The U.S. has carried out multiple strikes on boats in the Caribbean off of Venezuela, killing dozens of people. And yet there’s very little legal rationale for the military action we’ve seen. Benjamin Gedan is a senior fellow and director of the Latin America Program at the Stimson Center and Adjunct Lecturer and Fellow at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He also served as the South America director on the National Security Council staff in the Obama administration. Gedan joins WITHpod to discuss the U.S.’ relationship with Venezuela, thoughts on regime changes, military pressure ratcheting up and more.

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The UN has warned of an alarming rise in violence and restrictions by Israeli settlers and security forces in the West Bank. American journalist Jasper Nathaniel has spent time in the region and captured a recent brutal attack on a Palestinian woman- one incident among a growing number of violent acts. He joins WITHpod to discuss key inflection points, his thoughts on formal annexation, observations of the response from Israel Defense Forces troops and more. We should note that the Israel Defense Forces has released a statement that addresses the ambush Jasper Nathaniel recounts, saying the confrontation was dispersed after its forces arrived, and that it "strongly condemns any form of violence" by settlers. This conversation was recorded on October 29th, 2025.

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We’ve seen a growing political and ideological divide between urban and rural populations in America. What has happened in Urbana, Ohio is a case study in how politics can shake a town to its core. Beth Macy is the author of “Paper Girl: A Memoir of Home and Family in a Fractured America.” She joins WITHpod to discuss how Urbana has changed from the time she grew up there, themes that connect other rural American cities, thoughts on having civil discussions despite political differences, the nationalization of politics and more.

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Cars play such a big part in contemporary life. But why? And to what effect? Our guests this week point out that it's an incredible moment to rethink our relationship to cars. Sarah Goodyear and Doug Gordon are the co-hosts of the “War on Cars” podcast and the authors, along with Aaron Naparstek, of “Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile.” They join WITHpod to discuss the politics of cars, the impact cars have on children, the planet and more.

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Jen Psaki is on a mission to show us how the Democratic party can use this political moment to fight and win again. On Season 2 of her podcast, “The Blueprint,” she interviews the people reshaping the party, starting with Texas Congressman Greg Casar, Chair of the Progressive Caucus.

The first two episodes of “The Blueprint with Jen Psaki” are available now, and will continue to drop every Wednesday, from now through mid-November.

Stay right here to listen to a special preview. And for the full episode, search for “The Blueprint with Jen Psaki” and follow the show. Plus, subscribe to MSNBC Premium on Apple Podcasts for ad-free listening.

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On October 8, 2025, President Trump deployed the Texas National Guard to the Chicago area – marking yet another instance of military force being used domestically under his leadership. This follows earlier deployments of federal troops to states like California and Oregon. These actions point to a deeply troubling pattern: the use of U.S. military forces – trained to defend the nation from foreign threats – against its own citizens. Mary McCord, Executive Director of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection and a Visiting Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center, joins WITHpod to discuss the legal and ethical implications of this alarming trend – and what it means for democracy.

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In the Trump-era, and within the public health narrative shaped by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a debunked but persistent myth has taken hold: that infant vaccinations cause autism. Despite overwhelming scientific evidence disproving this claim, the narrative remains central to anti-vaccine rhetoric. Professor Richard Grinker, a cultural anthropologist and director of The George Washington University Institute for Ethnographic Research, joins WITHpod to discuss how autism has become a political obsession, recent inflection points, what the research says about autism being underdiagnosed or overdiagnosed and more.

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A few years ago, MSNBC contributor and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Trymaine Lee, though healthy and only 38, nearly died of a heart attack. That experience forced him to confront the multitude of factors that almost killed him. In his new book, “A Thousand Ways to Die: The True Cost of Violence on Black Life in America,” he discusses the weight of being a Black man in America, of bearing witness, as a journalist, to relentless Black death, the toll of intergenerational oppression and more. Lee joins WITHpod to discuss three themes in the book: the long and bloody history of African Americans and guns; his work as a chronicler of gun violence and his own life story.

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