trump. Arjun Singh is the co-host and senior producer of the Lever Time podcast. He is also the lead reporter and editor of the Tax Revolt miniseries. He joins WITHpod to discuss historical and contemporary fights over taxes, coalitions effects of MAGA, what the latest intraparty disagreements could portend and more.