Where It All Starts

College football is back and so is Congress. What does one have to do with the other? More than you think. Jane talks to veteran college sports analyst Paul Finebaum, host of The Paul Finebaum Show, about the Protect College Sports Act and why some members of Congress have taken an interest in sports this session. Show Notes:

• Check out Paul’s show
• Call Congress – 202-224-3121
• Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/y4y2e9jy
• What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast
• Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/
• For a transcript of this episode, please email [email protected]

President Donald Trump is going all in on... President Donald Trump. And he's hoping GOP lawmakers will do the same at their midterm convention in Dallas this week. Jane talks to Antonia Hylton, host of the new MSNOW show, "The Assignment," about Trump's strategy for the midterms.Show Notes:

• Call Congress – 202-224-3121
• Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/y4y2e9jy
• What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast
• Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/
• For a transcript of this episode, please email [email protected]

On today's show, our guest host, Todd Zwillich, talks with Nate Soares, co-author of If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies, and the President of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute, about recent AI hacks, the great AI debate, and Vice President JD Vance's comments about the end times on the Bryce Crawford Podcast.Show Notes:

• Check out Nate's book - If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies
• Call Congress – 202-224-3121
• Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/y4y2e9jy
• What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast
• Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/
• For a transcript of this episode, please email [email protected]

Here at What A Day, we’re keeping an eye on the midterms — which are likely to hinge on which party can tackle the skyrocketing cost of living. On today’s show, Jane speaks with The Atlantic’s Annie Lowrey about why it's so damn expensive and complicated to be low-income in America.Show Notes:

• Check out Annie's book - The Time Tax
• Call Congress – 202-224-3121
• Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/y4y2e9jy
• What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast
• Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/
• For a transcript of this episode, please email [email protected]

On today's show, Jane talks with Maine Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson about what he thinks it will take for him to beat longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins in November’s midterms.Show Notes:

• Call Congress – 202-224-3121
• Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/y4y2e9jy
• What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast
• Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/
• For a transcript of this episode, please email [email protected]

The House passed a short-term measure today to fund the federal government into early December, a move designed to avoid a chaotic shutdown as lawmakers campaign for reelection. On today's show, Jane speaks with Slow Boring’s Matt Yglesias about what Democrats need to do – and avoid – to make November really count this year.Show Notes:

• Check out Matt's work – www.slowboring.com
• Call Congress – 202-224-3121
• Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/y4y2e9jy
• What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast
• Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/
• For a transcript of this episode, please email [email protected]

In case you missed it, President Donald Trump announced a deal that would give the United States a stake in Venezuela’s vast oil reserves on Friday. And over the weekend, the United States and Iran exchanged fire for the first time in a month. The Bulwark’s Tim Miller joins What A Day host Jane Coaston to break down Trump’s increasingly imperial adventures! Jane and Tim also take a moment to say goodbye to a right-wing activist who cheered on deportations and then got himself deported.Show Notes:

• Check out Tim's podcast – tinyurl.com/yzx2wv22
• Call Congress – 202-224-3121
• Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/y4y2e9jy
• What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast
• Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/
• For a transcript of this episode, please email [email protected]

In the last year and a half, President Donald Trump has put his name, image, or both, on a whole host of things — federal buildings, passports, the resident National Park pass, the administration’s child savings accounts, the under construction border wall, and of course, the Kennedy Center. But why? Why is Trump so obsessed with seeing his name on pretty much everything that isn’t nailed down (and a lot that is)? To find out, we spoke with Alex Wagner, host of Crooked Media’s Runaway Country.And in headlines, the Iran war hits the six-month mark, Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh suggests the central bank may have to raise interest rates, Trump announces a U.S. Space Academy, and Trump plans to send Vice President JD Vance to Ground Zero for the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.Show Notes:

• Call Congress – 202-224-3121
• Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/y4y2e9jy
• What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast
• Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/
• For a transcript of this episode, please email [email protected]

Yesterday, we heard from former USAID administrator Dr. Atul Gawande about the lives lost because of the gutting of the United States Agency for International Development. On today's show, we focus on people in Nepal and their experiences before and after the cuts to foreign assistance. In Nepal, USAID helped fund organizations whose efforts centered on fighting the spread of HIV/AIDS. And some of those organizations employed transgender aid workers, who are living in a country where existing outside the gender binary is generally forbidden. But after the cuts to USAID, many of these trans women have resorted to sex work – putting themselves at risk for the same disease they worked so hard to stop. To learn more about their stories, we spoke with Kristen Gelineau, a global investigative reporter for the Associated Press who visited Nepal in the spring.And in headlines, hundreds of people have been killed in flash floods that swept through the Nepal-China border, President Donald Trump announced Lake Ontario will now be known as Lake America, and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt gets ready to leave the White House.
Show Notes:

• Check out Kristen's work – tinyurl.com/ybc78uka
• Call Congress – 202-224-3121
• Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/y4y2e9jy
• What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast
• Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/
• For a transcript of this episode, please email [email protected]

It’s been more than a year since Elon Musk and the DOGE boys fed the United States Agency for International Development – or USAID, into a QUOTE “woodchipper.” And since then, according to reporting from NPR and other outlets, the dismantling of USAID has resulted in the deaths of more than 700,000 people. That’s because USAID worked globally to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS, end childhood malnutrition, battle infectious diseases and help women have healthy pregnancies and healthy babies. Dr. Atul Gawande was a USAID administrator under the Biden Administration, leading the Bureau of Global Health. Now he’s warning what the gutting of the agency means for the world, and for America.And in headlines, Meta agrees to pay up to $18 billion and add stronger child-safety measures to its platforms as part of a landmark legal settlement, Bill Gates warns about the dangers of artificial intelligence, and U.S. Sen. Darline Grahamwins the Republican nomination to replace her late brother on South Carolina’s general election ballot.Show Notes:

• Check out Atul's piece – tinyurl.com/3yfz8pjn
• Call Congress – 202-224-3121
• Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/y4y2e9jy
• What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast
• Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/
• For a transcript of this episode, please email [email protected]